A cute, if somewhat unrealistic book about astrology and love, Star-Crossed is the perfect light contemporary to read as summer is winding down.

This book is a classic case of how our choices, especially when they affect a distributed publication, can lead to many unexpected consequences. I really enjoyed reading how the author connected all of the subplots in the end. It was interesting to see how everyone was affected and in the end how they were all linked, in such a way that seemed to return things to how they were meant to be.

Justine honestly got on my nerves for the first half of the book. She knows exactly where Nick works and instead of just going to talk to him, she changes multiple horoscopes. Which incidentally push him back in to the arms of his ex and messes with the lives of many others. I just could not get over the fact that I just wanted her to step up and just tell him how she felt. Yet in comparison to this, I loved Nick. He came across as such a pure person, which had me really rooting for him to be happy regardless of who that meant being with.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes a good push and pull romance and has a soft spot for astronomy.

As much as I loved the concept of this book, the execution fell flat for me. I wish there had been more conflict/tension between the main characters to spice up the plot a bit more.

Having first heard about this book on the Read it Forward podcast, the concept sounded cute - what if a girl at a newspaper, in an attempt to help a friend she's been secretly in love with most of her life, decided to dabble in a bit of cosmic intervention since he takes his monthly horoscope so seriously? And, for the most part, that's exactly what this story was. What put me off a bit was HOW seriously our leading man (and many others) took what the stars have to say. Plenty of people out there do, and I know that, but it had me frustrated at times. The secondary stories taking place between each of the chapters ("cusps" between each chapter/sign of the zodiac) sometimes went on for quite a while, distracting from the main plot, though I admit it was satisfying to see many of them come back together in the finale. While the pacing was a bit uneven at times for my taste, it was a fun summer read and I'd probably check out books by this author from my public library in the future.

I had a hard time following some of this book. Every other chapter had random characters that connected to astrology in some way. I also don’t know much about astrology so I found myself a little confused at times in that aspect. I do think if you like rom-coms and astrology this would be a great book for you.

A series of almost vignettes strung together through the astrological charts with so much tongue-in-cheek humor that I was grinning, chuckling and amazed at how well Minnie Darke pulled the whole thing together. There are a gazillion characters and they keep getting pulled back into the whirlpool of a great con, all in the name of - you guessed it - love.

How could you not love a book that has Justine Carmichael who wants to be a Journalist, and is willing to be a gopher until she has her chance to write for The Alexandria Park Star and oh just happens to be in love with Nick Jordan. He is a Shakespearean actor who has trouble recognizing his talent and is willing to give it all up for his almost fiancée, a gorgeous super model, who is definitely not Justine Carmichael. And my favorite character, the Voo Dog extraordinaire, Brown Houdini-Malarky, cast as principal, hero and “no bastard’s watchdog”.

Quirky - sure, humorous - absolutely, the writing was a bit unconventional with an unusual structure. Minnie Darke states that she wrote the “book to amuse herself” and entertain the reader. Score, it all worked for me

Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for a copy.

I think for this book if you are not a huge astrology lover this book is for you! It lightly references to Astrology but I found myself getting bored while reading this book.

I typically do my utmost to never DNF an advanced copy, but I couldn’t finish this. I can’t put my finger on why - the writing is “fine” (I’ve certainly read and finished worse) but I just could not bring myself to care about the characters whatsoever.

As someone who loves astrology & a meet cute, I was so excited to read this book! However, I found myself struggling to get into it, and ultimately couldn’t finish it.

After an unintentional meeting, Justine is ready to jump into a relationship with her old neighbor, Nick. But Nick isn’t so sure, and chooses to lead his life by following the stars - the stars of his horoscope. Justine thinks she can prod the relationship along by editing Nick’s horoscope through her job at the magazine. Sounds adorable, right? I thought so, too! I can’t even put my finger on why I couldn’t get through this one, but I do urge others to give it a chance. It really has potential to be a cute summer read!

Maybe I'm not in the right headspace or mood, but I couldn't get past the astrological verbiage in order to get invested into the story.

This book follows the lives of Justine and Nick, childhood friends who unexpectedly reconnect in their 20's. The book revolves around Justine and her job at the local magazine. She was assigned to edit the horoscopes, her best friend, Nick's, obsession. Throughout the book, the story also intertwines different characters and their perspectives of their horoscopes. I found it hard to follow and did not particularly like the side stories. Though they do come together by the end.

This was a fun story for a day on the beach. Justine and Nick were enjoyable characters and I liked reading about them. I could see this story becoming a rom com movie.
Many thanks to Crown Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted to read this book because it sounded good and I love second chance romances. The story started off nicely but towards the middle it started to lose me. I don't have an issue with astrology but this book took it to the next level and I can’t see people making life changing decisions based on their horoscope. There are several subplots in this story with different characters that I felt took too much time away from the main characters. As far as Nick and Justine went, I had some difficulty feeling their connection as a couple. I get that they had a childhood romance but I would have liked more of a backstory. In my opinion they didn’t spend enough time together as adults. As a romance reader I need to feel that connection between the couple. Even though I had some minor issues with the story, the writing was solid enough to keep me invested. I wouldn't be against reading another book by this author in the future.

I really wanted to like this, but ultimately it was not the book for me. I really loved learning more about horoscopes and why people follow them so closely, and it was interesting to see the effect of Justine’s changes throughout other people’s lives that were indirectly connected to hers. With that said, I felt like those chapters about other characters took up a lot of time away from the main story, and I caught myself not caring and much and skimming through those parts. I wanted to know more about Nick and Justine’s love story, especially because they came together so abruptly at the end. If you’re into horoscopes, then this rom com of a book will definitely be more of a hit for you, but for me I wanted more.

I was definitely charmed by the story of Nick and Justine. The plethora of other cast member and their stories seemed like an entirely
different book and while it made the narrative novel it really never was that interesting,....perhaps I missed something. Amusing and
fun read. Three and a half stars

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Since it's release, I've been seeing this book everywhere. It was a cute story, lovely cover. I'm not surprised everyone wants to read it! I enjoyed this book thoroughly.

I needed this book. I've read a long string of mediocre to good books, and this was a five-star read. It needs to be a movie, and it will go in my collection right beside You've Got Mail. I loved the characters, I loved the humor, and I loved the host of "six-degrees-of-separation" connections that tie this whole story together.

Copy-runner-aspiring-to-journalist Justine has just been reconnected to her childhood first love, Nick, through her OCD of covertly correcting the green grocer's "advocado" sign in the markets. As it happens, Nick is a firm believer in astrology and long-time fan of Leo Thornbury, astrologer for The Star, Justine's employer. As copy girl, it is only too easy to attempt to give NIck a little nudge through some small tweaks of fate. Leo hates tech, he's a hermit, submits his predictions by fax, never darkens the office door, and Justine is already re-typing them for the magazine each month. Easy peasy right? A harmless nudge.

But one month's modification turns into three... turns into four... Before you know it, Justine's "tweaks of fate" have mended a relationship, saved a baby from being aborted, changed career paths, and literally set a dozen people on collision courses with destiny. And Nick still isn't getting the hint. The lives of all of these people intersect and entangle over the course of a year, culminating in one giant push of destiny.

I loved the humor and wit throughout the book, and Justine and Nick are everything you could possibly want in a classic romantic comedy. Anyone can identify with their quirks and their shortcomings, their embarrassments and escapades.
Content wise, there are zero explicit scenes, although characters do sleep with each other the scenes themselves are skipped. There are several f-words scattered throughout, but it's not extensive. If you enjoy humorous fiction, if you enjoy twisty zany plots, and for anyone who loves romantic comedy this book is worth the read. I needed this book. I've read a long string of mediocre to good books, and this was a five-star read. It needs to be a movie, and it will go in my collection right beside You've Got Mail. I loved the characters, I loved the humor, and I loved the host of "six-degrees-of-separation" connections that tie this whole story together.

Copy-runner-aspiring-to-journalist Justine has just been reconnected to her childhood first love, Nick, through her OCD of covertly correcting the green grocer's "advocado" sign in the markets. As it happens, Nick is a firm believer in astrology and long-time fan of Leo Thornbury, astrologer for The Star, Justine's employer. As copy girl, it is only too easy to attempt to give NIck a little nudge through some small tweaks of fate. Leo hates tech, he's a hermit, submits his predictions by fax, never darkens the office door, and Justine is already re-typing them for the magazine each month. Easy peasy right? A harmless nudge.

But one month's modification turns into three... turns into four... Before you know it, Justine's "tweaks of fate" have mended a relationship, saved a baby from being aborted, changed career paths, and literally set a dozen people on collision courses with destiny. And Nick still isn't getting the hint. The lives of all of these people intersect and entangle over the course of a year, culminating in one giant push of destiny.

I loved the humor and wit throughout the book, and Justine and Nick are everything you could possibly want in a classic romantic comedy. Anyone can identify with their quirks and their shortcomings, their embarrassments and escapades.
Content wise, there are zero explicit scenes, although characters do sleep with each other the scenes themselves are skipped. There are several f-words scattered throughout, but it's not extensive. If you enjoy humorous fiction, if you enjoy twisty zany plots, and for anyone who loves romantic comedy this book is worth the read.

"Star-Crossed" is an interesting concept for a story. Justine and Nick met when they were young and happen to meet again as they are trying to find themselves and achieve their dreams. Nick believes strongly in the stars and fate whereas Justine is a fair skeptic about these things. As you can imagine, Nick's belief in everything his horoscope tells him leads Justine to make some interesting choices. A cute story but I had trouble staying invested.

Bless Justine. Bless her little heart. She finally sees her girlhood best friend Nick after years apart, and she decides to play it cool. He asks for her number, she doesn’t ask for his, and he takes that to mean that she isn’t interested.

When Nick fails to call, Justine decides to take matters into her own hands. Sort of. She knows that he is a devotee of astrology, so she begins manipulating his daily horoscopes to make him think he belongs with her and not his glamorous girlfriend.

Hijinks and hilarity ensue. As do considerable angst and heartache.

There were so many times when I wanted to shout at Justine to stop. Yet at the same time, I was so entertained by her that I wanted her to keep going. When she would inadvertently cause her own pain, I felt for her. And all along, I wanted to clobber Nick. He’s a smart guy, talented, and loyal, but he can convince himself of what he wants to believe, even if it’s the worst thing for him.

I adored this book. Minnie Darke delivers characters impossible to dislike, even when they frustrate you. She keeps you turning the pages to find out what will happen with Nick and Justine, making you sometimes smile and sometimes tear up.

The narrative gets interrupted occasionally by stories of other characters who believe those horoscopes Justine manipulated and allow them to determine their course of action. I kind of lost interest in those. I get why Minnie Darke included them, but they didn’t work well for me.

I hope you read this book. It is entertaining and romantic, and it’s also hilarious and heartfelt. When you do read it, please hit up the comments and let me know what you think of it.

Absolutely charming! I loved Star-Crossed and it's zany and delightful cast of characters. Such a fun book, perfect for anyone who's ever thought about what might have been... or flipped back to the Horoscopes to just see what is says. - Capricorn, who loved this book!