One Old, One New features two books – one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today I am featuring two books by Kasie West.
Published by Saturday Books on April 14, 2026
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:
Goodreads
Can fake dating lead to real love? In Kasie West's next sexy adult romcom two people must decide where the lie ends and the chemistry begins.
Sutton knows she needs therapy. After all, she’s managing her newly opened restaurant remotely while taking care of her ungrateful sick mother. Plus, her boyfriend of two years just dumped her over the phone. But does therapy with a handsome stranger, who she has to pretend to be engaged to, in order to help her friend’s struggling relationship count? Probably not. Then why did she just agree to go? Because she’s had a few too many drinks? Because this stranger, Elijah, is smug and annoying and really, really handsome? Because she feels guilty that she abandoned her best friend, Tara, after high school and this might just make up for it? Whatever the reason, she has committed to this unhinged plan.
What the hell is Sutton doing?
Helping Tara prove a point: a good therapist can tell the difference between real love and fake love. That’s what she’s doing. But as they attend their sessions, Sutton and Elijah only seem to be proving one thing—the lines between pretend desire and real desire are very blurry. This true connection forming between them is threatening to unravel everything Sutton thought she knew about family, friendship, and her own heart.
While still feeling the sting of her very recent breakup and struggling as care giver to her mother, Sutton accepts an outlandish bet. She will attend pre-martial therapy sessions with a handsome stranger playing the role of her "fiancé" in order to prove that a good therapist would be able to sniff out "fake love". But as the bond between Sutton and Elijah grows, they both begin to rethink their bet.
This book has such an odd concept, but I cannot argue with the results. As expected, it was filled with lots of warmth and humor along with a good amount of depth and personal growth. These are trademarks of Kasie West's books and why I continue to read them without hesitation.
Sutton had a lot of work to do on herself, and she was well aware of many of her flaws. She carried a lot of guilt related to her father walking out on her family, a fractured friendship, a broken relationship, difficulties with her mother, and her restaurant's lackluster ambiance. She was juggling her care giving responsibilities with managing her business remotely. But, it was hard for Sutton to ask for help and also to be completely honest with people. It was actually to her detriment.
Things were different with Eli. She felt a comfort with him that she had never experienced before. Things she thought she hated, she liked with him. He was her opposite in many ways which helped her loosen up a bit. Surprisingly, they both learned a lot from their theraphy sessions which helped them make choices and changes to improve their lives.
The care giving storyline really him close to home for me. It is difficult to go from being the child to care giver for the people who raised you. It is especially difficult when they don't want your help or don't want to take it graciously. West did a great job capturing this mix of feelings, and I really felt for Sutton as she tried to do what was best for both her and her mother.
Sutton and Eli were such a great pair. They had chemistry galore, and there was something quite endearing about the way they were together. There was laughter and joy which I think they both needed. There was some drama too. There was parts of that plot point that made me a little sad, but I loved every part of the resolution.
Overall: I enjoyed this fun romance where I was rooting for both Sutton and Eli to put themselves first and reach for their own happiness.
*ARC PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
Published by Delacorte Romance on January 6, 2026
Age/Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:
Goodreads
From the critically acclaimed author of Sunkissed comes a new swoony YA romance. Indy and Beau’s friendship is shattered, but getting accidentally locked in a bathroom together just might be what's needed to reconnect.
When the walls close in, the truth comes out.
When Indy’s life came crashing down, she made a no one could know. To the world, she’s still the same Indy—cool, calm, unshaken. But behind the scenes? It’s chaos.
Her tight-knit crew—Beau, Caroline, and Ava—were once her everything. Now they’re strangers she can’t seem to reach—especially Beau. And the only person she talks to these days is Cody, a skater-boy she used to think was so not her type. Funny how everything changes when your world flips upside down.
And then, as if things couldn’t get weirder, Indy finds herself literally stuck in a school bathroom with Beau. After months of silence, and there’s no escape. If they want out, they’ll have to face the messy truth about what happened between them and find a way back to what they once had. Or maybe even more . . .
When forced to keep a secret, Indy's life implodes. Her grades tank, she makes poor choices, and her friends abandon her. For months, she had been isolated, and then, the universe intervened and trapped her in the teacher's bathroom with her former best friend, Beau, so that they could talk through what happened and perhaps, build a bridge back to each other.
Kasie West had a note at the end of her book where she cited this as her angstiest book, and I have to agree. It had a bit of a different feel than her pervious books though I do feel it matched what main character Indy was experiencing.
Indy was in her Junior year, holding her spot in the top ten of the class, and enjoying her close friendship with Ava, Caroline, and Beau. Then her father's law firm became entangled in a scandal which rocked her very stable world. Trying to hide what was going on at home took its toll on Indy. It led to bad decisions, spending time with questionable people, and pushing her "people" and parents away. I truly felt bad for Indy. She was in a tough and unfair situation, and I think that would be hard for most 17 years olds to handle on their own.
But she paid the price. She was punished by her parents, her school, and her friends. I was glad she was trapped with Beau and forced to finally talk to him about what happened. For every hard to read "THEN" chapter, I saw things looking up for her in the "NOW". The resolution was classic Kasie West. It warmed my heart and made me smile.
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