Bookworm Nation

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.

I really enjoyed this one. Like all of Ms. West’s books, I had a hard time putting it down. Charlie was easy to like and you couldn’t help rooting for her. Having three older brothers myself, I found it easy to relate to her, except I am not athletic. At all. Charlie is a tom boy, she loves watching and playing sports and spends all her time with her brothers. I actually enjoyed the parts where she was experiencing more “girly” stuff. I actually kind of felt bad that she felt like she couldn’t wear make-up or dress cute in fear of her brothers and Braden making fun of her. I kind of wish we could have seen her incorporate more of her girly side. I guess at the end she does, but I guess the girl in me wanted a little more.

The book was a little deeper than I was expecting. While there are some really sweet moments and some funny ones, it was a little more serious than I thought it would be. Charlie lost her mom at a young age and also suffers from nightmares. She has just recently turned sixteen and is wondering more about girly things and is realizing she has feelings for her next door neighbor Braden. I loved Braden, he was great. I wish we could have gotten his POV at times. I love how their relationship evolves and thought they were great together. Both as friends and as something more. I loved their fence chats.

Overall, this is a charming story and one that I could easily recommend. I loved the characters, Charlie’s brothers were great (they should each get their own book!), and it was clean! Go grab a copy today!

Romance: Clean, mild kissing