The Distance Between Us – Kasie West

Title: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Publishing Info: July 2, 2013 by HarperCollins
Source: Amazon
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: March 13, 2014
Related Posts: Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1), On the Fence, Split Second (Pivot Point #2), The Fill-In Boyfriend, P.S. I Like You, By Your Side

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers learned early that the rich are not to be trusted. And after years of studying them from behind the cash register of her mom's porcelain-doll shop, she has seen nothing to prove otherwise. Enter Xander Spence—he's tall, handsome, and oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and the fact that he seems to be one of the first people who actually gets her, she's smart enough to know his interest won't last. Because if there's one thing she's learned from her mother's warnings, it's that the rich have a short attention span. But just when Xander's loyalty and attentiveness are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn't a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she'd ever realized. With so many obstacles standing in their way, can she close the distance between them?

I have been meaning to read THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US ever since I finally picked up a copy over the summer and I finally made it around to reading it! I really never should have waited that long because I adored the romances that Kasie West incorporated into PIVOT POINT and I was SO up for a book all about a super cute romance in THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US! Guys, you were right. Your squees were so on point.

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US was straight up adorable. Right off the bat, I knew I was going to love the main character Caymen. She’s responsible, helping her mother run their self-owned doll shop, but she’s also incredibly quick-witted and I just loved her sarcasm. I love sarcastic characters and dry humor and she was such a blast to read about! Caymen was a great mix of things for me. I felt like she had a very level head and growing up with her mother running the doll shop, she not only learned responsibility quickly but also took on a lot of that responsibility herself. From the doll shop, she also learned that the rich just weren’t her kind of people and they lived very different lifestyles as Caymen and her mother constantly struggle to makes ends meet.

Enter Xander. Handsome. Funny. Caring. And rich — a big red flag for Caymen. Of course they hit it off (how can you not?). The romance was effortless and yet riddled with complications. Caymen and Xander just shared that sense of humor and fortunately for them both, Xander appreciates Caymen’s sarcastic nature and let’s be honest — he enjoys letting her tease him. They really just fit together which makes the rest of the story all the more complicated. Caymen begins the struggle of essentially hiding Xander from her mom so she doesn’t know she’s been spending her time with a rich boy. (Her mom tends to frown upon the extremely wealthy.) It’s the classic clash of classes which I don’t always connect with, but I absolutely fell in love with the relationship that developed between these two. I felt for Caymen because she has such a close relationship with her mom and having grown up without a father, the two are really all each other has, besides the family business of the doll shop.

Caymen also has the incredibly difficult weight on her shoulders of whether or not to take over the doll shop from her mother. The store hasn’t exactly been doing great and although her mother tries not to put that financial burden on Caymen, she tends to take it upon herself to try to boost sales and do what she can to help the store be more successful. It’s a lot of pressure for her to figure out if taking over the doll shop is exactly what she wants to with her life because it is her life, even though she’s not necessarily in love with. I definitely feel for her having to choose between what she wants to do (if she even allows herself to think about what she wants) and trying to keep her mother happy and keep the family business… well, in business.

I won’t go into details because I certainly don’t want to spoil anything, but there are also many more layers to this story that make it such a great book. We learn a lot more history about Caymen and her mom, about Xander and his family, and details on Caymen’s father and why he isn’t in her life. I absolutely loved the elements of family, the beautiful few but tight friendships that Caymen has, and the adorable and fun-loving romance between Caymen and Xander. If you’re looking for a contemporary book that has it all, look no further. Swoon, snark, family, friendship, romance, and obligations. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US has it all.

“The View from Goodreads” is a new featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

Caymen Meyers // Character Obsessions: Working, hot chocolate, family.
I LOVED Caymen’s sarcasm and sense of humor. She was so a girl after my own heart. I also just really connected with her on her dedication to family and her connection to a few close friends. I just felt like we were very similar in the sense of personality as well as personal obligations and I loved reading her story!
Xander Spence // Character Obsessions: Pre-sipping, family, appearance.
Oh, Xander. He was just so adorable. I loved that he allowed Caymen to sort of beat up on him all the time because really, he was a fan of it too. He had such an effortless relationship with Caymen and to him, although money was no object, it was also no obstacle. He didn’t ever care about money or social status (more imposed upon him by his parents). I just loved his relationship with Caymen and oh, all the swooooons.

Kept Me Hooked On: Kasie West. I loved PIVOT POINT and I had high hopes for a straight-up contemp from her. NO WORRIES HERE. I still haven’t read SPLIT SECOND or ON THE FENCE but I have a feeling that I don’t have anything to worry about.
Left Me Wanting More: Sarcasm. Oh, there was plenty but MOAR always MOAR. I love the dry humor and sarcasm and how adorable it was that Xander played along with it all!

Addiction Rating
Buy it!

This is one you want to keep and own and hug.

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