Goodreads says, "High school junior Eliza Crowley is known as the Princess of Fairfield, a farm town in North Carolina that loves two things—tradition and baseball. Although Eliza loves “the game,” her life goal is to become a lighting designer on Broadway. Shaking off her reputation as the rich girl and focusing on her town's community theater production are what she’s set her sights on this summer, and nothing will stand in her way. That is until Reed Fulton, the grandson of a struggling Fairfield farmer, and ace pitcher of the Fulton Hawks, returns to town.
Reed dreams of putting the catastrophe of last season behind him and leading the Hawks to a championship victory against the Crowley Cardinals. But when his childhood friend turned stranger, Eliza, strolls back into his life, she makes his heart accelerate quicker than his fastball, and he’s not sure he can stay away from the girl he’s supposed to despise.
Small-town summers and baseball draw Reed and Eliza together, even though the Crowleys and the Fultons are determined to run each other out of town. When the families make a deal to settle their thirty-year-long dispute once and for all, Eliza and Reed are stuck in the middle during the most important summer of their lives.
Heartwarming, captivating, and full of emotion, Meet Me Under the Lights is a pitch-perfect romance that will have readers hooked right off the bat."
The Crowleys and the Fultons have been feuding for years. Years ago, they co-owned the town's stadium, and the Fultons, a farming family, poured their blood, sweat, and tears into maintaining it. The Crowleys, who are wealthier, have always had a leg up on the Fultons. They leveraged their finances to take over ownership of the stadium. This is when the feud began, and combined with some "friendly" betting on their baseball teams, it only added fuel to the fire. Eliza Crowley, a senior, is a theater lover and the town's sweetheart. She has always been friends with Reed Fulton, an ace pitcher, since they were children, but the friendship faded when he moved away. At his grandfather's request for summer baseball, Reed is back and in town. Due to their family's tension, things between Eliza and Reed are shaky at best until they start to have feelings for one another. When their families make a bet to end their feud once and for all, Eliza and Reed find themselves stuck in the middle. Meet Me Under the Lights is a cute YA romance perfect for summer, as it captures small-town baseball and summer romance very well.
I really enjoyed the Romeo and Juliet-inspired drama in Meet Me Under the Lights. The Crowleys and the Fultons have been in conflict for years, which places Eliza and Reed in a challenging position. However, as they spend more time together, they begin to realize their feelings for one another. This enemies-to-lovers romance is executed beautifully in Meet Me Under the Lightss, especially since Miller provides alternate points of view that effectively highlight the characters' emotions and the strain caused by class differences.
Miller effectively captures the joy of summer baseball in her writing. She begins each chapter about Reed with a baseball quote, which enhances the baseball elements of the story. This will certainly resonate with baseball fans. Additionally, she beautifully showcases Cassie's love for theater by detailing the intricacies of lighting a play, and she includes intriguing quotes about theater before each of Eliza's chapters. Remarkably, Miller successfully intertwines the themes of theater and baseball, making it all come together seamlessly!
I love a small-town romance, and if it includes baseball, even better! So, I was pleasantly surprised by Meet Me Under the Lights. It's the perfect YA romance for spring.
