Lennon Matthews has been looking forward to the end of senior year since the first day of high school. She’s sick of the stares and whispers that follow her around, of balancing staying at the top of her class with all her other responsibilities.
And she’s especially over interacting with Caleb Winters. The town golden boy who refuses to ignore her existence, no matter how hard she tries to remain invisible. The star pitcher with a bright, shiny future in front of him, very different from Lennon’s path after graduation.
But Caleb’s life isn’t as perfect as it appears. His family is fractured beneath the facade and the pressure of high expectations is constant. He had no interest in moving to the small, horse-racing-obsessed town of Landry, Kentucky, and no say in the matter either. And the one girl he’s interested in stubbornly refuses to give him the time of day.
Until persistence finally seems to shift Lennon’s perception of him. But one thing that doesn’t change as graduation creeps closer? Her insistence that their lives are too different for anything serious or lasting between them. Caleb’s professional baseball aspirations are more present than ever, and he hasn’t hidden his desire to leave Landry. Between caring for the only family she has left and managing what’s left of their farm, she’s tied to Landry with no intention of that ever changing.
Lennon has spent years eager to see Caleb leave. She’s the only reason he wants to stay. Together, they’ll have to decide what they’re willing to sacrifice. For themselves…and for each other.
C.W. Farnsworth is the author of numerous adult and young adult romance novels featuring sports, strong female leads, and happy endings.
Charlotte lives in Rhode Island and when she isn’t writing spends her free time reading, at the beach, or snuggling with her Australian Shepherd.
Find her on Facebook (@cwfarnsworth), Twitter (@cw_farnsworth), Instagram (@authorcwfarnsworth) and check out her website www.authorcwfarnsworth.com for news about upcoming releases!
Maybe it wasn’t the perfect book. Maybe the writing wasn’t the best. Maybe the characters could’ve gotten more development. But what I loved the most, what made it different is how focused on the romance it is. Normally, the book ends with the characters getting together and that’s it. Maybe you get an epilogue with them getting married or having kids. But this was different. They got together 50% into the book and the rest was them as a couple, through the long distance, the jealousy, family trouble… and they resisted through all these obstacles by communicating with each other. I hope this review makes sense and will make you pick it up and read it, cause I know it seems long, but it’s very lighthearted and enjoyable!
I expected something light and highschool-y, and in a sense, it was just that. But this book spoke to me on personal level like nothing else could. It deals with loss of a grandparent, the grief and healing, love of a piece of land, expectations vs.dreams....😭😭😭 all those subjects are deeply personal to me, so this book was kind of a healing process in a way.
The love story was both not very original, yet compelling and convincing all the same ❤️ i loved the hero and the unwavering devotion and loyalty he gave the heroine. I appreciated the strength this heroine possessed.
All in all, this was special for me. Although i can see how most people wouldn't have the same reaction to it, and that's okay ❤️🙌
It's another win! I love C.W. Farnsworth's books, I adore them, and she is one of my favorite authors ever. Thank you for writing Lennon and Caleb's story, I was in love with them all the way. I can't believe I finished reading it so quickly... I always want more. It was amazing their story, the way their relationship started, how they had to work together, their moments, his leaving, the way they finally got together and most of all how they chose each other forever. I love Caleb's determination and the way he expressed his love to Len, he didn't even look at another girl from the moment they first kiss. Waow! I love how Lennon chose her happiness, I was scared she would be too stubborn to go to Clarkson... They will stay with me for a long while. I love them, thank you Charlotte 💙💙💙
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
2 ˖⁺‧✮ why this book is sooooo long? there’s no need for it be longer than 200 pages…
female main character just randomly decided to hate main male character. for no reason!!! she just went to school and said “i hate you”. why???😑 he didn’t do anything
I think this book could have been reduced to under 200 pages. It was a whole lot of nothing. The characters had potential but it all flew out the window at about page 250.
I had a great time reading this but this did not need to be so damn long dude. At one point I thought we were at that major conflict moment and then I checked my progress and I was at 53%?! YOU MEAN THERE'S MORE?
Speaking of conflict... the way that I thought someone was going to cheat.... or it was kinda giving couch guy from tiktok? I was so nervous. But Caleb was nothing if not down so bad for Lennon. I thought this was really good for a random sports romance that I decided to read. I thought our main characters were so sweet and even when they were bickering, you can't help but love them.
We definitely had too many side characters. Cassie was Lennon's only friend and then she just gets voted off of the island in the end I guess? We couldn't partner her with one of the dudes from the team for a minute? Just give her more of a reoccurring role? She legit disappears.
Caleb was wonderful. He was so caring and attentive and I looooved everything he did for her. We were nearing the "love-bombing" territory but steered clear and were safe thankfully.
This book gave me insane amounts of déjà vu to some other book. I could’ve sworn I had read it before but then I checked the release date & guess I hadn’t ?? I feel genuinely confused because I LIKED IT but I knew like that last 40% of the book. Like knew specific things like a thing with a trash can lid and a conversation Lennon has w/ Winter’s mom . . .wtf haha
this is a six star book!!!! i loved the fact that everything was wrapped up into one book you don’t have to wonder what happens or if lennon and caleb get married and have kids because the author tells you she doesn’t leave you hanging
this book was honestly one of my favorites i’ve read so far
this was enemies to lovers but in a completely unexpected way and with every page i fell more into love with the characters
the fact that caleb was always there for lennon through her grandpas death and constantly supported her and encouraged her to follow her dreams
and don’t get me started on lennon she never cared about his last name or his amazing ability to play baseball or how much money he had all she cared about was their genuine connection
they both value their relationship so much and would do whatever it takes to make the other one happy
let’s not forget the whole scandal between caleb’s dad and lennons mom but despite them knowing that information caleb’s mom loved lennon anyways and especially loved their kids
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I’m giving this a 3.5 so I rounded up to 4. I was just going to do a three because Lennon was a shit girlfriend. Poor Caleb was out here playing baseball and Lennon didn’t go to a single game because she was so caught up with taking care of her grandpa and staying home doing chores. She turned around in the end so I upped it up to 3.5.
❝ That boy doesn’t love a thing in this world anywhere near as much as he loves you. ❞
alexa, play reflections by the neighbourhood ˚⟡˖ ࣪ 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙
tropes: ➳ academic rivals ➳ guy takes care of girl ➳ sports romance ➳ third act breakup (sort of?) ➳ forbidden love ➳ entire book spans 14 years (ish?)
ɞ ˚₊ ✧ ゚so um. i guess im on a roll because three years in a row my first new books of the year have been five stars! at first I was going to give this book four, but it just stayed with me for so long that there's no way I couldn't have given it five. everything from the characters, to the world, to the setting, everything was so immaculately written that it just kept me immersed in the book for the whole day. and! new record, I finished a five hundred page book in around four hours!
lennon matthewsִֶָ .☘︎ ݁˖ ⋆⭒˚.⋆— "i’ll never take hearing caleb winters tell me he loves me for granted." I feel like lennon was the closest a fmc would get to being a real, honest, character. her flaws were pointed out from the book, she messed up, embarrassed herself, and kept her head high, but also allowing moment of vulnerability. in so many ways i saw myself in her and im genuinely so proud of the character development that shined throughout the book.
caleb winters .☘︎ ݁˖ ⋆⭒˚.⋆— ”i can picture our lives here. holidays and weekends and regular days. kids.” did this guy step out of my dreams and into a book? yes he did. caleb winters mightve been the perfect example of a perfect person. . . even when he had conflict with himself, he was so selfless about lennon. everything he ever did was for her. he’s the kind of person i want to marry someday.
𐙚 ⋮ plot ꒱ ‧₊˚ there honestly wasn’t that much going on besides the romance. i know a lot of people complained about the book length, but to me, book length usually doesnt bother me at all since i’m a fast reader; on top of that, the longer length actually allowed us to see their relationship grow and develop as they navigate high school, college, long distance, etc. most books have their characters get together in the end and then it’s happily ever after; this one, they got together around 30% in and the rest of it was letting us see their development and their relationship grow. its a unique twist, unlike any romance book ive read before, and it offered a special perspective.
𐙚 ⋮ overall ꒱ ‧₊˚ i absolutely adored this book. the way it was crafted just brought out everything for me. honestly i just cant get them out of my head and im definitely going to be rereading again very very soon. overall im so happy that one reel landed on my fyp and it intrigued me enough to read it! p.s yay! finally a new review for the first time in nearly six months <3
This was a cute story! It was a really nice high school sweethearts romance. I loved how dedicated and loyal Caleb was to Lennon. He was so sure of his love and it never wavered. I think this story was a little longer than it needed to be. There wasn’t all that much drama going on within Caleb and Lennon’s relationship which is fine but it made the book feel a little slow at some points. I definitely preferred the first part of the book when they were in high school and their enemies to friends to lovers relationship was developing. I don’t think there needed to be as much included after the three year time jump to college as this is where I found the story to drag more. I liked this overall! It was a sweet story and I did really enjoy Caleb and Lennon together.
Was really loving the book in the beginning and was hyping it up to be a 5 star read but once they started dating (like 40% in the book) the read became so boring and I was over it by the time it ended
3,75 stars I am not a fan anymore of YA but this was cute and catchy, MMC pursued FMC with a steel determination, and it was a nice and beautiful journey to read. I was not expecting to like it that much. Flaws: TOO LONG endless useless page filler description or episede i was thinking WHY??? a good editing could bring this book to 4 to 5 stars
Too long and too wordy. After 11% nothing interesting happens. The author followed a boring outline of facts to write with little to no emotion. DNF. I just could not continue and I had hoes for this one.
If anticlimactic was a book it’d be called Left Field Love
*just a whole lotta FMC rant. SKIP if you actually liked Lennon Matthews*
TL;DR: A rusted nail has a livelier and more likeable personality than this FMC.
Lennon was irredeemably annoying. She’s the type of annoying that does the opposite of what she preaches, i.e.
- Says she hates being the center of attention? Proceeds to draw attention to herself.
- Declares that she hates Caleb Winters? Looks for him at every turn and makes sure to initiate contact so he has no choice but to acknowledge her existence.
- Makes a scene telling everyone who’d listen that people don’t like her because of her background? Gathers attendees to her pity party about how hard her life has been and rejects any sort of display of kindness towards her.
Madison, the mean girl nemesis, was more tolerable and authentic than Lennon and her “woe is me” schtick. The cherry on top? She’s appallingly stupid when it comes down to absolutely anything at all and it never gets better as the story continues. Even the valedictorian role was pathetically handed to her and not earned. Caleb was certainly dealt the worst ending by having to be saddle with the sopping wet blanket that is Lennon Matthews.
I suppose Caleb and Lennon’s story classifies as enemies-to-lovers, but I just couldn’t see anything going for Lennon as a love interest that went toe-to-toe with the town’s golden boy. I got secondhand embarrassment just reading her half of interactions and immediately felt the need to skip the humiliation she puts herself through. It just makes her come off as more of a loser than she already was. And a sore one at that. It’s more painful banter than playful banter.
More often she was on the losing end of her sad little bickers with Caleb. Not only that, but her retorts and reactions are childish and petty. I get she has a chip on her shoulder because of her family and upbringing, however instead of using that as motivation to be more mature and and take the high road she plays right into the blatant traps that Caleb sets up for her. She prides herself in self-respect and warped dignity and yet loses all sense of both when facing Caleb.
At least Caleb stayed consistent with his cocky/arrogant demeanor. Lennon’s wishy-washy, “I hate you but please notice me” bratty behavior ultimately made her an uninteresting and forgettable character. I would have liked her a lot better had she been more honest with herself instead of playing dumb about why she felt irritated whenever Caleb didn’t pay attention to her. Plus with her tendency to wallow in self-pity, it’s truly a wonder how she became an FMC. At best she gave cannon fodder vibes.
It’s surprising that her character came to fruition at all considering how bada** Saylor Scott (First Flight, Final Fall) was. It felt like reading an entirely different author’s work. I can only hope that Lennon Matthews is an isolated incident for CW Farnsworth because I’d hate to stop reading her works which can be fairly insightful at times.
This is the 10th Farnsworth book I’ve read (side note: that feels surreal to write!) and I have an arc sitting on my Kindle waiting, so I feel like I have a good foundation to judge this book.
Generally at this point in a backlog read of an author the magic would fade, the faults in the writing would start to show. There would be a pattern or cliche that comes through. Or a trope they use would start to grate. But that hasn’t been the case.
In actuality, I consider this to be one of her best.
I don’t usually go in for high school romances, very rarely college. I stick with adult romance, grown up drama. I just find something about teenage love to be a little…far fetched. Yet these the way relationships are portrayed in this is incredibly mature.
My favorite part is the way the fight. No, not the cutesy will-they-won’t-they standard enemies-to-lovers stuff at the beginning but the genuine way they work through their disagreements. They are determined to love each other, even when it’s tough. That is what sets this particular read apart from others.
✨ high school to college romance ✨ opposites - poor girl x rich guy ✨ he falls first ✨ enemies to lovers
Lennon Matthews has been waiting for her senior year of high school since it started. She’s been avoiding Caleb Winters, town golden boy for the same amount of time. But when senior year finally approaches Caleb realizes he doesn’t have much time to get the girl he’s always wanted. After being thrown together through the months Lennon starts to see more of Caleb than she ever has before. But Caleb has plans after graduation and Lennon knows she has to stay here. Caleb has a reason to stay now but will that be enough.
This is on of my top reads this year hands down. I adored every single thing about Caleb and Lennon story. I was unsure going in because I think I’ve aged out of most high school romances but this one was different. Both Lennon and Caleb felt like real teenagers with real teenagers problem. While there was a bit of drama mixed in I loved that this was fully Caleb and Lennon trying to figure life and their future out.
One of the main reasons I loved this story so much was the time jump but they were still together which I don’t think I’ve ever read in a book and never knew how much I needed. It time jumps to their senior year of college and 3 years together and their more of their future to figure out. Lennon has been in their small town while Caleb has been away at college and now they need to decide what comes next.
I love the way these two communicate with each other and figure out every problem together. There’s some fights and uncertainty but in the end it’s these two against everything else and I love. Getting to see them this in love and loyal 3 years later through all these obstacles made the story just that much better.
Caleb is Lennon safety and security. He misses Lennon every time he’s away at college and I love getting to see him interact with his friends there and then also be there for Lennon. And how Lennon slowly starts to let her walls down completely and give her future with Caleb all her attention.
I love this book so much I’m reading for a second time currently. Please read. ☺️
I was in a mood for a light, easy contemporary romance read... I got what I wished for and not. While it has a strong start, I just could not finish it due to the characters. The writing itself is okay, the setting is fine, but there lacks a maturity to the characters and plot. While I know this book Is set in high-school, I just could not stand the main character as well as the love interest.
Lennon is such an unlikable person, she does go through trauma and loss and difficult life circumstances, so she builds a tough shell exterior, which is fine, she carefully hones her outcast unapproachable image... but really she's just a jerk to everyone around her and just assumes everyone will outcast her because of her family history. All the sudden we find out everyone actually admires her so much, because "she tells it like it is" and "she's not like other girls" ...yeah okay. I also could not stand the dialogue between Lennon and others, especially Caleb, just a bad attempt at being snarky and sarcastic and clever. Biggest reason I could not finish this book was how Lennon plays with Caleb, she was way too hot and cold with him that it finally got on my nerves. I don't know how this book ends nor do I intend to find out, but run Caleb, run.
I wish a lot of things were different, I, mostly, expected Lennon to have a different view on her relationship. my bro is dating her for almost three, knows her for a few more, and she keeps doubting his feelings? girl, no. if they hadn’t been dating for 3 YEARS I would definitely understand her lack of interest in baseball, or her lack of effort to the relationship. come on, she didn’t visit him, she didn’t stay alone with him, always with her grandpa, didn’t know his family, friends, doesn’t tell the things that are happening to her. it felt like he put all the effort and she didn’t, and to blame on her personality? let’s be real, no one in a long term relationship will not show interesting in the things that you like or do, and if they don’t show any interesting it means they don’t care. it started promising, but nothing really happened, it was the same dialogue for pages and more pages.