BORROW MY HEART

A girl’s attempt at preventing a boy from being embarrassed by his friend’s catfishing prank complicates their growing relationship.

When Asher and his friend Dale show up at a coffee shop for Asher’s date with Gemma, a girl he’s met online but has never seen a photo of, it’s clear to best friends Wren and Kamala that Dale has set Asher up and intends to humiliate him. Usually orderly Wren, eavesdropping and hidden from the boys’ view behind a plant, impulsively presents herself as Gemma. What she didn’t imagine was that she’d see Asher again or that they would form a connection and develop a trusting friendship that quickly heads toward something more. This initial lie eventually catches up with Wren, threatening to ruin the closeness they build over the summer. Though the romance is compelling, West’s best writing tackles the complicated relationship between Wren and her mother, who left her family 7 years prior. The very real emotions of hope, disappointment, and heartache existing among Wren, 20-year-old sister Zoey, and the girls’ mother are well drawn. Kamala is a present and active part of the story. The backdrop of Wren’s job at an animal shelter gives the story shape as well, highlighting her personality traits and tenderness. Main characters are White; Kamala is Indian American.

A solid teen romance with strong characterization and nuanced relationships.