Sarah Adams – Author Biography
Sarah Adams is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance novels. Known for her tender, funny, slow-burn love stories, she rose from self-publishing to become one of the most beloved voices in modern rom-com fiction, with a devoted following built largely through BookTok.
Early Life
Sarah Adams was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, where she still lives and writes. She dreamed of becoming a novelist from childhood but set the ambition aside as life filled up with marriage and, eventually, two daughters. When her girls were small, she finally began drafting her first novel during their nap times, building a writing habit in the quiet pockets of busy days.
Career
Adams began with Regency-era romance, publishing the Dalton family series about con artists and earls. She then pivoted to contemporary romance, and her breakthrough arrived with The Cheat Sheet (2022), a friends-to-lovers sports romance that became a sensation on TikTok and earned her a major traditional publishing deal. Its companion, The Rule Book, followed. She then launched the Rome, Kentucky series of small-town romances with When in Rome (2022), continuing through Practice Makes Perfect (2023) and Beg, Borrow, or Steal (2024). Her books have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.
Major Works
Her best-known books are The Cheat Sheet, The Rule Book (the Los Angeles Sharks duology), and the Rome, Kentucky novels When in Rome, Practice Makes Perfect, and Beg, Borrow, or Steal. Her earlier Regency romances and the It Happened in Nashville series round out her catalog.
Writing Style and Themes
Adams writes cozy, closed-door romance — her couples share kisses, longing glances, and emotional intensity rather than explicit scenes, without sacrificing chemistry. Her signature is the slow burn built on banter, pining, and gloriously awkward romantic comedy, often narrated in dual first-person perspectives. Her heroes are tender and emotionally available; her heroines are warm, funny, and surrounded by meddling siblings, teammates, and small-town neighbors. Beneath the humor, her books carry real emotional weight — touching on anxiety, grief, and self-worth — and always end with the reader feeling happier than when they started.
Legacy
Adams is part of the wave of authors whose careers were transformed by BookTok, proving that reader-driven social media could mint bestsellers outside traditional gatekeeping. Her success helped normalize sweet, low-steam romance as a commercial powerhouse, and her Rome, Kentucky series became a comfort-reading staple. She continues to write from Nashville, usually with a cat in her lap.
