J. Bengtsson Books In Order

Publication Order of AnyDayNow Books

Publication Order of Cake Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

J. Bengtsson
J. (Jill) Bengtsson writes the “Cake” series. But they’re not about actual cake, not because she has anything against baked goods at all. They are a collection of contemporary romance novels that focus on the lives of one famous family.

Jill lives in Ventura County, California and married to the Swedish boy that she met while she was an exchange student during her junior year in college. They have three kids, a golden retriever, and two ragdoll cats.

Having been a stay-at-home mother for twenty-one years, her debut novel, “Cake: A Love Story”, was written for fun after she had read this one disappointing romance novel and felt that she could do better.

Only wanting to get some feedback on her story, she released it on Amazon and watched in shocked disbelief while the novel took flight. Within only a month of its being released, it was a bestseller, and all of that before she had even told her family she’d even written anything. Now she is a full-time writer.

She writes contemporary love stories that are centered around ‘real’ people that live extraordinary lives. Readers will root for them and love them. Readers will embrace these people’s families as their own. Most of all, readers will remember them long after they have turned the last page.

Jill’s heroines are nurturing, strong, and quirky and her heroes are exactly what dreams are made of: committed, gorgeous, and in need of a bit of saving. They are set under the glittering lights of the West Coast entertainment industry, and are for the dreamer in all of us.

“Cake” is the first novel in the “Cake” series and was released in the year 2016. Jake McKallister, aloof and quiet rock star, and vivacious and outspoken college student Casey Caldwell are exact opposites. While Jake is reclusive, Casey is talkative and bubbly. Casey enjoyed a picturesque childhood, while Jake’s childhood could just be described as a well-publicized nightmare. Jake’s life revolves around music, while Casey cannot carry a tune.

Music saved Jake, but he lacks that outgoing personality that most expect of a famous performer. After surviving one unspeakable crime while he was a young teen, he becomes a guarded workaholic that desperately tries to forget the past. Career success comes easy to Jake, however he just struggles to make any personal connections.

Despite these differences, her light harmonizes nicely with his darkness, and is a balance embodied in the unexpectedly humorous and warm dual performance. Can the sweetness of true love overcome his tragic past?

“The Theory of Second Best” is the second novel in the “Cake” series and was released in the year 2017. Kyle McKallister has lived his entire life in the shadows. Little brother to one of the world’s most embattled and elusive celebrities, Kyle’s carved out a comfortable existence touring with his famous brother and living life in the lap of luxury without commitments or plans of his own, just a haunting and deep loyalty to his brother. However his life’s about to get shaken up when the chance comes to compete on a popular reality show.

Kenzie Williams, a small town girl, has come on the show for just one thing and that’s to win. However when a disastrous beginning forces her to rely on quite the eclectic band of misfits, she finds herself quickly being smitten with a mysterious and handsome cast mate. Life on this island is only a game. Can Kenzie and Kyle’s fragile spark survive all the pressures of the real world.

Even though the self-deprecating and laid-back Kyle might someday find his inner bad boy, he is obviously still in the baby stages of self-discovery. Here is the story of one ordinary young guy stumbling his way through life and the everyday girl that shows to him a better way.

“Fiercely Emma” is the third novel in the “Cake” series and was released in the year 2017. Emma, the elder sister of renowned rock star Jake McKallister, has created a quiet little existence for herself. Scorned at work, fiercely independent, and indifferent to relationships, she has spent the past decade attempting to move on from the crime that shook her entire family right to its core. Living by this promise she made to herself while she was a distraught sixteen year old, she has sworn off children and marriage, until this chance encounter with some scruffy hitchhiker throws her whole orderly world right into chaos.

A wild kid raised in mayhem by a teen mother, fearless Finn Perry cruises through his life being the perennial nice guy. Now as a struggling actor, he supports himself by performing daredevil stunts. Currently at a crossroads in his life, one thing has always stayed a constant in his life: his desire to start a family like he never got to have. The mystery woman that rescues him from the side of the road sure seems like the perfect person for that job.

However some unfinished business from her troubled past is looming heavy, and threatening to destroy the blooming love that she has found with the one and only man that has ever jump started her wounded heart.

“Ripple Effect” is the first stand alone novel and was released in the year 2021. She is living next door to a superstar, and doesn’t even have a clue about it.

RJ Contreras, an international pop star, finds himself at a crossroads at the moment when AnyDayNow, his super famous boy band, breaks up. After his solo career fails to take off, RJ (also known as Chad Woodcock) retreats back to some no-frills apartment where he’s able to hide out from the world and lick his festering wounds.

However when the girl next door begins slipping ‘good neighbor’ contracts underneath his door and complains about his behavior through strategically placed Post-It-Notes, he snaps out of his self-absorbed melancholy to wage war.

Nothing short of an act of nature could possibly repair the relationship between these two strong-willed enemies. However guess what fate’s got in store for each of them?

One Response to “J. Bengtsson”

1. Andi: 2 years ago

   Hi – loved all the books in the Cake series. Will there be a book for Grace?

   Reply