Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure why, but this book didn't grab me. It didn't feel like there were any highs or any lows, and we didn't really get to know Justine or Nick.

4 stars might be a bit much, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a little too long, but it's a good beach read. I did enjoy the "cusp" interludes.

What a fun book. I feel like the reviews and promo stuff I've seen have been pushing this as a romance, but it isn't. It is firmly in the Women's Fiction category; while there is a romantic interest, the plot devices and general story flow make the distinction.

The characters are likeable and the plot is believable. The only thing I couldn't quite get behind was that, most of the time, the horoscope provided by the astrologer would have helped the main character more than her edited version. It was also easy to see as the reader that her concocted versions wouldn't have the intended effect, and that she couldn't anticipate that made her seem less smart. A minor annoyance, though, in what is a fun book about youngish (but not 22) adults working (not in Silicon Valley) and their lives and relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this free review copy.

I wanted to love this one so much. I love love stories. Don't we all?! I thought for sure my weird reading slump was long gone, until I picked this one up. I understand every book is not going to be the same, for every person.

I didn't mind all the astrology, as we know that is what this book is going to be about. Just look at the title. I think there was just too much of it, if that makes sense. I also felt there were too many other characters, and we should have focused on Justine and Nick more.

I do wish this one would have worked for me, as I loved the synopsis. I will have to try her next book, and look forward to what she will write next!

I've seen a lot of mixed reviews on this book - and after reading it, I still have mixed feelings myself. I wanted it to be more exciting than it was. I got a little bored and maybe was into the storyline as much as I anticipated I would be.

This is a very cute, quick read. I really enjoyed the astrology aspect but I think readers will enjoy it regardless of whether or not they are interested in astrology. It’s a fun, well-paced book that would be a great vacation read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance digital copy.

Star-crossed is an adorable novel that centers around the rekindling of a childhood love that is years in the making. It seems as if the love of Justine and Nick is written in the stars... literally. Super cute, fast paced giddy read.

I am so happy that I received an arc of this thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an arc for an honest review.
Now I dont really deal too much with signs and horoscopes but it worked for this book and the romance was everything i needed it to be The main character like me is not really into horoscopes but her bestfriend the love interest is into them, justine and nick are childhood sweethearts and I was kind of into there romance another good romcom in my book.

Book Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Star-crossed was a light-hearted and delightful novel that is easy to get lost in. I was quickly absorbed by their story and stayed up way too late to see how it ended. It followed Justine (a skeptic) and Nick (a true believer) as they reconnect after being childhood friends. I love the awkward, but entertaining banter as Justine and Nick try to navigate their feeling after they bump into each other. As with many other books, this whole book could have been avoided if they properly communicated, but that's where the similarities end. I've never been much into horoscopes and astrological signs, but I absolutely adored this aspect of this book. It was both intriguing and refreshing to read something different, and it was great that it followed many other couples. At first I didn't understand why that was included, but it makes sense after reading a few of them. It added so much to the story and solidified the fact that everything happens for a reason. If you're looking for a satisfying and enjoyable light summer read, this is your book!

Thank you Netgalley and Crown Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was like watching a rom-com. Very sweet and well written book that I am sure someone will pick up for a movie

When I read about this book on NetGalley I was thrilled - it seemed right up my alley. A cute romance between two childhood sweethearts, one who doesn't believe in astrological signs (which I find very relatable) and one who lets the stars guide his life choices. While the concept was sound, I couldn't bring myself to enjoy the book due to some issues in the storytelling.

One of the classic romance tropes is one character meddling in the love life of another character. This can be a fun trope, especially when you see characters having to pay for their actions and earn their happy endings. In Star-Crossed it didn't really feel like any of the characters grew or earned their happy endings, they just went through the motions. Justine and Nick stayed pretty one-dimensional and didn't develop throughout the book. I found Nick in particular to be wishy-washy and I couldn't understand his motivations. Going into this book, I expected to relate a lot with Justine because I am a staunch disbeliever in astronomy, but I was surprised to find she was pretty easily convinced to believe in her horoscope. I didn't find Justine and Nick to have a lot of chemistry - which made it hard for me to root for their happy ending. I also had a hard time believing that every character in this book believed in and put weight into horoscopes - I just couldn't relate to any of the characters, nor could I suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy the book. 

This novel fell apart for me when it came to the main plot - even with the supplemental stories it was stretched thin and lacked content. It felt to me that had this book been shorter, it would have a bit more cohesive and had better pacing. The main story was pretty typical rom-com: Justine reunites with Nick and develops a crush. When her crush is not reciprocated, she begins to meddle with Nick's horoscopes to try to sway him into dating her. There wasn't much more to it than that - the rest of the plot points were pretty predictable and it made for a bit of a boring read. The main plot was supplemented by side stories of characters who had read the horoscopes from Justine's magazine and had made decisions in their lives based around them. The fun part of these vignettes was that most of them were interconnected and some even connected to the main plot. It was a fun way to show the butterfly effect of Justine changing the horoscopes at first, but after a while they just detracted from the already simple main story and felt like a crutch. I also found myself forgetting names of characters in the side stories and having to go back to figure out how the stories were connected. 

Overall, I was disappointed by the lack of content in the main plot and how predictable it was. It felt like it should be a novella, not a full novel. I would recommend this book to people who love to read their horoscope or who enjoy stories about the butterfly effect that one simple decision can have. 1/5

I requested this one from NetGalley based on the synopsis and cover, then was hesitant to read it because of poor reviews but I'm so glad I followed my gut and gave it a try.

The style here is similar to that of movies like Love Actually, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve (all of which I loved.) It takes special skill to make that technique work in a book. It felt choppy at first, then I got into the groove and was completely lost in the story. By the time I was 50% in, I couldn't put the book down! I liked figuring out how all the side characters will come together, and I especially LOVE that one of those characters is a dog! The writing isn't necessarily complex, but it makes for easy reading and gives the story the flow it needs to work.

Astrology is a main character in the story, woven in throughout each chapter's path in different ways. I enjoyed the character development a great deal. It was fun to watch them explore the line between fate and personal choice.

"Love, Actually" fans will love this book. I knew when I picked this book that it would be out of the norm but I felt I needed something light and fun. I was not familiar with the author but the jacket summary sounded clever so here we are. The first chapters were a bit disjointed, with too many characters being introduced and each having a unique backstory; however, once the main two characters were brought to the forefront and I realized it was all meant to come together, the book was much easier to follow. I do still think the concept is clever. The astrology element is unique and the romance was sweet. It is labeled as women's fiction but I think this could easily be marketed to teens, as well. It is a typical childhood sweetheart story - they were inseparable as kids but the boy moved away and they lost touch. They run into each other as adults and she's too scared to tell him she loves him and instead decides to prey on his reliance on astrology to make major life decisions. She, a writer, begins to secretly alter his horoscope in the magazine he reads, which not only influences his decisions but many others who follow the same horoscopes. I really like how the author brought all the story-lines together in the end, but I still only rated it 3 stars due to the rough beginning. If you are looking for a juicy romance for your summer reading, DON'T PICK THIS. It will require at least a little bit of brain power to connect the dots. (Sorry. When I'm on vacation I don't want to think.) But....I know some people like their books to have a little something more, and if that's you, then give this one a try.

I had heard great things about this book, but simply could never get into it. I just didn’t get invested in the main characters, and many times I found myself much more interested in the mini-side stories instead, only to have them end abruptly with no return. The overall idea of this book was good, but just not carried out very well in my opinion. Just not for me.

Why so many side story characters?
Most of them I found unnecessary and just made the book convoluted.
I would have enjoyed this more if the focus had been maintained on Nick and Justine.
I did really enjoy Brown Houdini-Malarky's inner monologues and would have loved a final chapter through his eyes.
Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for my copy.

Ugh I hate to do this because I had high hopes but this was DNF for me.

I really couldn't connect with the characters. It just fell flat for me. I wanted more romance but for some reason this didn't feel like it.

I may try to pick it up in the future to see if it was a case of bad timing.

Personally, I'm a big fan of astrology (but not so much as Nick in this novel!) so I was really sold by the premise. This title is sweet, humorous, and well-written, and the characters are well-developed and enjoyable to follow. I really liked Justine and the other reporters, especially. I also appreciated that Darke didn't go a very cutesy, cheesy route with the story. However...this book is also quite dense and the romance built up verrry slowly. And even though you get so much time with Justine and Nick in this book, their relationship still felt underdeveloped at the end. There is just so much filler in between their scenes together that I felt like I lost the connection to their stories. Honestly, I found myself more interested in Justine's work and life than her romance with Nick. Personally, I did not like the lengthy side character anecdotes each section began with; while I like the idea of them, they were just soooo long and I found myself skimming them so that I could continue with the main story. I do think having these characters all connect to one another in some way was a fun touch, but a faster pace and more time developing the connection between Justine and Nick would have improved this story for me.

This book was not at all what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the writing quality is and I enjoyed the polyphonic type voice the author used. This was less romance-y or "chick lit-y" than what I expected, and was more what I guess I would call women's fiction. The astrology angle was what hooked me in, and I think that was handled pretty successfully. All in all, well done, but didn't fully connect to my personal taste or expectations. Worth a try if it sounds appealing to you!

Star-Crossed will probably fall under the radar among all the other new May releases, but I really hope more people read it. The book is a cute romance that focuses just as much on our protagonist’s professional life as it does on her personal one. The leads are well-matched, and their rekindled friendship feels authentic. As the plot moseys along, Minnie Darke weaves B- and C-plots into main character Justine’s and love interest Nick’s will-they-or-won’t-they (or perhaps how-they-or-when-they?) back-and-forth. Although it wasn’t until a reviewer on Goodreads pointed out that the plot reminded her of Love Actually and Valentine’s Day that I finally had my own aha moment—because this comparison is just perfect—I still found the book charming and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

This book is a bit longer than most contemporary romance, but I never felt like the plot dragged on needlessly. I can see how readers might find the “cusp”s in-between chapters as mere filler, but I found them to be a unique and fun way to further flesh out the world that Darke created. I certainly enjoyed Valentine’s Day, but Star-Crossed is a better-written version of that kind of film; with an expanded timeline, the characters are allowed to breathe. Although we primarily follow Justine, we also get to spend time with Nick as well as all of the side characters with which they interact. We might not know why Darke includes something or how it connects until the end of the novel, but once we figure out the reason, it feels so satisfying, narrative threads finally pulled taut to reveal a clean stitch.

Reviews for Star-Crossed on Goodreads are mixed, but for me, a chance request on Netgalley for an unknown author definitely paid out. I wanted to read this book, planned my nights around how much time I could give to it around other obligations. And once I’d finished, I actually said out loud, “I liked that” as if it were some sort of surprise, like I’d forgotten how much I’d enjoyed the book along the way.

Childhood friends Justine Carmichael (aspiring journalist and Sagittarius) and Nick Jordan (promising actor and Aquarius) happen to meet in town.
It has been twelve years since they last saw each other. Nick moved away when his father took a new job. The family hardly stayed in touch, but did come back for a visit on Australia Day the year they both turned fifteen.
The two spent time alone on the beach kissing, and Justine developed a huge crush on Nick.
When she saw him again, she realized her infatuation was still intact. But Nick is in a relationship with beautiful and dazzling model Laura, who wants him to give up his acting dreams and settle down to a lucrative career.
Nick's obsession with astrology is still going strong.
At Alexandria Park Star, where Justine works as a copy runner, the famous and reclusive astrologer Leo Thornbury, writes a monthly horoscope that Nick takes very seriously. This gives Justine the idea of tweaking his horoscope to help guide Nick to better decisions in his life, ones that might point him in her direction.
Unfortunately, it seems to send Nick into a contradictory course!
This lighthearted romantic comedy was the perfect antidote to so many heavy mysteries and thrillers.
It started out somewhat slowly for me, the side stories of others affected by the amended forecasts were a bit distracting, but I came to appreciate how it all seemed to connect.
And Justine and Nick were such charming characters.
A delightful and enchanting change of pace.
Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.