Written in the Stars
Ratings85
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings85
Average rating3.7
With nods to Bridget Jones and Pride & Prejudice, this debut is a delightful queer rom-com about a free-spirited social media astrologer who agrees to fake a relationship with a grumpy actuary until New Year’s Eve—with results not even the stars could predict!
After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.
Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy... a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother—and Elle's new business partner—expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because... awkward.
Darcy begs Elle to play along and she agrees to pretend they’re dating. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family during the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a faux relationship. But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?
Featured Prompt
2,708 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
Featured Series
3 primary booksWritten in the Stars is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Alexandria Bellefleur.
Reviews with the most likes.
i really wanted to love this but it fell flat for me. it's not a bad book, i just didn't gel with it.
i don't like leaving negative reviews so i'll leave it there, this book had its merits.
Fake dating is one of my favorite romance tropes and it was done really well here! I honestly didn't get a lot of Pride and Prejudice from this, certainly not as much as other retellings like Unmarriageable or Aisha At Last (which are both excellent). This had similar names and maybe an awkward/bad first meeting, but beyond that I didn't see many parallels, so if you're expecting this to be a straight retelling, it's not. It is very good, though, and quite charming. I loved Margo and Brendon and the Christmas in Seattle setting. Darcy and Elle were also adorable in that grumpy/sunshine way, and all in all this was a lot of fun, especially this time of year.
4.5 stars. Thank you, Avon and NetGalley for the digital ARC!
WRITTEN IN THE STARS is such a lovely, #ownvoices F/F romance that manages to pull off charming, funny, and realistic so well. Darcy is an actuary who has gone through the ringer with an ex and is lasered focused on being rational, while Elle is a romantic at heart with a passion for astrology.
Their romance has a slow burn, founded on a mutual physical attraction that turns into a full-fledged love story. It has plenty of steam, and overall the book feels modern and fresh.
I enjoyed seeing Elle and Darcy weather the storm supporting each other in individual struggles, especially the pain points of dealing with overbearing family members and where to go next in one's career.
I'm mostly sad that I can't encourage friends to pick this up sooner, since it won't be out until November! I do think this would make a fantastic cozy, autumn romance read.
Fans of Jasmine Guillory and Mhairi McFarlane looking for a F/F romance should definitely add this one to their list.
3.5/5 stars
Bonnie, because I know you'll be reading this, I actually liked this book. I thought it was cute.
