Loved this one...you did it again Kasie West.

Ok – so my sister has been raving about this book and Xander forever. For no reason other than the fact that I kept picking up something else, this book kept getting pushed off the next list and I’m glad we decided to do a readalong otherwise I might have taken longer to dive into this. After reading, Kasie West is definitely on my autobuy list. She wrote a wonderful story that drew me in and made me want more of both of these characters.

Caymen is the main character and I have to say, I love her. She has the perfect level of sarcasm and she doesn’t take things too seriously even when she has some serious things to deal with. She has grown up with her mother struggling to make ends meet by running a doll store. Her father is someone she doesn’t even know and her feelings for him and the situation she and her mother live with has given her a health disrespect for the wealthy people in her town. She knows she has to treat them well when they are in the shop but otherwise she tries to keep her distance. All she really knows about her father is that he came from a rich family and when they found out her mom was pregnant, he ran.

Enter Xander Spence (literally – he comes into the shop one day and this is the start of their friendship). He is tall, handsome and rich. I have to say I loved their first meeting. We get just enough of Caymen’s bias and sarcastic wit to make it funny and wonder where it could possibly go from there. The thing that trips up Caymen is the fact that people aren’t always what you expect and she finds this out quickly. Xander may be rich but he finds a way to get past her defenses and makes Caymen realize he is someone she cares about – regardless of what her mom thinks or how much money his parents have.

I loved how West built in this idea of career days to help these characters learn more about each other as well as expose us as readers to them. Clearly Xander has some advantages that Caymen doesn’t but initially he seemed to put more thought into what he wanted to do. I was happy to see her put some effort into setting something up that fit him perfectly (muffins) and showed she put some thought into who he is and what he liked.

There is definitely angst in this story. Outside of the developing relationship, Caymen is also trying to figure out what is going on with her mom. She knows they have been struggling financially but there is something more she is keeping from Caymen and it has her worried. When she finds out what it really is, Caymen’s life changes.

In my opinion, Xander is perfect for Caymen. He slowly gets her to realize he isn’t the bad guy. There are misunderstandings but in the end, when they actually talk about things, they find out that they were based on assumptions and we all know what happens when you assume something.

As usual, West left me wanting for of these characters. If you are looking for a good contemporary that has lovely characters and swoons, definitely check this one out. I had too many sections tagged for me to just pick one or two quotes to include so just trust me when I say you should jump into this one.