Jennifer Raines
Australian Jennifer Raines writes sensuous contemporary romances set mainly, but not exclusively, in Australia – think Malta, Finland, New Zealand or ? A dreamer and an optimist, her stories are a delicious cocktail of passion, mutual respect and loyalty because she still believes in happily-ever-afters.
Jennifer fell in love with romance as a teenager. Starting with historical romance. Everything in the school library and then a personal treasured collection of Georgette Heyer, hard copies and paperbacks. Historical romance remains her comfort food when the world gets too much. During the long Sydney COVID lockdowns, she binged on Grace Burrowes and others.
Jennifer is a member of Romance Writers of New Zealand (RWNZ). In 2025 Masquerade—Choosing Family Book 1 placed second in the RWNZ Koru Awards for Best Long Romance, and third for the Overall Award for Excellence. In 2023 Taylor’s Law placed second in the RWNZ Koru Awards for Best First Book.
Jennifer has won the Pacific Hearts competition twice, in 2019 with Grace Under Fire, the sequel to Taylor’s Law, and in 2017 with an earlier version of Finding Cleo (published Feb 2026). In 2017 it travelled under the title Loving is Believing.
Jennifer’s also a member of Romance Writers of Australia. Three times a finalist in the Emerald competition, including in 2017(Lela’s Choice under its working name Common Cause), 2018 (Taylor’s Law) and 2022 (Quinn, by design). She’s also a member of Romance Writers of America and has been a finalist in multiple chapter competitions. Jennifer values competitions for the constructive, honest, not always comfortable feedback they provide.
Jennifer loves those days when words flow and the joy of writing makes the hard slog worthwhile. She’s always made up stories about strangers in the street, in a café or strolling through an airport terminal; finding inspiration in snippets of conversations, news items and the sheer puzzle of human interactions.
Jennifer lives in inner-city Sydney, Australia, with the requisite number of partners (1) and animals (2). Her desk overlooks a park which nourishes her soul when she raises her head from her keyboard. She gets some of her best ideas walking—anywhere—or while doing physical activity. Yes, Virginia, housework does have a purpose. While Jennifer adores historical romance, she chose to write contemporary because she thought (wrongly) it needed less research while she was holding down a full-time job.
You can find out more about Jennifer from her socials or her monthly blog chat (subscribe below) or drop her a line via her contact form.
Jennifer Raines 