Star Dust
Authors: Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: A-
February’s optional theme: Vintage
What I’m Talking About:
Could you get more Vintage than the Jackie O., Space-Race Era of the 1960s?
Anne-Marie shocks her family and friends when she divorces her husband, gets a job, and moves her kids and self into her own home. It’s 1962, and that’s just not what a woman and mother does. You know what else they don’t do? Have affairs with their sexy astronaut neighbor!
While Genevieve Turner is a new-to-me author, I just adore Emma Barry’s writing. Star Dust is the perfect blend of sexy, romance, and real emotions. I enjoyed the retro/historic setting of the 1960s and the space race. Although I didn’t live during the times, the book feels genuine. The characters attitudes towards divorce, a single mom trying to make it on her own, the banter of the astronauts is exactly like I’ve seen in books and shows of the time. I enjoyed the little details that make it all come together.
I adore Anne-Marie, who knows who she is and what she wants. She may feel out of place, but she never regrets her decision to leave her cheating husband. Her relation with her ex is simplified in that it was an amicable separation but he’s too busy to visit the kids. Her parents have enough wealth to support her decision to leave him. The story is hopeful, and while it feels of the era, it’s not weighed down by too much realism like how divorced women were treated or how ravenous the media was over famous astronauts.
Kit is the perfect reformed man who’s fallen in love. Realizing as soon as he meets Anne-Marie that he’s head over heels, he knows he’s got to take it slow in order to woo her. He’s aware of her need for independence. He is faithful. Their romance is sweet. The attraction is intense from the start, and having both POVs allows the reader to see how much Kit likes Anne-Marie and how her iciness is because of her ex. They give in to the attraction, but Kit always wants more. Yet he’s patient enough to let her come to terms with it. He loves her kids and envisions a family. It’s fast but solid. It’s a bit idealistic and that’s okay with me.
Overall, Star Dust is an enjoyable, sweet romance.
My Rating: A-
Jen
About the Book:
Anne-Marie Smith wanted normal: a loving husband, two beautiful kids, and a well-kept house. But when she catches her husband cheating, she decides that normal isn’t worth it. Now in a new city with a new job, she’s trying to find her new normal—but she knows it doesn’t include the sexy playboy astronaut next door.
Commander Kit Campbell has a taste for fast: fast cars, fast planes, and even faster women. But no ride he’s ever taken will be as fast as the one he’s taking into orbit. He’s willing to put up with the prying adoration of an entire country if it will get him into space.
But Anne-Marie and Kit’s inconvenient attraction threatens both normal and fast. As the space race heats up, his ambitions and their connection collide and combustion threatens their plans… and their hearts.
Release Date: October 14, 2015
Publisher: Penny Bright Publishing, LLC
Series: Fly Me to the Moon #1
Genre: Historical Romance, Retro Romance
Format(s): paperback, ebook
Book Source: Purchased with my own funds