Review for On The Fence by Kasie West

On The Fence by Kasie West 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release: 1st July 2014
Genre: Contemporary, YA, Summer
Source: Received for review via Edelweiss





Synopsis:

"She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. 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."

Review 
When people think of Charlie Reynolds they see her as one of the guys. Growing up in a house with three older sports loving brothers, her dad, and the boy next door as her best friend it’s no wonder Charlie is a tomboy who loves nothing more than playing sports and goofing off with the five loving and protective men in her life. Charlie knows how to hang with the guys but when she gets a job at a clothing boutique and starts crushing on her best friend she’s thrown in at the deep end with no mom or girlfriends to help keep her afloat. On The Fence follows Charlie’s journey over one summer as she ventures into the unexplored territory of girlhood whilst trying to stay true to who she is.

One chapter in and I knew this was going to be the kind of contemporary summer story that I love to read. There’s a lovable and large close-knit family, a boy next door/ best friend, and a coming of age story looking at grief and being true to yourself. On The Fence was a sweet, quick, read that left me all smiley.

The relationships here had to be my favourite thing about this book. The goofy and teasing relationships that Charlie had with her brothers reminded me so much of the one that I have with my own brother. There’s also a really sweet slow burning romance between Charlie and boy next door Braden that is easy to get behind. They have these honest and meaningful midnight fence chats and you watch these two long term best friends blossom into something more as they share their secrets underneath the stars. Braden was the boy next door, brother’s best friend and boy you’ve know your whole life rolled into one which made for a really cute love interest.

Overall On The Fence is a sweet summer read that’s perfect for fans of ‘My Life Next Door’. It’s utterly feel good but there’s enough depth there to stop it from being fluffy. All in all? Perfect summer reading.

Letterbox Love (37) Books From The Past Few Weeks

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

Hi lovelies! Here is my haul for February so far and it's pretty exciting! I received so many books from all different genre's some of which I've already read and were absolutely brilliant. My TBR is full of fantastic books right now and I feel like a kid in a sweet shop. In other bookish news I was delighted to find I had been quoted in another book and I also received a Valentines card from one of my favourite book boyfriends - not many people can say that right? But more on that later...Here is my book haul for February so far.

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Proof Copy)
This one dropped through my letterbox yesterday and I didn't know what it was at first 1.) Because I didn't recognise the cover and 2.) Because I didn't realise it was being published in the UK. And then I read the synopsis and did a happy dance when I realised it was one of my most anticipated books of 2014 in disguise. This sounds like a brilliant thriller and I can't wait to read it!
Sweet Damage by Rebecca James
This one sounds like another brilliant thriller! I've wanted to read something by Rebecca James for such a long time so this looks like my chance!
A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke (Proof Copy)
The Sea Sisters by the same author is a book I really wanted to read last year and just didn't have time to get around to so I'm hoping to read both A Single Breath and The Sea Sisters this spring because Lucy Clarke sounds like an author I'd love!
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
I'm SO excited for this book guys! It recently won the Costa Book Award and has been labelled 'one of the best books about mental illness' by Jo Brand a former mental health nurse. I believe that the author himself has also worked as a mental health nurse so I'm expecting good things from this one.

The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman
This is another book that I'm ridiculously excited to read! All of my blog friends who have read it have absolutely loved it and I've spoken to the author Hannah on Twitter and she's so lovely. This is her debut novel and is about a woman who is dead who has to go through the stages of grief and watch her family move on without her. It sounds like such an emotional and beautiful read and I'm going to be picking it up very soon!
Sleuth or Dare by Robin Benway
Okay, so I haven't read the first book in this series yet but now I have the second one I can read both back to back. Robin Benway is one of my favourite authors and I seriously have to check this series out already!
Amy and Matthew by Cammie McGovern
I LOVED THIS BOOK! It's about a girl with Cerebral Palsy and a guy with OCD and their beautiful friendship. I'm going to have a review for this one up soon but if you're a fan of Eleanor and Park you want this book.
Cress by Marissa Meyer
This one arrived as a belated birthday present from the lovely Ellie and it was belated because she had it on pre-order for me. Needless to say I devoured this one pretty much straight away and it is my favourite of the series so far! Roll on Winter!

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott
I just finished reading this book last night and I really enjoyed it! People seem to either love or hate this book but it's actually one of the only dystopian books that has held my interest in a very long time. I couldn't put it down and now really want a Pandora! I'll have a review up for this one soon.
Half Bad by Sally Green (Proof Copy)
Two copies of this actually arrived for review by mistake and so I'm giving away my spare copy on the blog now if you want to go and enter. This is another one of my most anticipated books of 2014 and the early hype has been through the roof with comparisons to J.K Rowling! I'm going to be reading this one very soon.
Where the Rock Splits the Sky by Philip Webb
I haven't heard too much about this one so far but the synopsis sounds interesting.
Shattered by Teri Terry
I'm so excited for this! My lovely friend Cait who works at the publishing house sent me out a copy of this for review. I really love this series and can't wait to see how Kyla's story ends. When I opened it up there was a little surprise on the first page but more on that a bit later...

 E-books For Review

 

Once again Netgalley and Edelweiss had too many tempting titles to resist. And that is all I have to say about that.

 Bookish Things

In case you missed my super subtle hint earlier on in this post I got quoted in another book! My quote is in the last book of the Slated Trilogy Shattered and I had no idea until I opened the book. This is the 11th book I've been quoted in now and it's still as exciting as the first time it happened.

I also received a lovely valentines card and chocolate heart from Mal from The Grisha Trilogy and I felt really special until I realised that he'd sent a card to all of the girls in the #GrishaArmy *sighs* I suppose I will just have to share him. Seriously though, massive thanks to Nina at Indigo for this it was such a lovely Valentines surprise! Publishers are awesome people.

As always thank you to the lovely publishing folk for the review copies. If you decided to do a Letterbox Love, Book Haul, IMM, Showcase Sunday, Mailbox Monday or whatever else featuring the books you got this week leave me a link as I’d love to check out your books too! ^_^ 

 Happy reading till next time!