I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy and to be honest, Margot was one of my favorite character so I was eager to read her story. The initial plot was great - tension building, old friends reconnecting, etc. However as the book progressed it lost my attention. The plot lines became weak and I found the character development abruptly ended. I was hoping for something more.

4.5 stars

I really really enjoyed this book! I love Margot as a character, I thought she was really well fleshed out, and I definitely got her dissatisfaction over being the fifth wheel. You know, the whole “I don’t want to go to the party, but I still want to be invited to the party” thing. Something that pretty much every romance novel has is some sort of concocted misunderstanding between the two love interests simply for the sake of conflict, and this is a huge pet peeve of mine. But I have to say that the misunderstandings in this book were actually very well done, and they made sense, from the point of view of the plot but also from each characters point of view. Oh and the sex scenes were fantastic! If you’re looking for a great queer romance then look no further.

Margo and Olivia - best friends turned to more during high school - lose touch after a confusing week of spring break. Many years later, they are re-connected and end up back in each others' lives. With classic cases of miscommunication, assuming that they are alone in their feelings, and the eventual realization that they love each other, this book has heart and lots of steam.

Running into your estranged childhood best friend who you had a sexual thing with for a week back in high school over a decade later has to be so awkward and then when your friends conspire to make sure that Olivia winds up your roommate? A conspiracy, for sure, but of the best kind. I love the way this book introduces the set up. Brendan and Annie are about to get married and at the last minute, they need Olivia to step in as their wedding planner. Neither Margot nor Olivia are expecting to see one another, but oops, here they are, face to face again. It's a great set up.

And from that set up, into the rest of the book, we have a book where the tone fluctuates from sort of angsty to very soft and lighthearted in a way that, for once, didn't totally work for me. I still loved this book, don't get me wrong, but there were things about it that kept me from giving it a full five stars. For example, there's this scene (or series of) where Margot is really jealous and it irked me even though I understood. But, in my opinion, you don't get to be a jealous jerk if you're not going to communicate about your feelings. Basically, what I'm saying is, I read this while in one of those moods where people not communicating was more annoying than usual.

That said, I adored the conversations here about Margot's concerns about her best friends growing away from her as she became the "fifth wheel" and Elle's response when Margot finally shared some of her anxiety. Change is so hard. And speaking as a third wheel for all of my best friends, it sucks when you wind up in that position, even (especially?) when you're happy for all of them. I also really loved Olivia and her caretaking ways and the way Margot tries to get her to see that she can and should take care of herself. Oh! And!! There's this incredible scene, okay, several incredible scenes with Margot interacting with Cat and I loved those parts.

If you've loved the other two books in this series, I think you'll enjoy this one just as much. I, for one, can't wait to see what's next from Bellefleur!

This is such a gem of a trilogy! In particular I love that we got Margot's story last because her journey is so weaved into the first two of the series. Margot's journey to letting her friends and romantic love in is both relatable and a great progression to experience.

I enjoyed meeting Liv and love the second chance, close proximity set up with a cat thrown in the mix. Certain scenes had me rolling with how relatable they were to the thrills of cat ownership. This book captures a romance at the same time of just figuring life out in your twenties and early thirties. Sometimes we make mistakes, but you're never too late for your happy ending. The epilogue was a perfect close to all three couple's stories, and truly just felt giddily happy with it.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for an arc for review.

HANG THE MOON is one of the best rom-coms I've read this year and I really enjoyed the first installment in this series WRITTEN IN THE STARS, so I was really excited to read this one! Unfortunately, it was my least favorite of the three. The plot was mostly nonexistent and the characters not as complexly written as in Bellefleur's other books. I had a hard time distinguishing when we were reading from Margot vs. Olivia as their voices sounded almost exactly the same, despite the characters being so different. Also, the whole novel hinges on various continued misunderstandings/miscommunications that are super trivial so if that sort of thing annoys you, you'll have little patience for this book. Overall, if you're invested in the series like I was, you'll want to read this one, but considering Margot was one of my favorite characters from the jump, I was disappointed not to love the one book from her POV.

"The right person shouldn’t complete you, they should love you the way you are. And it’s cool if they make you want to be better, but they should never make you feel like you’re too much or not enough exactly as you are."

I loved Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon, and I love the third one, Count Your Lucky Stars just as much! This book was just so cute and I absolutely love this entire s eries. I have loved Margo's character throughout the series and was thrilled to learn more about her in this one. So many fun tropes in this one: roommates, childhood friends to lovers, 10 years apart, second chance etc. I love a good second chance romance and this one was *chef's kiss*. This story was romantic and cute, but also funny. I found myself laughing during several scenes and I love when a book can make me do that! The Cat named Cat was also a funny addition as Margo has no idea how to be around cats. Simply put, Bellefleur cannot write a bad book, and I definitely recommend this series.

Thank you so much Avon & Harper Voyager for this Netgalley e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really love Alexandria's writing and this world is just one of my favorites!

Darcy and Elle are definitely my favorite of the series but it was really nice to get Olivia and Margot's story. They are so much different than the other characters in this series and I liked that they had this kind of childhood best friends meets second chances romance that had just the perfect amount of angst in it.

I really enjoyed this book, for some reason once I got to around 70% for some reason this book lagged for me a bit and I had such a hard time finishing it. I can't say why or if there was one specific thing, maybe it was the side plot stuff involving Olivia's dad and ex, not really sure.

Ultimately, this was a great read and I am once again a goner for a beautiful illustrated cover <3

This book was amazing! I loved the exes-to-lovers, mutual pining romance, and it had really well-developed chemistry between the two lead characters. (I’m also a complete simp for sapphic romance.) The plot was well-paced and tight, without any unnecessary filler, while still being able to really delve into the psychology of the characters. I was absolutely in love with Margot and Olivia and it was delightfully frustrating watching these two try to repress their obvious feelings for each other. If I could give one piece of criticism, it would be my personal pet peeve with sex scenes using odd terms for various parts of human anatomy.

TL;DR: really cute sapphic exes-to lovers romantic comedy with a heartwarming ending.

I recommend this book for readers who are into romantic comedies and looking for a feel-good book that has a happy ending but still some serious pining in it. Read if you like Casey McQuistion or Nina LaCour.

very cute. great road trip read I loved it and can't wait for it to be out in the world. it's no surprise i loved this book because it's no secret i love sapphic books

Count Your Lucky Stars was a lovely completion to this little trilogy!

It was cute, it was steamy, I had a smile on my face the whole time, and I had a blast with it. Personally, I found the story aspect to be one of the weaker of the series - but that being said I still really enjoyed it and would absolutely recommend it!


Synopsis:
Olivia is back in the city trying to finally get her breakthrough placement at her job. She loves making people’s dreams come true via event planning, and a high profile (and fast paced) wedding was just picked up by her company. Lucky for her, she gets the placement, and while touring a venue with the happy couple she runs into her childhood best friend - and brief lover - Margot. As is bound to happen with this friend group, everyone gets all up in each other’s business, and Olivia and Margot are forced to reckon with the past. Did they actually care about each other way back when, or was it just a meaningless fling? And how do they feel about each other now? Can they be friends again?

Written in the lovely, quick, and witty way that Bellefleur does, this was a wonderful romp and a great cap to this series. I always appreciate the way that Bellefleur writes bi+ characters - and Olivia is no exception. She had previously been in a marriage with a man, and it wasn’t painted as though her attraction to women ended the marriage, it wasn’t that she couldn’t choose or couldn’t settle, it was that her ex wanted more from her than she could give and she ultimately chose herself.

I loved the background of Olivia’s divorce because I found it to be SO relatable. American culture - and christian culture - teaches women to sacrifice themselves until there is nothing left to give, until you are no longer an individual but a humble servant to your family. If a marriage ends it always seems to be the wife’s fault either in that she didn’t meet her husband's needs or she was crazy. As someone who doesn’t want kids, and is in the middle of a journey of regaining a sense of individuality, I could absolutely see myself in Olivia - and I think a lot of other women will be able to as well.

Ultimately, I would recommend this novel, but Written in the Stars is still my favorite romance of all time!

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the advance review copy; all opinions are my own!

After having read and loved both WRITTEN IN THE STARS and HANG THE MOON, I was very much looking forward to Margot's story because she's been such a feisty, badass, but slightly mysterious character. When I heard the synopsis, I was even more excited because I'm a sucker for childhood friends to lovers, second chance, and forced proximity. As with Alexandria's two previous books, all the positive queer rep, an organic, embraced, natural reality in this group of friends, was such a balm to me. It felt so comforting and affirming to read these two love interests, Margot and Olivia, who are pan and bi respectively, loved and accepted for exactly who they are.

The highlights for me were Olivia and Margot's domestic scenes in the apartment, finding their way back to each other over conversations (and hot make outs) on the couch, their bonding over Cat (especially her attack on the vibrator), and honestly, Margot's dirty talk, which I will never get over because sweet Lord, it was SO GOOD.

COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS was a satisfyingly soft, super steamy conclusion to the Written in the Stars series. Seeing this group of friends grow and find love has been such a delightful journey, and I can't wait to see what Alexandria comes up with next!

This book lost me immediately. It has great reviews on goodreads but unfortunately it's not something I would pick up or recommend. The writing felt like there was too much tell and not enough show.

I loved Written in the Stars and was nervous I wouldn’t love another couple as much as Elle and Darcy, but BOY WAS I WRONG. While there were times I wanted to shake every character and be like “plz just talk to one another,” I loved this second chance romance!

I absolutely adored this second chance romance story. I didn’t realize until I finished that this was part of a series. I will be getting all. The. Books.

I can’t deal with how much I love this series and love this book!!! Thank you thank you for coming into my life :) I love these two characters and a second chance friends to lovers romance is my fave, I can’t wait to tell everyone to read this, this is The kind of book we need more of, and the sapphic storyline, can’t wait to read more by her and hopefully more of this series

|| 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖

Count Your Lucky Stars
Alexandria Bellefleur
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

|| 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒:
Darcy and Elle, Brendon and Annie, and Margot has sort of become the 5th wheel. She is so happy for her friends and loves being with them, but will she ever have a chance at love? Or maybe she’s already met that someone. When Brendon and Annie need last minute help to run their wedding, Olivia walks in to be their wedding planner. Except Margot has met her before. Olivia and Margot grew up together, they were best friends, and at one point more than friends. Miscommunication led to them going their separate ways. Now they have a second chance to talk it out and figure out how they feel for one another.

|| 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
•LGBTQ Romance
•Second Chance romance
•Close Proximity
•Steamy texts

|| 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒:
I love Margot. I love her so much. Also I’m so glad Elle is back! We didn’t see her much in book 2 and she is also one of my favorites in this romance series. This book is all about communication. Margot learns to let Elle in on her past she kept hidden. Margot and Olivia learn they have to hash out their past as well. I love the second chance and forced proximity trope combo. This one was steamy from the start, and Olivia and Margot were just precious together. I also like that the epilogue gave a good ending for everyone. You can tell everyone’s story is complete now.

Thank you Avonbooks for an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars!


Alexandria Bellefleur strikes again with another binge worthy, beautifully written romance story!

I’m a little biased on this one, it had so many of my favorite things: second chance, childhood best friends to lovers, grump/sunshine, one of my all time favorite friend groups, roommates, and of course, a cute cat. But even without all of these things I don’t think I can see myself not loving this book. Alexandria just has a way of writing such incredible characters that you just can’t help but fully root for, couples that are just so charming and lovable, and binge-worthy writing.

Bow, you maybe be wondering: why didn’t she give 5 stars if she loved this book so much??? well, two big reasons why this book didn’t get a full 5 stars rating were:
1. Although the chemistry between Olivia and Margot was amazing and I rooted for them from the very beginning, I felt like their second chance happened too quickly. I would’ve enjoyed more moments of them getting to know each other after 11 years apart (!!!) and bonding again before they actually started anything romantic.
2. The conflict made sense, but I felt like it wasn’t very exciting? It was fine!!!! but I think I just wanted a little bit more, if that makes any sense.


Even with my complaints, I felt like overall this book was engaging, the couple had incredible chemistry, and I was just so happy to finally get Margot’s story! It was a great book to wrap up the story of this friend group, and as a huge fan since Written in the Stars released, it was a very satisfying to me! I can’t wait to see what else Alexandria Bellefleur has in store for us!

CYLS is the third book in this series by Alexandria Bellefleur, and yet it's the first book that I've read from the author. I was pleasantly surprised ... by the writing and the characters ... even though I thought the story would be predictable, apropos The Wedding Planner.
It's a second chance at love for Margot and Olivia who'd first met in high school, and now are living together after broken hearts and failed marriages.
It was an entertaining read.

Not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the first two books, but this wasn’t it for me! Although I know many people have and will enjoy this.