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 … 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.
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I like to listen to audiobooks on my phone during work. It makes the time fly by and it keeps me entertained during my office job. This week no audiobook was keeping my attention. But then I saw the cover of On the Fence and I thought it looked like a sweet summer read. I mean that cover is just adorable! Then I read the blurb and I just had to give this one a chance.
Kasie West did not disappoint. I flew through this audiobook in less than two days at the office. Every chance I had I was listening along to Charlie’s story. These characters were so much fun to get to know and I could really relate to Charlie being in a family full of boys. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister myself, but unlike Charlie, I am the oldest. Her fierce love for her brothers really touched me, because I feel the same way about my family.
There were so many moments during this story that I just couldn’t help but laugh out loud, but very quietly so as not to disturb the work environment. Charlie’s dad, Braden, and her brothers are obviously clueless about how to deal Charlie’s girly side emerging and extremely protective of her being interested in dating. They even came up with a “Never Date a Guy Who…” list for her. And it’s quite interesting. I’ll list it below for your viewing pleasure.
The narrator did a fantastic job with the pacing and the voices. She conveyed all of the emotion from Charlie’s anger, her worry and self consciousness, her pain at losing her mother so young, and even the humor from Gage and the rest of Charlie’s brothers.
On the Fence is a quick sweet YA read that I highly recommend. In fact, I already have my next Kasie West audiobook downloaded and ready to go.
Never Date a Guy Who…
Wears jeans that shows his ankles
Wears loafers
Who likes V8. You can’t trust a guy who drinks his vegetables. Plus, tomato juice breath is raunchy.
Who acts like he’s playing in the finals of a professional sporting event, when he’s really playing a pickup game.
Who you haven’t seen play sports. It says so much about a guy.
Who you can’t be yourself around.
This is basically a contemporary romance YA with a tomboy protagonist. It was sweet and I liked the relationship between the main character and her brothers and father very much. Reminded me of these books I read in the 80s with a smiling high school girl on the cover. You know those ones you graduate on to reading after Sweet Valley High? Only this was better written. Enjoyable, but you have to already know that you like this kind of book.
This was my first Kasie West book and it won’t be my last. This book was a sweet young adult read where the main character Charlie goes out of her comfort zone and learns about herself and what she wants. There is some romance but it does not take up the whole story.
I loved this book so much!! Just another great book from Kasie West.
Fantastic, just a 100% out standing book
i love your books because i put my self in the main charatures shoes and act like im them .i wish my life was like your books
This book is my favorite romance book of all.
Kasie West did a great job with this. I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed the chemistry between Charlie and Braden. Overall, this may be one of my favorites by West.
I love it
This book was very good. i couldnt stop reading it. i finished it in 2 days
love it listened to it with the library and the voices are amazing and being in a bed imagining it perfect!
A quick and delightful read. The story wrapped up well, but I want to read more!
Another very fun West book. I don’t know what it is exactly, but this author has the whole trifecta when it comes to books. The story is just a story, nothing that special, about a tom boy in a family of all boys who lost her mother. But when West writes it they all come alive and you really care and love this family! I want to be a part of this group! The story becomes real and you just go into it with all these great very real characters you come to love. Such great writing. I wish my teens where more into contemporary books, I think they would love these:} Clean, no swearing, drugs and no makeout sessions. Just a simple well written teen story that anyone would love.
I loved this sweet teen romance about a tomboy “Charlie”. She has grown up with only brothers, her Dad, and the neighbor boy. She has never been in a relationship and has always just been one of the guys… until she starts falling for Braden, her neighbor.
I didn’t like how she felt (or the message) that she inadequate as a female because she loved sports and didn’t wear makeup. There also wasn’t much “romance” between them. I love friends-to-love storied, and in that aspect it fell a little flat.
I did love the family dynamic and thought there were a lot of funny one-liners and situations.
There are some repeat characters from “The Distance Between Us”.
As in many YA novels, you know who she’s going to end up with, but the hard part is knowing when. Charlie’s entire life in the beginning is interesting, but it’s the end that gets me. One plot twist after another makes this book amazing.
Soo good I Love it so much
I loved Charlie she was such a tomboy she loved sport and I like seeing it when girls are interested in sport. But it was also interesting seeing Charlie explore that feminine side of her. I hated that she tried to change herself for a boy she wasn’t even sure she liked and tried to pretend she didn’t know a thing about sport. It really annoyed me when she tried to pretend she wasn’t who she was. I loved Braden for standing up for that point when it came to Charlie.
Braden, I loved his character I also loved the little fence chats Charlie and Braden had, I also thought their bond was good. I really enjoyed Charlie and Braden’s friendship turned into a relationship it was nice that he didn’t expect her to change. He wanted her as she was.
I also loved her brothers though I did have to think that they are overprotective when it came to boys, although it was nice they were protective gave her a little bit of a complex thinking that she wasn’t liked by anyone because she was a tomboy. It was good but also gave her a slight complex.
I love Skye, Amber and Linda. They were great side characters!
It was nice for Charlie to finally confront her emotions, she spent so much time trying to hide her feelings and emotions when it came to her mother’s death. When Charlie found out the truth about how her mother died. I was sobbing, I was a mess like the writing was that good you could feel the pain (at least in my opinion. I could only imagine losing my mum especially the way she did). Damn this book bloody destroyed me in the best way possible. I was a mess reading this, I was actually sobbing through this book. I think as far as Kasie West books actually go this is the one that has impacted me the most. I loved the story and the writing, I just love Kasie West.
4.5+ Stars!
I’ve read a few of West’s books and not one compares to my love for this one. Funny, heartfelt, and so much swooning!
I always zip through Kasie West books because they’re so fun and sweet. I had some problems with this book, in particular in the way gender roles and norms are portrayed, but it was still an enjoyable summer read – and I loved the cameos from The Distance Between Us!
Meh! I have no feelings toward this book at all. I didn’t care much about the characters and through most of the book I was frustrated with Charlie and what a jerk she was. I didn’t care that she was in love with her best friend. She has a very close relationship with her three brothers, but through the whole book she keeps secrets from them. She blames her dad for things that are unfair. It was frustrating that while she is a huge tomboy who is very active in sports, she felt the need to hide that part about herself when she started embracing her feminine side. I have always been a tomboy and later grew to like being girly as I got older. I embrace both, but I’m a tomboy at heart. Women can be both.
I finished this book because it was easy to read and I got through it rather quickly. I thought the story was alright. I guess I can see why people love this book and it could be a nice summer read.