I was very excited to read this book. I read Written in the Stars last year and it was one of my favorite books of the year. I really enjoyed this book. It was nice to catch up with Elle and Darcy from book 1 while seeing Annie and Brendan develop a relationship. The relationship between Annie and Brendan was very sweet, and I related to Annie's struggles with work and friendship.

I loved this rom-com right from the very start, and it held my heart through the very end.
Brandon believes in love. He developed an app that helps people find the right person. But he still hasn't found his. Until his sister's best friend Annie shows up in Seattle. It's love at first sight. But it's not a new crush. He's been in love with her since they were kids. Annie now stands right in front of him, and he instantly knows she's The One.
But Annie doesn't believe in love and romance. Will Brandon be able to win her heart? Can love conquer all?
Against the backdrop of Seattle, Brandon shows Annie just how beautiful it is to live in the Pacific Northwest.
This is book 2 of the Written in the Stars series. Even though I just jumped right into book two, there is definitely enough background information that I didn't miss anything.
For those who like their rom coms a little spicy...This one's for you!

3.5 Stars.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy of Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: The second book in the Written in the Stars universe. Written in the Stars is one of my favorite books of all time. This book follows Darcy's brother Brandon Lowell and her best friend Annie. Brandon has had a crush on Annie since he was little, but Annie has always viewed him as her best friend's dorky younger brother. When Annie spontaneously comes to Seattle to visit Daphne before she takes a position in London. When Brandon shows up to help her she is shocked to find him to be a 'hot nerd' and when he finds out she doesn't believe in dating, he has to do something, after all if there's anything Brandon loves its romance...

What I Loved: Oh I love these characters. It was like returning home for the holidays and getting to hangout with friends. I loved getting to know Daphne (the lead from the first book) as a friend and sister. I also really love Brandon, he is just a sweetie pie and I was so happy to see him work to get the girl and find someone who appreciates him for who he is. I also love the Seattle setting, it makes me want to go to Seattle. This book is well written and I just love this series.

What I Didn't Like So Much: For whatever reason, I wasn't as wild about this relationship, which I think is because I loved the first book so much. It didn't seem like there were a lot of challenges to overcome. I also didn't fully understand the conflict, it didn't really work for me.

Who Should Read This: People who love romance novels. People who love the childhood crush turned adult romance trope. People who want a good friends group in their romance books.

Quick Summary: Could a childhood crush lead to true love?

Alexandria Bellefleur's "Written in the Stars" was so good that I couldn't wait to get my hands on "Hang the Moon". These slightly cheesy contemporary romances are some of my favorite fluff reads. When I say fluff, I don't mean 'non-challenging'. I just mean feel good eventually happily ever after. Which is what this is. It has a lot of "boy next door" and "best friends brother" vibes.

Overall I liked Written in the Stars better and was happy to see the inclusion of Elle and Darcy, but Hang the Moon was still a pretty good read. The story reads pretty smoothly and the characters are interesting enough. I am curious to see where Count the Stars is going to go.

I like books that are in a series. Three seems to be the magic number.

I rounded up for this one and gave it 3 stars. It was more 2.5 for me. It wasn't the writing exactly, that flowed well for the most part, but it was the characters (and the secondary characters) that just irritated me. I couldn't really root for these 2 when the whole situation just annoyed me most of the time. Annie is getting ready to move to London for a job, and she goes to see her "friend" Darcy before she goes. Darcy isn't home, but she gets her brother Brenden to step in and keep Annie entertained. Brenden had a crush on Annie years ago, so he's all in with Darcy's plan to try to keep Annie in Seattle. It just felt like Darcy was manipulative and not a very good friend. She should have supported Annie in what she wanted to do, instead of making her feel like a horrible person for leaving. Brenden was okay, but honestly, I like a little more alpha in more heroes. I knew where this one was headed, and I was right. All in all, it wasn't horrible, I just wasn't a fan of the characters. This was a first for me from this author, but I would read her again.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

I had high hopes for this one! I tried quite a few times to get into it but it just wasn't for me. Thank you for the opportunity!

I was a little nervous going into this one because while I enjoyed Written in the Stars, I felt that the pacing was off and it moved quite slowly, which at times made it a bit of a struggle to get through. Fortunately, that was not the case with Hang the Moon! It really moved along well from the beginning and I enjoyed this fun romp through Seattle. I loved Annie and Brendan as characters and found them both relatable and lovable. I also liked that the conflict was not some huge blowup, but a real and understandable situation that had to be worked through. Overall a very fun read and I’m looking forward to jumping right in to Count the Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the review copy.

I have to say I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first in the series. I loved Brendon and Annie’s story, as well as the inclusion of Elle and Darcy, as well as other supporting characters from Written in the Stars.

I loved all the references to romantic comedies in this book, because they weren’t too overdone, and they were done in a way that felt natural, which hasn’t been the case with some other books I have read that focus so heavily on movies. Of course, I am biased to enjoy these references because When Harry Met Sally is, oh I don’t know, only my favorite movie of all time, so the moments where that film was tied into the story were exceptionally special to me.

Both Annie and Brendon were incredibly relatable as main characters. I can relate to Brendon’s starry-eyed, romantic comedy-loving side, but so much of what Annie went through in this book resonated with me on such a deep level. Her fear of Brendon losing interest in her despite how clearly we can see that he loves her, her desire to have friends that think of her and reach out to her first, and her feeling that romance was more about one person showing that they cared enough to listen to and remember the other’s likes and dislikes and so on, are all things that I have felt and experienced in my own life.

I said I loved how much Elle and Darcy were featured, which is to be expected since Darcy is Brendon’s sister and Annie’s best friend, but the reason I appreciated this so much is that my main complaint about Written in the Stars is that the couple didn’t get enough of a wrap-up in terms of their story. So seeing how their relationship has progressed was something I greatly enjoyed.

Overall this was a very fast-paced, fun, and fluffy read, with a decent amount of steam to back it up. The conflict that Annie and Brendon inevitably face in their relationship is one that felt natural, which made their reunion by the end all the more gratifying. It also read as a bit of a reverse grumpy sunshine, in which Annie, who had been disillusioned to the idea of romance, serves in the grumpy role, and Brendan, the hopeless romantic who tries to prove her wrong, is the sunshine, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

This book has insta-love which I'm usually not a fan of, but in reality... It's only insta-love on the part of one of the MCs, Annie. Brendon on the other hand had been in love with Annie for 8 years. This book just gives him the change to try being with her.

Brendon is so sweet in his pursuit of Annie. He quickly learns her love language and acts accordingly to it in his wooing of her. Annie has every right to be hesitant to fully pursue Brendon. She has more than just her heart to think about. She has a job that's she just accepted in London. She'd have to find a new job in Seattle, find a place to live, and is worried about it not actually working out if they live in the same city.

This book has a lot of laugh out loud moments (the ferris wheel scene and the Risk Astley paradox- cheesy part this but I giggled). It's very sweet and I love all the activities Brendon takes Annie on. We get to see a lot of Darcy and Elle from the first book which is awesome because I love that two.

Helping other people find love is one thing, finding it yourself is an entirely different problem. Brendon Lowell loves romance and is the founder of OTP, a dating app, but hasn’t had success in finding his own one true pairing. Annie is in Seattle to surprise her best friend, Brendon’s sister Darcy, before Annie relocates to London. When Darcy is busy, Brendon offers to keep Annie company and show off all that Seattle has to offer. It’s been years since Brendon and Annie have seen each other, and now they have great chemistry. Annie has recently sworn off romance after a string of disappointments, but Brendon has her rethinking that decision.

This was a fun, lighthearted romance novel. In what seems to be the genre’s tradition, it follows a side character from Written in the Stars as a protagonist, but knowledge of the first book in the series isn’t required to enjoy the second installment. I like the reversal of the gender roles, in that Brendon is the one obsessed with romance and romantic comedies, and is out to convince Annie that romance isn’t dead. This is a reliable pick for someone looking for contemporary romance that doesn’t get too steamy.

ANNIE AND BRENDON ARE SO CUTE I CANNOT.

First, Alexandria Bellefleur is exceptionally good at writing romance scenes, little moments together, and I don't know how she does it but she's somehow writing serotonin right into those pages.And the setting was just the right thing at the right time. I recently went to Seattle with my best friend, and the scenes in Pike Place and the gum wall made me wish I could go back immediately. I love a PNW setting, and this might be my favorite of them all. Brendon is such a cinnamon roll, and reading this was an absolute delight.

Written In The Stars was a book that I absolutely loved, and this is the sequel to that, following some of the secondary characters from the first book. Brendon meets his sister’s best friend, and eventually, he begins to fall in love with her. Annie is a little bit guarded, but Brendon helps her find love again, and I loved seeing her gradually begin to open her heart and fall for him as the story went on. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and this series continues to remain one of my favorites in the romance genre.

Cute follow up to the first by this author, Written In The Stars. I enjoy when authors make a romance series of several people in a family or friend group. It feels more well-rounded.

"You couldn’t be disappointed when someone forgot your middle name if they didn’t know your middle name. You couldn’t be upset when someone forgot your favorite food or how you felt about your job if you never told them to begin with. You couldn’t be disappointed when someone stopped caring if you never expected them to in the first place. Rejections always stung, but nothing hurt quite as badly as sharing pieces of yourself, trusting someone with your heart, and then being cast aside when you cared more than they did."

An absolutely smashing follow-up and companion novel to Written in the Stars. In Hang the Moon, we have the delightful opposites attract romance of jet-setter Annie, bruised and disappointed in love, with stars-in-his-eyes, romcom-loving Brendon. At the beginning of the story, Annie is dropping in on her best friend, Darcy, to tell her in person that she's moving to London. Darcy, unfortunately, is out of town herself when Annie arrives -- so Darcy calls her younger brother, Brendon, who has always had a crush on Annie, to let Annie into her apartment. This provides the perfect set up for Brendon to woo Annie -- with his beloved city Seattle, with romcoms, and with his own charms.

Bellefleur has such an adept way of writing cinematic romcoms -- I could practically see the whole book playing out in my mind like a movie while I was reading. In Hang the Moon, you not only fall in love with Annie and Brendon, but with the wonderful cast of secondary characters and the city of Seattle, which is so prominent it is basically a character in the story itself. With her second novel, Bellefleur hits all of the romcom beats perfectly.

Alexandria Bellefleur returns to the world of WRITTEN IN THE STARS with HANG THE MOON, another Zodiac-influenced romance perfect for fans of rom-coms, iconic love stories and the kind of love that can’t be captured in either.

Readers of WRITTEN IN THE STARS will no doubt remember Darcy’s brother, Brendon Lowell, the lovelorn creator of the hottest new dating app, One True Pairing (OTP). Whether he was obsessing over helping his app users find the perfect person for them or desperately trying to set up his sister, Brendon had “lovesick” written all over his face. So when his childhood crush --- Darcy’s best friend, Annie --- shows up for a surprise visit, he’s stunned, to say the least.

But Brendon isn’t the only one about to be surprised. Annie and Darcy haven’t seen each other since Darcy fled Philadelphia following a traumatic breakup, and though they’ve stayed close, it’s no secret that Annie is no longer Darcy’s “person,” a spot claimed by her true love, Elle. The decline of their friendship is never more obvious than when Annie surprises Darcy with a call from the Seattle airport and learns that Darcy is on a vacation with Elle, leaving Annie alone in a new city and very much locked out of Darcy’s apartment. Luckily, Brendon has a key.

When Annie sees her friend’s not-so-little-anymore brother for the first time in eight years, she’s gobsmacked. She has heard about Brendon’s success from his proud sister, but Darcy somehow never mentioned that he has shot up to six feet, grown muscles and gotten a tan. Brendon, never having forgotten his first real crush, is quick to return to his previous smitten state, but there’s one major roadblock to any meet-cute, flirty conversation or whirlwind love affair: Annie has come to town to tell Darcy that she has accepted a major promotion that will relocate her to London, over 4,000 miles from her best friend --- and now the possible love of her life.

Because they have known each other since they were children, Brendon and Annie strike up conversation easily, sharing memories, excitement for Darcy and an appreciation for all that Seattle has to offer. But when an intimacy-and-dating survey is published and Brendon learns that 30% of dating app users feel that apps have ruined their love lives --- and immediately after finds out that gorgeous, charming Annie has also given up on dating and love --- he feels obligated to show her what’s really out there. Maybe, he thinks, if he can crack the code to convincing Annie to believe in love, he can also find out how to keep his app relevant and his users happily in love. What better way to prove to Annie that romance is real than to use Seattle --- the setting and filming location of countless famous love stories --- to recreate the perfect love story? Taking cues from some of his favorite movies, Brendon sets out to woo Annie, forgetting that all romantic cons eventually fall apart, and that his very real infatuation with her means that someone is destined to get hurt.

Once again, Bellefleur has paired up the most unlikely of lovers. Brendon believes in love so much that he has forgotten how much work it can take, and how much the small details matter; Annie has been disappointed so many times that she can see nothing but air in the grandest of romantic gestures. Much like Darcy and Elle, Brendon and Annie seem like the perfect rom-com disaster, but Bellefleur doesn’t take her “odd couple” paring lightly, taking great care to build her characters --- and their traumas, blind spots and desires --- individually so that the parts that fit together are even stronger and more swoonworthy. They are always emotionally complex but never overly sentimental or overwrought. Every conflict is believable, every flaw is mired in weight and potential for growth, and every step closer to love is given the full respect and attention it deserves.

Still, Bellefleur somehow keeps her banter witty, her love scenes steamy and her rom-com homages perfectly on point. She represents a new wave of romance novels that are as love-filled and sexy as they are full of feminism, consent and the kind of true character growth that can only come from a writer who cares about not only the love story, but the characters’ individual plotlines as well.

When I read WRITTEN IN THE STARS last year, I knew that Bellefleur was a new instant-buy author for me. Although it takes place in the same world (with some delightful updates on Darcy and Elle), HANG THE MOON feels like an entirely new entity. Bellefleur has created such a full, well-rounded ensemble cast that even when the past and present intertwine, there is plenty of new ground to cover, new characters to meet and new OTPs to root for. Whether or not you have met Darcy and Elle yet, don’t miss this pitch-perfect rom-com for fans of endearing grumps and the sunshine characters who show them what they’re missing.

Hang the Moon was a book that I really enjoyed, actually! I never got around to actually writing a review for it because I've been struggling this year, but overall, I really remember enjoying this one. I highly recommend Alexandria Bellefleur and their books. I look forward to reading more from this author!

dnf @ 54% sorry to say this really wasn't it for me. I liked it well enough but I'm getting very tired of reading the same main characters in every single book. If i had finished it it probably would've been a 3 star but I just don't care enough to continue on. Also it was not set during Christmas so I was disappointed.

This is the second book in the Written in the Stars series and features Darcy’s brother Brendon and her best friend Annie. When Annie flies to Seattle to surprise her best friend, Brendon’s long-term crush on her is reignited. Brendon becomes Annie’s impromptu Seattle tour guide and shows her all the Seattle sites. Annie does not want to start a long distance relationship as she is moving from Philadelphia to London but her and Brendon have wild chemistry.

Three words to describe this book: New relationship energy.

Cover: I love how all these books feature Seattle landmarks like the Space Needle and the Ferris wheel.

Tropes: Shared bed, childhood crush

Character Development: Strong and rich. For a romantic comedy, there is fabulous character development of Annie and Brendon. Annie is trying to figure out what will make her happy in life while Brendon is working through some childhood issues that are affecting his potential relationship. The book focuses a lot about the relationships between Annie and Darcy and Elle. I appreciated they tackled friendship challenges between Annie and Darcy like drifting away, long-distance, and connection and showed Annie and Elle connecting on their bisexuality.

World-Building: I loved that these books are set in Seattle. This one really dives into the city and visits many of the landmarks like the Gum Wall and the Ferris Wheel.

Plot & Pacing: The plot had excellent pacing. I also appreciated that the conflict that developed made sense and felt realistic. I also loved that this book advanced the Darcy and Elle relationship as supporting characters.

Verdict: Highly recommend! I loved this queer romcom and it left me feeling all the new relationship energy between Brendon and Annie.

ARC was provided to me by Avon Harper Voyager, in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book blind having not read previous book - Written in the Stars. Although, this was the sequel, I did not find that I needed to have read the previous book. The author did a great job making this a standalone as this is something I always worry about when reading a book mid-series.

This was a sweet, rom-com with a tiny bit of steam. I absolutely adored the main characters - Brendon and Annie. It was definitely an enjoyable read if you are in the mood for a little romance.

Thank you to Avon Books, NetGalley and the author for this #gifted arc.

Soooo good!!! Wow - I absolutely loved this story and the characters. It was so adorable and the setting just made the story so much better. One of the best romance reads this year for sure - definitely recommend it!!