Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West @KasieWest @harperteen

Blurb from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.
So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.
She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

Title: The Distance Between Us

Author: Kasie West

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: July 2, 2013

Rating: 5/5

The Cover Contessa's Review:

So every once in a while a read comes along that I just can't put down. And that read grabs a hold of me and just doesn't let go, not ever. This book was one of those reads. One I needed to just keep reading because I was enjoying it so much. One I needed to keep reading because, while it broke my heart in some places, in other places it caused me such pure job I was smiling like an idiot! Yup, this is THAT kind of book.

So, I say it all the time and I think it's getting old but I'm not much of a contemporary reader. I like my sci-fi and my paranormal and some dystopian here and there. And, while I've been exposed to quite a few contemporary reads, I haven't come across many that I truly adore. Yet, lately, I have been taking some suggestions from my friends. Friends that I know like books by authors like Katie McGarry and Sophie Jordan. And I've been picking these books up and actually liking them! So, when this one came across my plate, I said why not, maybe I will enjoy it. And I did! So, I'm slowly realizing that it's not that I don't love contemporary reads, it's just that I love well written contemporary reads and West is phenomenal at this!

Caymen, I have to say that she is one of the most well written teen characters I have ever read. She independent and a bit solitary. She knows her limits and she has a fierce resolve to ensure her family's well being. But she is also a teenage girl who has an inkling of hope that some day she'll meet that prince charming or at least "the one." So, when she meets Xander, he's not what she's expecting. As a matter of fact, having grown up poor and with thoughts that the rich really think the poor are nothing but people they can walk all over, why would she ever think she might fall for him. Plus, this girl's sarcasm is through the roof. She has a come back for EVERYTHING and it's always perfect and charming and just down right hilarious. And this girl knows how to take care of herself, she doesn't need anyone to do it for her. At least she doesn't think she does.

Xander, oh he is super swoon worthy. I can't even describe what a great character he is. He breaks so many of the rich stereotypes that Cayman has come to know yet he's still got them just under the surface. But he's better for knowing her and they are really quite great together. He gets right in on her sarcasm and doesn't take any crap from her, throws it right back in her face and makes her see that her prejudice is just as bad as those who are rich. And I love how this friendship forms between them, even though you feel the underlying attraction is there. They have this undeniable chemistry that just makes you shout at them through the whole book that they are destined to be together!

I can honestly say that West writes some of the most relatable characters I have ever written. Even Caymen's friends have such great personalities I could see myself hanging out with them and getting to know them. There's nothing like characters who draw you in and seem so real you actually feel like you're in the room with them hanging out as part of their group.

And West's writing is just fantastic. She knows exactly where to end a chapter so that you NEED to move on to the next one because you wanting more. And she injects just the right amount of romance and tension along with some clever twists and turns. You find yourself rooting for things to come out as you want them to and you can't put the book down until you find out if the heartache you are feeling will be turned around. Yes, there's some heartache, because what good romantic book would not have that thrown in with it? And rather than have the characters fall all over each other immediately, West gives us this great build up so we can see why they would even want to be together in the first place. I loved the slow build, so nice to watch it unfold. And then there were the laugh out loud moments, yep, I had them, and I rarely have those when I read. Any time a book can bring that out in me, I know it's a fantastic read!

Overall this story moved effortlessly and completely floored me. I never wavered in my need to get to what was next. It kept me riveted from beginning to end. It helps that I loved Kasie's book Pivot Point because her writing was so fantastic. So while I was unsure of whether to pick up this contemporary read, I am so glad I decided to give it a go. If you like sweet, romantic, funny, tension filled, laugh out loud reads, then go get this one now and see what a gem it really is! 

  I write YA. I eat Junior Mints. Sometimes I go crazy and do both at the same time. My novels, published through Harper Teen are: PIVOT POINT, its sequel SPLIT SECOND (Feb 2014), and THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US (a contemporary novel). I also have two more contemporaries, ON THE FENCE coming out July 1, 2014, and THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND coming out the summer of 2015. My agent is the talented and funny Michelle Wolfson.

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