I am a big fan of Kasie West and while I still haven’t read the Pivot Point duology I have read all of her romance novels. With that in mind I decided to rank them all from my least favorite to my absolute favorite. As always this is simply my opinion so feel free to disagree with me in the comments. Beware, I will be giving away spoilers in this post so if you haven’t read one of these books yet, feel free to skip my little blurb about it. Without further ado, here is my definitive ranking of Kasie West’s romance novels!
Love, Life and the List
I was so incredibly disappointed by this book. The friendship turned relationship between Abby and Cooper just did not sit with right from me. This wasn’t one of those unrequited love situations. Abby told Cooper how she felt about him and he just brushed it off. I was so happy when Abby finally told Cooper off and I was hoping she would end up with Elliot. Unfortunately, Abby was much more forgiving than I.
The Fill-In Boyfriend
Typically I’m all for the fake boyfriend trope (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, anyone?), but this one did not work for me. Gia and her fake boyfriend were cute, but it was her friends who actually ruined this book for me. I just found them infuriating and I honestly didn’t understand why Gia was going to great lengths to impress them in the first place. But the romance itself was fine so this was just a meh read for me.
Lucky in Love
This book came out around a strange time where they were a lot of YA novels about teens winning the lottery, however this one particularly caught by attention because it was by Kasie West, but also because it was the first book by her that had a POC main character. The novel was about Maddie who won the lottery and her life was turned totally upside, in both a fun and also mind boggling way. Her one place of calm was working at the zoo with Seth, a cute Vietnamese American who didn’t know she was a millionaire. Or, at least, Maddie thought he didn’t know. Anyway, romance ensued and it was incredibly cute.
The Distance Between Us
I really liked this novel. It gave me hard core Gilmore Girls vibes with the single mom and daughter and the rich grandparents. I also really enjoyed the romance between the main character, Caymen, and Xander. Caymen was really funny and sarcastic and I loved how Xander played off that. Overall, this was a really cute read and definitely one of my favorite Kasie West books.
By Your Side
The main character, Autumn, got trapped in the library with bad boy, Dax, and that premise alone was enough to make me swoon. This was a dream come true for me, honestly. But I also loved this book because of the way West expertly handled Autumn’s anxiety as well as Dax’s life in a group home. Everything about this novel made me feel all the things and if I remember correctly I read through this book in a day. I just couldn’t put it down.
P.S. I Like You
This book has it all. Love letters? Check. Hate to love story? Check. Some room at the end of the story to see how the romance plays out? Also check. Honestly, it was really hard for me to put this book third because I loved the main character, Lily, and her love interest. Just thinking about this book has made me want to reread. It was so good! I’d say my top three are all tied. This was so hard!
Listen to Your Heart
I absolutely loved this book. First of all, it was the first YA novel I’d read that included a podcast in such a cute way. I loved how the podcast aspect really tied into the plot of this book. Second, Kate was such a great character. She was complicated but not annoying and I loved how she came out of her shell over the course of the novel. Third, the love interest, Diego, was a POC which I’m always here for, but also he was just so swoon worthy. I was Team Diego pretty early on. Lastly, even though both Kate and Alana ended up liking the same guy I loved how they handled it and were totally respectful of each other feelings. Hoes over bros, amirite?
On the Fence
In my review of this book I actually said that I liked P.S. I Like You more than this novel, so hindsight is an interesting thing. On the Fence is my all-time favorite Kasie West book (for now) for a lot of reasons. First, the main character, Charlie, was literally running from the pain her mom’s death caused her. She often ran to try to tire herself out so she wouldn’t have nightmares about her mother’s death keeping her up at night. I absolutely loved how West handled this whole storyline with Charlie’s mom and the PTSD Charlie suffered from her death. And then there was of course the romance. This was a best friend to lover story and Braden was literally the boy next door. Charlie and Braden’s conversations at the fence were so touching and I loved how their relationship unfolded. It was so incredibly cute, and it was amazing seeing Charlie step out of her comfort zone during the book as well. Highly recommend picking this book up if you haven’t yet.
So, how did I do? Did I get it all wrong or perfectly right? Let me know in the comments below!
Zakiya N. Jamal 