Showing results by author "J.A. Jernay" in All Categories

“I love the way [Ainsley Walker] goes to a different country in each book and explores. It makes me want to visit those places!” – 5-star review A faraway island. An impending hurricane. And a missing pearl brooch. An airplane en route to the U.S. is forced to land on the island of Puerto Rico—and onboard is AINSLEY WALKER Stranded in torrential rain, she is guided by another passenger towards an old plantation house in the island’s tropical interior, where she meets an elderly woman who has lost a precious family heirloom. It's a pearl brooch that had once belonged to an actual ...

The people were tough, but the times were even tougher. It was Detroit’s Golden Era. The 1920s. The new automobile industry was booming, jobs were plentiful, and people were happy to work for five dollars a day. In this collection of all-new stories, J.A. Jernay paints a picture of a period long gone—an era of immigrants, scrub football teams, factory production, whiskey runners, and violence. There are stories of mothers and fathers, of organized crime and disorganized cops, of ambition and failure, of loud racism and quiet opportunities. Discover the sights, sounds, and challenges of ...

Some fish are meant to be caught. Others are meant to slip out of your hands and flop around on the boat deck of life. Strikethru is about the fish that slapped you in the face before leaping back into the sea. In this painfully honest and sharply funny confessional, J.A. Jernay takes you on a guided tour of his relationships gone wrong—roommates, friends, lovers, a wife, and people who still haven’t returned that message from a decade ago. In Strikethru, you’ll find stories of— friends who disappeared like Homer Simpson into a bush romantic partners who gleefully sabotaged new ...

“I didn't want to put it down after I got into the thick of the action!” - 5-star review A faraway land. A famous soccer player. And a missing necklace. No ordinary piece of jewelry, this rhodochrosite had belonged to his birth mother, a woman he has never met. She had disappeared during the Argentine dirty war of the nineteen-seventies. This superstar really wants it back, and he refuses to play soccer again until someone finds it. It’s shaping up to be a national tragedy. Until the arrival of... AINSLEY WALKER Fresh off her amethyst adventure, she plunges into the brash heart of ...

A faraway country. A desperate investigator. And a priceless missing tile. After months of unemployment, Ainsley Walker is wondering if her career as a gemstone detective will ever take off. When suddenly… A handsome importer asks her to travel to Portugal—the gorgeous but overlooked jewel of Western Europe—to search for a stolen tile with a priceless sapphire baked into it. She’s broke. This is her way out. It’s another fast-paced adventure. Soon Ainsley is racing across the country— —from thieves’ fairs to antique trams— —from the dark spirits of Roman ruins to the ...

Bradley and Kristina are looking forward to their big day, but the people around them are concerned that they’re not making the right decision. Will the young couple find a way to ask themselves the right question about their relationship—before it’s too late?

For fans of all things traditionally British… Eccentric professors. Black dinner gowns. Leather chairs in old libraries. It’s the mid-1990s. Age nineteen, J.A. Jernay arrives at Oxford University as an innocent abroad and begins keeping a meticulously written diary of his experiences. Plunging into nearly a thousand years of English literature and history, this young American leads the reader through daily life at the world’s third-oldest university. From drinking warm beer at back-alley pubs to standing for dinner in a formal black gown at the college dining hall— From punting on ...

For fans of Raymond Chandler, Sunset Boulevard, and all things noir... It’s Los Angeles. Michael is a brilliant seventeen-year-old with a mind for numbers and a habit of staying out late. Jake Logan, a struggling actor, is his private tutor. Curious, he follows the boy across the city one night—and discovers the unexpected. A team of teenagers is learning how to count cards in blackjack. They’re led by an elderly but devious mastermind, Father McCauley. He’s a Jesuit priest who’s spent thirty years helping kids finance their college educations by teaching them how to fleece ...

A dead wife. A fractured family. And a shocking last will and testament. Stephen Craving, a philanderer, knows he screwed up. After his wife loses her battle with cancer, he discovers that she has cut him out of her entire million-dollar estate. But she left him a way to get back in. To gain the inheritance, Stephen must bring together the seven estranged members of his extended family for a family vacation to Orlando, Florida. It’s the epic journey of a modern American family. Moving from the Midwestern heartland to Floridian swampland— From Walt Disney World to a world of economic ...

A faraway land. A valuable amethyst. And the auction of a lifetime. Amateur gemstone detective Ainsley Walker accepts an offer from an elderly art dealer to travel to the country of Uruguay—the forgotten jewel of South America—to buy a priceless treasure. But it’s not that easy. It’s never that easy. Things go wrong, and Ainsley’s plans are flipped upside down. Soon she’s carried on a fast-paced runaway adventure— —from the historic streets of Montevideo to the muddy roads of remote villages— —from rural beef ranches to elite beach resorts— Along the way, Ainsley finds...

A disappeared husband. A life up in the air. And a missing engagement ring. Ainsley Walker is going through a rough time. Her husband has walked out of her life for no reason—and she doesn’t have a clue where he’s gone. Then she discovers something else: Her diamond engagement ring has disappeared too. Convinced that he’s stolen it, Ainsley embarks on a cross-country journey to find her missing husband, her missing ring—and her undecided future. Running from the beaches of Miami to the vineyards of California to the streets of Chicago— Ainsley learns the truth about her past, ...

Forget the outdated concept of the deferred-life plan. With the revolution in remote technology, you don’t need to wait until the end of your life to travel. Whether your dream is to park yourself on a beach, explore a foreign city, or stay on the move, Advice from a Former Digital Nomad offers the blueprint you need. During his four-year-long international journey originating in the covid-19 pandemic, J.A. Jernay traveled from the Caribbean to Europe to Latin America, from cities to mountains to beaches. Along the way, he focused on one life-changing question: What is the best version of...

A faraway land. A brutal dictatorship. And a missing teacup. In America, a Korean immigrant church is teetering on brink of bankruptcy. Its only hope is to recover a valuable onyx teacup that had belonged to its minister’s grandfather decades ago, before the division of the Korean peninsula. The problem: The treasure has been located in North Korea, one of the worst countries in the world. Its people have only known poverty, propaganda, and starvation. But there’s no time to waste. Someone needs to recover it—fast. Enter Ainsley Walker. In her most thrilling mystery yet, Ainsley ...

A faraway land. A famous matador. And a missing sword. Years ago, a legendary torero named Pepe was killed by a Miura bull. Now his son Pepito, another matador, is going to use his father’s celebrated tourmaline sword to take revenge upon that same breed. The sold-out bullfight is only a week away. There’s a problem. Someone has stolen it. Fourteen thousand fans are expecting the return of the sword of Pepe. His son needs to find it—fast. ENTER AINSLEY WALKER. With the clock ticking, she plunges into the wild, beating heart of traditional Spanish culture. Ainsley’s fast-paced ...

You don’t need all the answers—just the courage to take the first step. In Bold: A Memoir, author J.A. Jernay delivers an unforgettable story about daring to live a life guided by guts, not guarantees. From leaving behind predictable paths to chasing dreams in unfamiliar places, each chapter is an invitation to defy limits and trust yourself to survive every outcome. Follow the author as he finds a foothold in the Washington, D.C. political media establishment navigates the pitfalls of the Hollywood entertainment industry climbs the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states restarts ...

A string of pearls makes its way through three generations of women in the Clarendon family. Their behavior changes but will respect for family tradition survive?

For fans of Raymond Chandler, Sunset Boulevard, and all things noir... It’s Los Angeles. Jake Logan, a struggling young actor with a Harvard background, hasn’t gotten a part in months. A chance meeting with an old friend leads to an unusual new gig—as a private tutor for April Kim, a highly intelligent seventeen-year-old from a wealthy Asian family. Her life goal: to attend Harvard. But there’s a big problem. Jake soon discovers that April is a devious, manipulative, backstabbing overachiever who will stop at absolutely nothing to get what she wants. It’s a battle of wills, and ...

A faraway land. An ancient pilgrimage trail. And a missing tiara. Millions of hikers have attempted to walk the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain—one of the world’s most famous Christian pilgrimages—but Ainsley Walker never thought she’d be one of them. Until now. A mysterious priest has challenged her to find a valuable crystal tiara hidden along the path. She’s the only one who knows where it is. Unprepared and overconfident, Ainsley begins her grueling quest. But things conspire against her—group hostels, scorching weather, brutal terrain, wild predators, and even her ...

A TOUGH PROFESSOR WHO’S BEEN THROUGH SOME THINGS Meet Cosmo Bennett. A map expert who was fired by the government for asking smart questions. He’s a guy who needs to do the right thing, even if it costs him. You know the type. A CONFERENCE ON A CARIBBEAN ISLAND Waiting to make a presentation to his colleagues, Cosmo meets Harriet, a local woman whose son was brutally attacked by a stranger. The man had been looking for the family’s precious heirloom— A MYSTERIOUS HAND-DRAWN MAP OF THE REGION The map is half a century old, and what it means is anyone’s guess. But local family lore ...

It’s Prohibition-era Detroit. With a family to feed, Edmund Grabowski is short on money and even shorter on patience—until a shady pharmacist makes him a dangerous offer. Will he survive his first descent into criminality—or will it destroy his life?