Jenny Bayliss Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Jenny Bayliss
Jenny Bayliss likes long walks, stationery, baking days, and shamelessly wearing party dresses to the supermarket. She also loves books, writing, reading, and listening to them.

She was a professional baker for a number of years, before returning to college at the age of 39 to study part time for a degree in Creative and Professional Writing from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Jenny wanted to write a story about a woman in her 40s beginning again, one with grown up kids and business success, and all of the baggage and wisdom that an older character would be carrying with them. And to show this woman’s journey while she finds that she’s still the leading lady in her own life, and that happiness, love, and fulfillment are there for the taking, even with slightly saggy boobs and laugh lines.

This is because, despite all of the inroads that are made, we live in a world where women past age 40 are typically perceived as being “over the hill” and just dismissed to a supporting actress type role in their own lives. It’s something she finds ludicrous since women do not stop being vital, interesting, and sexy when they hit middle age. She finds they’re enhanced, since with age comes this deeper self confidence and sense of knowing exactly what they want.

Jenny found she was very nervous writing “The Winter of Second Chances”. It was her second novel and she was fraught with doubts about if she could even write another book, and if she was just a one hit wonder? She believes this panic translated into a massive over write. She wound up having to cut 30,000 words before she even started editing, because she had a complete back story from birth to present day for each character.

“The Twelve Dates of Christmas” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2020. When it comes to relationships, Kate Turner (age 34) is ready to say “Bah, humbug”. The sleepy town of Blexford, England, is not brimming with too many prospects, and anyway, she’s found fulfillment in her designer career, and her delicious side gig baking for her old buddy Matt’s neighborhood cafe.

However then her best friend goes and signs her up for this dating agency which promises to help singles find love before the holidays come. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with twelve different guys. Odds must be in her favor, right?

But with every new date more disastrous than the one before it, and the entire town keeping tabs on her misadventures, she has to remind herself that sometimes love, just like mistletoe, shows up in places that it’s least expected. And maybe, just maybe, it is been right under her nose this entire time.

“The Winter of Second Chances” is the second stand alone novel and was released in 2021. Annie Sharpe has got it all: two beautiful grown up sons, and this acclaimed restaurant that she owns with Max, her handsome husband. However after one indiscretion too many, she leaves the only life she’s ever known behind.

Annie, while searching for a fresh start, takes a position as caretaker of Saltwater Nook, this creaky yet charming beach house on Kent’s gorgeous and wild coastline. The village community is this eccentric yet tight knit bunch, and Annie’s swept up in a whirlwind of their traditional festive celebrations, from bonfires on the beach to pumpkin carving. Pretty soon it starts feeling like home, she even reopens the long dormant seafront cafe.

The only thorns in her side are John, the owner’s rugged yet totally unreasonable nephew that’s got his own agenda for the house, and a very persistent Max, who is now intent on winning her back.

Saltwater Nook has been the perfect escape, however Annie cannot run from her problems forever. Is she going to give her first love another chance? Or step into the promise of having a new life?

“Meet Me Under the Mistletoe” is the third stand alone novel and was released in 2022. A winter wedding of school friends should be the highlight of Nory Noel’s festive calendar. However this group has long since drifted apart, and Nory’s dreading the week long and lavish affair. But she still supposes, that being the one single person means that she’ll get a king sized bed in the idyllic castle venue all to herself.

While the champagne flows, the years start rolling back and soon the air’s alive with old tensions and old sparks. Nory, desperate for a moment of peace, escapes and quickly bumps into Isaac, the gardener for the castle, and her old rival at school.

They’ve got more in common these days than they ever could’ve imagined. However while she steals more time away to spend with Isaac, he reveals this astonishing secret about his past. Nory is in quite the unique position to help right this wrong, however uncovering the full truth may mean pushing him away once again.

“A December to Remember” is the fourth stand alone novel and was released in 2023. Three bickering half-sisters are forced to come together to compete in a series of wacky challenges in order to access their inheritance in this winsome holiday tale.

Star, Simone, and Maggie, each wildly different half-sisters, have barely seen one another since their sprightly summers spent at their eccentric dad Augustus’s home, known as Rowan Thorp. Known for the fruitful ways in which his bustling knick-knack shop kept this tired town afloat, he was loved by everybody yet known by none, not even his own daughters.

Now, all these years later, the three estranged women get reunited unexpectedly at the reading of his will. The three are stunned to learn that he has engineered this series of hoops through which they’ll have to jump through in order to unlock their inheritance, the very last thing they want to do. Star and Maggie need the money desperately. And who would Simone be to resist?

Through community mishaps, hilarious wild goose chases, and a heartwarming Winter Solstice celebration, hope, love, and reconciliation is in the air, if these three sisters can allow themselves to grasp it.