story craft

Genre: YA romance

Format: Paperback

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Reasons to love: 

– pushing past comfort zone
– FMC dry humor
– cinnamon roll MMC 
– lake life vibes
– podcast hosting

Cautions: a few kisses, but not too descriptive; no foul language that I can remember

Favorite quote: “Don’t stress about it, Kate. Success doesn’t happen without some failure.”

Review: 

I’ve been on a Kasie West kick, and this is probably my favorite book of hers so far.

Kate stays where she’s comfortable, holding close all that’s familiar, and she doesn’t plan to let go. She tells herself she’s content with this. At least, until her podcasting teacher gives her the role of host and pushes her into a whole new realm of friends, drama, strength, and possibilities. I adored Kate’s dry humor.

And Diego. Oh, Diego. He’s precious. He’s tender and compassionate, smart, and devoted to his family. He’s cute and spontaneous. He holds back to please others, while Kate holds back to show them she knows what she wants.

But neither sees it that way—just like neither sees that they like each other. They’re sweet and tender and push each other to be better in the gentlest ways. I wish we’d seen more of Diego throughout because he’s such a great character, but Kate’s inner journey—learning to be raw and real and take responsibility instead of just coasting through life—was a lovely story all on its own.