Maybe This Time

by Kasie West

Beloved author Kasie West brings her signature witty banter and rom-com fun to a bold, fresh format. Think Four Weddings and a Funeral for YA.

One year. Nine events. Nine chances to . . . fall in love?

Weddings. Funerals. Barbecues. New Year's Eve parties. Name the occasion, and Sophie Evans will be there. Well, she has to be there. Sophie works for the local florist, so she can be found at every big event in her small hometown, arranging bouquets and managing family dramas.

Enter Andrew Hart. The son of the fancy new chef in town, Andrew is suddenly required to attend all the same events as Sophie. Entitled, arrogant, preppy Andrew. Sophie just wants to get her job done and finish up her sketches so she can apply to design school. But every time she turns around, there is Andrew, getting in her way and making her life more complicated. Until one day she wonders if maybe complicated isn't so bad after all . . .

Told over the course of one year and following Sophie from event to event, this delightful novel from master of romantic comedy Kasie West shows how love can blossom in unexpected places.

• ISBN10: 1338210084
• ISBN13: 9781338210088
• Publish Date: 9 July 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Point
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Annie Jackson]

If you're looking for a book where the friendships are so strong you almost don't care about the romance than this is a great choice. The romance works and is sweet and fun but the trio of friendship is really the thing that keeps the story going so well. 

[Sam@WLABB]

Sophie had always kept her eyes on the prize, which was escaping her small town life. She dreamed of studying design in New York, and if she could get there, everything would be better. Over the course of a year, Sophie learned a lot about floral arrangements, party planning, her family, her friends, her dreams, and herself.

• Pro: I spent my teen years in a small town, and will forever have a special place in my heart for them. Maybe Sophie was tired of her small town life, but I adored the setting, and loved getting to share their community events with them.

• Pro: Micah was such a wonderful friend. Micah was a constant in Sophie's life, and was a really important support system for her, especially when her own family sort of fell apart. Not only did she give offer friendship to Sophie, but she was her biggest cheerleader and encouraged her to pursue her design dreams.

• Pro: Is it wrong, that I was a fan of when Sophie was proven wrong? She had a lot of preconceived notions about people and things, and I liked when something was revealed, which contradicted her notions. I liked being surprised by people, and West did a nice job layering these characters, so that I was treated to many pleasant surprises.

• Pro: They banter and interplay between Sophie and Andrew was quite enjoyable. They did that enemies thing quite well, and I was onboard with them as a couple.

• Con: Everyone knows I love Kasie West books, but my chief complaint about her last few was that there was not enough of the romance. She gave her fantastic love interests, but spent very little time exploring that. This one was just about 9 months of will-they-won't-they, and I just wished there had been more time to enjoy these two as a couple.

• Pro: Sophie grew tremendously over the course of this book. I was so pleased with how she resolved her feelings about her parents, her town, and her future. She realized a lot of things about some people, who were very important to her, but also about herself.

Overall: This was a solid addition to West's body of work with a fantastic focus on family, friendship, and personal growth.

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[ladygrey]

It’s hard to rate a Kasie West book because they’re all cute, quick and sweet. Some are more witty. Some have less interesting (almost annoying) characters. Some of them are really GOOD. And a lot of them are, “yeah it was a Kasie West book” which says enough.

This was a Kasie West book. The flower theme was a pleasant thread and the story worked pretty well even broken into segments. I really liked the friendships at the core of the story - it felt like it gave everything some substance and they were genuine and organic and witty. It captures something really authentic about being young. I think the friendships are what set this, not at the top, but in some ways I enjoyed it more than other recent Kasie West books.

[phyllish]

A touching story of friendship, flowers, and falling in love

Sophie's mother didn't seem to know her at all. On Mother's Day, when the community party for mothers and daughters involved a "quiz" to see how well mothers and daughters knew each other, her mom's answers were so outdated! She was so out of touch!

Sophie's story is one of trying to figure out who she is; what makes her special. She struggled with not changing based on what others expected or wanted, and in trying to find her unique style. I love the way this had been hinted at and yet was subtle enough that it surprised me to discover this with her.

I really enjoyed getting to know Sophie, Micah (her best friend), and Andrew. While the verbal sparring that Andrew and Sophie engaged in was a little sharp at first, it was not over-the-top cruel.

Though he didn't have a huge role in the story, I loved Gunner, Sophie's little brother. Being ten, he was old enough to not fall into the super cute kid role, yet he had a vulnerability and innocence that was sweet.

Micah Williams' family tans dark. This deterred some of the townspeople from using their catering business, which in a small town is significant. This was mentioned more to explain how Andrew and his father related to the story than having prejudice as a theme. I appreciated the way it was so casually mentioned.

Author Kasie West made a great choice in narrating this solely from Sophie's perspective. While I was curious what Andrew thought at times, I was probably more invested in the story because I didn't know.

While Maybe This Time is certainly a fun, romantic story, it is also a beautiful investigation of family matters, trust, friendship, and dreams.

Kasie West is at the top of my list of favorite young adult authors. Readers of young adult fiction need to read her books!

Read my full review at Among the Reads