Jen Bailey

Jen Bailey is an office drone by day and the author of Queer YA and Adult romance by night. She can usually be found with her nose in a book or pressed up against her computer monitor. A book-a-day reading habit sometimes gets in the way of...well, everything...but some habits aren't worth breaking. She's been reading romance novels since she was ten years old. The last twenty years or so have not changed her voracious appetite for stories of romance, relationships and achieving that vitally important Happily Ever After. She's a firm believer that everyone, no matter their gender, age, sexual orientation or paranormal affiliation, deserves a happy ending.

She wrote her first story at seven, which was, unbeknownst to her at the time, a charming piece of fan-fiction in which Superman battles (and defeated, of course) the nefarious X Luther. She was quite put out to be told, years later, that the character's name was actually Lex. Her second masterpiece should have been a best-seller, but the action-packed tale of rescuing her little  brother from an alligator attack in the marshes of Florida collected dust for years under the bed instead of gaining critical acclaim.

Now she writes Young Adult and New Adult Queer Romance novels about queer folks traversing the crazy world of love, relationships and acceptance.

UNEXPECTING
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Juno meets Heartstopper in this poignant and emotional story about found family, what it means to be a parent, and falling in love.


Benjamin Morrison is about to start junior year of high school and while his family is challenging, he is pretty content with his life, with his two best friends, and being a part of the robotics club. Until an experiment at science camp has completely unexpected consequences.


He is going to be a father. Something his mother was not expecting after he came out as gay and she certainly wasn’t expecting that he would want to raise the baby as a single father. But together they come up with a plan to prepare Ben for fatherhood and fight for his rights.


The weight of Ben’s decision presses down on him. He’s always tired, his grades fall, and tension rises between his mom and stepfather. He’s letting down his friends in the robotics club whose future hinges on his expertise. If it wasn’t for his renewed friendship (and maybe more) with a boy from his past, he wouldn’t be able to face the daily ridicule at school or the crumbling relationship with his best friends.


With every new challenge, every new sacrifice he has to make, Ben questions his choice. He’s lived with a void in his heart where a father’s presence should have been, and the fear of putting his own child through that keeps him clinging to his decision. When the baby might be in danger, Ben’s faced with a heart wrenching realization: sometimes being a parent means making the hard choices even if they are the choices you don't want to make...

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"Unexpecting tells a heartfelt coming-of-age story, full of tears, laughter, and every feeling in between." —ZR Ellor, author of May the Best Man Win

"Poignantly rendered character dynamics elevate timely messaging surrounding parenthood and healthy depictions of open and vulnerable communication in this freshly wrought teenage pregnancy story." —Publishers Weekly