Katie Sise
Katie Sise has published 9 books across 3 series. The recommended reading order starts with Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career (2010).
Katie Sise is an American novelist who writes domestic suspense centered on women navigating secrets and lies. Her sixth novel, The Break, was selected as a Zibby's Book Club pick, and her work has appeared on best-of lists from Good Morning America, The New York Post, PopSugar, Parade Magazine, and PureWow.
Before she turned to fiction, Sise designed a line of jewelry worn by Beyoncé and Cameron Diaz and featured in Vogue, W, and Elle. That early success opened doors to television, where she worked as a style consultant for HSN and Oxygen and as a host. The same eye for what draws people in now shapes her thrillers, which pull readers into high-stakes plots that hold tension from the first page.
Her standalone novels, including We Were Mothers and Open House, share the sharp plotting and relatable characters that have become her signature. She also wrote the App series, which carries the same instinct for suspense across multiple books. Sise lives outside New York City with her husband, four children, and a golden retriever who has finally calmed down.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of App Books
- Tagsyoung-adultfantasyromancechildrensci-fiDescriptionAudrey McCarthy is a programming genius with her sights set on a scholarship. The prize comes from Public, a global computing giant, and she's got the perfect project to win it: a matchmaking app that pairs people based on compatibility algorithms. But something's wrong with her results. The matches don't add up. The data feels off. Audrey starts digging and uncovers something darker than a coding error. Public isn't just offering scholarships out of goodwill. They're running a secret program designed to influence teens, and her app has become tangled in their web. What started as a clever project to secure her future has turned into something she never signed up for. Now Audrey faces a choice. She can stay quiet, take the scholarship, and pretend she didn't see what she saw. Or she can blow the whistle on a corporation powerful enough to ruin her before she even gets started. Sise delivers a sharp, timely thriller about the cost of ambition and the algorithms that shape our lives in ways we can't always see. Perfect for readers who like their tech stories grounded in real stakes and their heroines willing to fight back.Publication date1 May 2013Amazon rating3.9/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherHarperCollins US
- Tagsyoung-adultromancechildrenDescriptionReality television meets self-reckoning in this sharp examination of image and identity. Blake Dawkins is eighteen and trapped in a role she never auditioned for: her high school's designated mean girl. When the Pretty App offers a chance to compete for a spot on a reality show, she enters a national contest that promises visibility, validation, and escape. But the competition becomes something else entirely. The stakes at home are mounting. Blake's carefully constructed facade begins to crack. What starts as a bid for television fame transforms into something more urgent: a chance to shed the person everyone expects her to be and discover who she actually is beneath the performance. Sise crafts a story that understands the particular cruelty of being known only by your worst self, and the courage it takes to dismantle that reputation piece by piece. This is a novel about the gap between who we are and who we're seen to be, and what happens when a girl decides that gap is no longer tolerable. Blake's journey is messy, uncomfortable, and real—a portrait of transformation that earns its resolution.Publication date27 April 2015Amazon rating4.5/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherHarperCollins US
Order of Non-Fiction Books
- Tagsnon-fictionDescriptionYou're standing at the crossroads between passion and profession, sketchbook in hand or camera slung over your shoulder, wondering if the creative life you dream about can actually pay the bills. Katie Sise knows that territory intimately, and she's mapped out the terrain with the kind of practical wisdom that only comes from walking the path yourself. This isn't another dreamy manifesto about following your bliss—it's a blueprint for building something real. Sise dismantles the myth that creativity and commerce can't coexist, offering instead a clear-eyed guide to transforming artistic talent into sustainable work. The book pulses with the energy of possibility tempered by pragmatism, acknowledging both the thrill and the very real challenges of making art your livelihood. What sets this guide apart is its refusal to sugarcoat the journey while still championing the destination. Sise addresses the questions that keep creative women up at night: how to price your work, how to market yourself without selling out, how to navigate rejection and self-doubt, how to balance artistic integrity with financial necessity. Each chapter feels like a conversation with a mentor who's been there and wants you to succeed. For anyone who's ever been told that creativity isn't a "real career," this book offers both validation and a roadmap forward, proving that talent and tenacity can indeed build something lasting.Publication date9 September 2010Amazon rating4.6/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherRunning Press
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tagsyoung-adultromanceDescriptionThe Academy stands before you like a promise and a warning, its ivy-covered walls holding secrets that have festered for generations. Katie Sise draws you into a world where privilege and prestige come at a cost, where the gleaming halls of an elite institution mask something far darker beneath their polished surface. The air here is thick with ambition and unspoken rules, and you can almost feel the weight of expectation pressing down on everyone who walks through those imposing gates. At the heart of this story is a young woman navigating the treacherous social landscape of a place where appearances are everything and trust is a dangerous luxury. Sise crafts a narrative that pulses with tension, peeling back layers of carefully maintained facades to reveal the complicated truths people will do anything to protect. The relationships here are fraught and complex, built on shifting ground where alliances form and dissolve like morning mist, and where one wrong move could mean social annihilation or something far worse. This is a story about the price of belonging, about what happens when the institutions meant to shape us instead consume us. Sise writes with a keen understanding of how power operates in closed systems, how silence becomes complicity, and how the past never stays buried for long. The Academy is a gripping exploration of ambition, secrets, and the dangerous games people play when everything is at stake.Publication date22 May 2018Amazon rating3.8/5Print length288LanguageEnglishPublisherHarperCollins
- TagssuspensethrillerDescriptionWhat happens when the life you've built for your family begins to crack, and the secrets you've buried refuse to stay hidden? Katie Sise's We Were Mothers explores the fragile architecture of motherhood, where every choice carries weight and the past has a way of surfacing when you least expect it. This standalone novel weaves together the lives of women navigating the complexities of raising children while wrestling with their own histories and the personas they've constructed to survive. Sise crafts a story that feels intimate and unsettling, examining how mothers protect not just their children but the versions of themselves they need to believe in—and what happens when those carefully maintained boundaries begin to dissolve. It's a book that understands the particular loneliness of motherhood, the way it can isolate even as it connects, and the fierce, sometimes frightening lengths we go to for the people we love. If you're drawn to domestic suspense that prioritizes emotional truth over cheap thrills, this will pull you in and hold you there.Publication date1 October 2018Amazon rating4/5Print length353LanguageEnglishPublisherLittle A
- TagssuspensemysterythrillerDescriptionKatie Sise's *Open House* arrives without fanfare, a standalone that demands attention through restraint alone. The title suggests domesticity. Invitation. But also exposure. The atmosphere here is suburban unease, the kind that hums beneath manicured lawns and friendly waves. Sise constructs a world where the familiar becomes suspect, where the ritual of showing one's home transforms into something darker. The open house—a threshold moment, strangers wandering through private spaces—becomes the perfect stage for secrets to surface. The tension builds in quiet rooms and empty hallways, in the gap between what we show and what we hide. This is domestic suspense that understands its terrain. Sise knows how vulnerability works, how opening your door can mean opening yourself to danger. The novel moves with purpose through its premise, exploring the risks women take simply by existing in spaces others can enter. It's a book about boundaries and the people who cross them, about the performance of normalcy and what lurks beneath. The prose stays lean. The stakes feel real. Sise has crafted a thriller that uses the mundane machinery of real estate to examine deeper fears about safety, trust, and the homes we build around ourselves.Publication date1 December 2020Amazon rating4.1/5Print length288LanguageEnglishPublisherLittle A
- TagsthrillersuspenseDescriptionWhat happens when the life you've carefully constructed begins to fracture, and the cracks reveal something you never expected to find? Katie Sise's The Break follows a woman navigating the precarious terrain of motherhood, marriage, and identity as the carefully maintained surface of her existence begins to splinter. When the pressures of daily life—the relentless demands of caring for young children, the weight of expectations, the slow erosion of self—become too much to bear, she finds herself at a breaking point that forces her to confront who she really is beneath the roles she's been playing. Sise writes with an unflinching eye toward the quiet desperation that can accumulate in the corners of seemingly ordinary lives, capturing the particular claustrophobia of feeling trapped within your own choices while everyone around you assumes you're fine. This is a novel that understands the specific terror of losing yourself in increments so small you don't notice until you're already gone, and the courage it takes to claw your way back. Sise doesn't offer easy answers or tidy resolutions, but instead presents a portrait of a woman fighting to reclaim her life with all the messiness and uncertainty that entails. The Break is essential reading for anyone who has ever felt the ground shift beneath them and wondered if they had the strength to stand.Publication date1 November 2022Amazon rating4.3/5Print length347LanguageEnglishPublisherLittle A
- TagsthrillermysterysuspenseDescriptionThere's something unsettling about a house that promises escape but delivers something darker instead, and Katie Sise understands this tension perfectly in The Vacation Rental. When a family arrives at what should be their dream getaway, they quickly discover that the idyllic retreat harbors secrets that refuse to stay hidden, and the line between relaxation and dread begins to blur in ways they never anticipated. What starts as a simple vacation becomes a taut exploration of trust, vulnerability, and the strangers we invite into our lives when we rent someone else's carefully curated paradise. Sise crafts a thriller that taps into our modern anxieties about the spaces we temporarily inhabit and the digital facades that promise safety but may conceal danger. The vacation rental itself becomes a character—beautiful on the surface, but with shadows in every corner and a history that won't stay buried. As the family confronts unsettling discoveries and realizes they may not be as alone as they thought, the novel builds its suspense with precision, asking uncomfortable questions about how well we can ever really know the places we stay or the people who own them. It's a page-turner that will make you think twice before booking that too-good-to-be-true listing, delivering both chills and a sharp commentary on our trust in the sharing economy.Publication date1 May 2024Amazon rating4.2/5Print length284LanguageEnglishPublisherLittle A
- TagssuspensethrillerDescriptionYou Must Be New Here arrives as a sharp-edged examination of suburban belonging and the quiet violence of social exclusion, delivered through Katie Sise's unflinching eye for the hierarchies that govern American community life. The novel positions itself at the intersection of domestic suspense and social commentary, asking what happens when the carefully maintained facades of neighborhood civility begin to crack under the weight of secrets, judgment, and the desperate need to fit in. Sise constructs her narrative around the familiar terrain of the newcomer navigating an established social order, but she resists easy categorization, allowing the story to function both as a page-turning exploration of interpersonal tension and as a meditation on the costs of conformity. The suburban setting becomes more than backdrop—it transforms into a pressure chamber where every gesture carries meaning, every invitation signals acceptance or rejection, and the stakes of social missteps feel genuinely threatening. The prose moves with the rhythm of observation, capturing the small cruelties and calculated kindnesses that define these insular worlds. What distinguishes this work is its refusal to offer simple villains or heroes, instead presenting a community where everyone is complicit in maintaining the systems that both protect and suffocate them. Sise understands that the most compelling dramas often unfold not in grand gestures but in the accumulation of small betrayals, and she mines that territory with precision and unsettling recognition.Publication date8 July 2025Amazon rating4.2/5Print length315LanguageEnglishPublisherLittle A
Frequently Asked Questions about Katie Sise
Katie Sise writes in distinct series and standalone novels. The App series includes The Boyfriend App and The Pretty App. Her standalone novels are The Academy, We Were Mothers, Open House, The Break, and The Vacation Rental. The non-fiction book Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career is also available. Readers can choose to begin with any of her standalone novels or the first book in the App series, depending on their preference for fiction or a specific reading experience.
A good place to start with Katie Sise is with The Boyfriend App, the first book in her App series. Alternatively, readers might choose to begin with one of her standalone novels. We Were Mothers and The Break are both standalone novels that offer a complete story. Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career is a non-fiction option for those interested in career development.
The books within Katie Sise's App series should be read in order: The Boyfriend App followed by The Pretty App. Her other novels, such as The Academy, We Were Mothers, Open House, The Break, and The Vacation Rental, are standalone titles. These can be read in any order, as each tells a self-contained story. Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career is a non-fiction work and does not need to be read in conjunction with her fiction.
Katie Sise writes both standalone novels and series. The App series, consisting of The Boyfriend App and The Pretty App, forms one such series. She has also published several standalone novels, including The Academy, We Were Mothers, Open House, The Break, and The Vacation Rental. Her non-fiction book, Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career, is also a distinct work.
Katie Sise has written at least eleven books. This includes two books in the App series: The Boyfriend App (2013) and The Pretty App (2015). She has also published multiple standalone novels: The Academy (2018), We Were Mothers (2018), Open House (2020), The Break (2022), and The Vacation Rental (2024), with one additional standalone novel mentioned. Her non-fiction book, Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career, was published in 2010.
The first book Katie Sise wrote was Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career, published in 2010. This non-fiction work focuses on career development for creative individuals. Her first fiction novel was The Boyfriend App, which launched the App series in 2013.
Katie Sise's most recent book is The Vacation Rental, published in 2024. This is a standalone novel. Prior to this, she released The Break in 2022, another standalone title. Her other recent standalone novels include Open House (2020) and We Were Mothers and The Academy, both published in 2018.
Katie Sise writes young adult fiction, often with a focus on contemporary themes and relationships, as seen in her App series. She also writes adult fiction, with standalone novels exploring various aspects of life and relationships, such as family dynamics and personal challenges. Additionally, she has written a non-fiction book offering career advice for creative individuals.
James Redfield
Coming soon
Jenna Bush Hager
Coming soon
We verified the reading order for Katie Sise's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: April 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Katie Sise Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/katie-sise