Is 'Jumping Jenny' Based On A True Story?

Jenny has a secret, one that she hasn't told a single person: she's not single, but her boyfriend has a strict family that doesn't allow relationships. After months of guarding it closely and playing the part of the happy singleton, one night is all it takes for that secret to come out. For reasons she doesn't understand, she spills everything to a stranger she never thought she'd see again, but he's got other ideas. Will her love be strong enough to withstand lies, betrayal and a jealous, possessive guy she desperately wants to forget?

I knew my husband, Josh Perkins, had faked his death and taken on his younger twin brother's identity—but I never said a word. Instead, I went straight to the commander of the military district and filed an official report of my husband's death, requesting his name be permanently removed from the service rolls. In my last life, my brother-in-law died in an accident. Josh gave up his rank as regimental commander, abandoned his own name, and stepped into his brother's shoes—all to spare his fragile sister-in-law from becoming a widow. Back then, I recognized him immediately. I confronted him and demanded to know why he was pretending to be a dead man. But Josh just looked through me, cold as a winter morning. "Riley, I know you're grieving Josh. But I'm not him. Don't mistake me for my brother." He shielded that delicate sister-in-law of his behind him, then shoved me into the icy river and warned me not to harbor delusions. Later, our five-year-old daughter cried, asking why her daddy didn't want her anymore. For that, she was dragged to the cowshed for "reflection"—left there, starving, for three days and nights. My mother-in-law called me a curse, a jinx who'd killed her son, and threw my daughter and me out with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Josh made sure everyone knew I'd "gone mad"—that I was lusting after my brother-in-law before my husband was even cold in the ground. The whole town turned their backs on us. That last winter, I wandered the streets with my girl, dazed and numb, until the cold finally took us both. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the very day Josh buried his old life and stole his brother's.

On the day I rejected Isabelle Hale, Wall Street's newest golden girl, everyone thought I had lost my mind. She had everything: a Wharton degree, a national finance championship, a perfect family name, and a résumé polished enough to make doors open before she even knocked. But I knew what was hiding behind that name. Fifty years ago, her grandfather stole my grandmother's acceptance letter, her New York scholarship, and the future she had earned with her own hands. He used them to escape an Appalachian coal town with another woman, then built himself into a celebrated Ivy League professor who lectured rich students about ethics. My real grandmother, Grace Walker, was left behind in coal dust and shame. My mother grew up carrying the weight of that stolen life. They lifted me out anyway. I made it all the way to Manhattan, to a glass conference room at Northbridge Capital, where Isabelle sat across from me in a black suit tailored like victory. She thought her family name would protect her. She thought I would bow. Instead, I closed her file and said, "You didn't pass." By the next morning, they had fired me, dragged my name through the mud, and turned a press conference into my public trial. They forgot one thing. I didn't climb to the top of Wall Street to beg for a seat at their table. I came to take back every name, every chance, and every voice they stole from women like us.

When my husband told me to go bungee jumping, I did not scream. I did not cause a scene. I just nodded and said, "Okay." Keep in mind, I was eight months pregnant. I only agreed because I had already lived through this nightmare once before. In my past life, his precious childhood best friend, Lily Lane, had been feeling down. My husband, desperate to be her hero, told her he would make her one wish come true. Her wish? She wanted a partner to go bungee jumping with. My husband was terrified of heights, so he could not do it himself. Instead, he volunteered me. I refused on the spot, obviously. I told them I was not going to strap a harness over a baby bump and jump off a bridge. Lily got upset because I would not go. She went to a bar to drown her sorrows, and things went terribly wrong. Someone spiked her drink, and she was assaulted. She could not handle the trauma. She left a suicide note for my husband that read: "If I hadn't gone to the bar that night, would everything be different?" When my husband read that note, he snapped. He wrapped his hands around my throat. "Why didn't you just go with her?" he screamed, squeezing tighter. "Would it have killed you to just say yes?" He strangled me until everything went black. My unborn baby died with me. However, then, my eyes snapped open. I was back. I was standing right there in the moment my husband was asking me to jump.

Johnny Simmons thrives on competition—whether in the pool, in playful bets, or in charming his way through life. He’s used to being in control, but when Jane Shepherd enters his world, she proves to be an unexpected challenge. Assigned to his study group, Jane is sharp, unfiltered, and unimpressed by his usual charm. Their first real interaction is filled with witty banter, subtle tension, and a clash of personalities that leaves Johnny both frustrated and intrigued. A fiercely competitive swimmer meets his match in a sharp-witted girl who challenges him at every turn, winning unexpected bets and forcing him to rethink what it truly means to win—not just in competition, but in love and life. Jenny & Jay - Volume 1 is the first installment in a five-novel New Adult series, following the lives of five childhood friends—Johnny Simmons, Paul, Brian, Aaron, and Daryl—all competitive swimmers bound by their deep friendship and relentless drive to win. While romance plays a central role, this is not a simple on-again, off-again love story; instead, the series explores the evolving relationships, rivalries, and personal growth of these young men as they navigate life, love, and ambition.

Jenny & Jay - Volume 2 After the breakup... Johnny Simmons thrives on competition—whether in the pool, in playful bets, or in charming his way through life. He’s used to being in control, but when Jane Shepperd enters his world, she proves to be an unexpected challenge. Assigned to his study group, Jane is sharp, unfiltered, and unimpressed by his usual charm. Their first real interaction is filled with witty banter, subtle tension, and a clash of personalities that leaves Johnny both frustrated and intrigued. Jenny & Jay - Volume 2 is the second installment in a five-novel New Adult series, following the lives of five childhood friends—Johnny Simmons, Paul, Brian, Aaron, and Daryl—all competitive swimmers bound by their deep friendship and relentless drive to win. While romance plays a central role, this is not a simple on-again, off-again love story; instead, the series explores the evolving relationships, rivalries, and personal growth of these young men as they navigate life, love, and ambition.