For sixteen-year-old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, being raised by a single dad and three older brothers has its perks. She can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows—including her longtime neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world of makeup, lacy skirts, and BeDazzlers. Even stranger, she's spending time with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game. To cope with the stress of faking her way through this new reality, Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with Braden by the fence that separates them. But their Fence Chats can't solve Charlie's biggest problem: she's falling for Braden. 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. Paperback, 296 pages Published July 1st 2014 by HarperTeen Current Goodreads Rating: 4.04 Stars My ReviewA light-hearted love story. It is not bogged down with sexual tension and steamy innuendos, but is full of sweet innocent flirting and rough housing. It’s about a tomboy who thinks she needs to become more feminine to get a boy, who realizes she was perfect the way she was. I love her brothers interactions in this story either ganging up to throw her in a lake or approaching her new preppy boyfriend looking as she says “constipated” trying to intimidate him then laughing at themselves at just how badly they tried to pull off looking mean. The story sets up a fun atmosphere as she not only realizes she doesn’t need to change in order to find love, but also that she can be honest with friends as well and they will love her just the same. This title is brilliant. You might have been able to guess from the beginning who the special boy might be; for me based on her complimenting his deodorant within the first chapter (who does that); but the author still keeps it interesting. She added the backstory containing the mystery of the mother intermingling into different aspect throughout and ending up being a major factor as the story wrapped up. The little cute details made this such a fun read like figuring out who the heck this Carol lady is who keeps giving her single dad advice on how to raise his only daughter. My favorite part by far though was those dang brothers of hers giving the love of her life that final stare down just to fight over who knew first as soon as he walked out the door. I gave this story five out of five stars and would recommend this to all young adult and romance readers. It incorporates sports and more of a tomboy vibe throughout so it would be a good starter romance for those who are afraid to dive into this genre. Also I found a fun quiz to take after you read this book to see how well you were paying attention, so take it and let me know how many you got right! I thought I missed the last one, but got 100%! On The Fence GoodReads Quiz |