Single Sundays: Introvert by Cookie O’Gorman

Single Sundays: While this blog may be focused on reviewing book series as a whole, we can’t forget about the good ole’ standalone novel! On Sundays, I will review a novel that is considered to be a standalone novel. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Introvert (from Goodreads):

Introvert (in-troh-vurt): Someone who is quiet, shy, and/or thoughtful. For reference, see Aurora Kent.

Seventeen-year-old Aurora Kent likes being alone. For the most part. With her fear of crowds, anxiety issues, and inexperience, she’s never really left home.

Until now.

Aurora loves playing violin…and surprises everyone when she agrees to go on tour with a band for two months.

She surprises herself more by kissing a rockstar.

Felix Cordova. Mysterious, cocky, gorgeous—and strangely familiar. When Felix asks her to be his girlfriend for 10 seconds, she agrees. But Aurora never expected a video of their kiss to go viral.

Now she’s in a fake relationship with the one guy who makes her heart sing.

Stuck on a bus with five hot musicians, playing sold-out shows, Aurora should be living the dream. But as fake dating leads to sharing a bunk, late-night talks, and heartfelt confessions, Aurora finds herself falling hard.

Which is a problem because, real or fake, summer romances never last—right?

This book features two opposites with the most delicious slow burn, one heart-melting grand gesture, so many soul-stirring kisses and answers the question:

What happens when a shy girl falls for a rockstar?

SERIESous’ Top Picks: Must Read Author
Author: Cookie O’Gorman
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Rockstar
Heat Rating: Cool
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Date: May 15, 2025
Source & Format: Author–eARC

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I’ve been following Cookie since her debut and I’m at the point that, she releases a book, I read it. She’s just my go-to for sweet contemporary romance and a swoon worthy book boyfriend. But I was particularly excited for this book because it crosses over with some of Cookie’s other books, like Adorkable and the Southern U O’Brien Brothers Series. Oh, and our hero was a rockstar and rockstar romances are my kryptonite!

The Plot:

There is a lot going on in this book and I think that both works but also holds it back a bit. While I liked that something was always happening, I think it just needed a little polish. Maybe if this was officially book 1 of a HERS series, I’d find the focus on the other characters to be well placed; but that isn’t truly the case so I did feel like it distracted from Felix and Aurora’s story sometimes.

The Characters:

Aurora was a great heroine. I think lots of girls will find something to relate to with her as she challenges herself to overcome her anxiety. A good YA contemporary story (in my opinion) should dedicate some time to character growth and this one does that. Even if we don’t get Felix’s POV, I thought he had some solid character development as well.

Also, I have to shout-out all the side characters. While I did allude to them distracting from the main plot above, I did love the cast. Some have already had their own books but there are some that need their own books ASAP! I just loved the focus on friendship and comradery — and the little inklings of future romances!

The Romance:

Cookie does a great job of always writing the swoony-est book boyfriends and Felix was no exception. He was so sweet! I don’t want to give too much away but I appreciated their connection and they just had this great balance between them. I loved the clean, sweet rockstar element and the fake romance trope. I just wish we had a few more scenes with them because I loved watching them fall in love.