Andi's Young Adult Books: Review of Wallflower by Cookie O'Gorman

Welcome to the Book Tour!

Today I'm sharing with you an excerpt from and my thoughts on this YA romance that totally captured my heart:

Wallflower

by: Cookie O'Gorman

Read an interview with the author over at Candrel's Crafts, Cooks, and Characters!

Wallflower
by: Cookie O'Gorman
YA Romance

Release Date: March 25, 2021

Summary:

Wallflower (wohl-flou-erh): Identifier for someone who is shy and/or awkward. For reference, see Viola Kent.

Seventeen-year-old Viola Kent likes being invisible. Well, not literally, but she's content being a loner, reading her books, and hanging out with the animals at the shelter. She just wants to keep her head down and get through her senior year at Durham High.

Driving Dare Frost to school every day wasn't part of the plan.

And when Viola finds out her dad recruited Dare, his number one player, to be her friend?

Her inner Slytherin demands revenge.

The solution: Get Dare to be her fake boyfriend.

Convincing the star athlete to pretend is easier than she'd thought it would be. The hard part is protecting her heart. With every word, touch, and kiss, Viola's feelings become more real.

The problem: Viola knows she's falling for Dare—but he doesn't believe in love.

This book features two sets of soulmates, one happy pooch named Hermione, so many sizzling kisses and answers the question:

Can a dork and a jock fake their way to true love?

Excerpt:

"Come on, Dare. Show me your moves. Or did you run out already?"

Dare walked toward me until the top of my thighs hit the couch cushion. "I've got a ton of moves, flower. We haven't even tried half of them."

I blinked. "Really?"

He nodded. "I'm just trying to ease you into this, make sure you're comfortable. I don't want to move too fast."

Please, do, I thought.

The words that came out of my mouth were, "I'll believe it when I see it."

It had sounded good, quippy and totally aloof in my head.

But Dare took it as a challenge.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Dare said.

Before I could respond, he gripped the backs of my legs and lifted slightly, making me gasp and throw my arms about his neck. In the next instant, I was balanced on the couch back, my legs on either side of his hips as he took a step forward. There hadn't been that much space between us to begin with. So, the next thing I knew his body was mere inches away from mine.

My cheeks flamed, and he drank in my reaction.

Buy Link:

Amazon

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**My thoughts**

Viola is precisely what you would expect a wallflower to be. She is attractive enough, but not one to necessarily turn heads upon entering a room. She's smart without being too much of a Hermione. Speaking of which, she's totally into Harry Potter and all kids of other suck books. She can get along with people well enough if she has to, but doesn't go out of her way to do so. She doesn't feel like she needs a lot of friends, instead preferring to spend her time with the animals at the shelter where she volunteers. And deep down, she's a big romantic. She's totally someone I would be friends with.

Her father was a star athlete when he was in high school and is now the coach of the high school soccer team. They're total opposites, but are also completely devoted to each other.

Enter Dare. His name alone tells you a lot about him. He's the star of the soccer team. He's smoking hot and charismatic, which pretty much helps him get away with more than he should. But there is a softer side that is buried within that slowly surfaces as we get to know him.

Viola's father sets up this unlikely friendship by asking Viola to give Dare a ride to school every morning. The kids have chemistry from the start, in spite of Viola's protests to the contrary. And when she vows revenge on her father by pretending to date Dare, the sparks absolutely fly off of the pages.

It's definitely not your typical high school kind of a romance, but it's a fun one to watch unfold. And the characters felt very real to me. I felt like I could envision each character as someone from my own high school class. In fact, Dare's doppelganger quickly jumped into my head from the first meeting, and I almost messaged my old friend to tell him I had found him in a book.

I always love watching strong girls come into their own and having the cocky boys realize and acknowledge their vulnerabilities. It's a reminder that people are often deeper than that persona you usually see put on at the first meeting.

I really enjoyed this story and found out at the end that Viola's parents have their own story as well. So now I have purchased Adorkable and will be reading and reviewing that soon!

Giveaway!

$25 Amazon Gift Card

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Author Bio:

Cookie O'Gorman writes YA & NA romance to give readers a taste of happily-ever-after. Small towns, quirky characters, and the awkward yet beautiful moments in life make up her books. Cookie also has a soft spot for nerds and ninjas. Her novels ADORKABLE, NINJA GIRL, The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About EthanWilder, The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad and WALLFLOWER are out now! She is also the author of NA sports romance, The Best Mistake.