I didn't finish this book. I started it and made it about 10% in but it wasn't flowing for me. It almost felt like I was dropped in the middle of a story, like I was missing something in order to follow the story. The characters and dialogue felt off to me as well. Almost like it was forced rather than natural.

I loved this story! The meet cute was so good, and this trope is becoming one my favorites. The characters were relatable in their struggles and how they overcame them. I enjoyed the banter between the characters. Sweet, clean romance, highly recommend!


I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Starstruck, by Amy Clipston, is highly recommended for readers who enjoy a swoonworthy romance.

This review begins with a trip to the ER. I’m fine but needed to get something checked out. As you’ll most likely know, the Emergency Room isn’t usually a quick visit. When I arrived there was standing room only. So I sat down and opened Starstruck. A third of the book later, I was given the all clear (the thing I thought was a bruise, was just a bruise, not a clot).

Decidedly less stressed, I drove home, got into bed and at the halfway point of the book, reluctantly put it down. The following day, while waiting for the rain to lessen so I could run, I got to three quarters. Are you getting the picture? Don’t pick this up when you’re busy. That would be a problem.

Alex and Heather are a lovely pair of main characters who will jump into your hearts. He’s the lonely rocker wanting more than a life on the road. She’s the honest waitress who’s intimidated but not overly impressed with fame, who just wants to open her own business.

But how can you build life when one of you is permanently on the road? Like I explained, this sweet story grabbed me right away and didn’t let go until the end. A little light on faith for me, but a swoony romance nonetheless. Definitely recommended.

I received a copy of Starstruck from the publisher via NetGalley, the views are my own.

Amy Clipston has written a precious romance about a member of a brother rock band who falls for a small-town girl.
What young girl never dreams that their favorite rocker will fall in love with her. This story is kinda like that, but the heroine didn't even know who the hero was. Which made it super cute.
I really enjoyed it and I think if you are looking for a sweet romance this will be for you.

Heather and Alex’s lives can’t be more different. She is a small town girl, works in her parent story restaurant and her dream is to open a bookshop and bakery in her hometown. He is a handsome rock star, touring the world with his brothers. But fate make them meet and fall in love. Can they have a chance at HEA or will their differences break them apart? Sweet and heartwarming. . The audiobook, with Madison Lawrence is great

Starstruck by Amy Clipston is a wonderful story following Heather Gordon and Alex Kirwan. Heather works at her family's restaurant while Alex and his younger brothers have a famous rock band, that Heather hasn't heard of but her sister is obsessed with. When the band stops at their small town restaurant, the younger brothers start a food fight. While cleaning up the mess, Heather and Alex form the beginning of a friendship. With the band on tour, they stay in touch through phone calls and texts and occasional visits; building a relationship and connection. As love begins to bloom, Heather and Alex encounter numerous obstacles: including distance, the paparazzi and negative comments in the tabloids and social media. It’s going to take much convincing by Alex before Heather is willing to see a future together. This is a clean romance about love, determination and overcoming the odds; being famous yet wanting just normal things, about trust and being enough, about chasing one’s dreams. The band, Kirwin, reminded me of the Jonas Brothers or Hanson, if you are older. I highly recommend Starstruck to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

When Heather Gordon meets Alex Kirwan, a member of the famous rock bank, Kiran, the sparks fly. Alex is instantly smitten by Heather, finding her to be refreshing and sweet. When he leaves to go on tour, he and Heather begin exchanging messages and calls and despite the distance, they find themselves enjoying the relationship. Yet, with the challenges of fame, Alex and Heather face an uncertain future, not knowing whether they have any chance of lasting love.
A clean romance that didn’t always display the depth of characters that would have been expected for those in their 20s with have experienced a past relationship. I had hoped that there was more emotional depth to both characters but at times, they both resembled teenagers in the intensity of their feelings. Too many thoughts relating solely to kissing certainly reflected this.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a sweet story about an ordinary waitress who falls in love with a successful, yet humble, rockstar. Heather is a small-town girl who works in her family’s restaurant and dreams of owning her own bakery. She meets Alex Kirwan when he and his brothers come into the restaurant for a meal. She has no idea that Alex and his brothers are a famous band called Kirwan and is quite put out by his brothers starting a food fight. As an apology, Alex invites Heather and her sister to their next concert. At first Heather seems too negative for me, but she warms up to Alex and his music pretty fast. Things progress to where they are texting and calling each other. Their friendship becomes something more and it is fun to watch. They have to work through the stress of a long-distance relationship and a relationship under the microscope of the media. I enjoyed this book and I recommend it to others.
This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to give a favorable review.

Heather works at her family's restaurant, patiently waiting to have the funds to open her own bakery/bookstore combination. One night, Alex, member of a super popular boyband trio, walks into her life. She knows nothing about him or his band, but she is drawn to him, and the feeling is mutual.
This is a superstar romance. The premise of the book was really good (if a little unoriginal), and the beginning gave be high hopes. The writing (especially the dialogues) was clumsy at times, and it dragged on. I would've liked to see more nuanced (less boring) characters. Alex did have a bit of a golden retriever quality to him that I liked and would've loved to see even more of it. I got an advance review copy and the formatting was very distracting, but I'm sure it'll all be fixed by publication day.
The third act break up was ridiculous and unnecessary, Heather totally overreacted and wouldn't even listen to what Alex had to say. And the getting back together was just as ridiculous. I have read some other great reviews, so if you are looking for a sweet superstar closed door romance, it may be for you.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Set in a small town in North Carolina Heather & Alex navigate the world of fame & a small town to find each other

This book was much more tell than show, very straight forward writing. The entire story was reminiscent of the game Episode. However the idea and story itself was great, & just downright charming.

Heather, is a bookish waitress in her family’s diner and aspiring baker.
Alex, is a ridiculously good looking rockstar who wants more from life than fame.

Definitely recommend for anyone who likes the game Episode & a good. Personally, the writing just wasn’t my favourite.

Thank you to the author & NetGalley for approving me to read this book as an ARC.

Overall, I liked this book. I loved Alex and Heather’s relationship and how they had to fight for happiness. I need a Wendy & Kayden book. Even though it maybe weird it a brother of one dates the sister of the other. 😁

I know it’s an ARC but there is major formatting and grammatical issues throughout. Wendy/Windy used interchangeably mainly in the first few chapters. Random big letters and the title thrown into places. I hope it goes through major editing before it’s released.

I enjoyed this unlikely meeting between a small-town waitress and baker with a popular rock star. Heather is a down to earth gal with goals in mind to open her own bakery and bookstore when she has raised enough money. waitressing at her parents' barbeque restaurant near Charlotte, North Carolina. When a rock band of brothers and their road crew eat in the restaurant, and the younger brothers have a food fight, she is furious, much to her younger sister's embarrassment. Wendy and lots of patrons recognize the band but not Heather. The older brother Alex tries to make things right by giving the sisters VIP tickets along with a backstage pass. What started out as a chance meeting turns into a friendship and progresses into a relationship but with the odds, can it be real? This is a sweet and endearing story with emotions that one can feel and empathize with as well as feel the frustration of tour life and celebrity recognition that prohibits a normal life. I thought Ms. Clipston did a wonderful job showing both sides of this type of relationship, the pros and cons. The characters are wonderful, likable and relatable. Highly recommend for those who enjoy romance, especially with lots of kissing.
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review. These are my thoughts and opinions.

This was tooth-ache sweet so if you want a PG (lite) romance, this is for you! I wasn't put off by the low key romance part of this because I felt the friendship to more relationship between Alex and Heather was genuine and well done. I just think the break-up into ending was a bit over the top. But this was a quick read and I enjoyed it.

Starstruck comes out next week on November 14, 2023 and you can purchase HERE.

As if pulled by an invisible magnet, Heather followed the voice to a room at the end of the hall. She stood outside, allowing the song to serenade her as if it had been written just for her.

When the song ended, she couldn't stop herself from clapping and pushing the door open. Inside she found Alex Kirwan sitting on a stool and holding an acoustic guitar on his lap. He had changed into a faded black t-shirt emblazoned with the Beatles' logo, and his hair looked as if it had just been brushed. The small space resembled dressing rooms Heather had seen in movies, with a large mirror surrounded by lights, a few chairs, a sofa, and a rack containing hangers.

When Alex blessed her with an affable smile, she froze like a deer in headlights. Her feet seemed to be cemented to the floor.

"Heather Gordon," he said. "What a surprise."

#Starstruck #NetGalley
Heather works at her parents restaurant and is in charge of making desserts. When her younger sister Wendy
reconizes members of a popular group the Kirwan Brothers band come into the restaurant. Heather is not impressed when the first band members are loud and makes a big mess. Once Heather gets to know Alex Kirwan one of the lead singers her attitude changes. This book was a quick read.1

Unfortunately, I don't believe this book was for me. It started out strong but it almost skidded to a stop a third of the way through. After that it seemed to drag and I wasn't connecting with either main character. I feel as this suffered from being voiced in the 3rd person. Third person is difficult to pull off most of the time, unfortunately, it didn't work here either. When you have two very different H/h, first person dual perspectives would be more effective in presenting the different worlds each live in. Also, Heathers character started off strong but as soon as relationship with Alex commences, seems to blend into the background and her personality is kind of 'bleh'. This may have been a 'good for you, not for me' scenario with this one.

Starstruck is a sweet, chaste afternoon read. It hooked me from the beginning and I read it in a day. Small town girl meets rock star romance plot, which in my opinion was well done, but didn't add a fresh twist on the trope. Characters were endearing with solid chemistry between leads. Just an all around enjoyable read. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to #Thomas Nelson Fiction and #NetGALLEY for the ARC.

Starstruck, by Amy Clipston, is a fun story to read. This is a well written, easy to imagine story. It is so fun to read how Heather goes from not knowing anything about the band Kirwan to falling for the oldest brother. I enjoyed reading of how these two very different people were able to build a friendship while miles apart and how their relationship grew. It was fun to see Heather’s faith in obtaining her life long dream and the support she got from so many people. I appreciate how the story shows how Alex worked through his grief with the loss of his father. I especially enjoyed how he would take time out of his very busy schedule to visit children in medical facilities.

This story is realistic in the pressures popular people go through. Especially with the paparazzi and how they are portrayed on social media.

I enjoyed reading this story which I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of.

I enjoyed Starstruck by Amy Clipston.

Heather has dreams of opening her own bookstore/bakery in her small town in North Carolina. While Alex and his brothers’ dream of being a band have come true but Alex finds life on the road lonely until he meets Heather and tries to develop a relationship with her.

This is a clean, fun, sweet, small-town romance. If you like Hallmark movies, you’ll enjoy this book.

Thank you so much to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for allowing me to advance read this novel, opinions are my own.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I had never read any books prior to this one by Amy Clipson, but this one caught my attention on NetGalley's website and I thought I would request it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a clean Rock star romance and just a lot of fun. It reminded me of a Hallmark movie.
This book is a sweet story about Heather who works in her parent's restaurant in a small town and dreams of opening her own bakery/bookstore. What Heather doesn't plan on is Alex (lead singer of his family band) stopping in and capturing her heart.

This book was just fun and that is exactly what it is meant to be. I will definitely check out other books by this author.

Taking into consideration the fact that Amy Clipston is one of my favorite authors, and the "famous person falling for the regular person" is one of my favorite tropes, I fully expected to end up loving Starstruck. However, while there ended up being quite a few likeable things about it, I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I had expected to, and I wouldn't consider it a new favorite.

The initial set up was kind of all sorts of adorable, and I especially enjoyed the meet cute. Heather Gordon is a small town gal working in her parent's restaurant one night when the famous rock band Kirwan ends up coming in for a meal. It's definitely not love at first sight for Heather when the younger two brothers of the band start a food fight and she ends up having to clean it up. However, the older brother Alex is apologetic for his brothers' shenanigans, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship that soon grows into something much more. Only how can they ever make a true relationship work when their lives exist in such drastically different ways?

While I think this story had great potential, unfortunately the characters, the plot and the romance ended up falling short for me. The romance felt extremely insta lovey and lusty, and there were far too many passages about Heather and Alex being obsessed with each other soon after meeting for it to truly seem believable to the reader. It also ended up feeling like there wasn't a lot that truly happened throughout the plot, and it ended up taking me quite awhile to finish this one which isn't usual for me.

While I did enjoy the small town setting, the lovely relationship both main characters have with their families, and the fact that this one invokes one of my all time favorite tropes, it ended up not being what I was expecting, and unfortunately I probably wouldn't reread it or recommend it to anyone else as a must read.

I'd recommend Amy Clipston's other contemporaries over this one, but I'm thankful I took the chance on trying another of her stories.

Final Rating: 3/5.


Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.