Speculating on SpecFic

Oh how I loved this. Crossing the Line is short, heart-warming story about Lila and Lincoln, who met at Echo's brother's funeral and have remained pen-pals ever since. But lately, both have started seeing the other in a new light, and both wonder if they'll ever be able to cross the line between friends and something more.Lincoln. Sweet, caring, definitely a hero-in-disguise, it's so refreshing to read about a contemporary YA character who isn't shrouded in mystery and a bad-boy attitude. Lincoln wears his heart on his sleeve, is genuinely caring and absolutely adorable. Love, love, love.In my review of Pushing the Limits I mentioned I didn't much like Echo's friends, who, I felt, were much more concerned with getting Echo to fit into social structure of the school than actually helping her. Although Lila was more accepting and helpful than all the others, I still resented her for placing so much emphasis on Echo going out with her pushy jock ex-boyfriend.It's now after graduation, and I feel that Lila has a new perspective on the high school dynamic, and I really love how she's grown up. She's resentful of Noah, for taking her best friend away from her, and she feels like everything she's familiar with is slowly drifting away, with the exception of Lincoln. Despite how short this novella is, the author tackles a lot of growth into Lila's character, which I enjoyed.Crossing the Line isn't essential to understanding what happened in Pushing the Limits, and I'll hazard a guess that it's not required reading for Dare You To either. But it's a wonderfully sweet novella and a welcome change between the edgier full sized novels.You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.