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A review by pagesplotsandpints
On the Fence by Kasie West
5.0
4.5 stars
Initial Impressions 6/24/14:Super duper cute and I just saw SO much of myself in this story. Charlie just felt so much like a combination of my sister and me. She's more the sports nut but the personality and the situations were just so... I've been there! The neighbor boy. SIGH. I just love friend to boyfriend romances. So so so cute and I just loved it. Kasie West is a genius!
Review originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 7/22/14: Another fantastic book from Kasie West, chock full of family, wonderful characters, and a romance that will make your heart soar. I really loved THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US and major bonus points for seeing some of the characters from that book pop up in On the Fence! I didn’t really realize that these books were sort of companions but I just adore character crossovers so that was so much fun to see!
One of the reasons I loved ON THE FENCE so much was the wonderful collection of characters that Kasie West always has in her stories. I still need to read SPLIT SECOND but I can say with confidence that from PIVOT POINT and THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, I’ve seen her character development grow with each book. Each new work I read provides characters that just feel incredibly real and I made such a personal connection with Charlie. I was definitely more of a tomboy growing up — my sister was more of the sports nut (and still is) but we played sports, all of the neighborhood kids were boys, and I never really got too much into makeup and accessories and clothes. (I’m still not haha!) I wasn’t as much of a tomboy as Charlie is, but I definitely saw those pieces of myself in her and I really got to connect with her on that level. The neighborhood pick-up games really reminded me of my own childhood and it made me miss the days of playing baseball in the street and hanging out with the guys. I also really loved how Charlie felt like a genuine tomboy. No part of that really ever felt forced to me. She was in her element playing sports and hanging out with the guys and so completely out of her element when it came to the girly things.
I also just love the family dynamic in all of Kasie West’s books. Even though she’s missing her mother, Charlie has an amazing family with her father and her brothers, including like-a-brother who happens to be next-door neighbor Braden. She has a great support and although they give her crap about guys and about girly things, deep down Charlie knows that she always has that family support system whenever she needs it. I don’t know why but I love older brother/younger sister relationships. I always wanted an older brother (which obviously when I realized that’s what I wanted it was way too late for that haha) because I just love the protectiveness that occurs in these relationships between brothers and sisters and for some reason I just think it’s so sweet and it really endears me to the brother. (Although I’m guessing if you did in fact have an older brother, this may get annoying. The grass is always greener, right?) Anyway, I just really loved the relationship that Charlie had with her brothers and I LOVED how her relationship with Braden slowly evolved from him being like a brother and one of the guys to realizing that there were more feelings for him there than she knew.
The romance was ADORABLE. The best-friend-turned-boyfriend trope is one of my favorites because I just love the friendship basis for these relationships. There’s already a deep connection and it’s scary but so exciting to start moving that relationship towards something you both realize is there but are afraid to change. The relationship that evolves from Charlie and Braden’s friendship was just adorable and I loved every second of watching that relationship grow. I loved their banter and watching them tip toe towards expressing their feelings to each other, figuring out what was crossing this line or that.
Clearly you can tell I just adored ON THE FENCE. I immediately pre-ordered the book as soon as I finished my egalley because this was one of those books I needed to hug and then put on my shelf to display proudly. I highly recommend it for a cute contemporary romance!
Initial Impressions 6/24/14:Super duper cute and I just saw SO much of myself in this story. Charlie just felt so much like a combination of my sister and me. She's more the sports nut but the personality and the situations were just so... I've been there! The neighbor boy. SIGH. I just love friend to boyfriend romances. So so so cute and I just loved it. Kasie West is a genius!
Review originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 7/22/14: Another fantastic book from Kasie West, chock full of family, wonderful characters, and a romance that will make your heart soar. I really loved THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US and major bonus points for seeing some of the characters from that book pop up in On the Fence! I didn’t really realize that these books were sort of companions but I just adore character crossovers so that was so much fun to see!
One of the reasons I loved ON THE FENCE so much was the wonderful collection of characters that Kasie West always has in her stories. I still need to read SPLIT SECOND but I can say with confidence that from PIVOT POINT and THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, I’ve seen her character development grow with each book. Each new work I read provides characters that just feel incredibly real and I made such a personal connection with Charlie. I was definitely more of a tomboy growing up — my sister was more of the sports nut (and still is) but we played sports, all of the neighborhood kids were boys, and I never really got too much into makeup and accessories and clothes. (I’m still not haha!) I wasn’t as much of a tomboy as Charlie is, but I definitely saw those pieces of myself in her and I really got to connect with her on that level. The neighborhood pick-up games really reminded me of my own childhood and it made me miss the days of playing baseball in the street and hanging out with the guys. I also really loved how Charlie felt like a genuine tomboy. No part of that really ever felt forced to me. She was in her element playing sports and hanging out with the guys and so completely out of her element when it came to the girly things.
I also just love the family dynamic in all of Kasie West’s books. Even though she’s missing her mother, Charlie has an amazing family with her father and her brothers, including like-a-brother who happens to be next-door neighbor Braden. She has a great support and although they give her crap about guys and about girly things, deep down Charlie knows that she always has that family support system whenever she needs it. I don’t know why but I love older brother/younger sister relationships. I always wanted an older brother (which obviously when I realized that’s what I wanted it was way too late for that haha) because I just love the protectiveness that occurs in these relationships between brothers and sisters and for some reason I just think it’s so sweet and it really endears me to the brother. (Although I’m guessing if you did in fact have an older brother, this may get annoying. The grass is always greener, right?) Anyway, I just really loved the relationship that Charlie had with her brothers and I LOVED how her relationship with Braden slowly evolved from him being like a brother and one of the guys to realizing that there were more feelings for him there than she knew.
The romance was ADORABLE. The best-friend-turned-boyfriend trope is one of my favorites because I just love the friendship basis for these relationships. There’s already a deep connection and it’s scary but so exciting to start moving that relationship towards something you both realize is there but are afraid to change. The relationship that evolves from Charlie and Braden’s friendship was just adorable and I loved every second of watching that relationship grow. I loved their banter and watching them tip toe towards expressing their feelings to each other, figuring out what was crossing this line or that.
Clearly you can tell I just adored ON THE FENCE. I immediately pre-ordered the book as soon as I finished my egalley because this was one of those books I needed to hug and then put on my shelf to display proudly. I highly recommend it for a cute contemporary romance!