Jenny L. Howe – Jill Grinberg Literary Management

Jenny L. Howe

Jenny L. Howe is a professor of writing and literature at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, where she teaches courses that focus on the representation of bodies and identities in children’s media. Her academic writing has been published in Young Adult Literature in the Composition Classroom: Essays on Practical Applications (MacFarland Press, 2018). She is the author of three romantic comedies for adults, published by St. Martin’s Press: The Make-Up Test (September 2022), On the Plus Side (December 2023), and How to Get a Life in Ten Dates (December 2024). Her debut young adult novel, Love at Full Tilt, will be published by Delacorte in 2025. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and the “excellent ears club” — i.e. their two rescue dogs, Tucker and Dale.

Agent

Katelyn Detweiler

Love at Full Tilt

Hannah Hill at Delacorte has acquired Jenny L. Howe‘s YA debut Love at Full Tilt, as well as a second untitled YA romance. This joyful celebration of fandoms, amusement parks, whirlwind romance, and plus-size girls follows 18-year-old Lia, who secures a coveted spot in a scavenger hunt at world-renowned theme park Fableland. She’s determined to win the prize money and secure the golden ticket into her dream world—until fellow competitor Mason upends her plans and sends her heart careening off the tracks. Publication is set for summer 2025; Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management sold world English rights.

Publisher

Delacorte

Publication Date

Summer 2025

Age Category

Young Adult

Genre

Contemporary

Rights

JGLM

How to Get a Life in Ten Dates

In this charming new rom-com from Jenny L. Howe, a young woman who’s fed up with dating challenges her family and friends to set her up on ten dates, but gets more than she bargained for when her best friend adds himself to the roster.

Dating as a plus-size woman has been exhausting for Haleigh Berkshire. Sure, she’s only twenty-five, but she’s been doing it for a decade, and she’s beginning to think it’s time for a sabbatical. It doesn’t help that she’s been madly in love with her best friend, Jack, for years–but one disastrous weekend in college taught her the hard way that they’ll never be more than friends.

With her sister’s engagement party fast approaching, and her friends and family nagging her about a plus-one, Haleigh and Jack do what they do best: scheme. Haleigh agrees to let her friends and family set her up with ten men or women–and she’s sure that, once none of them prove to be good matches, her loved ones will finally let her fade into romantic retirement in peace.

To her surprise, some of Haleigh’s dates go better than expected, and for the first time in forever, she’s actually having fun. Until Jack starts breaking all the rules they’d made to mend their friendship in college. He produces a laundry list of flaws for everyone she likes, crashes some of her nights out, and finally shocks her by throwing himself into the mix. Dating Jack has always been the dream, but Haleigh is afraid of the reality. Is it worth risking her best friend for something that may have never been meant to be?

Praise for How to Get a Life in Ten Dates

“Jenny L. Howe’s How to Get a Life in Ten Dates felt like a ’90s romcom in the best possible way — show me a montage of hilariously bad dates and I will eat it up every time. I loved watching Haleigh and Jack try to navigate their relationship as friends to lovers back to friends and then maybe, hopefully, back to lovers again. I was rooting for them so hard! ” –Alicia Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers

“How to Get a Life in Ten Dates is giving me life. With a beautiful emphasis on mental health and plenty of humor, it’s a trippingly relatable romp that you’ll tear through faster than speed-dating.” –TJ Alexander, author of Triple Sec

“How to Get a Life in 10 Dates tickled every inch of my romance bone: it’s swoony, clever, hilarious, touching, and sexy. Haleigh and Jack are so stinkin’ cute that I found myself shouting ‘you’re perfect together, now kiss!!’. Talk about fated mates, these two are meant to be together and I loved every minute of their journey as they discovered it for themselves.” –Taleen Voskuni, award-winning author of Sorry, Bro and Lavash at First Sight

”Howe perfectly blends rom with com in How to Get a Life in Ten Dates. Cringy dating disasters keep the pages turning, and the friends-to-lovers relationship keeps you hanging on to the very end. A pleasurable, lighthearted romp!” –Suzanne Park, author of One Last Word

“I’m a sucker for the ‘I need to date a bunch of people because of x reason even though what I really need or want is right in front of me’ microtrope, and Jenny Howe gave me everything I wanted and more! Change the title to ‘How to Become a Jenny L. Howe fan for Life’ because that’s what this book did to me!” –Jo Segura, USA Today bestselling author of Raiders of the Lost Heart and Temple of Swoon

“Howe writes with such lightness and warmth and charm – every moment of this book felt like sinking into a sexy, hilarious hug. She never disappoints.” –Charlotte Stein, author of When Grumpy Met Sunshine

“How to Get a Life in Ten Dates has everything I want in a romcom: a bisexual heroine you can’t help but root for, a hilariously meddlesome family, an absurd wager, a believable love triangle, and so many laughs. Howe has written a hysterical and gorgeously queer coming of age romance. As much as I was rooting for Haleigh to find romance, I was also rooting for her to find herself. I dare you not to fall in love with this book.” –Alison Cochrun, author of The Charm Offensive and Here We Go Again

Publisher

St. Martin's Press

Publication Date

December 10, 2024

Age Category

Adult

Genre

Romantic Comedy

Rights

JGLM

On the Plus Side

Queer Eye and What Not to Wear meet All the Feels in On the Plus Side, a heartfelt and hilarious rom-com about the newest star of a plus-size make-over show as she tries—and fails—not to catch feelings for her cameraman on national TV.

After a painfully public break-up her senior year in college, Everly Winters is perfectly happy to navigate post-grad life like a good neutral paint color: appreciated but unnoticed. That’s why she refuses to apply for her dream job as a graphic designer, why she hides behind an anonymous username on the online forums for her favorite make-over show, On the Plus Side, and why she’s crushing so hard on her forever-unattainable co-worker. When no one notices you, they can’t break your heart or insist that you’re too much.

This plan is working perfectly until someone secretly nominates Everly for the next season of On the Plus Side. Overwhelmed by the fast-paced production schedule and the show’s trio of hosts, she finds comfort in grumpy but honest cameraman Colton Samuel (and his supremely well-sculpted arms). Soon Everly realizes that he’s someone she doesn’t mind being noticed by. In fact, she might even like it.

But when their growing connection is accidentally caught on camera, it sends the show’s ratings into a frenzy. Overcoming her own self-doubt and embracing change on national TV is hard enough; can Everly risk another heartbreak with the whole world watching?

Praise for On the Plus Side

“Timely, humorous, and heartfelt, this exceptional tale of self-acceptance deserves a place on every romance lover’s shelf.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Featuring a curvy heroine finding confidence while falling in love, Howe’s latest is a fun mix of What Not To Wear and Queer Eye. Recommended for fans of Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade and The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun.” –Library Journal

“Folks standing up for what is right always makes for a good story, and the friendship-to-love relationship between Everly and Logan is fun and fulfilling. For fans of All the Feels by Olivia Dade and Curves for Days by Laura Moher.” –Booklist

“A romantic comedy that’s both cozy and empowering.” –Kirkus

“Smart and funny…this one’s a must read, y’all.” –Book Riot

Publisher

St. Martin's Press

Publication Date

December 26, 2023

Age Category

Adult

Genre

Romantic Comedy

Rights

JGLM

The Make-Up Test

Allison Avery loves to win. After acing every academic challenge she’s come up against, she’s finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Sure, grad school isn’t easy—the classes are intense, her best friend is drifting away, and her students would rather pull all-nighters than discuss The Knight’s Tale—but she’s got this. Until her ex-boyfriend shows up. Colin Benjamin might be the only person who loves winning more than Allison does, and when they’re both assigned to TA for the same professor, the game is on.

What starts as a personal battle of wits (and lit) turns into all-out war when their professor announces a career-changing research trip opportunity—with one spot to fill. Competing with Colin is as natural as breathing, and after their devastating breakup two years ago, Allison refuses to let him come out on top. But when a family emergency and a late night road trip—plus a very sexy game of Scrabble—throw them together for a weekend, she starts to wonder if they could be stronger on the same team. And if they fall for each other all over again, Allison will have to choose between a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and what could be a twice-in-a-lifetime love.

Charmingly bookish, sharply feminist, and unequivocally fat positive, The Make-Up Test embraces the truth that people can sometimes change and grow, even when you least expect it.

Praise for The Make-Up Test

“Howe’s sparkling debut takes contemporary romance to medieval times in this witty rom-com about a pair of former lovers turned academic rivals who get a second chance at happily-ever-after.” –Booklist

“Original, clever, sizzling, The Make-Up Test is the perfect mix of unique settings, lovable characters, and the exquisite agony of second chance romances. It’s the grad school, rivals-to-lover book of my wildest, sexiest dreams! I’ll read anything Jenny Howe writes!” –Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis

“Charmingly nerdtastic…a delightfully sweet second chance, rivals-to-lovers story wrapped up in a cardigan, sprinkled liberally with Beowulf and Chaucer references, and garnished with cat socks.” –Jen DeLuca, author of Well-Met, Well-Played, and Well-Matched

“The Make-Up Test has all of the emotions of the roller coaster that’s university life woven into its pages. The second-chance romance is a soothing balm to my heart, and the fat representation is exactly what I have longed to see in books. We need more stories like The Make-Up Test!” –Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties

“Full of deliciously biting banter, laugh-out-loud observation, and heartbreaking introspection…The Make-Up Test is a testament to the risks and rewards of lowering your drawbridge for the one you love. By my troth, if this second-chance debut isn’t on your TBR already, fie on you!” –Lillie Vale, author of The Shaadi Set-Up and The Decoy Boyfriend

Publisher

St. Martin's Press

Publication Date

September 13, 2022

Age Category

Adult

Genre

Romantic Comedy

Rights

JGLM