Jane Stays Dreaming

by Britnee Meiser

Reality and fiction collide when a shy aspiring writer uses her larger-than-life anonymous blog to sabotage a budding relationship between the new girl in school and her childhood friend in this irresistible rom-com that takes notes from Jane Austen’s Emma for the social media age.

Shy, introverted Jane lives out a fantasy life in her online blog, where she writes elaborate posts about a teen girl with a glamorous life and a gorgeous boyfriend—two things Jane definitely doesn’t have. She only has her writing and her BFFs Camila and Leo, who she shares everything with—except the fact that she’s leading a double life online. Jane’s real life and her online life do not mix.

Then a new girl named Brynn, who Jane has had a rough start with, begins cozying up to Leo. Jane knows Brynn’s totally wrong for him, so when she finds out Brynn follows her blog, Jane does something risky: She starts using her blog to get her way in real life. But when the lines between fact and fiction start to blur, what does that mean for Jane’s anonymity, and the real-life relationships at stake?

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Middle Grade

368 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Britnee is a writer, amateur crocheter, and small creature enthusiast living in Brooklyn, New York. She's the author of ALL MY BESTS and JANE STAYS DREAMING. Her chapter book series, WITCHES OF PECULIAR, is published under the pseudonym Luna Graves.

Reviews

[Britnee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this book to honor all the girls in their rooms, scrolling the internet and wishing their lives looked a little more like the glamorous pictures in their feeds. Take it from me: you will grow up, and you will have the chance to experience everything life has to offer, but you'll never again be just a kid in your room with big dreams. So savor every minute! And remember that you don't need fancy things, or a BF/GF, or a big social media following to make your life special.

Your life is special already, simply because it's yours.

[Cait | GoodeyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Simon Kids for the gifted copy.

I think this is a good teen book!

Full review to come.

[Brigid Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crushed this!!

Love a story about young teens that actually honors the intensity of young teen emotions and does justice to the depth of the friendships, confusion, crushes, jealousy, yearning, and self-absorption and selfishness-discovery that define those years and Jane Stays Dreaming captures it all in a way that takes you right back.

Great book for any young readers figuring out their place in their world, and a nostalgic reminder for older readers of what it’s like to experience big feelings for the first time.

[Sab Ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

So Britnee Meiser never misses :,)

From the ages of 12-15 I practically LIVED on Tumblr. (I hopped back on it last year, but now I mainly just reblog Severance stuff.) It became this place where I could yap about anything and everything that interested me, and I didn’t have to worry about annoying anyone (the way I would with my real-life friends). So when I saw that the author of one of my favorite reads of last year was dropping a book for the girls that had a Tumblr phase, it immediately went on my TBR.

Jane is such an interesting character to be in the head of, because she’s not your traditionally “likeable” protagonist. Her thoughts are unfiltered and delusional and very very much fifteen. Like Jane Austen’s Emma, Jane is selfish and meddling, even if she truly thinks that she’s doing what’s best. What sets an “unlikeable” protagonist apart from an insufferable protagonist, is the way the surrounding cast treats them. If everyone around Jane acted like she was an angel and never did anything wrong? That would just make me annoyed with the narrative. But people challenge her and call her out when she’s being rude and essentially push her into character development.

Because, really, who wasn’t (at least internally) selfish at 15?

And, you know, I love love love friends to lovers and oblivious girl/obsessed boy <333

FOR FANS OF:
-Emma by Jane Austen
-Read It and Weep
-Taylor Swift’s Fearless, Speak Now, and 1989
-Radio Rebel
-Lizzie Maguire

[Grace Michaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of you who used to love watching Disney Channel Original movies, this is the book for you. Nostalgic, and heartfelt. Britnee nails it again with how she writes high school.

[The Page Ladies Book Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roses are red, violets are blue. This Valentine’s stack completely stole my heart. 💘📚

I decided to lean all the way into the love this year from swoony teen drama to giggly baby board books and honestly? Valentine’s reading just hits different!

Jane Stays Dreaming gave me all the modern-day rom-com chaos I crave. Jane secretly running a glamorous blog while trying to control her real-life love triangle? The secondhand embarrassment. The yearning. The messy heart decisions. It felt like Emma met social media and said, “Let’s complicate everything.” I was rooting for her even while whispering, “Girl, log OFF.” 💻💔

Then I shifted into pure, joyful sweetness with Chicka Chicka I Love You. That rhythmic, bouncy celebration of L-O-V-E is basically a hug in book form. It’s impossible not to read it out loud dramatically. I dare you.

And Do I Love You? Yes I Do!? Oh my heart. This one feels soft and lyrical, like golden-hour sunlight poured onto the page. It captures that steady, unconditional love between parent and child in a way that made me pause and just soak it in.

For the tiniest valentines, the Karen Katz lift-the-flap books Kisses, Kisses, Head to Toe! and What Does Baby Love? are interactive cuteness overload. Flaps, giggles, mirrors, tickles they turn reading into a full-on cuddle session. There is nothing sweeter than a baby discovering themselves in that mirror at the end. 🥹

And then there’s Valentines Are the Worst! which is for anyone who pretends they hate Valentine’s Day but secretly just wants tacos and maybe one tiny arrow of affection. Gilbert the Goblin vs. aggressive cupids? Comedy gold. It’s the perfect reminder that even the grumpiest goblin can’t outrun love forever. 🌮🏹

What I loved most about this mix is how it shows love in every stage: crushes, friendships, parent-child bonds, baby giggles, and even reluctant goblins. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be just one thing. It can be messy, mushy, loud, shy, lyrical, chaotic and still completely beautiful.

✨️Thank you Simon Kids for sharing this Valentine’s Day box with us!

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this fun new teenage rom-com from Britnee Meiser, readers follow introverted blogger Jane as she writes about the glamorous life she wishes she had on the secret blog that even her best friends Camila and Leo don’t know about. When new girl Brynn starts getting close to Leo, Jane decides to take things in hand to protect Leo from Brynn by using her blog -- which Brynn loves and has no idea that Jane is involved -- to influence her real life and Brynn’s decisions. As fact and fiction blur, Jane starts to lose control over her life, her blog, her relationships, and anonymity in ways which might just change her life. Charming, funny, and emotional, Jane’s struggles will be deeply relatable to teenage readers, especially because of her online engagement and social media use, and her social struggles are also relatable and well-written. The characters and school setting are all detailed and as complex as necessary, and the dynamics between Jane, her friends, and her enemies really build out her character and larger struggles. Well-written and packed with the right levels of drama and emotion, this book is fun, moving, and relatable, and readers will enjoy Britnee Meiser’s teenage reimagining of Jane Austen’s Emma.

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Aladdin for the advance copy.

[mrd1104n · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Britnee Meiser,
This was my first book of you that I read, and I’ve already fallen in love with this one, even though my teenage life wasn’t as Jane and people there(I was born and raised in country where is in Asia) so many cultures or stuff kind of different than I used to, but I did LOVE the vibe like this, Highschool things, suburban life and Nostalgia. it’s like my dream as well that I wished I wanted to have that life.
Even some part of Jane is irritating me, but make sense that she’s fifteen girl, and and Leo was so so sweet or I just feel like this with every characters in trope Friends to lovers, I don’t know but I liked the bond Jane and Leo have been all along, again that I wished I had my childhood best friend like this! 😌🥰 but I don’t have one and it’s okay,
I could still find some in books like this hehe. I mean seeing them love each other.🤗
I would post more about my thoughts on my bookgram even you may see or not, so in case you might read this review, let you know that you’re my new favorite author now 💘💌

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know whether this is a 3 star or like 5 star. I really don’t know. I know it’s supposed to be dramatic and messy and make you mad because it’s just a teenage girl and it’s more realistic than the “ideal” girl with an “ideal” like like Anastasia had. I really hated that Leo never believed Jane when she would say things about Brynn. Like why believe the new girl over your best friend and the girl you’ve been pining after forever. And I get that Brynn was talking about Ethan in her first couple messages but I don’t get why she did the advice to Leo too? Anyway I lwk deeply resonate with Jane. She just wants to feel wanted. By her friends, parents, people online, js everyone. I also get what Camilla said in her and Jane’s fight but I also think it’s mostly her fault… anyway even though for now my rating is 3 stars, I would still highly recommend if you’re a teen

[Mama V · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Jane Stays Dreaming” is an engaging rom-com that delivers much-anticipated romantic tension, misunderstandings, and comical moments, building up to a mess that gets resolved in the final chapters. Jane’s character is developed well; the reader spends a lot of time in her head, enough to get blindsided (just like her) by the reality that causes Jane to admit her shortcoming – becoming too dependent on her alter-ego - Anastasia. Her self-reflection and accepting the honest feedback from friends and family help her to achieve a higher level of maturity and to feel “home” again with her soulmate.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Fans of this author's ALL MY BESTS will want to take a look at this interesting view of developing an online fantasy life, but I couldn't get past the idea that a teen in 2025 would be blogging, and that people would be reading the blog and commenting on it. If this had been a historical fiction book set in 2005, I can definitely see that. I'm also not entirely sure that my students have any appreciation for Jane Austen.

Cute story, good message, and a great cover. Just not for me.

[Jessica Milliner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows Jane a high school student who created a blog. On her blog, she made it fictional and goes under Anastasia. Jane uses her writing as an escape into a different glamorous life. She only has her writing and her two friends. Then a new girl named Brynn came in. It then changes everything in Jane’s life.

Reading this book shows a true meaning of life, whether it’s friendships or writing a blog. Also, living a life as a different person through a blog post. It’s a good young-adult read.

[Zach Rubbico · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who was on Tumblr back when they were in college, I remember these types of profiles that existed that had the perfect aesthetic.

It was cool to see the other side of it all as someone who carefully curated her social media presence to this idealized life and learned to just be her more authentic self and be there for her friends.

While Jane frustrated me at times, but that's the point of these books isn't it? She needed to grow and realize many things about herself

[Lisa Hoppe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to make of this one. It took me way longer to get through it than most middle grade. Then again, most middle grade doesn’t have characters in high school. It didn’t really read like YA either. The story felt too drawn out and Jane was one of the most unlikable MG protagonists I think I’ve read. She had her bit of redemption at the end, but it was a little too little too late for me.

[Andrew Hobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly immersive book that sucked me in from the first page. By the end I felt like I actually knew all the main players and was getting upset when stupid Ethan was talking. Wish I could have read this when I was in high school.

[Kristen Amen · Rating 3 out of 5]

another touching book by this author, a sweet and enjoyable story, thanks to Edelweiss+ for the ARC

[Maura Hobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read by Britnee Meiser! I love the way she brings real life situations for teens to the forefront. A great way to allow people to know they are not alone in their thoughts.

[Beezy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. perfect for 12-16 years old girls.

[Harmony · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
I love leo and Jane so much

[Mary Crowley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ms ok. Sweet romance. Friends to lovers.

[Nita · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Cute concept, but I wouldn't recommend it. First, the protagonist is very self centered and difficult to like. Second, the content is too mature for a middle grade book.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. It’s a clean read that I can recommend to younger teens.

[Edward Gore · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly breezy read. Hilarious, with an important message about identity to boot!

[Flor Reza · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ / 14➕

[Phoenix Firelight · Rating 3 out of 5]

cheesey but a definitely a beach read

[Melissa Rapson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story of friendship, first love and NYC. Also good subplot on living a double life online. Good for middle school.

[Julie Manfra · Rating 3 out of 5]

VERY predictable