Shirley Jump

Born and raised in Indiana, author Shirley Jump started out writing articles from the early age of 11 years old. Admittedly, her first foray into writing came as both a surprise and an accident. Inspired by the experience of a family from Laos, who were being hosted at her family home, a young Shirley penned an article on the real and humorous trials that can occur when families from two vastly different cultures have to share the same space.

The best place to start is the Once Upon a Kiss series, the earliest of Shirley Jump's multi-book series: it opens with The Prince, The Lady & The Tower (1997) and runs to 13 books across 1997–2018, ending with A Season Of Change (2018). Shirley Jump's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Shirley Jump has 272 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1995 and 2024. 242 of them belong to 32 named series — the largest being the Baby On Board series with 31 books — and 30 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Shirley Jump's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Once Upon a Kiss (1997–2018, 13 books), Soulmates (2002–2005, 7 books) and Baby On Board (2004–2012, 31 books), plus 28 more.

This guide splits Shirley Jump's 272 books into 32 named series and 30 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Baby On Board (31 books, 2004–2012); In Her Shoes... (17 books, 2008–2012); Once Upon a Kiss (13 books, 1997–2018); Hotel Marchand (12 books, 2006–2007); Fun Factor (11 books, 2010–2021), plus 27 further series.