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. On the Fence is a sweet and satisfying read about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect it.
I say this every time I review a Kasie West book, but she has done it again! There is a reason why she is on my autobuy list, and On the Fence is a great example of that reason. After reading The Distance Between Us last year, I was excited to see that West was writing another contemporary novel, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.
I didn’t go into this review wanting to make comparisons between Caymen and Charlie, or between The Distance Between Us and On the Fence, but I think it’s kind of hard not to. Both books follow a similar formula: they start with introducing us to the characters, to the love interests, and then there’s a slight mysterious undercurrent throughout before the big reveal towards the end of the book. That said, I don’t think On the Fence becomes stale at any point. The same formula was used, yes, but the fresh batch of characters combined with Kasie West’s writing made for a compelling read.
