Title: On the Fence
by Kasie WestPublishing Info: July 1, 2014 by HarperCollins
Source: Edelweiss
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: June 24, 2014
Related Posts: Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1), The Distance Between Us, Split Second (Pivot Point #2), The Fill-In Boyfriend, P.S. I Like You, By Your Side
She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door.With three older brothers, Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, has always been more comfortable calling the shots on a basketball court than flirting with the opposite sex. So when her police officer dad demands she get a summer job to pay for the latest in a long line of speeding tickets, she's more than a little surprised to find herself working at a chichi boutique and going out with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game. Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with her neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden, sitting back-to-back against the fence that separates them. Braden may know her better than anyone. But there's a secret Charlie's keeping that even he hasn't figured out—she's fallen for him. Hard. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.
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!
“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!
I had started reading during BEA but decided to come back to it later when I was more in the mood! 🙂
Charlie // Character Obsessions: Playing sports, watching sports, family, her new job.
I saw so much of myself in Charlie. I wasn’t as much of a tomboy as she was but I definitely considered myself “one of the guys” back in the day and I was always up for a competition, frequently to prove that I could hang with the guys. I really liked watching her grow up throughout this novel! It was so wonderful to see how her character changed and developed.
Kept Me Hooked On: Tomboys. I love books with a good tomboy — they’re not always done well and sometimes things feel forced or a little bit too exaggerated but I felt like Kasie West got this just right and it was so enjoyable to read Charlie’s story as a tomboy!
Left Me Wanting More: Backstory on Charlie’s mom. Clearly something is up with the mom situation since Charlie starts off the story by having nightmares about her mother’s death. I think that was the only part of the story that didn’t 100% hook me because I didn’t feel like it was really necessary? But that’s really just picking at the little things!
Addiction Rating
Buy it!
This book was so cute. If you enjoy adorable contemporary romances, I have no hesitation telling you to buy this one! I think it’s totally worth the purchase because you’ll probably want to hug it too.
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6 thoughts on “On the Fence – Kasie West”
(I see I’m not the only one who would like this as their choice for your awesome Birthday Giveaway!)
I, too, loved this book. Like you, I love a good tomboy story especially if it’s a best friend turned boyfriend one. However, the winning factor for me is “older brother’s best friend.” Being the oldest, I’ve always wanted an older brother. I even asked my mother for one. She told me that it was a little too late, I told her to adopt. That’s how much I wanted an older brother.
I also liked the cameo by Cayman and Xander. I wonder if all four will make an appearance in The Fill-In Boyfriend. Boy, I hope so. BTW … Happy Birthday!!
I seriously love everything Kasie writes, so when I read On the Fence I knew I was going to love it. I’m so glad to read you enjoyed it just as much as I did. That’s why I choose this book as my book of choice for your “Birthday Giveaway.” I loved how they’re relationship slowly evolved too. Thank you so much for your kind review.
This sounds so adorable! I have yet to read anything by this author, but I need to fix that soon apparently! I’m not usually into YA contemporaries as much, but I’ve been trying to read them more often, and this one sounds like a book I need to pick up soon. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much! Great review!
I’ve always wanted a big brother too! But I guess I’ll just have to keep writing about them in my stories instead 😉 I think On the Fence was a super cute read! I liked the dynamic of the brothers + Braden + Charlie a whole lot, as that’s definitely something I wish I’d had growing up.
I adore this book too. I adore Kasie West. The family dynamic in this book was my favorite of all her stories. And I really loved the sports theme and the best friend to boyfriend romance. Although nothing beats Caymen and Xavier’s banter in TDBU. But really, all her books are 5 stars in my heart.
I liked On the Fence, too, but not as much as The Distance Between Us. Charlie was a bit obnoxious in the beginning. Or a bit callous really, so it took me a bit to warm up to her. But by the end I did like her.
I loved Braden, too. But I agree, my favorite part was the family dynamics between Charlie, her brothers and her father. I don’t have a big brother (or any siblings for that matter) but I love big brother little sister stories, too.