Fly Bye

By: C.W. Farnsworth

Narrated by: Neill Thorne, Courtney Patterson

The first time I saw Grayson Phillips, I fell.

Tripped, to be specific. His seven-year-old self saved me from scraped knees and sentenced me to a fate of pining after my brother’s best friend for years.

People change. Childish crushes fade. I’m an adult now, a doctor with more important things to worry about. I gave up on the boy next door ever loving me a long time ago.

Or so I thought…until he returns to our hometown on leave from the Air Force. For the first time, not everything between us feels one-sided. That doesn’t make it matter. He’ll take off soon—literally.

I’m a fly-by to him. Nothing more than a passing interest. A distraction.

I know getting involved with him will mean saying goodbye to my heart.

I know I should say no.

I know I’ll say yes.

©2022 C.W. Farnsworth LLC (P)2023 Podium Audio

Awwwwwwww

I loved it. It was a romantic, sweet, emotional, delightfully spicy, easy read. It also had the right amount of angst to keep things interesting, but not be annoying. I rooted for the characters 100%. Highly recommended.

My guilty pleasure

CW Farnsworth is my secret guilt pleasure. Like a sneaky chocolate and French champagne. Because she has so few Audiobooks I have to stretch them out into small doses and almost treat myself.

She is at the top of my list of authors. Not too angsty, but gritty enough to be real.

What other author subtly uses Shakespearean literary tools to paint their scenes and develop the context, plot and sub-plot? That takes serious writing skills.

The FMC is a real person who is smart and has her own life and career. Her portrayal as an Interning Doctor feels real and raw and pays enough homage to the reality of medicine to give the book context and vibe.

I have noted that other reviewers have been critical of the MMC and failed to note his own real underlying issues. FFS he’s a pilot that has suffered loss and is very closed off. All of Farnsworth’s narrative gives the readers the clues. Part of this story is his own journey into the light,

Overall the story is an old trope but writ different.

No spoilers below but there is some explanation to assist the reader.

The story was really good and avoided bogging down. It was light and progressed steadily and really well. While there is separation brought about by work there is clearly a relationship.

You need to expect that there is uncertainty and lack of clarity …. its called plot development and is used by good writers.

There is a good deal of spice / sex / steam and some of the introductory chapters could make some readers a little uncomfortable but perseverance pays off …. it is an amazing journey with more realistic interplays than most.

Our MMC is very closed off and appears to be a bit of a jerk but if readers follow closely the trail of bread crumbs the author makes it pretty clear how his character is being developed from closed to his HEA.

The sub-plots include “tells” that speak to the overall story including family cross-over that introduces complexity to the narrative. There is a theme of the MMC not being tied to his home town whereas all of the other characters are very much anchored in that space, this allows the plot to develop and the overall vibe that he is only temporary in their lives. This helps add to the uncertainty but not necessarily angst.

I liked the way it was a gradual story of him being brought back to ground rather than a series of staged situations. It made the characters feel more genuine. The tension feels very real but not overplayed or stilted.

I felt that the FMC was a strong lead character, but her history with the MMC colored her choices ….. but I think that she is true to herself and what she wants. The fact that its not always an easy road just makes the story that much better. Her internal dialogue actually helps keep the reader in touch with her perspective (whether you like it or not).

Its not until the epilogue that you get a really clear view on the MMC’s perspective. I actually think that it’s a good thing. It helps build the story and character.

The overall character development has a certain level of grief and strain but that does not necessarily mean that there’s antagonism. Many books seem to need to create angst as a tool to build the narrative.

Overall I finished the book feeling a little drawn from the tension but in a good way rather than feeling wrung out

Another AMAZING read

Another good story by this new author!

The story was good and the narration was comfortable. So often the narration is so distracting I just can’t listen to the book and I waste my $$. This was worth a credit or the purchase of a credit.

Neil only narrates epilogue!!!

I bought this book because it was supposed to be read by both male and female narrators… NEIL ONLY NARRATED EPILOGUE 😡.. Courtney is new to me but did an amazing job. Otherwise it was a great story and stood out from all the other “brothers best friend” tropes. Although I was upset regarding the narration (I wouldn’t have purchased it if I new) definitely worth the credit!

Improved by the narration

I nearly DNFd this. Parts of the story were juvenile and less than smart. Parts of the story were completely unrealistic. But. There were also parts of the story which were entertaining and engaging. The narration - all but the epilogue was by Courtney Patterson - was solid with good pacing and tone. Overall it was okay with a side of ridiculous. A full review will appear at AudioGals.

This book was gifted to me by Podium Audio.

Enjoyed this!

C.W. Farnsworth is quickly becoming a new go-to author for me!

✈️ brothers best friend / boy next door
✈️ grumpy hero (in the air force)
✈️ strong heroine who is in her residency

I loved watching these two grow from friends with benefits (in secret) to more - their chemistry was 🔥 and they’re stolen moments were just so sweet!

My only complaint is that I wish we had gotten Graysons POV (we got a small snippet at the end but I wanted more!!) - it would have added so much to the story and the relationship development! It was still great though - def recommend!!

Very disappointed

I got this bc I love dual POV. Female read all but the epilogue. Wish I was warned about one POV. It was deceptive that two readers were listed. I gave low rating bc I couldn’t finish but I did fast forward the story just so I can see the ending. The h was doormat. This was even worse and the h was very contradicting. She talked all tough but say yes just about everything the H wanted her to do. She was a sad character.