Six Summers to Fall

By: C.W. Farnsworth

Narrated by: Gail Shalan, Alex Kydd

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Six summers. Six chances. One week spent pretending.

Ever since her younger sister's engagement was announced, Harper Williams has been dreading the wedding. What should be a joyous, sun-drenched affair is sure to be filled with plenty of awkward moments, thanks to Harper's strained relationship with her only sibling. Awkwardness enhanced by the wedding's location—a lake in Maine, swimming with painful memories of their late father.

Running into Drew Halifax—her childhood crush, who grew up to be the golden boy of hockey—is a surprise. Not nearly as shocking as his offer to be her plus-one is, though.

She expects him to back out. He shows up. She's looking for a distraction from the past. He's killing time until his season starts, and he can chase the championship. She's guarded yet outgoing. He's easygoing yet focused.

They hardly know each other—until one week of sharing secrets, pretending to be in love, and sleeping in the same bed changes everything. Feelings that were supposed to be fake start to feel very real.

Problem is, neither of them is looking for a relationship. At most, they're meant to be a summer fling. Definitely not a happily ever after.

But when it comes to falling? You have no control. Once you start, it's impossible to stop. And sometimes… it takes six summers.

©2023 C.W. Farnsworth (P)2023 Podium Audio

One of my favorites

I am obsessed with this book. I love the characters and the story and I couldn’t be happier with the choice for narrators. They are just perfection.

Loved

Loved this book! This is one I’ll end up adding to my re-read list when I need something good.

Another winner and a still my guilty pleasure

Harper & Drew are amongst my favourites.

This story has a complex tapestry that you won’t see until the end because Farnsworth is a master storyteller. She leads you through a masterful story where lesser writers would rely on weak tools and tropes. You can expect the HEA but not the path nor the ending to be as you expect.

She has a completely different take on old tropes. This includes Hockey, Fake dates and sibling rivalry.

It is subtle and refined. Farnsworth showcases her considerable talent by using the surrounding cast of family, friends and supporting cast as reflection tools for the MCs to build the story rather than the supporting cast being simple props.

This has complex tales of family tragedy, sibling rivalry, family disfunction and the normal uncertainty that goes with new relationships.

Minor plot signals – not really spoilers

Farnsworth’s class is on display by subtly re-constructing the Sports Romance narrative. Instead of Harper falling hard for the star, their own teenage perceptions and his lack of past meaningful relationships means that they are both adrift. Harper expects that he is a player, despite signals to the contrary. He is in awe of the pretty girl he fell for as a teen. We eventually realise that due to his star power as a hockey player, women have always fallen at his feet and when faced with someone he truly cares for in Harper, he is just as lost.

He is also very nervous about what he wants and the signals he gets from Harper.

I love Farnsworth’s little trails of bread-crumbs (early tit-bits to aid in understanding). She leads the reader to develop a clearer picture of the characters and how we should see them.

This story is different and starts with a broody dark overtone. Some may find it a little tough to work with but …. stick with it, the darkness is an important part of this journey into the light. By the end the story it almost tastes like its own victory.

All of the way through this story it retained underlying questions and tension about how the story can actually conclude. She keeps you guessing.

The FMC (Harper) is a little bit broken or brittle and the MMC is uncertain on how he can make the relationship work given the demands on his and her lives.

The story retains a sub-plot reflecting a difficult family dynamic that makes the reader a bit uncomfortable. It's really good the way that Farnsworth teaches us to challenge our own perceptions and how these can become minor plot reveals. The journey reflects the FMCs insecurities on many levels and how they play into her relationship, but again Farnsworth builds a positive narrative to create a great story rather than a series of clumsy angst ridden situations.

Drew is steady but walking warily around his own unspoken issues and uncertainty. He is a character torn between what he wants, his ability to clearly communicate and his fear of losing it all.

The development of the chemistry between the MCs remains more realistic and is clever about how the interference of fans and fandom by other cast members can really mess with relationships. It is really good to see a different approach to this perspective.

3hrs from the end of the book I was really feeling the tension and it left me guessing . It is testament to how Farnsworth can successfully build a narrative and supporting cast.

It is a lot spicier than Kiss Now and is closer in heat to First Flight (but not quite).

Another winner all around.

Love the story, hate the performance

I’ve been gobbling up everything C.W. Farnsworth since I discovered the author’s work. I’m on a sports romance binge and they’re almost all the same, including cliche tropes. Farnsworth is different. And there’s almost always something to learn/take away from each story regardless of it being a smutty romance.

With that said, I hate this audiobook. It’s so convenient for me to consume stories by audiobook so I can complete tasks while listening, keep busy during my commute, etc. I came so close to DNF’ing, which I rarely do, because of the male actor. The chortles during each dialogue is hair-pullingly annoying to me. Not only is the noise itself annoying, but it makes everything the characters say come off as sarcastic. Even when it’s obvious it wasn’t the intended tone. I’m not sure if he got a different script than the female actress because it’s almost like reading two different books. Please, please just follow the script and don’t add a personal flourish because it’s obnoxious.

male reader

I’m really loving this story. However this male readers occasional loud breaths are super distracting.

So good!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
💣💣

MCs: Harper Williams and Drew Halifax
1st Person Dual POV

• fake dating
• one bed
• childhood crush
• new england vibes

My mission this year is to finish C.W.’s backlist, and I simply cannot wait. I love her books and this one was no different! Harper is heading back to a place that holds so many memories (good and bad) for her sister’s wedding, when she decides to stop by her old house where they spent summers. She runs into Drew, who she had the biggest crush on, and after a night of tequila he offers to be her plus one to her sister’s wedding in hopes to lend support and dispel any awkwardness. This story was equally tension filled, raw and vulnerable, sweet, and slightly angsty. Drew is such a good fucking guy man and I loved Drew and Harper together!!! I also loved seeing Harper tackling her grief and complicated family dynamic with Drew by her side. While it may seem sudden for these two to fall for each other, you realize these two had spent summer after summer getting to know each other and I loved that connection that this story grew off of. PS: Drew also wears his hat backwards which ya know is my kryptonite 🤭 The narrators slayed this performance and really made the story come alive!