Adorkable is just that, adorkable. I loved this story from beginning to end. The characters are phenomenal and this story was extremely well written.

Sally is sick of going on these random terrible blind dates her mother and best friend keep setting her up with. Her solution? She tells everyone her long time best friend Becks is her boyfriend. The only problem? Well, Sally is and has been in love with Becks for a long time and he has no idea. When they start "seeing each other" things start heating up with Becks teaching her about dating, kissing, and all the other fun boyfriend things. Swoon. Sally is in trouble. To top it all off Becks is acting the perfect role of boyfriend by being protective and not wanting anyone to hit on her. It totally throws Sally for a loop since Becks still seems like he just wants to be her friend.

Adorkable was an amazing read. I loved it. The characters were amazingly well done. I loved literally everything about this story and feel so fortunate that I was able to get a copy of this story.

Sally is definitely a character I related to since I felt like such a loser all through high school. Despite the fact that I was in a committed relationship I struggled a lot with my peers with fitting it. Sally is definitely one of those characters I instantly connected with. Becks was the perfect book boyfriend. He's the boyfriend everyone would want. I just loved it. You'll definitely want to read this story. It's absolutely perfect.

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The friendship between the main character and her best female friend was fantastic. The fact that they act out scenes in public from the Tombstone movie made me laugh. I love that her bestie, Hooker, had her back in every scenario and even though she forced Sally into some awful blind dates it was motivated by love and good intentions.

“Phew,” Hooker said, swiping a hand across her forehead. “You actually look human again. Just look at yourself, Spitz. You are one hot mama.”

Looking in the mirror, I thought the skirt was a little short, the top too tight, the heels ridiculous and the make-up just silly, but I didn’t say anything. Hooker had worked hard to make me look this slutty.

“Thanks, Hooker,” I said instead. “You did great.”

Overall this was a really cute Friends to Lovers YA contemporary romance with some added geek stuff along the way that added to the fun. Adorkable is the perfect read if you like slow burn relationships, issues with miscommunication, tons of bad blind dates, a stubborn best friend, random German rants including swearing in German, lots of Star Wars trivia and sports talk with a girl who know nothing about sports. On a side note, I absolutely loved Ash (he was completely adorable and super charming) and I would love to have a spin off with him getting to find love.

I'll be completely honest and say that the only two reasons I wanted to read Adorkable was because 1) I used to use that word a lot to jokingly describe myself back in high school and never saw it used again until now, so of course I got curious. And 2) I'm a sucker for the fake-dating trope. That new cover, however, is so unfortunate. I liked the previous cover way better.

The childhood-best-friends-turned-lovers trope is either a hit or miss for me; I really have to be in the mood for that trope to enjoy it. Thankfully, I really liked the friendship between Sally and Becks, so when they started their fake relationship I was already on-board! Their chemistry was really cute; I liked that Becks was so encouraging and supportive of Sally's "nerdy" passions, finding it to be more endearing than anything else. And Sally was the same with Becks and his passion for soccer. Despite not being much of a sports fan, she always tried her best to cover his games for the school newspaper. Give me all the stories with cute, supportive couples, please!

I loved all the Harry Potter, Star Trek, etc. references. It was also pretty amusing that Sally would burst out speaking in German whenever she was upset, but I enjoyed how that contributed to the plot twist in the last third of the story.

Despite the awful cover, I had high hopes that I would really enjoy this story. And I did enjoy it, to a certain extent. But when I started to list all the things I definitely did not like, I realized that the stuff I disliked outweighed the things I did. So disappointing.

Let's start with the blatant homophobia in the first couple chapters. Honestly, I was shocked to see it in a book that was published not too long ago (2016) but even more so that when I searched for other reviews, only managed to find one person call it out.

Sally's mother and best friend are incredibly annoying! It's absurd that they're so desperate to find a boyfriend for Sally when the girl is only 17. What's the rush? This isn't set in 17th century England. It was disturbing enough that her mother was so insistent on Sally getting a boyfriend, but I just about threw my Kindle across the room when her own best friend basically told a guy to date Sally because she (Sally) was desperate. Her "match-making" felt creepy and more like harassment, to be honest.

And, speaking of creepy, there were a couple instances where I felt uncomfortable with adults showing attraction to Becks. Maybe you can say that that's not what was really happening because it was seen through Sally's point-of-view; maybe that was just how the author chose to express Sally feeling jealous? But it was still So. Much. Cringe!

I tried to suspend my disbelief, but having a girl go from "dorky" and "never-been-kissed" inexperienced teen, to finding herself in a situation where three guys are honestly interested in her within the span of one month was too much to let go, and resulted in heavy eye-rolls. And, lastly, there were some instances of awkward writing and plot issues in the last third of the story.

This was a cute story--the typical in-love-with-your-best-friend-when-you're-on-the-geeky-and-awkward-side-but-he's-a-hot-stud kind of a book.

First off--I really liked Becks, even though his actual name--Baldwin Eugene Charles Kent--is less than stellar. (Come to think of it, a lot of the names in this book are pretty bad--Sally Spitz and Hooker, whose first name is Lillian even though Sally never uses it, especially.) Becks himself, though, is a pretty great guy, if one can get past his love-them-and-leave-them tendencies. (Which he kind of has an excuse for later on, though I'm not 100% sure I buy it. But it's a sweet sentiment anyway.) At least he's all kinds of faithful to his bestie, Sally, and when they're together--as friends, while faking it, and while they're not--they are adorable.

Sally is a puzzle at times--why the German? it's a weird quirk, and I don't get why she had it, though it's obvious why it was needed later on--but she's not hard to like either. Given the fact that she's got all kinds of guys telling her she's cute and hot in the book, it's a bit puzzling why she's in the dilemma she is at the beginning, but I was willing to go with it.

I was less than fond of Sally's other best friend, Hooker (ugh, that name!), and the role Sally's mom had in the whole matchmaking-for-Sally scheme. I don't really understand why it's so crucial for a high school senior to have a significant other, and wasn't crazy about all the subterfuge the two of them engaged in to get her to go out with so many guys. It just didn't feel necessary. (In real life. Obviously it's necessary for the plot of the story.)

I found myself wishing that Becks and Sally had sat down and had a real conversation about their relationship way before they actually did, but them not doing so earlier led up to a really cute ending which leaves you with the warm fuzzies, so...all's well, and all that.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B-

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

No matter how old I am, YA contemporary romance will always be my favorite genre. I read Adorkable back when it first came out, and after reading it again, I think I love it even more now than I did the first time. 


Adorkable is light, swoony, sweet, and everything I could possibly want in a YA romance. Sally and Becks were both easy to love. I would love to have Sally as a best friend, and Becks *swoooon* he's definitely book boyfriend material. 

The "best-friend" trope is one of my favorites, but not only do we get that, we get the "fake boyfriend" trope as well. If your a fan of either of those, then THIS is the book for you. Especially if you love adorable high school romances as much as I do. :)

I received a copy for review purposes.

I love Darynda's writing. She creates funny sexy characters that I adore. The copy I read was an unedited advanced copy and at time became hard to tell when the pov switched from Sunshine to her daughter but I am sure they will clear that up before they released it. That little distraction didn't take away from the story. It had mystery, humor, and suspense. The heat and romance was starting to rise and I can't wait for the next book to see where that goes.

I have had this book on my TBR forever!
I am the biggest sucker for YA romance.

Sal and Becks were just adorkable perfection.
I love First love stories and those moments of realization between two
characters that there is a potential for more. <3 Teenage Angst
The families are hilarious. I was actually laughing out loud at some parts.
And I'm so glad that I waited to read this because there is bonus content in the
paperbacks. :)

🤩 4 ADORKABLE STARS 🤩

Sally is seventeen years old and has never had a boyfriend. Her mother and her best friend, Hooker, want to change that situation so they keep trying to hook her up with people and force her to go on dates with them. Sally seems fed up about it and she thinks that to escape them all she needs is a fake relationship.

There comes in Becks, Sally's best friend since they were babies and one of the hottest and most popular guys at school. He gets on board with her plan of F.B.F and agrees to be her fake boyfriend. There's a problem though and that's the fact that Sally has been secretly in love with him all these years and never expressed her feelings so she wouldn't lose him.

This was so cute!!! I adored the relationships in this one, even if some of them were giving me headaches - like the fact that her mom and friend were relentless, would make me get a headache and I wouldn't take it as well as Sally did. I mean she's only 17 you guys. Why the pressure to get a boyfriend?! And to force her into this, not just annoy her about it. Also there were a bit over the top scenes, but overall I really enjoyed this book.


And that kiss..
Yeah, my brain responded, but it wasn't real.
But it felt real.
Yeah, but it wasn't.

If you're a fan of the trope friends to lovers and fake relationship, this is the perfect combination of both and you should give it a chance. This is also a YA so don't expect any risky business, but it was so cute and indeed adorkable - loved the references of Harry Potter & Star Wars (even if i'm clueless with the last one) I definitely recommend this if you need something light and funny.

Adorkable by Cookie O'Gorman is a sweet ya first love story, a stand alone.
Meet Sally Sue Spitz, a 17 year old senior in high school.
And there's Becks, hger best friend and sports star at school.
She's had a crush on him for a long time, but wants to keep being friends to.
What can I say. A well written ya novel, the pains of groening up, a sweet romantic story, a slowish burn. 4 beautiful stars.

Thank you for the review copy!

Synopsis:
Sally Sue Spitz is your average dorky girl-next-door who's yet to fess up about why she wasn't really into dating. But that doesn't deter her mother and her best friend from setting her up with all the boys (and even a girl) that are available. When their matchmaking starts to get on her nerves, she comes up with a perfect plan. Sally asks her childhood friend, Becks, to be her fake boyfriend. After all, she wants the almost always terrible blind dates and shocking setups to stop. But all that faking is making Sally realise what she's been missing since she's been hiding her secret.

Review:
This was my first title by Cookie O'Gorman and this wouldn't definitely be the last. Also, I don't think I could've picked up a better book than this one to start my journey in YA romance. I love stories which have fake to real relationships and a lot of dorky things in it and not to forget, my favourite fandoms. As the blurb promised all those things, I jumped right into reading the story and giggled away.

Adorkable. The author defines the term at the outset as "a descriptive term meaning to be equal parts dorky and adorable. For reference, see Sally Spitz." And I liked that. Liked that term, I mean. This is an adorkable story.

Narrated in the first person, in Sally's voice, at one point Sally's mother thinks she's a lesbian. So she even sets her up with a girl. Well, she isn't dating and she doesn't seem to hit it off with any of the boys that her mother and her 'want to be a professional matchmaker' second best friend Lillian Hooker set her up with! Her first best friend would always, of course, remain Baldwin Eugene Charles Kent aka Becks. Martha Nicholls is a wedding planner and she couldn't help but try to plan the first step towards a happy ever after for her soon to be the eighteen-years-old only daughter.

Sally and Becks both are so adorable, and their friendship is even more so. I wish I had a best friend like that. Sigh! Though Lillian too is a gem and their solid friendship stemming from sharing weird surnames was cute, I couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed with her at first for setting up Sal left, right, and centre. But, as they say, without her push, Sally and Becks would have taken longer to get together. Haha! Me getting emotional over a bookish couple. Also, Sally being angry in German was so funny.

Set in the small town of Chariot, the Kent family is delightful. Especially the brothers, Leonard, Oliver, Thaddeus, Clayton, and Baldwin (our Becks). I wish all of them to get their own stories, especially Clayton.

The fandoms had me in such awe that I can't even... There was a little bit of everything, from Harry Potter to Star Trek to X-Men to Star Wars, so much so, that it made me want to watch Star Wars. Have only seen Star Trek till now and that too the recent ones. And if the Kent family name wasn't a Superman reference, then I'll be damned. Ha! I love how the author has named the characters. There's an Ash Stryker too, though he's not an out and out villain here.

All in all, this was a sweet romantic story of Sal and Becks that I'll definitely recommend to everyone who loves to read from this genre!

I know it kind of sounds predictable and like you already know what it's going to happen. Just like one of those books that are all the same, they play a couple, fall in love and stay together. Well, yes that is the case but O'Gorman managed to make this an enjoyable story with incredibly cute moments and so easy to read.

It's no surprise I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

There is just one main issue I have with this book. Sally's best friend and mother.

The whole story wouldn't have happened if they weren't trying so hard to get a boyfriend for Sally. I mean it just made me a little mad that they were like "we just don't want you to be alone forever" the girl is 17 so it was kind of dumb and nonsensical that they were so worried about her dating life at that age.

Beside that, the fact that Sally had to prove to Hooker (the best friend) she and Becks (the male best friend/fake boyfriend) are an actual couple made me not like her at all. She was just not the best for Sally to begin with, obviously things changed as her and Becks became more and more like a real couple not just to everyone else but to themselves, still it was a little sour note on the whole story that Sally needed prove that she had someone in her life.

But over all the story is amazing. It's a whole new take on the friends to lovers trope, yes it's cliché, but in the best way. Becks was kind of the perfect boyfriend because he really wanted to be Sally's boyfriend.

Sally didn't really know how to react to Becks' more than stellar acting, so she got confused and couldn't really handle how her real feelings for him threatened to come out and things got a little complicated.

These two belong together for real you guys. They have love each other since they were kids and now they have a chance to show how much.

Adorkable is swoon-worthy, fast paced, sweet and romantic story about two teenagers who by a twist of faith start a fake relationship with real feelings toward each other and are left to figure out how to show their real feelings to the other if they want to make this relationship real and long lasting.

This book started off so adorably and I was hooked from page one! And I don't know if I can gush enough about how much I loved it, how happy I was when I finished! I loved Becks so much, and I love where his name came from, Baldwin Eugene Charles Kent, and that it was leftover from how they were naming all the kids after their uncles but there were four left! But sigh, Becks, he's like the book boyfriend I would have if I was still in high school and not an old high school librarian. But let's talk about Sally here too. You see, I was kind of like Sally. Totally felt like a nerd, had all the same feelings of inadequacy that she had, crushes on guys like Becks, (although none of them were my best friend). Also I didn't really date in high school. I had a blind date or two set up by friends that totally didn't work out. The banter was cute, the romance was sweet, and I even liked Ash, even if he wasn't going to be the guy for Sally. So many times I was with Sally and wanted to just slap her best friend Lillian who wouldn't quite trying to set her up. So much cuteness and sweetness in this book, I finished with a big goofy smile on my face!

Aww oh my gosh this book is so cute. I love the characters. Especially Sally, my goodness the blind dates she got set up with wow. I mean one seemed okay until the end of the date.
When she came up with the idea for a fake boyfriend I thought what a great and odd idea. Becks is cute, I swear.
He just is so sweet and nice to Sally.
When they both agree for the fake boyfriend I thought this is it, we are going to see them be together. Ha
This book was a very quick read. I finished it in about 4 hours.
Now I want more of these characters please.

Adorkable was filled with laughter, butterfly and smile inducing moments, and I couldn't get enough of it! The characters quickly found a place in my heart, and the story-line was so cute! It involved the fake boyfriend trope, and it was done in a way that felt fresh and fun. So this addicting book easily made its way onto my favorites shelf!

I was so tired of surprises. If I had to meet one more blind date, I would literally go insane.


The nicknames in this book were hilarious ! Our heroine is Sally Sue Spitz and her classmates call her Spitz. And her best friend is Lillian Hooker, who Sally calls Hooker. Loved it! So Sally was forever single and Hooker, trying to be the best friend ever, always set Sally up on blind dates. But these weren't regular blind dates. Or even regular guys it would seem. Each and every interaction Sally had with them had me laughing, groaning or doing both out loud. After a horrible double-double date (you'll see what I mean lol) gone terribly wrong and a misunderstanding, Sally comes up with the idea that she needs a fake boyfriend. It was the only way to stop Hooker's attempts. So she begged Becks, her best friend forever who's been in her life since grade school, to be her fake boyfriend.

Ducking, he placed a lingering kiss on the spot right below my ear. The move made my hand shoot out to grip his jersey. Becks laughed silently, little puffs of air hitting my neck, as I shivered.


Becks. Oh Becks. He was one of my many favorite things about this book. The way Becks looked at Sally, the way he claimed her as his, the way he protected her, his jealousy, oh my gosh even the way he touched her, it all made my heart beat so fast. But here's the confusing part, I had NO clue what he thought at times. You see, he would say and do these things that would imply that he liked Sally more than just friends, but then again he was just playing a part. And his words would reinforce that idea. So I desperately wanted to get in that sexy head of his and know all of his thoughts. Especially when he suggested that they should start practicing....hello butterflies!

“But Becks,” she whined, “I don’t understand. Why her?”
“Nothing to understand really,” he said, smiling down at me. “Sal’s my girl. Always has been.”
As he squeezed my hip, I swear I stopped breathing.


So not only did I adore Becks, but Sally too. I loved how Sally easily sprinkled Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek etc into her daily life. She embraced her geekiness, and I loved how she didn't second guess herself in that regards. But at the same point, she could be self-conscious. Especially when it came to her feelings towards Becks. You see, while Becks was her BFF, he was also beautiful, smart, a player, a jock and everyone easily loved him. Including Sally. Knowing that Sally wanted to be more than friends with Becks put my heart on the line right with her. I flipped through the pages as fast as possible for both of our stakes!

“Spitz, the guy’s wearing Chinos, and he tried to shake my hand.” She tugged at one end of her bob. “I found him bent over a book bigger than my head in the sci-fi/fantasy section at Barnes and Noble.”
That sounded suspicious. “And what were you doing in Barnes and Noble?” I asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she laughed. “I was looking for the male version of you.”
I laughed despite myself. - Spitz (Sally) and Hooker


The side characters not only helped round out this book, but they felt so real to me. Hooker, oh my gosh, I wanted her to listen to Sally at times. But we all have our flaws, and what Hooker thought was best for Sally wasn't always what was truly the best for her and it led to hilarious moments. My favorites were Ash, Becks' fellow soccer teammate and Sally's fellow classmate, and also Clayton, Becks' oldest brother. I could easily and happily read a book about each of them!

This one could only end badly, and when it did, it was going to hurt.
A lot.


So if you're a fan of cute books that leave you with the hugest smile ever, or if you adore the fake boyfriend trope, then I highly recommend you pick up Adorkable! This is the second time I've picked up this book and I loved it even more the second time. I even cried at the end this second time around, it was just so perfect. So yes, I loved this book with my whole heart! Cookie O'Gorman always creates characters that are so easy to connect with and love, and of course. I can't wait for you to meet them too!

4.5 Stars!
For every girl who’s fallen for their best friend, and for every nerdy girl who’s fallen for the popular guy, this one is for you! Fake boyfriends, best friends, popular guy with the nerdy girl!!! This book was everything I needed! I loved Sally’s character, and What I loved most was that she never changed who she was for any guy. She was true to her nerdy self and all these guys started falling for her for who she is. Becks was adorable! I loved when he kissed her under her ear, it was so sweet and I loved how much he loved and protected Sally! I think this book is just a really great YA book, and really teaches girls that they don’t have to change who they are to be with someone they love, it’ll work out the way it’s meant to if it’s with the right person. I think this book was so uplifting, positive and fun to read!
Thank you for the ARC