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Verdict: A warm, funny ice-queen ER romance built on a charity auction gone wrong, with banter readers love and an ending that lands, held back by a slow burn so slow the first kiss comes at around the 80% mark.
Best for: Readers who love ice-queen doctors, workplace banter and comfort-read Jae, and who are happy to wait a long time for a payoff that arrives without a third-act breakup.
Heat level: ★★★☆☆ (3/5 — open door, but only one or two scenes, late)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 — a 4.18 Goodreads average across nearly 4,000 ratings, with pacing as the main reservation)
Tropes: Ice queen, grumpy-sunshine, charity date auction, workplace romance, doctor and nurse, opposites attract, slow burn, forced proximity, no third-act breakup, connected-universe cameos.
Bachelorette Number Twelve by Jae is the first book in her Heart-to-Heart medical romance series from Ylva, published in January 2024 — a contemporary lesbian romance set in a Kansas City emergency department, where a nurse accidentally wins a charity date with the icy attending physician she can barely stand.
It holds a 4.18 average across almost 4,000 Goodreads ratings, and its author reports a string of 2025 award nods, including a Lambda Literary finalist place. Readers love it almost without exception; the reservations they have are about tempo rather than quality. Both are worth knowing before you start.
What Is Bachelorette Number Twelve About?
Bachelorette Number Twelve is a workplace romance and a slow burn, built around a series of charity dates neither woman wanted. The emergency department gives it pace and stakes, and Jae keeps the medicine present but in proportion — readers note it never overwhelms the love story. It is low-angst at heart: the couple talks things through, and there is no third-act breakup.
Ellie Fisher is a warm, optimistic ER nurse. Dr Regina Novak is the attending physician everyone tiptoes around — precise, aloof and carrying a private grief she does not discuss. When Regina is roped into a hospital charity auction as the twelfth bachelorette on the block, Ellie ends up with the winning bid by accident, and the money is for a good cause, so the dates have to happen. The book’s pleasure is watching Regina’s ice crack one date at a time.
What Makes This Sapphic Ice Queen Romance Work
- The banter: The most praised element. Around ten reviewers single out the humour and the chemistry in the two women’s exchanges.
- Regina’s thaw: Around eight readers love watching the ice queen soften, and say her growth feels earned rather than sudden.
- The comfort factor: Several readers call it cozy and reliable, and one says it is their favourite Jae book.
- The connected universe: Fans enjoy cameos from earlier Jae novels set in Missouri, including the couple from Perfect Rhythm.
- Grown-up conflict: Readers who are tired of manufactured drama praise the absence of a third-act breakup — a natural fit for medical lesbian romance fans who want warmth.
Book Synopsis
Ellie Fisher loves her job in the emergency department. She does not love Dr Regina Novak, the attending physician whose standards are as high as her walls and whose bedside manner with the nurses could use some work. Ellie has learned to keep her head down on Regina’s shifts.
Then the hospital holds a charity auction, and Regina — somehow persuaded to take part — is the twelfth bachelorette up for bidding. Ellie only means to help push the price up for a good cause. A badly timed raise of her hand later, she has won a series of dates with the one woman in the building she would least like to spend an evening with, and backing out would mean taking money away from the charity.
So the dates happen. Outside the hospital, Regina turns out to be funnier, kinder and far more burdened than Ellie ever guessed, and Ellie turns out to be exactly the kind of person Regina has spent years keeping at arm’s length. As the dates stack up and the shifts keep coming, both women have to decide whether what is growing between them is worth the risk — at work and in their hearts.
My Review
Regina is the reason to read this, and Jae writes her beautifully. The ice-queen doctor is a familiar type, but the book gives her a real history and lets her thaw in small, believable steps — a dry joke here, a moment of unexpected care there. Readers who love this archetype consistently name her arc as the highlight.
The banter is the other pleasure. Ellie and Regina spar with real wit, the auction premise gives their dates a built-in awkwardness that is fun to watch dissolve, and the ER scenes have the authenticity Jae’s readers expect. It is a comfortable, well-made book, and the warmth of the ending — a grand gesture, no breakup, adults talking — is exactly what fans come for.
Where it struggles is pace, and this is the consistent thread in the critical reviews. Around six readers say the slow burn is very slow; one notes the first kiss arrives at roughly 80% of the way through, and some found the first half sluggish. About four readers struggled with Regina’s hot-and-cold behaviour and unkind remarks that are never quite apologised for. A few found the chemistry tame, a couple wanted more than the one or two intimate scenes, and several long-time Jae readers felt it followed her familiar pattern without surprising them. Smaller notes include a fondness for exclamation marks and food innuendo that tries a little hard.
One expectation to reset: the publisher sells it as enemies to lovers, and readers mostly describe a grumpy-sunshine or ice-queen story instead — the two are opposites, not real enemies. If you came for sharp hostility, calibrate; if you came for a slow, sweet thaw, it is exactly that.
My honest note: A warm, polished ice-queen romance that takes its time. If a late first kiss frustrates you, you will feel it. If you love watching a guarded woman let someone in, this is Jae doing what she does best.
| Element | In Bachelorette Number Twelve |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Ellie Fisher & Dr Regina Novak — sunny ER nurse and ice-queen attending physician, opposites attract |
| Core tropes | Ice queen, grumpy-sunshine, charity date auction, workplace romance, slow burn, no third-act breakup |
| Setting | A hospital emergency department in Kansas City, Missouri |
| Heat level | 3/5 — open door, but only one or two scenes, late |
| Series | Heart-to-Heart book 1 — HEA with no breakup; followed by the short story Impulse Buy about the same couple |
| Content notes | Past drug addiction (a minor character), death and grief including a sibling’s death in the past, medical content and trauma, injury, sexual content (crowd-reported on StoryGraph) |
How Spicy Is Bachelorette Number Twelve?
A 3/5. I could not get a romance.io reading for this title, so the number comes from readers: the intimacy is on the page and explicit, but there is not much of it — one reader counts essentially one full scene before a fade to black, another says there are a couple of explicit scenes but not a lot. Because the first kiss comes so late, the heat is concentrated in the final stretch.
The publisher’s description promises something steamier, so calibrate if you are coming for spice. No reviewer flags kink content. If you want a medical romance at the same open-door level, Surgeon and Perfect Rhythm sit in the same band.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you love ice-queen heroines, you enjoy workplace banter and medical settings, you want a comfort read with no third-act breakup, and you are a Jae reader who enjoys spotting cameos.
You may want to skip it if: you need the first kiss well before the final act, a love interest who is unkind without apologising bothers you, you want more heat, or you prefer a romance that breaks its author’s usual pattern.
In short: a cozy, witty ice-queen thaw that rewards patience.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (October 2026)
This is a reliable success from one of the best-loved names in sapphic romance rather than a viral breakout. Jae’s existing readership found it quickly, and the numbers show it: a 4.18 average across almost 4,000 Goodreads ratings with only about 3% at one or two stars, 4.03 across 405 StoryGraph reviews with a 2% did-not-finish rate, and 4.6 from almost 1,300 Amazon ratings. The author’s site lists several 2025 honours, including a Lambda Literary Award finalist place and a Golden Crown Literary Society popular-choice award; I could not independently confirm all of them. I found no trade reviews and no Reddit or BookTok conversation driving it. The audiobook, narrated by Lori Prince, runs 13 hours 26 minutes, and listeners are divided — about seven praise her, about five found her secondary voices weak, and one stopped the audio over it.
Prefer audio? Listen to Bachelorette Number Twelve on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The banter and chemistry, first — around ten readers lead with it. Then Regina’s thaw, praised by about eight. Around five call it a cozy comfort read, and as many enjoy the cameos from Jae’s other Missouri books. A few praise the balance of medical detail and the Kansas City setting, and several appreciate the mature communication. StoryGraph readers tag it emotional, hopeful, funny and lighthearted.
What readers argue about and complain about: Pacing, above everything — around six readers say the slow burn drags and the first kiss comes too late. Second: Regina’s hot-and-cold behaviour, which about four readers found unkind and insufficiently addressed, though one low-star reader blamed Ellie instead. Third: a sense of familiarity — about four long-time fans say it follows Jae’s well-worn pattern. Smaller notes: tame chemistry for a few, too little sex for a couple, and single readers flagging the handling of an addiction subplot and thinly drawn Asian American side characters.
The series question everyone should ask first: it stands alone with a complete HEA. The follow-up, Impulse Buy, is a short story about the same couple rather than a full novel, and the Heart-to-Heart series has no further books announced. For more Jae in the same universe, Perfect Rhythm is the book readers most often place alongside it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bachelorette Number Twelve enemies to lovers?
Loosely. Ellie and Regina start out at odds at work, but readers mostly describe it as an ice-queen or grumpy-sunshine romance rather than true enemies to lovers.
How spicy is Bachelorette Number Twelve?
A 3/5. The intimate scenes are on the page but few, and they come late because the first kiss arrives around the 80% mark.
Does Bachelorette Number Twelve have a third-act breakup?
No. Readers specifically praise the lack of a breakup — the couple talks through their problems, and the book ends with an HEA.
Is there a sequel?
Yes, a short one. Impulse Buy is a short story about Ellie and Regina as a couple. The book also includes cameos from earlier Jae novels such as Perfect Rhythm.
Is there an audiobook?
Yes — narrated by Lori Prince, running 13 hours 26 minutes. Listeners are split: many praise her, while some found the secondary voices weaker.
If You Loved Bachelorette Number Twelve, Read These Next
For more Jae set in the same Missouri world, Perfect Rhythm is the closest companion, and its couple even turns up here. Readers who prefer Jae’s snappier rom-coms point to Wrong Number, Right Woman and Damage Control. And for another hospital romance with a guarded physician, Major Surgery moves the ice queen to a London trauma unit.
For more like this, browse our list of lesbian medical romance books or the full Book Reviews collection.
The Bottom Line
Bachelorette Number Twelve is a comfort read in the best sense. Regina’s thaw is beautifully paced, the banter is genuinely funny, and the ending delivers warmth without a manufactured breakup. It is also very slow to reach its first kiss, light on heat for a book marketed as steamy, and familiar to anyone who knows Jae’s other work. If you love ice queens and do not mind waiting, it is one of her most satisfying books. Check Bachelorette Number Twelve on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Bachelorette Number Twelve ranks as a top-rated small-press sapphic ice-queen romance — witty, warm and emotionally generous, held back by a very slow burn and light heat, and best approached as a comfort read rather than a spicy one.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ 4.18 average across 3,990 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ Only about 3% one or two stars
- ✓ 4.03 on StoryGraph, 2% did-not-finish
- ✓ Slow pacing the main reservation
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Banter and chemistry widely praised
- ✓ Charity dates a charming engine
- ✓ No third-act breakup
- ✓ First kiss around the 80% mark
Characters ★★★★☆ 4.1/5
- ✓ Regina’s thaw earned and believable
- ✓ Ellie warm and grounded
- ✓ Series cameos delight fans
- ✓ Regina’s unkindness never fully addressed
Writing ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ Witty, quick dialogue
- ✓ Medical detail in proportion
- ✓ Kansas City setting specific
- ✓ Exclamation marks and forced innuendo
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Regina’s grief gives weight
- ✓ Grand gesture lands
- ✓ Mature communication praised
- ✓ Familiar beats for Jae regulars
Heat Level ★★★☆☆ 3/5
- ✓ Open door and explicit
- ✓ One or two scenes
- ✓ Concentrated in the final stretch
- ✓ Lighter than the marketing implies
Ending ★★★★☆ 4.3/5
- ✓ HEA with a grand gesture
- ✓ No breakup, no cliffhanger
- ✓ Short-story epilogue available
- ✓ A few say it drags after the resolution
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Comfort-read quality
- ✓ Impulse Buy extends the couple
- ✓ Cameos reward Jae fans
- ✓ Narration divides listeners
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