Sareeta Domingo

Sareeta Domingo
Born
Sareeta Ayodeley Domingo

1980 (1980)
Died12 September 2025(2025-09-12) (aged 44–45)
Other names
  • Sunday James
  • S A Domingo
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Author
  • editor
  • publisher
  • blogger
Years active2005–2025
Websitewww.sareetadomingo.com

Sareeta Ayodeley Domingo (1980 – 12 September 2025) was a British author, editor, publisher and blogger. She held senior positions at Mills & Boon, Trapeze Books and Jacaranda Books. Her adult novels included The Nearness of You (2016), If I Don't Have You (2020) and Possibility (2025). She edited the collection Who's Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour (2021). Domingo also wrote young adult (YA) fiction as S A Domingo. Her second YA novel Love on the Main Stage (2020) was shortlisted for Lancashire Book of the Year.

Early life and education

Domingo and her twin brother were born to parents Larry and Valda.[1] She spent her early life in Camberwell, South London and East Sussex before moving to Bahrain at age 9 for her father's work. At age 16, Domingo returned to England for boarding school at Cranbrook School while the family settled in Tunbridge Wells. She graduated with a degree in Comparative American Literature from the University of Warwick in 2002.[2]

Career

Domingo began her career working in a local bookshop and then in the marketing department of Chrysalis Books (now Pavilion Books). She was commissioned to write shorts for Agent Provocateur as well as the novella The Confessional Diaries of a Girl in Town. Domingo then moved to Hothouse Fiction in 2008, where she worked as an editor and commissioner until 2016. During this time, she started a blog titled The Palate Cleanser on which she reviewed contemporary romance novels[2] and wrote a 2014 novel under the pseudonym Sunday James titled Bittersweet.[3]

Via Piatkus Books,[4] Domingo published her debut romantic drama novel under her own name The Nearness of You in 2016.[5][6][7] After freelancing for a year, Domingo joined Mills & Boon (part of Harlequin UK) in 2017 as Commissioning Editor.[2]

Through a collaboration between Jacaranda Books and the London Library titled 20 in 20,[8] Domingo published her second adult romance novel If I Don't Have You in 2020. If I Don't Have You was shortlisted for a Diverse Book Award in the Adult category[9] and Refinery29 Black Girls Book Club pick.[10] Domingo also wrote two young adult novels with Hachette Children's under the name S A Domingo: Love, Secret Santa (2019) and Love on the Main Stage (2020). Love on the Main Stage was shortlisted for Lancashire Book of the Year.[11]

In 2019, Trapeze Books (an Orion Books and Hachette UK imprint) acquired the rights to publish the short story collection Who's Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour in 2021, created and edited by Domingo.[12][13] Contemplating the romance genre, Domingo said "it was important to me that it didn't feel like [the authors] had to adhere to a particular idea of what a romance fiction story should be like, I just wanted them to write a love story."[14] Contributors included Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Irenosen Okojie, Sara Collins, Sara Jafari and Dorothy Koomson.[15] Who's Loving You was longlisted for a Diverse Book Award.[16]

At the start of 2022, Domingo joined Orion Publishing Group as Editorial Director of Trapeze Books.[17] Domingo's novel The Nearness of You was re-published that year under the title The Three of Us.[18] She also had a weekly book recommendation segment on the Worldwide FM morning programme The People's Breakfast: Morning Mari*.[19]

In March 2025, Domingo was appointed publishing director of Jacaranda Books.[20] Via a three-way auction in 2024,[21] Renegade Books acquired the rights to publish Domingo's third and final romance novel Possibility in 2025.[22]

Personal life and death

Domingo lived in South London with her husband Will.[2]

Domingo died "suddenly" on 12 September 2025.[1][23] A number of tributes were paid. Valerie Brandes stated Domingo's "contribution to literature and culture was extraordinary. Through her own writing and her editorial work, she was a keen supporter of underrepresented voices… in doing so, she helped reshape the literary landscape to be more inclusive, authentic and rich with diversity".[24]

Bibliography

Adult novels

  • Bittersweet (2014) (as Sunday James)
  • The Nearness of You (2016) (re-published as The Three of Us, 2022)
  • If I Don't Have You (2020)
  • Possibility (2025)

Young adult

  • Love, Secret Santa (2019)
  • Love on the Main Stage (2020)

Novellas and shorts

  • Agent Provocateur:
    • "The Quiet One" (2006)
    • "Ritual" (2006)
    • "Perfect" (2009)
  • The Confessional Diaries of a Girl in Town (2007)

Edited collections

  • Who's Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour (2021)

References

  1. ^ a b Snow, Maia (15 September 2025). "Author and publishing director Sareeta Domingo dies". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Lapite, Shade (21 June 2020). "Sareeta Domingo is Making Waves". Coffee Bookshelves. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  3. ^ Michelle (4 November 2014). "#Review Bittersweet by Sunday James". Book Briefs. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  4. ^ "Piatkus signs Hothouse's Domingo". The Bookseller. 28 July 2015.
  5. ^ Varaidzo (20 June 2016). "Reinventing romance: an interview with Sareeta Domingo". gal-dem. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Novelist Sareeta Domingo Talks About Her New Title, The Nearness of You". The British Blacklist. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  7. ^ "12 Writers Of Colour I'm Excited About Reading In 2016". Media Diversified. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  8. ^ Bayley, Sian (19 July 2019). "London Library announces partnership to promote black British writers with aim to become literary home of a new generation of writers". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  9. ^ Norris, Suzanne (20 September 2021). "The shortlist for The Diverse Book Awards has been announced". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  10. ^ Carter, Natalie A; Cummings-Quarry, Melissa (17 June 2021). "11 Phenomenal Summer Reads Chosen By Black Girls Book Club". Refinery29. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Author receives Lancashire Book of the Year Award 2021". In Your Area. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  12. ^ Eyre, Charlotte (17 October 2019). "Trapeze falls in love with Domingo collection". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  13. ^ Morris, Natalie (4 March 2021). "Who's Loving You: 'Women of colour can write about more than trauma – we deserve love stories too'". Metro. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  14. ^ Chalamilla, Karen (7 April 2021). "In Conversation With: Sareeta Domingo". The Floor. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  15. ^ Chalamilla, Karen (5 May 2021). "Book Review: Who's Loving You". the floor mag. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  16. ^ "2023 Diverse Book Awards Longlist". Locus. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  17. ^ Wood, Heloise (6 December 2021). "Domingo joins Trapeze as editorial director". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Interview with Sareeta Domingo: "Persevere, and choose projects in which you have the utmost belief."". Famous Writing Routines. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  19. ^ Koomsom, Dorothy. "Sareeta Domingo". Bookmark. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  20. ^ Brown, Lauren (3 March 2025). "Jacaranda Books appoints Sareeta Domingo to newly created role of publishing director". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  21. ^ Fraser, Katie (31 July 2024). "Renegade Books triumphs in three-way auction for Sareeta Domingo's 'breathlessly plotted' novel". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  22. ^ Gyamfi, Akua (15 May 2025). "Sareeta Domingo Talks Mortality, Messiness, and the Magic of Black Love in Possibility". The British Blacklist. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  23. ^ Oredein, Tobi (14 September 2025). "Founder's Letter: A Tribute To Sareeta Domingo". Black Ballad. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  24. ^ Snow, Maia (15 September 2025). "Tributes paid to 'rare and radiant force' Sareeta Domingo". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
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