Listen to Your Heart - Kasie West

Title: Listen to Your Heart
Author: Kasie West
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 3 Stars

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Talking to other people isn't Kate Bailey's favorite activity. She'd much rather be out on the lake, soaking up the solitude and sunshine. So when her best friend, Alana, convinces Kate to join their high school's podcast, Kate is not expecting to be chosen as the host. Now she'll have to answer calls and give advice on the air? Impossible.

But to Kate's surprise, she turns out to be pretty good at the hosting gig. Then the podcast gets in a call from an anonymous guy, asking for advice about his unnamed crush. Kate is pretty sure that the caller is gorgeous Diego Martinez, and even surer that the girl in question is Alana. Kate is excited for her friend ... until Kate herself starts to develop feelings for Diego. Suddenly, Kate finds that while doling out wisdom to others may be easy, asking for help is tougher than it looks, and following your own advice is even harder.

Kasie West's adorable story of secrets, love, and friendship is sure to win over hearts everywhere.

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Listen to Your Heart is the third Kasie West book I've tried to read and the second one I've actually finished. (I couldn't finish By Your Side. I did finish Lucky in Love.)

This was another 3 star book for me.  It was cute and fluffy, and while I enjoyed it and would totally recommend it, it's not a book I would read over and over again.

Let's get down to brass tacks, y'all. 

I love that each character is distinct from each other and that they all seem to have their own personalities and traits that make them their own people. There were a few background characters that just seemed to blend in to the background - but the main players and important characters were right there!

There is also this humor that exists between the friends (and cousins) that worked well.  Kate and Victoria even had this great chemistry when they were recording the podcast.  They did well together considering that Kate was so hesitant to be a host in the first place. 

While I do think that Kate was very dense about Diego's feelings, I did like that there was a sort of weirdness there when Kate thought that Diego liked Alana as much as Alana liked him.  Kate spends so much of the novel thinking that Diego likes Alana that it leads to some weird situations (like him thinking Kate is asking him to a dance, when Alana really was, because Kate helped decorate his car with post it notes.)

BTW - if you're wondering, decorating my car with post it notes would be a great way to get me to do something for or with you!  I love post its

(And yes, in case you're wondering, I will find any excuse I can to put a Supernatural gif or piccy in my blog posts - because Supernatural is amazing!)

Anyway - a few things that were just good and worth mentioning:

* I love that Kate and her cousins have such a good relationship with each other and get to see each other so much.
* I LOVE that Kate and her friend Alana are so drama free.  They have a moment towards the end of the book where they have the "We'll still be friends if he likes you" conversation. And they have a moment where they each think the other is ignoring them, but then it turns out that Kate just forgot to send Alana a text apologizing for something. But it was all handled so maturely.  It just goes to show you that teens are capable of being mature and handling situations with tact when you give them that chance!
* I think the way that Diego told Kate he liked her was so sweet.  (No spoilers, yo.  Go read the book and find out for yourself.)
* I think it was good that Kate's topic got picked as their podcast class topic for the year. Kate was very introverted, and that's not a bad thing - but it's important for introverts to realize that it's okay to broaden your horizons a bit and learn new things.

So, overall, if you are looking for a fluffy, light hearted romances, check out this book and give it to your teens as well!