Maybe This Time By Kasie West Book Review

“Rose.

Hands down the most recognizable and popular flower. It’s intoxicating scent or velvety texture that inspires hundreds of poets to compare it to love and beauty, but whatever the case, it’s overrated, just like its comparisons. People seem to forget about the thorns.”

About

Author: Kasie West

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

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Synopsis

One year. Nine events. Nine chances to . . . fall in love?

Weddings. Funerals. Barbecues. New Year’s Eve parties. Name the occasion, and Sophie Evans will be there. Well, she has to be there. Sophie works for the local florist, so she can be found at every big event in her small hometown, arranging bouquets and managing family dramas.

Enter Andrew Hart. The son of the fancy new chef in town, Andrew is suddenly required to attend all the same events as Sophie. Entitled, arrogant, preppy Andrew. Sophie just wants to get her job done and finish up her sketches so she can apply to design school. But every time she turns around, there is Andrew, getting in her way and making her life more complicated. Until one day she wonders if maybe complicated isn’t so bad after all . . .

Told over the course of one year and following Sophie from event to event, this delightful novel from master of romantic comedy Kasie West shows how love can blossom in unexpected places.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To the young in love,

Truly adored the aesthetic of this book with the flowers and the cover! So cute! I also really liked how each section of the book was broken down by a type of flower because Sophie worked for this flower shop called Every Occasion that flourished that provided flowers for every occasion. I also loved loved loved how each chapter started with a flower and its meaning. Such a creative way to organize the book and keep to its roots 😉.

With Kasie West books, it’s either you love it or you don’t, in this case, I enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t say that it’s my favorite Kasie West book. That’s not to say I don’t respect or like Kasie West, just that this book didn’t flourish in full bloom in my heart.

Sophie Evans was not the most likable character if I’m being honest. She was nice, but there was just something off about her in the way she treated Andrew and the way she was around her family. I understood that the reason she might have treated her Mom badly was because of the whole divorce thing and I get that as a kid, you feel these unresolved feelings with divorce and that you might harbor embarrassment or resentment. At the same time she just never seemed to try to talk to her Mom to make things better. It was like she just accepted that her Mom was the way she was and that there was no way to fix that. There was also the way she treated Andrew, which was just bizarre because I get that he sounded like a self-entitled rich boy that at first hit on her, but after that he genuinely tried to be nice to her and she was soooo rude to him that it just became off putting after a while. The banter was cute and the comebacks she had were very sassy in a fun way, but I think that there’s only so many comebacks and rude things you can say to a person before they start to take it personally and where those words hurt. So Sophie really just didn’t know where to stop and I just didn’t like how she always pointed out to Andrew and Micah that she wasn’t Andrew’s friend. Like the dude’s biggest fear is making friends and here she was saying she wasn’t his friend because of him trying to hit on her once. Give the guy a break he was raised by a starlet dad and he always moved around a lot, it’s not like he would have the best social skills 😅.

There was also the way she was so distant and reserved, which was part of what made her who she was, but it just felt off for me. Sophie’s whole dream has always been to be a fashion designer and move to New York to make it big. She never wanted to stay in her small town—–or even considered it as an option—–because she always wanted to get away because she thought her dreams couldn’t be achieved unless she went to a great place to achieve it. Sophie sounded like a genuine fashion designer who loved what she did, but one of the things in this book is that she felt really uninspired before Andrew came along. As an artist in any field—-painter, a dancer, a writer, a photographer—–it’s natural that you come across those periods where you feel unmotivated or uncreative, so I could understand where Sophie was coming from. I also understood how insignificant and nervous she felt when thinking about creating her portfolio. Most of her designs were based off of other designs, so they weren’t ‘unique’ or ‘original’ like all the colleges were looking for. So for a brief part of the story, Sophie began to question if she should really pursue New York. That hesitation amplified when Andrew kind of said she wouldn’t make it in New York as a country girl—–and can we just say that Sophie completely exaggerated what Andrew said because those exact words of “you’re not going to make it in New York,” never really came from his mouth.

But there was something very relatable about Sophie’s confusion. When it’s senior year and you have the future to think about, sometimes you have this set idea that you’ll go to this college and do this. But sometimes when you overthink it, you doubt your plans and your ability to make it or do good. And really overthinking is natural, but it’s also hard because it’s those voices that makes you feel insecure and makes you question who you are and your path. Sophie was just going through those natural insecurities that come with deciding what she wanted to do with the future and it’s hard. I get what Sophie was feeling. I just think she really closed the door on herself before even trying when she said that she would just settle for staying home. Good thing she had good friends like Micah and Andrew who helped her realize that she should chase her dreams no matter how scared she was. I loved how they helped her realize her inspiration for her designs with the flowers and to me it reflected the section titles. I would have loved to see some designs in this book of the floral dresses she created, but I bet they were beautiful. I can just imagine a Tinkerbell/Pixie Hollow inspired kind of outfit, you know? Super cute.

Speaking of friends, I really liked Micah and how she had such a kind heart and was the peacemaker. Whenever Andrew and Sophie would argue or butt heads, she always told them to make nice like some mother telling her two kids to get along. And she always got Sophie to be nicer to Andrew and to see things from his point of view because after being mean to Andrew for so long, Sophie kind of got so used to it to the point where she didn’t even see what she was doing was wrong—-how it wasn’t who she was, but Micah knew Sophie could be a kind person. I also liked how hard-working Micah is. She was a STRONG FEMALE caterer who was able to hold her own against all kinds of guests and I highly respect that. She was also able to befriend Jett, Andrew’s dad, who was known to be mean. Jett liked Micah for her work ethic, and I mean, he’s not wrong.

I didn’t quite like Jett. He was every bit of rude as he was pretentious just because he was some cooking chef star. You’re not that important or great! 😅 He could have been nicer to Sophie about hanging out with Andrew. I don’t understand why he was rude to Sophie about it because he was okay with Andrew hanging out with Micah. I think Jett just had a bone to pick with Sophie since she used his mixer box as a possum trap 😂. That was one of the funnier scenes because it was just so random to have a possum show up at a wedding, but at the same time I could see how things like that can happen. One of the other funny scenes that was kind of morbidly funny was when Sophie floristed for the funeral. At the funeral, the hearse driver forgot to get the casket for the burial and I was like *facepalm* How do you forget that? It was funny how Sophie, Micah, and Andrew tried to wheel and carry the casket to the flower van to take to the burial. Then the hearse driver came back to get the casket. I thought it was just strange.

I also liked Sophie’s brother because he was so cool about everything. He got to tag along to most events Sophie floristed for and I know if I was the bother, I would have complained about waiting for my sister all the time because gosh, it can be boring! Were you ever in that same situation as Sophie’s brother where you had to wait around for them as they did a sport or an activity? But the brother was so cool about it and never complained. He got to stay in the car that one time and play his game and Micah brought him food and I liked how everyone also looked out for him. A fun scene that included the brother was the fall festival where they bobbed for apples and how Andrew didn’t know how to do that, yet he challenged Micah to it. He was bound to lose!

Sophie might have not been the best person to Andrew, but you couldn’t say she wasn’t a good sister. I think she looked out for her brother pretty well and was protective of him. I loved how she comforted him in that shed with Andrew when the brother was scared of the fireworks. It was a cute moment because she didn’t even know her brother was scared of fireworks, but in that moment she told her brother about how she was scared of thunder and that made him feel like he could connect to his sister with a common fear. I also liked how she went with Andrew into the corn maze to look for the brother when he got scolded by nasty old Jett when Sophie’s brother tripped over his wires.

Which reminds me, Jett wasn’t also a favorite of mine because of the obvious way he made Andrew feel inferior and the way Andrew let him treat him so poorly. I could understand from Andrew’s perspective about how he wouldn’t want to disrespect his dad by standing up for himself, but no one should ever tolerate rude treatment from anyone even if they are family. Family is just regular people and that doesn’t excuse poor behavior and I just felt so bad when Andrew would get reprimanded in front of Micah and Sophie and he would let it happen. Micah and Andrew were right in some ways in how Sophie should have just let it be because it wasn’t her problem or her concern, but I agreed with Sophie in part. Andrew didn’t deserve that kind of treatment and should have stood up for her dad. You know for someone who’s scared of confronting her feelings and chasing her dreams, she has no fear when it comes to those she loves. And we all know she was going to fall in love with Andrew the moment he stole one of her flowers and skipped a stone that plunked to the bottom of the ocean.

With the whole Andrew owed Sophie a flower and $5 thing was just weird things that I didn’t really like. I don’t think he truly repaid Sophie in what he owed her with the bouquet of flowers of her choosing. He kind of repaid her the $5, but that’s because she owed him $5 so that canceled that debt out. I thought that in the end, Andrew would do this grand gesture where he repaid her with the bouquet of flowers and the money, but that never happened so I was kind of disappointed in that. So the whole owing Sophie thing wasn’t that momentous.

I also just really didn’t enjoy the whole clichéd moment when their at peace anger when Sophie used the mixer box to trap the possum and Andrew was mad and everyone was mad and then they argued behind a shed. And they were screaming in each other’s faces about how much they didn’t like each other and I hit my face repeatedly again because it was sooooooo clichéd. Like I KNEW they were going to kiss! Heated argument between two people who didn’t like each other and a secluded area equaled a passionate fiery kiss in hate. I cringed at that moment because I just didn’t find it cute. It was cheesy and weird because I really didn’t click with their whole relationship if I’m being honest. I think Sophie just liked the idea of Andrew because he was some hot shot from New York and that meant he was different. I also didn’t like the whole Sophie trying to force herself into a relationship with that guy Kyle. We all knew that was going nowhere. I feel like she was desperate to make something work and to be in a relationship that she got lost in the idea of having a boyfriend rather than actually loving the person. When we saw Kyle kissing that bandmate Jodi, completely and utterly unsurprised. Kyle never really liked her or talked to her and was always conveniently there for some reason—–maybe another reason why Sophie liked him: convenience.

But Andrew and Sophie were just not the couple for me. They were cute as couples could be. They went from a hate to love relationship, which I love those kinds of relationships because they’re unexpected, but this one just struck me the wrong way. Don’t get me wrong, they had cute moments like the corn maze or when he helped her figure out her designs, but I feel like they could have truly just remained friends and that would have been fine with me. There was something forced about their relationship as though they had to be in one because it was fated. There was this part of the book where Sophie was like, “I realized I loved Andrew,” and again, it just rubbed me the wrong way because I knew she loved Andrew because she was the female protagonist and he was the male counterpart, so of course she loved him. But love? Did she love him? I don’t think so. Her realizing it was very late and it felt like I was truly being told that they were in love rather than feeling it through their actions. Again, they could have just been friends because they really weren’t that lovey or romantic to me to begin with.

I enjoyed the ending though when she made her portfolio and how Andrew and her were going to try to make things work. And let me just say, when Andrew said he was going to be in New York instead of Birmingham and Sophie freaked out about it and took it as some negative sign, I SIGHED SO HARD. LIKE SOPHIE, get your head out the clouds!!! He’s going to New York because he’s so positive in the fact that she’ll get into the New York design school that he wants to be there when she gets in. He’s not going to Birmingham because he doesn’t feel the same about you or wanted to try to make the relationship work, he was thinking long term 😰. When she realized that, she felt dumb and I was tsk tsk taking. Girl!!! You were dumb 🤪.

Now this isn’t me trying to roast this book, because it truly was a decent story with interesting characters and an interesting plot line, there were just things in this story that I didn’t connect with or like as much. There were definitely good parts and funny moments in this story, so of course, I encourage you to read it because maybe what doesn’t click with me, might click with you. And I just wanted to say, I HIGHLY respect and adore Kasie West as an author!!!!

If you read this book, what was your favorite or least favorite part? What’s your favorite flower? Let me know below in the comments below as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful and bright day whenever and wherever you’re reading this.

And as always, with love,

Rating

3.34 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: Sophie is a relatable teen when it comes to being uncertain about the future, but there is some part of her that seemed very lost in this rude demeanor. I loved her friends and Andrew who was a sweetheart, if not a tad bit sheltered.

Plot: The idea of the story is a cute one. I loved the way things progressed and the way each section was organized.

Writing: Kasie West is a great author who creates beautiful moments, but there were some clichéd things that didn’t really connect with me.

Romance: Not a big fan of Andrew and Sophie as a couple, but I think they’d be better just as friends.