Meet Kaira
Kaira Rouda is an award–winning USA TODAY and Amazon Charts bestselling author of contemporary fiction that explores what goes on beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. Her novels of domestic suspense include JILL IS NOT HAPPY, THE WIDOW, SOMEBODY’S HOME, THE NEXT WIFE, THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER, BEST DAY EVER, ALL THE DIFFERENCE, BENEATH THE SURFACE, UNDER THE PALMS, THE NEXT MRS. STROM, and WHAT THE NANNY SAW and the forthcoming WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS (February, 2026) and TAKE BACK THE NIGHT (2027, with Kimberly Belle and Heather Gudenkauf).
Reviews have touted her novels as “pure genius” (SheReads.com), “an exceptional psychological thriller” (Publishers Weekly starred review) and promising to “keep you at the edge of your seat” (PopSugar). It is clear, one outlet shares, that “Kaira Rouda is the new mistress of domestic suspense” (Bookstr).
Kaira’s work has been translated into a dozen languages and BENEATH THE SURFACE has been optioned for feature film. Three of her novels have been named Amazon Editor’s Picks for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. THE NEXT WIFE was named a Suspense Magazine Best Book of 2021, won the 2022 Silver Falchion for Best Suspense Novel and was a 2022 Silver Falchion first runner-up for Best Book of the Year. BENEATH THE SURFACE won a Zibby’s Book Award for Best Beach Read, and WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS was featured in People magazine.
Kaira is active in the mystery and thriller writing community as a co-founder and co-host of the Killer Author Club, a live online show supporting authors. She’s also a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Author Association, and the International Thriller Writers Association. She served as a committee chair for the Edgar Awards 2024 and frequently appears on panels at conferences across the country. She is a candidate for a Master’s in Creative Writing at the Palm Desert Low-Residency program at UC Riverside.
Prior to writing novels, Kaira was a journalist, society columnist, magazine editor, and marketing executive. She has received numerous Prism, Addy and Webby Awards throughout her career. For her efforts creating the first women consumer focused residential real estate brand, Real Living, she won the prestigious Stevie Award for Women in Business. Her first book, REAL YOU INCORPORATED: 8 ESSENTIALS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS, inspired women nationwide. Active in the areas of homelessness, food security, and empowering women and girls, in her twenties, as a volunteer, she created the first walk-in emergency shelter for homeless families in Central Ohio. Kaira has received numerous awards for her community service, including the national Kiwanis Service to Mankind Award, the Ohio Sertoma Service to Mankind Award, and Kick Ass Woman of Orange County by Orange Coast Magazine. Kaira was honored to be appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the California Volunteers commission. Kaira Rouda lives in Southern California with her family.
Kaira also belongs to the following writing organizations:
Sisters in Crime | Mystery Writers of America | International Thriller Writers (ItW) | California Writer’s Club | Killer Author Club / Founding Member | Author’s Guild of America | Women’s Fiction Writers Association
