Review: Borrow My Heart ~ Kasie West

 

Click on this image to learn more about this book on Goodreads
 
 
Format I Used: Combination Audiobook/Ebook
Pages: 320
Running Time: 7h:35m
My Rating: 4 stars
Publication Date: June 13, 2023

Spoilers at the end under my Did It Make You Cry? so be careful if you read to the end!!!!!

*Nothing bad happens to any of the dogs, let me just get that out of the way first. Because that's a pretty big trigger for me.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Which, in hindsight, shouldn't really come as a shock... because I generally like Kasie West books.

I thought this was a fun and quick summer read. I really enjoyed Bean, he was the real MVP. It deals with some serious problems--Social media and the negative effects it can have on you, and complicated family relationships.

The plot twist break-up scene (that inevitably is going to happen, so don't tell me this is a spoiler) was NOT what I thought it was going to be. Which is fantastic. I also thought the conversation that Wren and Kamala had with two other random people was referencing something totally different as well.

I thought Asher was adorable. He wasn't perfect and made some mistakes, but I still liked him.

Did It Make Me Cry? Yes, several times actually. 

1. When Wren's sister gets drunk and tries to blame Wren for their mom just up and disappearing during their visit.

2. When Wren ended up going home early, and her dad was kind of being mean and said he was disappointed in her for not sticking it out.

3. When she figured out that Asher had been in on posting those catfish videos, and she confronted him about it.

4. When she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Bean

5. When the people who adopted Bean came over to surprise visit Wren

It's been a LONG time since a YA contemporary novel has made me feel such big emotions, and that's actually a plus in my book. 

Favorite notes and highlights:

“I’m sorry that more than your brain actually likes a boy. It’s not a fun feeling to let your heart out of its cage, is it?” I took another bite of the cookie. “It sucks. And it’s only out for loan.” “Your heart?” “Yes, I’m just letting him borrow it for a while. It’s a trial run.”

“On a level of one to ten, how ragey are you feeling right now?” Kamala said the next day as I sat in the corner of the coffee shop reading a book titled Bird-Watching Your Way to Happiness. “Nine,” I said. “Nine? That high?” “Well, I was a ten, but I’ve been reading about warblers and that took me down a point.”

Rule: Dogs > People.

Review: Sunkissed ~ Kasie West

 

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.


Format I Used: Audiobook & E-book
Pages: 305
Running Time: 8h:48m
My Rating: 4 stars
Publication Date: May 4, 2021

As always, this was a nice, super quick, summertime read. Just what I expected from Kasie West. Fun, fluff romance, and dang if I didn't see parts of Avery in myself... I'm a fixer and a smoother over, almost to a fault. I take the path of least resistance because it will ruffle fewer feathers. So I get that. I get her.

 

Review: Places We've Never Been ~ Kasie West

 

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.

Format I Used: Audiobook & E-book
Pages: 336
Running Time: 8h
My Rating: 4 stars
Publication Date: May 31, 2022

As per usual, Kasie West creates a fun summer romance that I just can't get enough of. I loved the relationship between Skyler and Norah, even though it was a little bit rough when the were first reunited. I like that they were finally able to talk through all the misunderstanding and miscommunication that happened that led to the weird turn their relationship took. I also ADORED the relationship that all of the siblings had with each other. It was like one big family, and that made my heart so happy.

There were a lot of secrets being kept and a lot of miscommunication, and so many of the issues that were happening could have been avoided if the characters would have sat down to talk and been HONEST with each other.

This book DOES have a happy ending, but something serious does happen. It's toward the end of the book, and I will put a trigger warning at the bottom of my review.

****TW/CW****
Cancer diagnosis

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No

Review: By Your Side by Kasie West

By Your Side
By Kasie West
My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Read: February 2017
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Paperback, 352 Pages

                                                         

 Summary From Goodreads: 

In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?


                                                                            My Review: 

"Locked in the library for an entire weekend" *BLINKS* The. Entire. Weekend. *Heavy Breathing* That would be one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Okay, maybe not the whole weekend, but like a day or two... in fact, I get to work a lock-in at the library where I work, but that is a story for a different time

Anyway. I love Kasie West books. Like, super love them. The boys are swoony, and the MC's are super relatable, and so now I'm going to try to review this and have it make sense. Here goes nothing:


Things that made me go ehhhhh

Where are the phones? Or in my haste and excitement at having this new shiny Kasie West book, did I read over it.  Why didn't Autumn pick one up and dial a friend or family member? I'm speaking from personal experience here... but the library that I work at, even after hours has a phone that works... Sure, when patrons call in they will get an automated message explaining that the library is closed, and when it will be open again, blah, blah, blah. But you can still dial out and make calls.

And the food situation. Again, I'm just going by the way my library does things. We have some kind of food there all the time. Stuff that has a pretty good shelf life that ALL staff can munch on during the day. Crackers, Chips, bags of un-popped popcorn that you can throw in the microwave. Lots of candy {I'm usually the one who brings the candy in} granola bars, bottles of water. So as you can see, if someone were trapped in my library for a 3 day weekend, they'd be able to eat and not worry so much about rationing it off. I do realize that every library is different, and this one is fictional, so yeah... But I just had a hard time finding that to be realistic.

Okay, time to stop being nit picky now

Things that made me go oooooooooooh *Heart Eyes*

The Cover. I think I've loved every single book cover of Kasie's. There's just something so, I don't know, je ne sais quoi about them. So adorable, and they really do match the feel that the books give you when you read them.

This book was exactly what I was expecting from Kasie West: an adorably fluffy light read, that isn't super long. This one though, had a little more edge/drama than West's previous books, but it made it all the more awesome in my opinion.

The chemistry between Dax and Autumn. It was so entertaining. There was so much tension between the two of them, and so much "I don't wanna like you, but I kind of do"

Dax's character in general. He's looked at as a bad boy. A rebel. Someone who should be avoided at all costs. But in reality, he's not. He's actually very kind, and caring. And people should just stop gossiping and lying about him all the time. Not that I'm saying he's perfect, because he is definitely not. But he's also not the horrible person that every one makes him out to be, and he actually grows quite a lot throughout the story.

I also really liked the premise of the whole thing. I mean, getting spend the night in the library is pretty exciting.

Swoon-Worthy {Fictional} Guys From A-Z {B}

My Swoon Worthy pick for "B" is....

Braden Lewis 

From On The Fence by Kasie West

(Shane Harper is who I picture as Braden)

He's so adorably sweet, and he's got that whole "Boy Next Door" thing going for him.

He's got Swampy Brown eyes *GRINS*

He listens. Like, really listens, not this whole "Oh, I will pretend to listen to you and nod my head every once in a while.

He's willing to go out at 2 in the morning to have a fence chat. Why can't I have a Braden of my own? {Okay, yeah, I don't have a fenced back yard, but still}

He loves Charlie for who she is, and not what she pretended to be. He thought she was beautiful in sweats with no makeup on and her hair haphazardly thrown into a ponytail.

So what about you? Who are your Swoon-Worthy boys whose names start with "B"? {Last name, first name, or nickname, it doesn't matter.} Let me know in the comments!!