Colleen Oakley Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Colleen Oakley is a critically acclaimed American writer of romance, contemporary, women’s fiction, chick-lit, and adult fiction stories. She is particularly well known for writing her standalone novels called Before I G and Close Enough to Touch. Now, she is looking forward to the release of her latest book, You Were There Too, which is expected to come out in the first half of 2020. The novels penned by Oakley have been shortlisted once for French Reader’s award and longlisted twice for Southern Book Prize. Her novels have been translated into as many 18 foreign languages and have been optioned for movies by well-known production companies. They have also received numerous accolades. Prior to beginning her career in the field of novel writing, Oakley used to work as a magazine editor. She has worked for Women’s Health & Fitness and Marie Claire.

The essays, interviews, and articles penned by her have appeared in various publications, journals, and magazines such as Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, Marie Claire, The NY Times, Parade, Women’s Health, Martha Stewart Weddings, Woman’s Day, Health, and Fitness. Oakley graduated from the Georgia University’s school of journalism. As of today, she resides in Atlanta. Oakley is happily married and lives with her loving husband and their 4 beautiful kids. She stepped into the world of publishing with her first book, Before I Go, in 2015 and received lots of praise for her work from all directions. Before that, she was employed in the field of journalism. Oakley says that working as a journalist was not a planned one. It was merely an outcome of her hatred towards a TV journalist, forcing her to pursue journalism at the professional level.

Oakley decided to take the giant leap in her career from a journalist to an author when her articles & essays received great responses. Motivated by the huge response, she sat down to write her first novel and was overjoyed to see it receive tremendous success. In 2015, the book was selected as the Best New Book and was recognized by various other literary magazines and journals. Through the success of her first novel, Oakley has managed to create an emotional connection between the readers and her characters. It is said that Oakley’s stories have quite a predictable climax, but still, the readers feel hooked to her books. In the time of today’s generation, Oakley is seen as an emerging and highly talented author. She likes to give the credit of her success to her family members, who have always supported her in the times of thick and thin.

Oakley also expresses her gratitude to her dedicated readers, critics, and fellow writers for reviewing her work genuinely and giving good comments to her novels on various literary platforms. In addition to her writing commitments, Oakley is also quite passionate about her reading prospects. She likes to read stories that motivate her and make her feel the urge to develop an interesting story of her own and tell it to the world. Oakley is hopeful of writing many more exciting stories in the years to come and increase her fan-following to a much greater extent by becoming extremely successful. Even the critics feel that Oakley has a lot to offer. Many of them have appreciated her writing skills, character development, settings, and storytelling abilities. They are confident that Oakley has everything in her to become a prominent author in the coming times. Even she hopes that she is able to fulfill the hopes of her fans and critics through her work.

A popular book written by author Colleen Oakley is entitled ‘Before I Go’. It was released by Gallery Books in 2015. The central characters mentioned in this novel include Daisy, Sydney, and Jack. Oakley has described a heart-wrenching story revolving around the life of a young lady diagnosed with breast cancer, who takes on a mission to find a new life partner for her loving husband before her death. Initially, Daisy is introduced as a 27-year-old wife of Jack. After beating breast cancer three years ago, she gets diagnosed with it again. It was on the occasion of her third ‘Cancerversary’ where she was celebrating being cancer-free for three years that she was handed a devastating blow by her doctor. Daisy is informed that the cancer has come back and is at the dangerous fourth stage. The doctor also tells Daisy that she has a maximum of 4 months in her hand.

More than fearing about death, Daisy fears about what would happen to her charmingly helpless husband Jack when she won’t be there to look after him. This fear keeps Daisy awake all night. Then one night, she arrives at the solution of finding another wife for Jack. With this sole purpose at hand, Daisy begins to scout coffee shops, local parks, online dating sites, and many more to look for a perfect match for Jack. The more she carries forward her search, the more questions arise in her mind about her plan’s sanity. As Daisy tries to come to terms with the thought of seeing her husband in the arms of a different woman, she is forced to face the most difficult question of all: Whether her husband’s happiness is more important in such less amount of time or her own?

Another mind-blowing book penned by Oakley is called ‘Close Enough To Touch’. It was also published by Gallery Books in 2017. Oakley has set this novel’s story in New Jersey, United States and has mentioned the primary characters in the roles of Eric Keegan and Jubilee Jenkins. The book opens by introducing Jubilee Jenkins as an unusual librarian. She is allergic to human touch and would die if her skin comes in contact with another human. After spending 10 years in solitude, Jubilee has now gathered the courage to face the world in spite of the risks in an attempt to get rid of her rare allergy. She wears long sleeves, gloves, and sets out on her bicycle.

Eric Keegan is depicted as going through his own troubles in life. His daughter doesn’t speak to him after he broke his relationship with her mother. And with his adopted son trying telekinesis, Eric wonders how his life ended up off course. He also wonders how to be the man and father that he is desperate to be. Later, Eric Keegan indulges in an encounter with Jubilee Jenkins at the desk of the library where she works. He becomes so mesmerized by her that he wishes to spend more time with her. Eric begins to enjoy the way his life gets entangled with that of Jubilee Jenkins.