Back in 2014, I was waiting on Scandal and On the Fence, two YA Contemporary books by authors I loved. What did I think of these?
Here are my two picks for today:
Scandal by Sarah Ockler
To be published by Simon Pulse on June 17, 2014
When Lucy’s best friend gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole’s date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she’s been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time. When Cole surprises her at the after party with a kiss under the stars, it’s everything Lucy has ever dreamed of… and the biggest BFF deal-breaker ever. Despite Cole’s lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they’ll have to ’fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy’s own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students’ party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral. By Monday morning, Lucy’s been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend’s trust, and graduate with a clean slate. There’s just one snag—Cole. Turns out Lucy’s not the only one who’s been harboring unrequited love…
My take: First, my gripes. I don’t love the title. It sounds like one of those one word nighttime dramas I can’t keep straight: Revenge, Scandal, Deception.
Plus, the teenagers I know use the whole hashtag concept sarcastically, not seriously. I also don’t love cheating stories, and I’ve been seeing other “cheated with my BFF’s guy” books coming out, like
Anything to Have You by Paige Harbison. In the plus column, I’m a big fan of Sarah Ockler. I loved
Bittersweet and I completely trust her. So I definitely want to read this one.
I did not end up reading this!
On the Fence by Kasie West
To be published by Harper Teen on July 1, 204
For sixteen-year-old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, being raised by a single dad and three older brothers has its perks. She can out-run, out-score, and outwit every boy she knows–including her long-time 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 a chi-chi 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 pick-up 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.
My take: I LOVE “friendship to love” plots. And if you read
The Distance Between Us, you know how funny Kasie West is, so I can’t wait to see tomboy Charlie working in a boutique.
Update: I did read and review On the Fence by Kasie West!
Those both look right up my alley! I am especially excited to see more Kasie West as I just loved the writing in both of her 2013 releases and now it looks like we'll be getting two in 2014 too.
Great choices! On the Fence looks amazing–just added it
Oooh On The Fence looks interesting, think I'll add that to my list!
Not sure how I feel about Scandal. I really don't go for "cheating" books. On The Fence sounds amazing though! Friendship to love stories are the best.
Yes, I'm not in to cheating stories either. I just lose respect for characters when they do it, especially in all cases that I've seen it could have been avoided. However, same as you, I'll read it because of who the author is to see what I think. On the Fence looks and sounds fabulous!!! I really like her after reading The Distance Between Us. I'll have to feature that in a future WOW because I will definitely be waiting on that one! So glad you shared!
Tressa @ Tressa's Wishful Endings
I want to check out both of these. I've heard great things about both of these authors 🙂
Janina
My WW!
They both sounds really good. Thanks for sharing them.
Jenea @ Books Live Forever's WoW
I'm dying for both of these books. I'm a huge fan of Sarah Ockler and Kasie West. Both of these are on my tbr and they make me want to do a little happy dance, especially On The Fence.
Aly @ My Heart Hearts Books
My WoW
I'm not sure about #scandal (and I agree about the hashtag in the title!), but On The Fence sounds really great. I haven't read any Kasie West yet, but I'd like to. Thanks — wouldn't have known about this book otherwise!
Lisa
My Wednesday Post
On the Fence sounds really cute, I loved Pivot Point by Kasie West, and I would love to check this one out too. I like the romance between Charlie and Braden in this one, and it really sound like it's going to have some great humor.
Fourth time I've seen On the Fence featured! But yeah, I definitely cannot wait to read it. And same with #scandal! I love the title's construction, and Ockler's books are awesome, so I definitely will be reading that one ASAP 😀
Check out my WoW post!
I definitely have Scandal on my TBR (because it's Sarah Ockler) and On the Fence sounds good too! Great picks 🙂
Haha…I debated forever between these two before deciding on On the Fence. I guess I could have just picked both and we could have been twinsies. 🙂
I'm dying to read On the Fence. For real. Gah! Great picks, Jen.
I also love friendship to love plots, and Kasie is amazing, so that is a must read for me. I'm not a huge fan of cheating stories or that title, but I've never gone wrong with a Sarah Ockler book before, so I'll most likely read this one too. Great choices!
Both sounds great. Especially the first one, but only because I liked Sarah Ockler's The Book of Broken Hearts.
Thanks for sharing.
Andreea