Jessica S. Olson Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Jessica S. Olson
Jessica S. Olson claims New Hampshire as her home, yet has wound up living in Texas, where she spends much of her time singing her praises to whomever invented the air conditioner.

When she is not hiding out from the heat, she is corralling her four wild, yet adorable, kids, dreaming up tales of magic, murder, and kissing. And eating peanut butter by the spoonful right from the jar.

Jessica earned a bachelor’s in English with minors in French and editing, which essentially means that she spent all of her university time reading and eating French pastries.

Jessica was inspired to do a “Phantom of the Opera” retelling from the Phantom’s perspective because she grew up with the Broadway soundtrack playing on repeat in her house. Jessica’s parents love telling stories about how as a child she’d dress in her prettiest dresses and head out into the backyard and sing opera songs at the top of her lungs, believing that if nobody could see her, nobody could hear her either, but their neighbors certainly did.

It’s not until she finally went to New York as an adult to finally see the play, which she adored. Besides the dancing, music, and costumes (which she of course found stunning); she instantly found herself drawn to the Phantom character, and recognized pieces of herself in him.

She has an eye condition called Strabismus (crossed eyes, which leads to vision loss and reduced eye function), and years of eye exercises, surgery, patching, and therapy led to development of a noticeable case of Amblyopia (commonly called Lazy Eye, which she hates so she avoids it when possible). As a result, she was bullied in school, shunned by her classmates, and treated differently throughout college, all because her appearance made people uncomfortable. Even as an adult, it still has a large impact on her social interactions.

So where some people may have seen this obsessive, mysterious ghost that lurks under the opera house attempting to lure Christine into his lair, Jessica saw somebody like her. Somebody that wanted desperately the world to accept him. Somebody that was hurt and shamed for something he had zero control over. She connected with his perspective in a way that she hadn’t with another fictional character before.

After finishing “Sing Me Forgotten”, she knew that her next book had to be just as romantic, deadly, and Gothic as SMF was. She had so much fun with all of that atmosphere and dark magic. So she was brainstorming other Gothic stories that she loved and immediately thought of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. This inspired her to begin thinking along the lines of an art based magic system, and once she came up with that, her story grew from there.

The plot itself grew from an intense love of murder mystery thrillers, which she gobbles up like candy (with Ruth Ware and Riley Sager are two favorites of the genre), so once she came up with the magic and decided to set it in an old, Gothic manor, she knew she had to build the plot around a murder and solving the mystery of who’d committed it.

The book was actually the easiest book for her to write so far, as the outline poured out of Jessica in under a week, and she finished the first draft in just a month. It never required a total rewrite, and for that she’ll always be grateful. She thinks that Lucy and Myra knew their story right from day one and were only waiting for Jessica to catch on.

“Sing Me Forgotten” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2021. Isda does not exist. At least not outside of the opulent walls of the opera house.

Cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few able to manipulate memories when people sing, she was saved by the opera house’s owner, named Cyril. And since that day, he’s given her sanctuary from the murderous world outside. All that he asks of her in return is that she use her powers to help keep ticket sales high, and that she keep out of sight. For if anybody learns of her survival, Cyril and Isda would both pay with their lives.

However Isda breaks his cardinal rule when she meets this charming boy, named Emeric Rodin, who throws her solitary and quiet life out of balance. His voice is unlike any that she has ever heard, however the real shock comes when she finds in his memories hints of a way to break free of her gilded prison finally.

Isda, haunted by this possibility, spends more and more time with Emeric, searching for answers in his past and in his music. However the price of freedom is far steeper than Isda could ever know. For even while she struggles with her growing feelings for Emeric, she learns that in order to take charge of her own destiny, she will need to become the monster the world tried drowning in the first place.

“A Forgery of Roses” is the second stand alone novel and was released in 2022. Myra Whitlock has this gift. One which many would murder for.

She is an artist whose portraits alter people’s real life bodies, a talent that she has to hide from those that would blackmail, kidnap, and worse so they could control it. Guarding this secret is the one and only way to keep her little sister safe now that their parents are gone.

However one frigid evening, the governor’s wife learns the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she doesn’t complete a portrait which would resurrect the governor’s dead son. Myra, who is desperate, ventures to his legendary stone mansion. Once she shows up, it becomes obvious that the boy’s death wasn’t an accident. Somebody dangerous lurks inside of these glittering halls. Somebody that harbors a disturbing obsession with portrait magic.

Myra’s unable to do this painting until she knows what actually happened, so she turns to the governor’s older son, who is a captivating redheaded poet. Together, the two delve into the family’s most shadowed affairs, racing to reveal the truth before the secret that Myra has spent her whole life concealing makes her the next victim of this killer.