ARC/ALC Book Review: Room to Breathe by Kasie West

January 6, 2026December 22, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 272 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Release Date: January 6th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the critically acclaimed author of Sunkissed comes a new swoony YA romance. Indy and Beau’s friendship is shattered, but getting accidentally locked in a bathroom together just might be what’s needed to reconnect.

When the walls close in, the truth comes out.

When Indy’s life came crashing down, she made a no one could know. To the world, she’s still the same Indy—cool, calm, unshaken. But behind the scenes? It’s chaos.

Her tight-knit crew—Beau, Caroline, and Ava—were once her everything. Now they’re strangers she can’t seem to reach—especially Beau. And the only person she talks to these days is Cody, a skater-boy she used to think was so not her type. Funny how everything changes when your world flips upside down.

And then, as if things couldn’t get weirder, Indy finds herself literally stuck in a school bathroom with Beau. After months of silence, and there’s no escape. If they want out, they’ll have to face the messy truth about what happened between them and find a way back to what they once had. Or maybe even more.

Thank you Get Underlined for the gifted ARC and PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

FABULOUS.

Oh Kasie West has done it again y’all. I feel like I’ve mostly phased out of YA contemporary romances and West is one of the few authors I will always come back to read. I love the way she makes relatable high school aged characters. As an adult, I of course, feel frustrated, but I think it’s on par for the age group which is easy for me to understand. Alongside no spice and very little language I appreciate that this fits right into the true YA category.

I would have loved just a little less time spent stuck in the bathroom. I think it did lend to some necessary conversations BUT I wanted to see Indy and Beau connect more outside of their too. I did like the flashback chapters!! Which is a hard sale usually but only added to the book here. You could feel the inevitable crash-out coming and it brought the romantic angst.

I loved seeing Indy find herself again after going through some hard things at home. I was grateful to see her work through things with her friends and reconnect with them too. All hope isn’t lost in these valleys.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: low

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ALC Book Review: We Met Like This by Kasie West

September 16, 2025September 7, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 363 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Saturday Books
Release Date: September 16th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Beloved author Kasie West’s sparkling adult rom-com debut about a hopeless romantic falling for the one man she never expected

Can a swipe right turn into swept away?

Margot Hart is a hopeless romantic. That’s why she wants to be a literary agent—to help bring romance books to the world. It’s also why she hates dating apps with all her romance loving soul. She wants her own love story to be just as much fun as the books she reads—a mixed up coffee order, a mistaken identity. She’s not going to tell the story that she swiped right on future husband’s shirtless pic for the rest of her life.

The problem is that her most consistent relationship over the last several years is with Oliver, a guy she keeps rematching with on the apps. They’ve only been on one date and it was a disaster…well, until the make out session in the car before parting ways. But, she keeps reminding herself, a make out session does not a relationship make. And so there will not be a date two regardless of how witty their app banter is.

When Margot gets fired from her job on the same day she meets Oliver again, her life becomes a veritable shit show. Her dream career is dying right before her eyes, and Oliver thinks she’s interested in only one a repeat of the hot make out session they had three years ago so she can get him out of her system. And maybe that is all she wants from him, because she and Oliver are definitely not compatible—he doesn’t hit the snooze button, he runs five miles every morning, he reads nonfiction, and worst of all, she didn’t meet him in cute way! But in her scramble to keep her dream career alive, by opening her own agency, Oliver is there with his golden retriever energy, more steady and helpful than any man she’s ever dated. Just when she thinks she’s overcome her app bias, she realizes that maybe it’s not her who’s holding back, but him. And his reasons are more than she bargained for.

Kasie West’s romantic and sexy adult debut is full of witty banter, meet cutes gone awry and, ultimately, true love.

IT GOT BETTER.

I stand firm on the fact that this book could have (and should have) been started in different manner. I think it was unnecessary, but I digress. I’m grateful the rest of the book went much better.

There were a handful of nuanced things I didn’t like in this [adult] debut but I think the bones were there and I’d read another KW romance. I’ve loved her young adult books for years and this was a decent jump into another category.

I liked Oliver the most and thought he was charming with some good golden retriever energy. He kept showing up (in a good way) and proved to Margot a lot of things she was missing out on. And I loved the family dynamics too. They were complicated and had plenty of squabbling but I think it felt realistic and I enjoyed seeing that side of the story too.

Margot was fine. Occasionally frustrating, but in the end, she had a good arc and got to where she deserved to be. I did like her inner dialogue and the banter between her and Oliver.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 3ish open door
Violence: low

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Book Review: Better Than Revenge by Kasie West

February 13, 2025January 25, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: December 31st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A swoony new romance from the author of Sunkissed! When her football-player boyfriend and now ex lands the podcast job she’s been dreaming of, a girl takes matters into her own hands by enlisting the help of his nemesis to get revenge.

Seventeen-year-old Finley has only ever had one to become a famous podcaster. This includes coming up with the perfect pitch to land her on her school’s podcast team. But when her football-obsessed boyfriend, Jensen, decides to also try out—and uses her idea—she’s left confused and betrayed.

Determined to get back at him, Finley and her friends try to find the perfect revenge scheme, but quickly discover that Jensen is almost-impossible to best. Keyword, almost.

By chance, Finley discovers a knack for kicking and decides to take Jensen’s spot on the football team. To help her train, she recruits Jensen’s cute but conceited nemeses, Theo. Soon the two discover that their connection runs deeper than football. But Finley can’t let herself get distracted, and Theo has secrets of his own. Is true love really better than the perfect revenge?

Thank you to Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

NEW KASIE WEST FAVORITE.

Well I was just absolutely charmed with this book y’all. At the core is a true young adult novel with a lot of relatable themes and content that’s appropriate for this age group. I loved the the teenage drama wasn’t over the top and lent itself to many great moments of character growth and self reflection for Finley.

And I was smitten with the romance. It was so sweet and also showcased mistakes and communication and hearing each other out. I loved the support Theo gave Finley in her endeavors and his kind nature. The banter was cheeky and fun and I loved the chemistry between them.

I also loved that Finley worked on her friendships, finding out what the next life step was and realized the true nature of being a vengeful person can become. All of the grandma content was really sweet and I was very involved in knowing her story. It was a great addition to the plot and seriously, this book was an absolute gem.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: low
Content Warnings: a grandmother in the early stages of dementia

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ARC Book Review: Borrow My Heart (Borrow My Heart #1) by Kasie West

June 20, 2023June 19, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: June 13th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When a girl overhears a guy getting verbally destroyed by his friends for being catfished, she jumps in to save the day—and pretends to be his online crush. A young adult romance from the critically acclaimed author of Places We’ve Never Been.

Wren is used to being called a control freak. She doesn’t care; sticking to the list of rules she created for herself helps her navigate life. But when a cute guy named Asher walks through the door of her neighborhood coffee shop, the rulebook goes out the window.

Asher is cute, charming . . . and being catfished by his online crush. So Wren makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision—she pretends to be the girl he’s waiting for to save him from embarrassment. Suddenly she’s fake-dating a boy she knows nothing about. And it’s . . . amazing.

It’s not long before Asher has her breaking even more of her own rules. But will he forgive her when he finds out she’s not who she says she is? Wren’s not so sure. . . . After all, rules exist for a reason.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

GREW ON ME.

I admittedly got into this and realized that maybe this book wasn’t going to work for me. Luckily, by the end I was pretty charmed and at least appreciated that this fit into a true young adult category and that that audience could enjoy it.

All of the dog content was adorable. I loved the shelter work and seeing Bean find his new home. The romance was sweet. I thought Asher was the cutest cinnamon roll and he and Wren got along well. There is a third act break-up, but I felt more forgiving in age context and I liked how both side apologized and made amends.

It’s a short book that’s light and fluffy but also filled with good themes and conversations. I didn’t LOVE all of the Tiktok content (that might be my age showing). All in all, maybe I’m not past my Kasie West era…yet.

Overall audience notes: