For Keeps by Natasha Friend

Summary from Author's Website:

For sixteen years, Josie Gardner and her mom, Kate, have been a team. It’s been the Gardner Girls against the world, and that’s how Josie likes it. Until one day, in the pet food aisle of Shop-Co, they run into the parents of Paul Tucci, Kate’s high school boyfriend—the father Josie has never met. If Mr. and Mrs. Tucci are back in town, it’s only a matter of time until Paul shows up.

Suddenly Josie’s mature, capable mother regresses to the heartbroken teenager she was when Paul moved away. Meanwhile, Josie’s on the verge of having her first real boyfriend, while her free-loving best friend, Liv, begins yet another no-strings-attached fling.

When Josie learns some surprising truths about Paul Tucci, she finds herself questioning what she’s always believed about her parents—and about herself.

In FOR KEEPS, Natasha Friend tells a fresh, funny, smart story about what happens when a girl gets the guy she always wanted and the dad she never knew she needed.

Review:

In For Keeps Natasha Friends gives you a funny and heartwarming story that continues to be present in your mind long after you've finished it.

Josie Gardner is a strong, smart, and relatable main character that was hard not to like from the start. I was constantly rooting for her in the main parts of her life varying from her relationship to the swoon-worthy Matt to her relationship with the father she never knew. While Josie brought the serious tone of the story, her best friend Liv brought the hilarious aspects with her crazy antics leaving her to be one of my favorite parts of the story; since it was so hard not to chuckle in some of the scenes she was in.

One of my favorite parts of For Keeps was Josie and her mom's friendship. In YA parents are usually not usually part of the background, let alone one of the main characters' best friends and the person they can always rely on. So, to me, For Keeps was unique (in a good way!) with that. Also, I loved how their relationship reminded me of Rory and Lorelei on Gilmore Girls, one of my favorite shows.

While the plot was for the most part predictable, I still had no problem falling into it and not letting go of the book until the last page. Though, I did have one problem with it, which was the fact that I thought Matt and Josie's relationship was never really fully developed. It was like one second they barley talked and the next they were dating. But overall it wasn't that big of a deal.

In all, For Keeps is yet another fantastic book to add to your 2010 wishlist! I'm really looking forward to reading more by Ms. Friend.
 
Grade: A-
 
For Keeps will be out April 6,2010!
 
Source: Publisher/publicist. Thanks AJ!