Category: New Adult

The Total Knockout Release Day!

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!!!

Happy Release Day to The Total Knockout!

Maisie & Dex. Dex & Maisie. Team Daisie is here, and I’m so excited! <3

I can’t believe their story is actually out in the wild. I love them so much. Dex’s sarcasm, his cockiness, his strength and vulnerabilities, the loyalty he has for his family (had so much fun writing the O’Brien family scenes!) and the people he loves. Maisie’s fierceness, her sass, her tough exterior and soft heart, the loyalty she has for her sister (sidenote: I love Lola!) and the people she loves. They’re both scarred, imperfect, and wonderful. I loved writing their story and watching them fall in love so naturally, so deeply.

I truly hope this story brings so much love and laughter.

I love Dex & Maisie, and I hope readers will too.  The Total Knockout is an enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract romance with a scarred hero & heroine, flirty banter, tons of swoon, LOL-moments, and O’Brien goodness! 😀  ***It is also a new adult sports romance intended for readers 18+.***

Sidenote: This book is sweet & spicy. Some might call it low to mild heat level–but I think it’s just the right amount of spice! And swoon. And true love. And oh, I just hope you’ll give it a chance.

This is book 4 in the Southern U O’Brien Brothers series!

There are now 4 (standalone) O’Brien Brothers books!

Hip, hip, hooray!!!

One more time: Happy Release Day to The Total Knockout!!!

I hope you’ll check it out (and that you fall in love with Team Daisie <3)!

Hope you are well!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Wishing You Happy Holidays

I just wanted to say: Happiest of happy holidays to you my awesome readers!

Wherever you are in life…

…whatever you’re going through…

…whatever has happened in the past to shape this time of year for you…

I hope you know you’re not alone.

This season can be difficult—finding the joy, feeling the cheer, remembering the good. But I so hope you do find it, feel it, and remember.

May peace and love surround you.

May your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year, be filled with good health, good people/pets, good times, good food, and of course, amazing books!!!

From my books to yours, Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

The Sweetest Game Release Day!

Ahhh, I can’t believe it’s finally here!!!

Happy Release Day to The Sweetest Game!

This book, you guys! Oh, I love it so much! June & Baylor’s story is one that I hope touches readers’ hearts. The swoon factor is at like 1000 lol–but seriously, Baylor is just…wonderful. Some of the things he does and thinks are just so romantic. June is my girl (well, she’s Baylor’s, but she’s mine too :)). I love her. I love how she’s so herself, how she knows what (and who) she wants, how she pines and loves Baylor, her best friend’s brother. And I love how Baylor loves her back–even though she’s supposed to be off limits. <3

I’m probably not doing this right. As I write this, I’m going on very little sleep ha. But I love this book!

I love June & Baylor, and oh, I hope readers will too.  The Sweetest Game is a friends-to-lovers fake romance with plenty of pining, swoon, LOL-moments, and O’Brien goodness! 😀  ***It is also a new adult sports romance intended for readers 18+.***

My debut novel was about a fake relationship between best friends. I feel like this is my return to friends-to-lovers, and I so loved writing it along with the fake romance aspect.

Sidenote: This book is sweet & spicy. I think it’s a little steamier than my other books; some might call it low to mild heat level–but I think it’s just the right amount of spice! And swoon. And true love. And oh, I just hope you’ll give it a chance.

This is book 3 in the Southern U O’Brien Brothers series!

I have 3 books (standalones) all in a series!

Yay, yay, yay!!!

One more time: Happy Release Day to The Sweetest Game!!!

I hope you’ll check it out (and that you fall in love with June & Baylor’s story <3)!

Hope you are well!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

The Sweetest Game cover reveal!

Today is the day!!!

The cover reveal for the third book in the Southern U O’Brien Brothers series is here! And it is such a stunner!

Thank you so much to my wonderful cover designer, Stephanie Mooney! You did an amazing/beautiful/incredible job!

I can’t even. I love it so much.

Without further ado…

…here is the cover…

…(which, did I mention I love? :))…

…for my new book..

The Sweetest Game <3.

*swoons*

Gorgeous, right?!? *___*

This cover makes my eyes smile every time. I’ve wanted to write June & Baylor’s story ever since I had the idea for the O’Brien Brothers years ago. June is so in love with Bay. She has been for years, and the way she pines for him, her best friend’s brother, just pulls at my heartstrings (and I hope it pulls at yours too <3). And I am so in love with Baylor. He’s cocky yet lovable, beautiful yet flawed, determined to deny his feelings for June and yet…unable to deny his heart. I love her; I love him; I love them together. And I hope, hope, hope readers will love their story.

On that note…we have a release date!

The Sweetest Game will release on September 8, 2022!!!

Woohoo! Book baby #12, you guys!

If you’d like to read the summary, you can find it here. ***This is not a young adult book. It is a new adult sports romance set in college and intended for readers 18+.***

Once more with feeling: Happy Cover Reveal Day to The Sweetest Game!

If you’re a fan of friends-to-lovers, fake romance, tons of pining, flirty banter, falling for your best friend’s brother, soulmates, true love, swoon and spice, I hope you’ll check it out!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Hello 2022

It’s a new year, you guys!

We’re almost a week into 2022. Can you believe it? Also, have you actually tried saying the year? What do you say? Twenty-twenty two? Two-thousand twenty-two? Just twenty-two???

Regardless lol, I hope you are having an amazing year so far! 🙂

When I started The Cookie Jar, I promised to tell you about the sweet and bitter times in this writing journey. Honestly, 2021 was challenging. Still, there were good things, and I’d like to take a look back at my goals, see if I achieved them etc. The Hello 2021 post will help with this! Here we go!

Bookish/writing goals achieved last year: I published three books and wrote one half of a co-written story! Book baby #7, my YA romance WALLFLOWER was released in ebook, paperback, and audiobook, yay!!! Book baby #8, my NA sports romance, The Perfect Play, came next–it’s the second Southern U O’Brien Brothers book–which means I have an actual series, woop! Book baby #9, my #OwnVoices YA romance, CUPCAKE was published by Entangled and is now available in bookstores, huzzah! The Boys of King’s Prep Academy, co-written by myself and Michelle Pennington (under our pen name Cookie Michelle), is available now on Kindle Vella, Amazon’s new episodic reading platform! We only have a few more episodes, and our book baby is being read which is wonderful! Earlier in the year, ADORKABLE reached 10,000 ratings on Goodreads (thank you so much for making this happen!). I participated for the first time ever as an author at a conference (thank you RSJ Convention!), was part of an Entangled Teen Live Chat, had a wonderful conversation with Molly E. Lee hosted by Hub City Writers Project, and was part of a virtual YA panel hosted by Little Shop of Stories. I reached out to a few authors, and they agreed to a newsletter swap (thank you Maggie, Jordan, M.F., Sally, and Emma!). Some wonderful readers participated in the CUPCAKE Book Challenge, and even more played Cookie O’Bingo (still can’t believe people have read my books–but I’m SO grateful!!!). I didn’t write as much as I wanted to, but I wrote 2 books that I love (The Perfect Play and a new upcoming YA romance).

Now for the bitter.

I want to mention these things because…well, they happened. But no worries! I’ll be sure to bring it back to the positive!

In July, I got pretty down.

It blindsided me when another author–who I’d kind of thought of as a friend–said some hurtful things about me/my work to other authors. Part of me wishes I’d never found out (I don’t have many friends, hardly none who are writers), but I’m also glad to know. I’m so introverted; it just surprised me that someone would do that. Also, I hope to put my trust in people who would stand up for me, even when I’m not in the room.

Then something else happened. No details, but suffice it to say: social media tried to break me, and it nearly succeeded. I had heightened anxiety, the kind that affects you physically. I cried. A lot. I felt helpless, and unfortunately, that spread to my family. I broke down, wrote a depressing, way-too-real newsletter about my struggles, and sent it to my subscribers. And…I was definitely in the pit of despair. A big part was I never believed people could be so hateful. With how terrible people treat their fellow humans, I should’ve known, right?

But I didn’t.

And that was so disheartening.

Okay, enough of that lol. Let’s get back to the positive bc it far outweighs the negative!

Remember how I mentioned my newsletter?

Well, some of my wonderful readers read it and sent the kindest, most uplifting messages during that awful time. I don’t think they’ll ever know how much their words meant to me. How much light they provided. How their unexpected kindness truly touched my heart. My family was there, too, feeling it all, holding me up, giving me more love than I deserve. All that to say, I’m so very thankful.

I’m thankful for YOU.

Thank you for supporting me and my books.

Thank you for every bit of love and kindness you give to others.

Thank you for making the world a better place.

My goals for 2022 are: Write a book (hopefully 2-3). Write more and consistently. Publish a book. Start doing thankful/gratitude posts. Use the knowledge I’ve gained in writing courses, finally try running ads–but don’t stress. Send newsletter once a month–but don’t stress. Attend a writing conference and/or classes. Figure out how to be more a part of the writing/book community. Show my family that I love and appreciate them. Be thankful always. I hope to put more love in the world–I always hope that, but I want to be more vigilant about it. Try not to let the opinions of others (good or bad) affect me so much. Focus on the good.

Do you have any goals this year?

I hope you’re doing well, my wonderful readers!

Stay safe, keep reading, and I hope you have an amazing 2022!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Merry & Bright

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas!

This time last year I could still hold all the books I’d published in one hand. I tried that this year, failed, broke an ornament, cleaned up the mess, then moved everything to the mantle lol. At least the picture turned out nice.

May your days be merry & bright. May you spend time with the ones you love (hug them, tell them how much you love them, and know how blessed you are to have that). And may the odds be ever in your favor <3.

Merry Christmas and happiest of happy holidays to you!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

The Perfect Play Paperback!

Got some awesome book mail yesterday!!!

The Perfect Play paperback is out now, and it’s a beauty! I still can’t look at the cover without smiling <3.

Here are a few pics:

The lovely cover <333…

The spine…

Annnd the back cover and summary!

I’m biased since I wrote the book lol, but…

The paperback is so swoony/gorgeous!!!

My mom even said that she thinks it may be my prettiest one :D. I’ve been waiting for this and am so glad I can now add Chase & Charlie’s story to my shelves!

The Perfect Play paperback is out now, yay!

I hope you love the story as much I loved writing it–and I really LOVE this one, you guys. So much! Crossing my fingers that you fall in love with Chase & Charlie <3!

Hope you’re doing well and having a wonderful week!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. The Best Mistake and The Perfect Play look so good side-by-side *sigh* :). Do you just gaze longingly at books sometimes? Is that just me? Oh, okay lol! Again, stay safe, keep reading, and be well, bookworms!

Bookish Updates

Hi everyone!

I hope you’re all doing well! I just wanted to do a post about some bookish updates :). Okay, here we go!

  1. RJS Book Lovers’ Convention. I’ll be participating in my first book convention (as an author), yay!!! RSJ is a virtual romance book con that celebrates diversity in publishing! Sounds awesome, right? I definitely think so and am so thankful to be a small part of this event. On Sunday, I’ll be on a YA panel, chatting with readers, talking about books, playing fun games etc. This has always been a dream/goal of mine–to be an author at a conference/convention–so I’m very excited! Hoping it all goes well!
  2. Entangled Teen Live Chat. Okay, so this already happened lol, but it was a lot of fun! Riki, Pamela, Sharina, and Marlene were so awesome, and we had a wonderful time talking about YA books! You can catch more info about my upcoming release CUPCAKE as well as a ton of my awkward facial expressions in the replay lol!
  3. WALLFLOWER audiobook! Viola & Dare’s story is coming to audio on August 31st! Hooray!!! I’m so excited! Can’t wait to (hopefully) reach even more readers with this new format! <3 Can’t wait to listen to WALLFLOWER!
  4. The Perfect Play paperback!!! That’s right, you guys! Team ChaCha is coming to paperback this month! Woop, woop! I’ve already received the proof, and it’s SO beautiful! *sigh* I really want to release tomorrow (Thursday, Aug. 5th) or at least within the week, so be on the lookout! Again: The Perfect Play is coming to paperback!!! Yayyy!
  5. Writing vs. Being Sick. I haven’t been writing much lately. I’ve been sick but am feeling much better now. Not 100% yet–but definitely better. I thought I might have COVID, though I’ve been vaccinated. The symptoms were there, but my test was negative, and I’m very thankful for that. Looking forward to getting back to writing!

And that’s it! 🙂

I hope your August is off to a good start!

Hope everyone who’s going back to school has an awesome first week!!!

Stay safe and be well!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

Thank you so much!

Hi you guys!

The Perfect Play was released last Thursday, hooray!!!

Team ChaCha is doing well so far! Readers have been reading, and they’ve said some of the kindest things! I just wanted to share some of the awesome early reviews with you!

Absolutely amazing!  Cookie O’Gorman has done it again. This book drew me in and wouldn’t let go until the very end.–Nikki, Goodreads Review

The most delicious mix of sugary sweet & extra hot heat.–KristaReadsRomance, Goodreads Review

I always love it in a romance when the guy falls a little harder for the girl first and Chase is a book boyfriend coming to life.–Lauren at SERIESous Reviews

OMG! This is such a Great read! I love the O’Brien family!!–Cathleen, Goodreads Review

I’ve loved all of Cookie’s heroes and heroines, but I think these two might be my favorites.–Annie, Goodreads Review

Oh. My. I could not love this book more. Chase is so swoony. And Charlie…she’s my soul sister.–Talk Swoony To Me Blog, Goodreads Review

Thank you for another great book Cookie O’ Gorman. I just loved this book. It was just full of love and support from both the family and friends.– Alejandra, Goodreads Review

With my girl Cookie it’s a guarantee that the hero will be amazing and the heroine will be lovely. Yames Bond, Goodreads Review

Chase is my favorite O’Brien. I AM 100% MARRYING HIM. I swear, he’s such a sweetheart, but he also knows what he wants and goes for it, which I LOVE.–Clarissa, Goodreads Review

I loved loved loved this book so much!!!! Team ChaCha!!–Kiana, Goodreads Review

Ah, I’m so glad to know people are actually enjoying Charlie & Chase’s story! <3

I can’t tell you how much it means to see these wonderful reviews. It’s such an important thing–not only because they lift my spirits (which they absolutely do!), but they also let other readers know why they should give the book a chance! As an indie author and introvert, it’s kind of difficult to get the word out sometimes. I truly appreciate every review, and I just have to say: Thank you SO much to anyone who leaves one! You are awesome!!!

Also, thank you so much to Xpresso Book tours and to everyone who participated in The Perfect Play Book Blitz! You rock!

I’ve been working on the website a bit. I’ve also been taking a ton of screenshots of The Perfect Play lol! 😀 That’s basically what I do whenever a book comes out. I also had something not-so-awesome happen last week. I said I’d talk about all the bitter times as well as the sweet, so I may do a post about that. But if I do, I’ll definitely try to keep it positive!

I hope you’re all doing well and having a wonderful week so far!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. I really am thankful for the kind reviews The Perfect Play is receiving–and that people are reading! It’s out there, you guys! Team ChaCha is actually out there! 🙂 Hope you are doing well!

Only 2 more days!

Hi everyone!

There’s only 2 more days until the release of The Perfect Play, yayyy!!!

I’m so excited for everyone to read about Charlie & Chase! I truly love them and this story.

This is book 2 in the Southern U O’Brien Brothers series–which means it’s an actual series! Ah, I’m so excited (and nervous)! Here is the summary in case you’re interested:

She’s playing to win.

Okay, so I probably shouldn’t have made that bet with Emmy. But come on! She was challenging me. Attract a guy in seven days? No problem.

Well…maybe just one.

The guy she chooses is her brother, Chase O’Brien aka golden-boy-Virgin and star pitcher for the Wolves. Unlike most guys, Chase seems immune to my charms—but I’ve always loved a challenge.

He’s playing for keeps.

Charlie never should’ve made that bet with my baby sister. But if she uses her magic touch to heal my arm and gets me back in the game? It’s all good.

Actually, the more time we spend together, the harder I fall. I always knew I’d recognize my soulmate when I found her—and Charlie’s the one.

Even if she doesn’t know it yet.

This new adult sports romance features a strong heroine with a soft center, a hot-bookish hero who believes in true love and a sexy set of brothers guaranteed to make you swoon.

Love is always the perfect play.

Charlie has such a confident, sassy, hilarious personality. She’s determined and unapologetic, and gah, I love her! And oh my goodness, Chase!!! He puts the ‘swoon’ in swoon-worthy. He’s thoughtful, sweet, sexy–and he believes in soulmates/true love/is a hopeless romantic. *sigh* Chase starts the story coming back from an injury, wanting nothing more than to play ball, and Charlie helps him heal. Sparks fly between them, and…oh, I just hope people will love their story!

I’ve been struggling to get the word out. I wanted to release this one ASAP, and because of that, I wasn’t able to schedule a blog tour. There is a book blitz, so I’m hoping that will help. Five awesome bookish peeps are a part of the ARC team for The Perfect Play, and I’m so very thankful for them!!! I reached out to one author whose books I’ve read and enjoyed about doing a newsletter swap. I had more I wanted to reach out to, but I didn’t know if I should/if that was frowned upon. I basically chickened out lol.

But I wish I could do more.

Again, I really love Charlie & Chase.

This is one of my favorite stories I’ve written. I wish I knew how to spread the word. I’m planning to run an ad and just hoping it will be successful. Anyway, this is obviously where the doubt sets in, so please, if you get a chance, cross your fingers for me and this little book <3.

I hope you’re doing well and having an awesome summer! I also hope you get this bc I still haven’t figured out how to switch from Feedburner to another service that will send my blog posts.

I’ll be working on that for the 10 awesome peeps who actually read these ;).

Good karma and virtual hugs to you!

Happy reading,

Cookie O’Gorman

P.S. Only 2 more days until The Perfect Play, hooray!!!!