Recap of 2024 and a look ahead to 2025

As we prepare to turn the page to 2025, I’d like to take a moment to look back at what was a really turbulent but also successful year, share some of the highlights with you, and give you a glimpse of what’s on the horizon from me in 2025.

 

Book releases in 2024

My biggest highlight of 2024 was the release of my medical/enemies-to-lovers romance Bachelorette Number Twelve. Not only was it highly popular with readers, it also won two awards already (The Readers’ Favorite Award for the ebook/paperback version and the eLit Award for the audiobook).

I also published two new short stories, “Impulse Buy”—which is a sequel to Bachelorette Number Twelve—and “The No-Romance Rule,” a prequel to my Hollywood series.

For all of my readers who prefer to own my books as paperbacks, my publisher also published a collection of my eight newest short stories under the title Happily Ever After 2.

 

Audiobook releases in 2024

This year, we added two more audiobook versions of my books: Bachelorette Number Twelve, narrated by Lori Prince, and my historical romance short story collection Beyond the Trail, narrated by Hayden Bishop. So now all of my books are available as audiobooks.

 

Books in other languages

Since I translate my books into German myself, my German-speaking readers didn’t have to wait long for my newest releases. In 2024, I published one novel—Bachelorette Nummer zwölf—and two short stories, “Pusteblumen-Wünsche” & “Die Nicht-küssen-Regel” in German.

I also had a whopping five audiobooks in German published this year! I really don’t take that for granted since German audiobooks are even more expensive to produce than English ones. A big thank-you to my publisher, Ylva, for making it possible!

Last but not least, Reines de Coeur made Un Appartement pour Deux, a French version of The Roommate Arrangement, available to my French-speaking readers.

 

Events in 2024

Not only did I get to spend a weekend in October with my fellow authors Chris Zett, Harper Bliss, Clare Lydon and the Ylva Publishing team at the book fair in Frankfurt, I also organized six online events for readers of sapphic fiction in 2024.

The most popular with readers was the Sapphic Book Advent Calendar, which had 96,000+ visitors in December. Putting together such a big event is a ton of work, but I know it brightened the holiday season for thousands of readers, which made all the time and energy that went into it totally worth it!

 

The biggest challenges in 2024

2024 was a really weird year. In March, I discovered that my latest novel, Bachelorette Number Twelve, had been plagiarized and posted as fan fiction on one of the big fan fiction platforms, with just the character names changed.

That discovery led to a very stressful week, in which I found hundreds of other sapphic books that had been plagiarized on another online platform, including seven of mine. I won’t go into detail, but you can read up on it here.

Not only did I have to deal with more plagiarism, piracy, and scammers than ever before, I also received more homophobic comments in 2024 than I did in my entire publishing career combined. It was especially bad during Pride Month and in the second half of the year, when the US election heated up. On some social media posts, I received hundreds of hateful comments and even a few emails and DMs from total strangers.

Facebook, Twitter, & Co. don’t do anything to protect LGBTQ+ authors, but what got me through it was the support of my readers and fellow authors. A big thank-you to everyone who reached out with kind words this year!

Needless to say, I won’t let the haters stop me from writing sapphic books and organizing events for our readers. We need positive representation and visibility now more than ever!

 

My favorite books of 2024

Like many authors, I’m also an avid reader of sapphic books, especially sapphic romances. I keep track of my favorite book that I read every month, so now I can look back at the 12 books that were my top books of 2024.

Here’s what my favorite sapphic books of 2024 collage looks like:

If I had to narrow it down to my top 5 reads of 2024, it would be (in no particular order):

• Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao
• Meeting Millie by Clare Ashton
• Love Next Door by Rachael Sommers
• How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly
• No Shelter But the Stars by Virginia Black

 

Looking ahead to 2025

2025 will probably not be the easiest year for many of us, but there are plenty of things to look forward to.

I’m thrilled to have at least two new novels out in English in 2025. Enemies by Nature and Shifting Nature—two new novels in the shape-shifter series—will be published in May.

Both novels will also come out as an audiobook later in the year, as well as an audio version of my short story collection Happily Ever After 2.

In October, I’ll have a short story in the Ylva Publishing anthology After Happily Ever After 3. “Tent for Two” is a fun sequel to my fake-relationship romance Just for Show.

My next writing project will be a sequel/spin-off to Just a Touch Away, featuring Winter’s sister, ice queen Brooke.

I’m also excited to make my latest short stories available to my German readers in a short story collection next week, and I plan to translate the shape-shifter series into German in 2025. German audiobook fans can look forward to at least two more audiobooks from me in 2025 (Zum Anbeißen and Rosen für die Staatsanwältin).

Of course, I’ll also organize more fun events for readers, including the Sapphic Book Bingo, which starts on January 1, and another Sapphic Book Advent Calendar in December.

 

To my readers, thank you for being my inspiration and my champions. Your enthusiasm, kindness, and love for sapphic romance motivate me every day.

Here’s to a 2025 filled with unforgettable stories and many happy moments!

With gratitude,

Jae