Oh my god. This book was AMAZING, in every sense of the word. 2021 keeps giving me these adorable squish muffin heroes, and I. AM. HERE. FOR. IT. This is my first time reading an Alexandria Bellefleur book, I didn't read Written in the Stars. However, I was tripping over myself waiting to get an opportunity to read this book.

We meet, Brendon, a gangly, tall, ginger lead (my literal preference in all ways when in comes to my own dating life). Why do we never get a gangly ginger hero? Don't tell me that Ron Weasely wasn't the original bae.
Brendon gets the opportunity at finding his perfect match when his sister's best friend, and childhood crush Annie comes home to Seattle. Normally I break these reviews into very specifically elements focusing on what I liked and what I didn't. However, I am so over whelmed with just HOW perfect this book was, I might just launch into a tangent over that. Specifically how precious our male lead is...

First, I absolutely adored the scenery in this book! I've traveled to Seattle, and they hit all the iconic tourist destinations I myself visited. So this inspired a wonderful trip down memory lane for me. Also, FINALLY we emphasize the nice guy getting the girl. Too often, the romance hero is painted as some burly. Yes, I enjoy the burly guy trope too, but WHY can't the nice guy get the girl more often. Being a big sweetheart is MORE sexy (at least when it comes to my preferences).

Getting into the heat level, I've been reading a lot of fade to black sex scene romance novels lately.... WHICH IS NOT MY JAM. I was also the girl who loved getting to the juicy parts. So this was a good amount of heat for me.

As for Annie, I found some of her choices at the end selfish... but her vehement love for him at the end (which, SWOON what an ending, was perfect).

All in all, if I could give this 15 stars I would. AMAZING.

Thank you so much Netgalley for a free ARC copy for an honest review.

Heat Level Level:🔥🔥🔥🔥

Now this is a swoon worthy read! I LOVED it.

Brendon is the male main character and he loves love. This should be enough said about him but its not! He is a 6'4 ginger and I am here for his story.

Annie was his childhood crush and she is suddenly back in the picture. What happens in this story tells you how long she will be there.

I cried, laughed, and just kept a giant smile on while reading this. 5 beautiful stars!

I know it's probably too early to call it, but I think this might be my favorite book of 2021.

I laughed, I cried, I sent all caps texts to my friends demanding they move this to the top of their TBRs. It's actually hard to even review because I feel like I'm just a giant bundle of emotions right now. MY HEART.

Brendon is like one of those perfect, giant, gourmet cinnamon rolls you get at Sunday brunch, but without being over the top. He's sweet and romantic, and a genuinely good person. Annie is so relatable (speaking as someone who would fall in that 30% demographic that OTP was trying to target! 😂) and I loved how she handled everything. This story just felt so real. Even beyond the relationship, I loved the friendships and the brother/sister dynamic between Darcy and Brendon. It made me want to move to Seattle, have regular game nights, and fall in love.

The bi-rep was delightful, and I'm so glad that this is coming out just in time for summer because it's the perfect sunny-day read. Just trust me and read this book!

This is a generous 3 star for me,
This story is about Annie, a twenty-something woman who is going to Seattle to surprise her best friend, Darcy, for a two week vacation. Only Darcy is on her own vacation in Canada. So to prevent total disaster, Darcy has her younger brother, Brendon, bring a copy of her keys to Annie so that she can stay there while Darcy is out of town. Ever the helpful brother and gentleman that he is, Brendon decides to show Annie around Seattle. While together, Annie tells him that she is disenchanted with dating and romance and doesn't really believe in it anymore. As the founder of a dating app called OTP, Brendon is a little bit hurt by this and decides to woo Annie to show her that romance isn't dead. This goes just as you expect it to tbh and that is not a problem. It is sweet, funny, and charming, and you just enjoy the journey these two take with each other. I think the last like 25-30% of this really killed it for me, and not in a good way. I just felt that a lot of the drama was manufactured and not real, and the stuff that was real was being treated poorly by all of the characters. I think if you like traditional romance, and enjoy a bit of steam, you will probably like this. If you want any insight as to why I didn't, keep reading.

I really didn't like our main character Annie, I found her annoying, sadly. I also wish that her bisexuality was more apart of the story instead of just three moments where it's mentioned, and only once did the term "bi" get used. I really liked the male protagonist, Brendon, although he also got on my nerves sometimes lol. There were just some character dynamics that didn't work for me. I think Darcy and Brendon both didn't respect boundaries at some parts, especially towards the end.

I didn't like Annie's overall arc as there wasn't really one. She claims that she usually just jumps head first into everything, no thoughts, just vibes, but all we see from her in this book is her being reserved and cautious. So while we might hear that she's not usually like this, all we see/know is her being like this. I also felt like Annie's relationship with dating was very male-centric and unrealistic. Her qualms with it were not unrealistic, but her perspective is. This is a woman who spends most of her year traveling for work, and then is upset that people aren't trying harder to make it work and get to know her. Hunty, you're not there for them to get to know you. Not everyone is comfortable dating someone who isn't around a lot and that is NOT a character flaw, they are allowed to feel that way and act accordingly. I'm not saying that her feelings aren't valid, I just think she wasn't being very smart about it. When I say her feelings towards dating are very male-centric, I mean her reasons as to why she is over dating, are things that are traditionally problems when dating men, not women. Not that they can't happen with women of non-binary people because of course it can, I'm just saying it's not as frequent. With women, ghosting is more of a thing that hit it and quit it. Do you get what I'm saying? It goes back to why I think her being bisexual wasn't really apart of her story, it felt like it was thrown in instead of it being her. I like the scene in the beginning with the barista at the airport, but I was hoping there'd be more discussion or ownership of it throughout the story instead of literally the three times it came up.

Brendon was overall a very sweet, caring male lead. In fact I would go so far as to say that here is another example of an idealized man that doesn't really exist lol. I mean that in a lighthearted way obviously, but it's so obvious when a book is written by a woman versus a man because women write men like Brendon, men write men like Gaston. And we are not trying to get Gaston. I liked that Brendon paid attention to what Annie said, and took her seriously when she shared her feelings. I also like that he would ask her before doing anything if it was ok, we love a man who cares about consent!! I will say that Brendon did have a bit of an annoying moment towards the end that I wasn't too keen on, but it's overshadowed by all the other good moments.

I have mixed feelings about Darcy in this one. I like her character overall, but they way she was with Annie in the third act mess, was really not cool. I don't want to go into spoilers, but if your friend is making a big decision, then don't keep telling them it's not. It is. You saying it's not is really invalidating. I know where she was coming from, but it showed a lack of tact and understanding of her friend.

Last year I read Written in the Stars and completely fell in love with the characters and Alexandria’s writing style. To say Hang the Moon was one of my most anticipated books of 2021 was an understatement; I already loved both characters so much from their moments as side characters in Darcy and Elle’s book, so I was so excited to read their love story. And it exceeded all of my expectations! I loved it just as much as Written in the Stars and it’ll definitely be one of my top reads of the year.

I just loved the romance between Annie and Brendon. I was a little bit worried in the beginning because I’m not typically a fan of romances where the women is older, for some weird reason, and I knew going in Annie was older than Brendon. But honestly, it didn’t bother me at all in this book. I just loved their romance so much and they had so much chemistry from the get go, that anything that might’ve bothered me otherwise just didn’t, which is a huge relief! Their romance was just so sweet from start to finish. Their moments together were not just absolutely adorable but also funny and put such a huge smile on my face. They fit together so well and really complemented each other in all the best ways possible.

I also loved both of these characters separately. We get to know them initially in Darcy’s story, since she is Brendon’s older sister and Annie’s best friend, and I was already in love with both of them before we even got to their book. Hang the Moon just made me love them even more than before. I saw myself in Annie in so many ways, and loved seeing her character development throughout the story. I loved seeing her go after what she truly wanted in the end and what would genuinely make her happy. Brendon was a golden retriever in the form of a human being. The sweetest guy ever, and a huge hopeless romantic. I feel like that personality type is often reserved for the female characters in romance novels so I loved reading a book where the character who is obsessed with love, romcoms, and finding his happily ever after was the male character! I think these personality traits made me love Brendon so much.. he was just an overall soft and sweet guy and I just loved that about him.


I also loved all the friendship moments in this book. I feel like friendship is a huge part of this book and plays a huge part in Annie’s decisions and I just loved seeing more of Darcy, Elle, and Margot! I’m so excited to read Margot’s book next.


I just loved this book so much more than I ever hoped! It was already a hugely anticipated book for me but it met every single one of my expectations and is going to be a top favorite for me moving forward for sure. I love this series so much! Super recommend!

A sweet read with plenty of nods to some of my favorite romance movies.

This was a great follow-up after Written in the Stars. I connected with Brendan and Annie’s characters even better than Darcy and Elle. Brendan’s romantic heart and Annie’s cynical nature make for an entertaining read. His goal to prove to her that romance isn’t dead definitely makes for a fun ride with several hilarious mishaps along the way.

I also love that this book is set in Seattle so it has plenty of references that I’m familiar with. The biggest highlight is the friendship between the entire group from the last book. Adding Annie to the mix felt perfect with her humor. I am excited to continue this series with Margot’s story next as I’m sure she will keep her love interest on their toes.

Brendon Lowell, creator of the successful dating app OTP, can't find a one true pairing of his own. He loves love, but is unlucky in that department. That is until his sister's bff, Annie (his childhood crush), comes to visit. Annie has given up on finding the one and Brendon is convinced he can change her mind. He decides to use the rom coms he loves so much to show Annie happily ever after is possible.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were interesting and well developed. I actively cared what was going to happen to them. I was rooting for them! My favorite part of this book was that even though everything was crammed into a two week time frame it was realistic. Until a Hallmark movie Annie really struggled with letting herself fall for someone in such a short amount of time. It felt authentic. It was also nice to peek in on Darcy and Elle (characters from a previous book written by Bellefleur). However, my only point of contention is that the teaser says Brendon uses cues from rom coms to woo Annie...that's just not true. With the exception of maybe the Ferris Wheel incident nothing reminds me of any romantic movie I've seen. But still...really liked this book!

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for this ARC.

Note: Reviewed for Shelf Awareness. Review will run around publication date.
***
Alexandria Bellefleur pairs a hopeless romantic with a skeptic in Hang the Moon, her second charming queer contemporary romance. Bisexual Annie has given up on dating and her jet-setting life in the United States, but she decides spend the last two weeks before she moves to London in Seattle with her best friend Darcy. Since the visit is a surprise, Darcy's not home, but luckily her younger brother Brendon is nearby to let her into Darcy's apartment--and to convince her that love is real after all.
Romance enthusiast Brendon founded a dating app and has been in love with Annie since he was a teen. After years of lackluster attempts, she's staunchly opposed to the whole concept of love, even as Brendon shows her around the city and reminds her why love is still worth a try. After all, he's her best friend's brother and he's looking forever, while she's about to leave the continent.
"She needed to remember her reasons and treat them like a mantra. Do not kiss Brendon. London. Dating equals disappointment. Lots of strings. Tangled, messy strings." [39%]
Hang the Moon reads like a classic rom-com, updated for the 21st century. Bellefleur peppers the book with Seattle landmarks and traditions and occasional nods to classic rom-com films. Snappy banter and modern dating humor brighten this grounded yet optimistic romance and though the story feels complete, readers will ache for just a few more pages as they fall in love right along with Brendon and Annie.--Suzanne Krohn, editor, Love in Panels

Discover: Can a hopeless romantic convince a steadfast love skeptic to believe in love? Characters and readers alike will laugh, swoon and be swept away in Alexandria Bellefleur's sparkling romance, Hang the Moon.

I absolutely adored the first book in this series, but this one fell a little short for me. The romance seemed a little rushed to me. I still really enjoyed this one, and I'm already looking forward to the third book in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy.

I am in love with Brendon Lowell. Sorry, Annie. I’ve never really understood when people talk about “book boyfriends” until reading this book, but now I finally get it, and Brendon is mine.

The set up of this book is so fun. Annie surprises her best friend Darcy (one of the heroines from Written in the Stars) by visiting her in Seattle, only Darcy to find that is on her own vacation, so Darcy’s brother Brendon volunteers to show Annie the sights. Brendon had a crush on Annie when he was a kid, but they haven’t seen each other in 8 years.

Brendon is a true romantic - he loves Nora Ephron, he believes in soulmates, and he even founded a mega-successful dating app. Annie has sworn off dating. Appalled by her cynicism, Brendon vows to make Annie believe in love by wooing her as though they were in a romcom. And hey, if they happen to fall in love along the way, so much the better. This is such a cute idea. However, the “teach her about love by recreating romcoms” felt familiar to me, and Brendon’s motivation felt a little murky.

This is my all-favorite version of my all-time favorite trope. It’s sibling’s best friend, but more specifically it’s sister’s best friend, which allows us to really dig into lady friendship in a way that is so wonderful. However, I found it confusing and a little bit frustrating that Darcy was willingly give up time with her best friend just to play matchmaker. This took away a lot of the time that Darcy and Annie could have been spending exploring the rockiness of their friendship, which I would have loved to see more of.

The book also references the previous book’s plot and lessons a little much for my taste. In general, there are bits of this book that feel a bit squishy. There isn’t much plot, and I found the central conflict, particularly Annie’s conflict, to be a little weak.

However, all-in-all, this book is sweet and it’s funny. It feels like a romcom. The sexual tension builds so masterfully, and these characters really do grow together in their love for one another. I love the #OwnVoices bi rep, even though if I wish Annie's identity had been introduced earlier in the book.

Nora Ephron would be proud.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.

This book was the sweetest! The cover was so pretty I had to read it.

First of all, Brendon was almost too good to be true. Everything about him was perfect. Honesty the main problem for me was why Annie didn’t realize everything sooner! He was such a a keeper! 🥰

But Annie had a lot of very relatable fears and I liked that even though she didn’t have this big upsetting break up, she was still jaded by being let down by guys and dating in general. Who can not relate to that?

I liked the idea of Brendon’s app and wish it was in the real world! Cause seriously dating is hard and I like that the book touched in that a little!

Such a good read also love that best friend’s brother trope. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Bellefleur’s second book tells a story about finding the courage to take chances and discover what one truly wants in life. Strong character development promotes realistic discussions about conflict with work and personal relationships. Even though these characters essentially only interact over the course of a few weeks, the interactions are well-developed and are crafted to show readers what true friendship can really be. With Brendon, Bellefleur provides readers with a rare male lead who is willing to put himself into embarrassing situations to restore the comfort level amongst his friends. The dialogue is honest and witty and pairs well with Brendon’s comedic attempts to recreate familiar scenes from popular romance films.

Readers will also be pleased to reencounter Darcy and Elle from Bellefleur’s debut. Bellefleur has penned a solid second novel, and many readers will be looking forward to reading more from this author.

I loved this book! After reading Bellefleur's previous book, Written in the Stars, I knew I needed more. A continuation of characters, yet a stand alone. Friends to lovers with all the obstacles in a fabulous setting: Seattle
(My favorite city) with characters you'll want as friends. You'll probably want to read this one straight through. It's addicting and fun with the right amount of steamy goodness!

Thank you to the publisher for my @netgalley e-arc. All thoughts are my own.

Overall impression: really enjoyed this book, but not as much background story (which, for me, is what connects me to a book).

Hang the Moon is the follow up to Written in the Stars, but follows Darcy’s brother Brenden, a true romantic, searching for “the one”. When skeptic Annie, Darcy’s best friend and Brenden’s high school crush, visits for two weeks, Brenden decides to make her believe in love again. But can he convince her without getting his heart broken?

I really loved Brenden’s sweetness and his love of romance. He was adorable.

I identified a lot with Annie (ironic, much?) about being a cynic about romance, traveling a lot so that you don’t notice your own loneliness, and always being the one to reach out while always waiting on others to match your efforts.

But, the characters fell a little flat for me. I feel like in Written in the Stars, we got much deeper into the two girls and who they are, but in HtM, Annie was very stubborn about accepting love just because she’d never had it? Like I get it, again, I am Annie, but in a book it wasn’t quite as intriguing.

But again, I still give this a 3.75🌟/5 so I did still really like it, I just wanted a bit more out of it. I was still routing for these two to get together and still got all the feels by the end, I just got more out of her first book.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

After reading Written in the Stars, I couldn't wait to pick up the sequel and see where the story continued.

If you haven't had a chance to read Written in the Stars, but want to pick up this book, you can read it as a stand alone! Brendon, an entrepreneur who created an app (think Bumble, Tinder, etc.) is caught off guard when someone from his past abruptly re-enters his life and he is tasked with showing her that romance isn't dead. As a rom-com connoisseur, Brendon recreates iconic dates from his favorite films.

I would recommend this book if you want an easy, feel good romance. This story is about stepping outside your comfort zone, letting love in, and embracing love wherever it is found; essentially, follow your heart (with love, your job, location, etc.).

I was so excited for Hang the Moon after loving Written in the Stars, but Annie and Brendon's story didn't grab me quite as thoroughly. This is a softer, slower paced story and while I was fully on board by the end, it definitely took a bit. Great for fans of Bellefleur's first book and Kerry Winfrey's supersoft romances.

I liked this one (though not nearly as much as Written in the Stars) and eventually found myself warming to the sunshine in human forms of Annie and Brendon but I had a lot of trouble getting into it. The beginning was a very slow start and I feel like a problem throughout was rushing through or skipping cute actual moments in favor of internal monologue or a not quite necessary scene. I saw another reviewer describe this book as "no plot just vibes" and honestly? Accurate. The vibes in question are pretty good though, Annie and Brendon were fun once I got on board with them and I thought the author did a great job describing their whirlwind tour of dates/activities around Seattle.

I adored the first book and this one was exceptional too! So funny and sweet!!! These characters feel like my friends and their emotions and lives feel like my own. Bellefleur does a great job of getting you in the feels and not letting go!! The romance is so sweet but sexy at the same time and I love how the setting and family values also take their place. Great sequel!!!!!

I adored this book, and I'm so thankful to Avon & NetGalley for providing an eARC of this novel.

I loved the premise. Annie has given up on love... and Brendon loves Annie and wants her to know that love exists and that he loves her. It's so refreshing to read about a male who has had an ongoing crush on a woman to the point where he would probably never let her go. And this second chance romance really tugged at all my heartstrings, and I could not put this book down.

This was the first book I had read from this author, but it will not be the last.

This companion to WRITTEN IN THE STARS focuses on Darcy's brother Brendon, creator of the dating app OTP and a hopeless romantic. Brendon feels stressed out when the latest research numbers show that perhaps not everyone using dating apps believes as deeply in true love as he does. This includes, Annie, Darcy's best friend and Brendon's long ago crush. Annie arrives in Seattle to surprise Darcy, who just happens to be on a little getaway with her girlfriend, Elle. So Brendon steps up, delivering the keys to Darcy's place and... a series of dates designed to show Annie romance still exists. As for Annie, well she doesn't protest too much. After all, despite swearing off love, she discovers that Darcy's brother has grown up into a pretty handsome and funny guy. She's enjoying their time together. But she's only in Seattle for a few weeks, so Brendon has his work cut out for him.

"You couldn't be disappointed when someone stopped caring if you never expected them to in the first place."

I really enjoyed WRITTEN IN THE STARS and Darcy and Elle's story, so I was excited to read the next book in the series. I liked Brendon's tale, but not quite as much as Darcy and Elle's, mostly because I'm from the LGBTQIA community, and it was so refreshing to have a f/f story in Darcy and Elle. Still, Brendon is such a cutie, and his unyielding faith in love is pretty sweet.

Annie is a good addition to the group--she shows up a bit in book one. She is, of course, the complete opposite of Brendon: completely apathetic about love. But when she arrives in Seattle for a two-week vacation, with some life-changing news for Darcy, and her best friend isn't there, she can't help but enjoy her time with Brendon. Brendon resolves to use his favorite romantic films as a blueprint to woo Annie, but it turns into a comedy of errors, with nothing really turning out the way he planned.

"'Let's say that I needed to prove to someone that romance isn't dead.'"

Many of their interactions are humorous and the banter witty and funny, though I felt the "optimist" versus "pessimist," "will she stay or will she go" storyline was rehashed a bit much, as the plot gets hung up and stagnates for a bit until things pick up again. But, Brendon's sweet personality and Annie's willingness to give new things a try carry the book, along with its overall humor. It's nice to get some appearances from Darcy and Elle, though it severely lacks enough Margo (thank goodness she's the focus of book three).

Overall, this is a cute romance featuring winning leads. It's repetitive in places, but also flirty and fun.