Category: YA

TGGGTBB Book Playlist

I’ve got some awesome tunes for Tuesday, bookworms!

But first, thank you so much to everyone who entered the NINJA GIRL Audiobook Giveaway! 4 copies of the audiobook were up for grabs, and the winners are…

Kerri, Mikhail, Cadey and Alyssa!!!

Congrats, you guys, and thank you again for entering! Your prize is on the way, and I hope you love listening to Snow & Ash’s story :)!

Speaking of listening…I love book playlists. Who doesn’t, right? They are just so fun to make! Some songs I listened to while writing; some I found after. A few are so perfect; it’s crazy lol!

Anyway, if you loved Sadie & Colton’s story…

I hope you enjoy The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad Book Playlist!

1. “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eillish. Okay, so this one was perfect *sigh*. I listened to it a TON while writing TGGGTBB. It’s so Sadie, how she feels about Colton and his “ocean eyes.” The colors in the vid remind me of the cover, and yeah. Like I said: Perfect.

2. “Location” by Khalid. Colton. Period. He’s there for Sadie, has her back–even if she doesn’t know it. Ah, I just love Colton Bishop <333.

3. “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. It was only a kiss… Oh, how Colton wishes that were true after his first kiss with Sadie–especially since she thinks she’s in love with his brother. Also, The Killers rock!

4. “There’s No Way” by Lauv ft. Julia Michaels. Sadie & Colton try to fight it…but there’s absolutely no way they weren’t going to fall totally heart-meltingly in love.

5. “I Did Something Bad” (Cover) by Shoshana Bean and Cynthia Erivo. One of my favorite covers of all time. It was originally a Taylor Swift song–but man, it is so strong, pure fire, passion, intensity. Sadie, Colton, Kyle trio ;).

6. “Let Go” by Frou Frou. Sadie finally letting go, checking things off her Carpe Diem List and allowing herself to fall in love with Colton–and believe that he can (and does) love her back <3.

The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad Book Playlist

1. “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eillish

2. “Soundcheck” by Catfish and the Bottlemen

3. “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn

4. “Hold On, We’re Going Home” by Drake

5. “Is This How You Feel?” by The Preatures

6. “Location” by Khalid

7. “Bellyache” by Billie Eillish

8. “There’s No Way” by Lauv ft. Julia Micheals

9. “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers

10. “I Did Something Bad” (Taylor Swift Cover) by Shoshana Bean and Cynthia Erivo

11. “Delicate” by Taylor Swift

12. “One Dance” by Drake

13. “Good Girls” by 5 Seconds of Summer

14. “I’m With You” by Vance Joy

15. “Feel Real” by Deptford Goth

16. “Time After Time” by Eva Cassidy

17. “Let Go” by Frou Frou

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. This is already long lol, but if you love good music, check out “Is This How You Feel?” by The Preatures. One of my favorite songs! Also, check out The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad if you need a fun, swoony summer read ;). Hope your week is off to a great start!

Good News & A Giveaway

It’s been a while, but I’m back with good news and a giveaway. Yay!!!

Also, I want to say thank you SO much to everyone who helped me spread the word about the ADORKABLE Kindle Countdown Deal two weeks ago! Despite having no time to get the deal into newsletters on other sites, it was very successful, and I have you to thank for that, so again: Thank you!!!

First time I’ve ever made a creative (apparently ads are called that lol), and I love it :). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t feel bad. I just made a little flyer/ad for the deal, and it turned out pretty…well, adorkable ha :).

Okay, now for the good news! It’s actually freaking amazing news imo, but…

The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad was #1 in three of its categories!!!!!

Holy wow, right?!? I couldn’t believe it either, almost passed out from joy when I first saw–but at least I remembered to get a few pics!

*Sigh* Thank you so much, you guys! <3 Sadie and Colton’s story is one that I love very much, and I’m so glad that readers are reading and enjoying it! Right now, it has 28 awesome reviews, and I’m so thankful.

So of course, it’s time for a giveaway! 🙂

I’m giving away 4 copies of the NINJA GIRL audiobook!!! Ash and Snow’s story, woop! Audiobooks are still new to me, but I really love how this one and ADORKABLE turned out (not that I’m biased or anything ;)).

***Enter to win using the rafflecopter here!***

Good luck, and please look out for The Cookie Jar Newsletter I’ll be sending later this week! There will be 2 other giveaways open only to subscribers this month since I missed last month :).

I have ideas for more posts, and I have so much more to share with you guys. Hope you’re still with me, reading wonderful books and having an awesome week!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Again: OMG, I still can’t believe The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad was #1 in three of its categories! *__* Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The Most ADORKABLE Deal Ever!

That’s right, you guys :).

ADORKABLE, my debut YA romance, is now available for just $0.99!!!

This is a limited time deal, bookworms, that will run from May 23 at 8:00 am PDT until May 28 at 8:00 am PDT on Amazon (May 24 until May 28 on Amazon UK).

If you love YA romance, fake boyfriends, best friends and geeking out, ADORKABLE is the book for you! What are you waiting for? Treat yourself, and take advantage of this awesome deal!

Sally & Becks’s story is still so special to me, and I hope you enjoy it! <3

If you’ve already read, please help me spread the word and share this with your bookish friends! I’d truly appreciate it!

I love finding new readers. It’s one of my favorite things about running Kindle Countdown Deals–and this will be the last one for this particular book for a while.

Speaking of which, I have an announcement coming up about ADORKABLE, so please be on the lookout for that. I’ve been holding onto it for a while, not posting, and though I’m still scared that I’ll somehow jinx it, I’d like to share the good news with you. (If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already heard :))

In other bookish news: I’m thrilled with how The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad has been doing! <3 Sadie & Colton are out there, dancing into readers’ hearts, and I couldn’t be more grateful! More posts about them coming soon! I have a giveaway coming up for NINJA GIRL that I hope you’ll love! And The Unbeliveable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder was in the top 100 Teen & Young Adult Romantic Mystery ebooks last week! Yayyy!

I hope you’re all doing well and reading awesome books!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Friday Feels

Hi everyone!

I know I haven’t posted in a while–which is crazy since I have a new release that I should be promoting the heck out of lol. Speaking of which, have you checked out The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad? I hear it’s a good read if you need to laugh/swoon :).

But back to why I haven’t posted.

It’s all the feels, you guys.

*****Warning: This post is a bit heavy–but there’s brightness at the end. Just skip down to the part after the ******.

There’s been a lot to process. Last week, for the first time, I resigned from one of my jobs. It wasn’t an easy decision. I’m a dance teacher who works with kids, have taught and watched them grow up for several years, and I really do love them. So telling them, making it real, nearly broke my heart.

(And my heart wasn’t whole to begin with, so this was another crack in the foundation.)

People have called me “softhearted,” and though I don’t see it, I do feel things deeply. Always have. I get attached. Loyalty means a lot to me. And in life, I am never the one to leave first.

Anyway, it took a lot to make me want to leave and think that would be the best option. Next week will be my last official class. I’m trying to stay positive, and I’ll still be teaching elsewhere–but man, I will miss the kids.

*****If you’ve been reading for the brightness, here it is.*****

I decided to be like Sadie in TGGGTBB and submitted one of my pieces to a choreography competition that I’ve long wanted to enter! Eep!

Self-doubt and low self-esteem have always held me back. But as I get older, I’ve realized that “winning” doesn’t come from someone else’s opinion.

You don’t need anyone else to validate you.

You can validate yourself.

And you should!

In fact, I wrote a guest post mentioning it on The YA Book Traveler Blog here! 🙂

Seriously, though, it’s taken me so long to understand this. Sadie, my character, got there before I did lol–which I know means it must’ve been inside me all along. But wow, you guys!

You have the power to validate yourself, your dreams and your worth.

Sidenote: There’s basically zero chance my piece will be selected for the final round of competition–but that’s not the point. By entering, by conquering that fear, I feel like I already won.

Hope you are well, and I wish you all the best!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad was #1 on Amazon in one of its categories!!! And it’s next to J.K. Rowling! Woohoo, and thank you so much, bookworms! <3

Endless Gratitude

First thing’s first, I have a winner to announce! The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad Blog Tour Giveaway ended on Monday, and I want to say thank you so much to everyone who entered!

Without further ado, the winner is…

Stephanie Ann!!!

Congratulations, Stephanie! I’ll be sending you an email and your prize soon, and I hope you enjoy your $10 iTunes card, Carpe Diem journal and book! 🙂

Second, The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad has been out nearly 2 weeks! I can’t believe it’s been that long, but people–actual readers–have been rating and reviewing the book! Hooray!!! I’m so thankful for all the love everyone is showing Sadie & Colton’s story <3. It has truly warmed my heart, and I wanted to share some of the wonderful things people are saying:

The Good Girls Guide To Being Bad was fun, flirty and absolutely adorable!Jen at Star-Crossed Book Blog
 
“I’m one happy and highly satisfied reader, because this story made me laugh, swoon and fan myself countless times.”- Rê at U.S. – Brazil Book Review

“I think girls everywhere will find a little of themselves in Sadie.”- Lauren at SERIESous Book Reviews

“It’s a sweet, angsty romance with seriously one of the all-time hottest kisses in the history of young adult romance!”- T.H. Hernandez, co-author of Prom-Wrecked

“The book is definitely funny and flirty!”- Kimberly at Bookish Kimberly
 
“All the heart eyes for bad boy Colton. I’m a big fan of enemies to friends to lovers, throw in a dash of sexy with a heart of gold, and it’s all over.” -Kerri, Goodreads.com
 
“Loved it! Stayed up till 2am reading cuz I couldn’t put it down.”- Jill R., Amazon review
 
“The entire story was an absolute joy to read. It’s honest and endearing and will be reread many times by me, for sure!”- Haley Bradshaw, Goodreads.com
 
“I loved this sweet and funny book.”- Cranky at The Book Curmudgeon
 
“I laughed. I smiled and teared up in quite a few parts. It wasn’t overly cheesy or overly angsty. It was just right.”- Lissa at Boundless Book Reviews
 
“This couple was adorable, I loved Sadie and I loved Colton, and they have so much chemistry, I loved every second.”- Silverscarf, Goodreads.com
 
“This book is what I needed after reading lots of fantasy and sci-fi books. It was light, fun and totally entertaining.”- Raven at Dreamy Addictions
 
“It was fast-paced and fun and the twins were such great characters!”- Pascale,Goodreads.com
 
“I can easily give TGGGTBB a five star review because I’m a romance and YA junkie and this is pure heaven for bibliophiles like me!” – Krista, Goodreads.com

“This one was lovely and sooooo fun! If you enjoy sweet romance, definitely give this one a read.” – Lisa Barry, Goodreads.com
 
“As soon as I finished reading “The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad,” I did the girl squeal, clapped my hands three times and thought again, again,AGAIN.” – Karen, Amazon review
 
“This really is such a perfect YA love story.” – Victoria, Goodreads.com

You guys, I’m just…floored. Thank you to everyone who helped give TGGGTBB a wonderful release week. I’m grateful that people are even reading!

Ooh, and there have been quite a few pages read on Kindle Unlimited, definitely grateful for those, too. Book Baby #4 is doing pretty well for itself out there in the big world, and I am filled with endless gratitude.

Thank you so much for reading and supporting my books! It means the world to me.

Sending love, good karma and virtual cookies to you, bookworms! I hope you’re all doing well!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad is a #1 Hot New Release on Amazon!!!!! Woohoo, yay, huzzah!

NINJA GIRL Audiobook Release Day!

It’s a very exciting day, you guys! NINJA GIRL is now available as an audiobook!!!

Did you see the cover? *__* Oh my Ash, I love it and hope you do, too!

I’m so excited about this release and the narrators. Emily Woo Zeller is amazing! I’ve listened to some of her other work and thought she’d be great for Snow–then I heard a sample of NINJA GIRL.

And you guys: She. Is. Perfect!!!

You should go listen because seriously, wow! Emily captures the exact right feel of the characters/book right from the start. Can’t wait to hear the brilliant Brandon Utah voice Ash as well! <3 Emily and Brandon are so talented, and I’m thrilled they brought NINJA GIRL to life in audio!

I hope you’ll check it out, and let me know what you think! And if you know anyone who loves YA romance, ninjas and audiobooks, as always, I’d be so thankful if you’d help me spread the word :).

Hi-yah, hooray, and heck yeah, NINJA GIRL is now an audiobook!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Congrats to Katharina for winning The Cookie Jar Newsletter Giveaway for April! Your $10 Amazon gift card has been sent :). For the latest updates on my books, access to free content and monthly giveaways, subscribe to The Cookie Jar Newsletter!

P.P.S. I plan to do another post, but: Thank you SO much to everyone who’s been out there supporting The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad! Truly, I am so so grateful. More on this later, but seriously hugs, love and good karma to all of you lovely readers! <333

The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad Release Day! <3

Today is the big day!!! *happy dance*

The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad is now available for anyone and everyone to read! Sadie & Colton’s story is so close to my heart. I hope readers love them as much as I do. I hope they laugh and swoon, find a kindred spirit in Sadie and fall head-over-heels in love with Colton <3. Oh, and I hope they love Betty, Kyle, Cora and Tim, too!

Thank you so much to every single person who picks up this book. Thank you to anyone who helps spread the word about TGGGTBB so other awesome bookish peeps can discover it! May the Force be with you, and may the odds be ever in your favor, my lovely readers. I’m so grateful for you and all of your support.

If you love YA romance, enemies-to-more, dance, twin brothers, lists & bets, I’d love it if you check out The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad! Ahhh, I’m so excited to see what you think! Please let me know, and I hope you enjoy!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad Book Blitz & Blog Tour

Yesterday was the start of The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad Book Blitz!

The blitz is hosted by Xpresso Book Tours, and I’m so thankful to all of the bloggers/bookworms who are participating! Giselle has been awesome to work with :).

Yesterday also began TGGGTBB Blog Tour that I tried to organize lol! To be honest, I’m incredibly thankful to the advanced readers who signed on to read and review book baby #4. Early reviews (reviews period!) are so important, and I was lucky that anyone signed on let alone the 13 fantastic people who did!

Thank you all so much for helping me spread the word about The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad–which comes out this Thursday! Woohoo!–and I hope you enjoy(ed) Sadie & Colton’s story!

That brings me to the giveaways!!!

There’s one for the blitz here and one for the tour here.

Please be sure to enter both giveaways, and good luck, everyone! Also: OMG just 3 more days!!! 😀

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Just 9 More Days!!!

Just 9 more days until the release of The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad!!!

*Cue me freaking out*

You guys, I can’t believe the book is coming out next Thursday! Not going to lie, I thought I had another week LOL. But this is awesome because it feels like I’ve been waiting forever to share Sadie & Colton and all of the other characters I love with you :).

A few reasons I think/hope you’ll love The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad:

  1. Sadie. She’s hilarious, brave and wonderfully herself! She loves movies (especially Pride and Prejudice), dancing (especially ballroom), her parents and her friends. Sadie is also a dreamer, a hopeless romantic and slightly kiss-obsessed (though she’s never actually been kissed ;)).
  2. Colton Bishop. Gah, where do I start? Colton is so swoonworthy; it’s not even funny. He’s hot, yes, but it’s more than that. Pierced, cocky/confident, born without a filter, he likes cars, gets into fights and takes way-too-much pleasure in teasing Sadie. But he’s also loyal to his brother, reads romance and agrees to help our MC. Oh, and the boy delivers a devastating first kiss <3.
  3. The List. I love lists. Sadie does, too, and her list is filled with items she wants to complete before the end of senior year. Sadly, none have been checked off…yet.
  4. The Romance. I know I’ve said it before, but I love writing first (second & third) kisses lol. And the ones in this book are sure to curl your toes. I think they are some of the best I’ve ever written, and the chemistry between Sadie & Colton is off-the-charts. I hope they make you feel all the feels!
  5. The Friendships. Kyle Bishop (Colton’s twin brother) is Sadie’s best friend and long-time crush. Betty is her oldest friend, and at 79-years-old, she’s as fierce and fabulous as ever. Sadie and her mom have a great relationship as well which I loved writing. I just love all of the relationships in this one, and I hope you will, too!

Okay, I’m stopping now lol. I just really love this book!

It’s a YA romance, very similar in my mind to ADORKABLE and NINJA GIRL. My fear as always is that it won’t find its audience, the readers that will truly love it like I do.

This time I had 13 wonderful advanced readers. Lucky #13, I hope! I’m so nervous to find out what they thought and so thankful they agreed to read. A few have posted reviews on Goodreads, and one totally made me cry (in a good way!). I’ve asked that everyone post next week, and I hope they loved the book. I hope it’s enough and that other readers will discover, read and share their opinions!

Sadie & Colton’s story is so special to me. So much love was poured into this one <3.

If you enjoy YA romance, lists, enemies-to-more, twin brothers & bets, then The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad is the book for you!

9 more days, you guys! I hope you’re having an awesome week so far!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad releases on April 25, 2019!!! <3

Blitz, Book Birthday Week & My First Newsletter!

First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who entered the NINJA GIRL 100th Review Giveaway!!! This is a milestone for Snow, Ash and me, and I was so glad to see so many entries :).

I’m also very glad to announce the randomly chosen winner…

Irma!!!

Congrats, Irma! Thank you so much for entering the giveaway, and I hope you enjoy your $10 Amazon gift card! It should be in your inbox now :).

Second, I wanted to tell you about the Book Blitz for my upcoming release, The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad! <3

It’s being organized by Xpresso Book Tours (who made that beautiful banner *_*), and I’m very excited. There was a wonderful response to the cover which was so great to see!

Bloggers, if you want to help spread the word about The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad, I’d be so thankful!

Third, I didn’t realize but…it’s Book Birthday Week!!!

ADORKABLE, my debut, was published on March 31, 2016. NINJA GIRL came out March 30, 2017. And last year, The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder came out April 5, 2018. You guys, all of my book babies have birthdays this week!

(Sidenote: It’s a hard time of the year for my family and me. Back when I released ADORKABLE, I was trying to make it better. Not sure it worked–but my books are something positive, and I hope they make people happy.)

If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll see all the Book Birthday pics I’ve posted–and I’ll be doing another Friday to celebrate Ethan! 🙂

And last, I sent my first newsletter! It took 7+ hours on Sunday (more before that), and I know there’s room for improvement lol. But it was sent–and according to MailChimp, actual people opened it, so yayyy!

The Cookie Jar Newsletter and this blog are really for my readers, to keep in touch with the people who love my books and want to know more <3.

There’s so much I want to share with you guys! I’ll be doing monthly giveaways only open to newsletter subscribers, offering fun free content and the latest news on my books :). If that sounds good to you, please subscribe here!

I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far, bookworms!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman