On The Fence by Kasie West

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.

Charlie is a typical tom boy; she grew up under 3 big brothers, playing football and wearing sweats. Their mother died when they were young, so Charlie had no one to explain make up or puberty to her. She never felt like she'd missed out on anything, until a nice boy pays attention to her. It all starts when Charlie is forced to find a job to pay off her dad, to learn responsibility after one too many speeding tickets. She finds a job in a boutique clothes shop, where she finally gets a mother figure and someone to teach her the techniques of being feminine. 

However, it's just a little too much to deal with and she secretly gets closer to the boy next door Braden. Practically one of her brothers, he's there for her without judgement when she needs him. With the budding romance, there's also an underlying coming of age story, remembering the truth of what happened to her mother and becoming closer as a family because of it. Charlie really comes into her own during the course of this, her own person and comfortable with her femininity. She's not a girly girl, never has been, but finds that it's not a bad thing to explore the unfamiliar and she gained surprising friends in the process. 

I do love a good summer rom-com and I read this in a day! Sweet, funny, full of heart, this was a great read, perfect for whiling away a sunny afternoon. Romance, friends and family, Charlie learns the importance of all three in her life in a very heartwarming and adorable way. 

Published 1st July 2014 by Harper Teen.