What an absolutely perfect second chance contemporary romance. These characters had wonderful personalities, chemistry, and a romance that had me hooked.

COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS is the second-chance romance to read when you are unsure about whether there is such a thing in romantic relationships. The chemistry and honesty between Olivia and Margot made me reflect on past and current relationships, solidifying it as a baseline for any future relationships I will have. If you enjoy the grumpy/sunshine tropes, second-chance romances, friends-to-lovers-to-acquaintances-to-lovers, or bantery titles, grab your copy of COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS asap.

4/5 stars

First off, I want to thank Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me this book through NetGalley for review!

I was super excited for this book to come out as I really enjoyed the other 2 previous ones. And I am happy to report that I enjoyed this much about the same as the other two.

We got to see more of Margot and we meet our other main character Olivia who is just as lovable. They are childhood best friends who lost touch because of reasons.... Anyway now Olivia is the wedding planner for Brendan and Annie's wedding where Margot is the best woman. So it's definitely a shock for the two to see each other again. They also end up roommates after some unforeseen mishaps in Olivia's old apartment push them together. Their chemistry was off the charts and obviously just being friends doesn't last for long.

They were an endearing couple to read about I was really interested in hearing about their backstory. The spice was nice and well done and overall it was a super cute book.

Now I did think the book maybe dragged on a little...in the sense that I feel like there was no need for the second act breakup (which wasn't really a breakup but anyway). I also didn't love how long the miscommunication trope (i guess that's what it kind of was) went on. Like just shut up and kiss each other already am I right?

Overall, I think this was about the same as the other books if not maybe a little less enjoyable. I would recommend this to others to try out for themselves. Fluffy sapphics for the win I guess lol.

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandra Bellefleur is the perfect wrap up to this series. Margot is the bestie in each of the other books so I was eagerly awaiting her story. What Bellefleur delivers is a second chance romance with some hysterical scenes out of a rom-com. Margot is party of the grooms party when her childhood best friend, Olivia, walks into a potential wedding space. They haven't seen each other in eleven years since a week they spent in bed together. I'm not a fan of plots around withheld feelings and communication, it really works well in this book though! Olivia is the perfect foil to Margot and accidents keep pushing them together. So much chemistry and spicy love scenes!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #NetGalley #Alexandria Bellefleur. #CountYourLuckyStars

“Count Your Lucky Stars” by Alexandria Bellefleur is probably one of my most anticipated reads for 2022. It’s the conclusion to her ‘Written in the Stars’ series and features a second chance romance, my favorite trope.

I’ve loved Margot Cooper since we were introduced to her in “Written in the Stars”. She’s funny and even though she’s kind of broody she really loves her friends and would do anything for them. She’s one of those characters that’s hard on the outside but a marshmallow inside. She’s not interested in a relationship despite both of her best friends coupling up. She’s in for a complete surprise when she runs into her childhood best friend and first love, Olivia Grant, while helping Brendon scope out wedding venues. Margot and Olivia haven’t seen or spoken to one another since high school. Olivia is the girl-next-door type of character that is just so sweet and will do anything for someone will she loves.

Margot and Olivia fit so well together and their chemistry was apparent from their first re-introduction. They really just get each other and are the perfect foil for the other. They were childhood best friends and had a week-long fling in their senior year of high school which neither one is completely over. Once they’re back in each other’s orbit, they quickly fall back into their friendship with old and new feelings in play.

I really loved the majority of this book! It’s steamy, cute, and hilarious. There were several scenes that had me laughing out loud and I love when that happens. Bellefleur brought back everyone including Elle and Darcy and Brendon and Annie and I enjoyed being able to catch up with everyone.

So, while I absolutely loved this, I do have two complaints that tainted my enjoyment overall. Miscommunication/lack of communication happens all over the place and the rushed ending. Margo is having an internal conflict about feeling like a 5th wheel in her friend group but she never says anything. There’s also lack of communication between Margot and Olivia that goes back to their high school relationship and follows them into their new relationship. There were several times that I wanted to yell “just talk” to everyone involved. There’s a black moment that happens and it’s so late that there’s almost no time for a real happy ending without the epilogue and that frustrated me. With it being the ending of the series, I was really hoping for a better ending of the book beyond the epilogue.

Despite those two issues, I still really loved this and highly recommend it. It’s truly funny and fun and is a terrific second chance rom-com. There is some light angst but nothing major. I will also say that this is really steamy so if that isn’t something you’re into you may want to give this a pass or plan on doing some skipping ahead.

I received an ARC from Avon and Harper Voyage via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A fresh and energizing queer second chance romance about two best friends from high school, now roommates, exploring the chemistry that never fizzled out. A steamy romance filled with lots of pining and a great friend group. Margot and Olivia are adorable together and I love the whole opposites attract dynamic they’ve got going on. An entertaining and heartwarming read.

Margot never got over her first love, who also happens to be her best friend from high school. So when Margot shows up to a wedding event, none other than Olivia, said best friend, is the wedding planner. Immediately the two are serendipitously forced into a living arrangement and forced to explore long forgotten feelings.

I really enjoyed the tension between Margot and Olivia and I thought the development of their relationship was realistic, especially with the unexpressed feelings from high school. The friend group is so supportive and the author writes with a lot of emotion. I really enjoyed this one and can’t wait to see what Bellefleur comes up with next!

✨How can you put in lines like “I’m pretty sure a part of me has been waiting for you for eleven years." in a second chance romance and not expect me to cry? ✨

Can someone just give Alexandria Bellefleur an award already? She can really do no wrong. I have loved all the books in this series so much. I was grinning like an idiot throughout this book.

This book was the perfect blend of childhood friends to lovers that get a second chance, both tropes you guys know I love 😍

Tropes:
- grump/sunshine
- second chance
- forced proximity
- “and they were roommates”
- BANTER
- childhood friends to lovers
- sapphic romance
- pansexual + bisexual rep
- adorable, hillarious cat
- vibrators
- dirty talk
- pining
- miscommunication solved

Watching two people who were madly in love with each other chose to stay and in love each other once more and find their way back to each other is the reason second chance is one of my favorite tropes 🥺 This book was the embodiment of that.

You know that moment when you so deeply connect with a character that your heart soars whenever the come on the page? That’s how I felt with Margot. I just love female grumps who are full of banter. Both her and Olivia were such lovable characters. They were absolutely perfect for each other in every way.

I laughed, I smiled, I blushed, I cried. This book tucked in such beautiful development in the seams of a beautifully written romance ❤️❤️

I normally don’t like miscommunication. But Bellefleur used miscommunication to create the perfect amount of angst before the characters began to work through it, while also letting their struggles be a great lesson for the readers.

My only critique of the book was the external conflicts. They just didn’t feel completely developed or resolved in my opinion. It just seemed too easy.

If you are looking for a new romance, especially a sapphic one, you need to check this out! Especially if you are a fan of any of the tropes in this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 stars | 🌶🌶.5/5 steam

Thank you to Avon, Netgalley, and Alexandria Bellefleur for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion ❤️

4 stars

this is my favorite of the series! I looooove Margot and Olivia. Especially Margot because she's my fellow Aries queen. I normally don't enjoy second chance romances but this one was just *chefs kiss*. And boy was it steamy! I can see myself rereading this and getting a physical to highlight and tab. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait for more from Alexandria Bellefleur!

This is my first reading of a book by Alexandria Bellefleur but it won't be my last. I know that because I have already bought the other book in the series. Luckily, while reading the prior story would have rounded out the supporting characters,'Count Your Lucky Stars' works as a stand-alone novel as well. It is the story of two high school best friends, Margot and Olivia, who had a week-long fling after Olivia's boyfriend. dumps her. As so often happens in romance novels, they each assumed the other thought that it was just a fling-NBFD. So basically, they didn't speak to each other again for eleven years-- during which Olivia was married to Brad, her on-again-off-again high school boyfriend, for ten of them.

Now they are both living in Seattle and the now divorced Olivia is hired to be the Wedding Planner of Margot's dear friend, Brendon and Margo is his Best Woman. The wedding needs to be perfect. Olivia's career depends on it being perfect -- she cannot let her unrequited feelings for Margot or anything else for that matter, ruin it. Although she is brought in on short notice, she is going to make this wedding one about which people will be talking. It is what she does-- helping to make everyone's dreams come true.

Margot has never gotten over Olivia's ditching her for Brad and doesn't do 'feelings' or relationships. She is very happy to have sex and short-term fun but that's all it's ever going to be for her. She's" just Margot" and is "not sunshine and rainbows" and she's fine with that. There is no way she is going to let any residual feelings for Olivia ruin Brendon's wedding. But her friends are doing "couple things"
'without her and she is starting to feel like a fifth-wheel.

This was such an enjoyable read There is enough angst to make me worry, but not enough to give me heart palpitations. The main characters were lovingly flawed and you want to shake them and scream, "just talk to each other" -- a sentiment that is ironically pointed out by Margo's best friend and former roommate, Elle. She and all the other secondary characters are quirky and provide the perfect fodder for this kind of romance novel. One little thing I am going to quibble about is that early in the book Olivia spies a tattoo on Margot's hip peeking out from her clothes. It is mentioned at least twice but then is never mentioned again-- not even when they get naked together. And they do get so very naked together. 'multiple' times.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a wlw story that laments lost love and celebrates second chances. I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.

“The right person shouldnt 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 are too much or not enough exactly as you are.”

This is the 3rd installment of Written in the Stars from Alexandria Bellefleur and I have not read the other 2 but there was no need because although the stories connect you don't necessarily need to read all of them to know what is going on. I liked it but I didn't love it. I like the whole second chance romance trope but not the miscommunication trope and this had a play in both of them, in some books this gets frustrating because we just see the characters spiraling in their thoughts, dragging the story and in this book there was a good balance but I still don't like the miscommunication trope (my opinion on the trope in general not the actual book). Now, the characters I did love, how they interact with each other, their friendship dynamic, it felt very organic, which also made me want to read the other books to see more. Margot and her sass were just icing on the cake for me and how honest and truthful her comments towards her friends were. It's always good to have a friend that is straightforward and sincere. This book had a little of everything from a good rom-com, sassy characters, nice rounded group of friends, cute and passionate romance. When I say passionate, I mean it! There was, I think a whole chapter just smut, which made me blush. Overall, well rounded story, awesome characters!

“All her friends were settling down, and Margot? She had yet to find a brand of shampoo she liked well enough to commit to, let alone a whole person”

Thank you @avonbooks for a copy of Count Your Lucky Stars. I love this series and was excited to read Margot’s story. I love a good second chance story and love the chemistry between Margot and Olivia. I wished they didn’t get freaky so quickly together and rekindled their friendship a little more first.
I love seeing all the characters from the previous story as well.

—Pub Day Book Review—

Title: Count Your Lucky Stars
Author: Alexandria Bellefleur
Publisher: Avon Books
@avonbooks
Genre: Contemporary Romance Fiction

Count Your Lucky Stars in the third book in the ‘Written in the Stars’ series by author Alexandria Bellefleur. Could you read this one without read the others? Sure. But I don’t recommend it. The characters from the previous books play a strong part and without knowing them, you just won’t enjoy it as much, I think.

Margot’s story is a second chance friends-to-lovers where she settles back in with her high school best friend, Olivia. Almost a little too easy. I would’ve liked a little more tension & conflict in the story I think. They hadn’t seen each other in 11 years, after all! And their misunderstanding back then seemed flimsy. But I’ll give them a pass because it was high school.

The gangs all back in this one - Brendan and Annie who are getting married; Olivia is their wedding planner. And of course, Elle and Darcy.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This one was is funny. It’s sweet. It’s endearing. It’s quirky. And oh boy is it steamy. Just an FYI!

“You don’t need anyone’s permission to be happy.”

It’s out today! Thank you @avonbooks for honoring my request to read and review this title via netgalley.

Alexandria Bellefleur is 3/3 in this astrology-centered romcom series. I was so excited to read Margo's story and revisit the couples I loved from the previous books. Margo is beginning to feel like the 5th wheel in her friend group when Olivia, her childhood best friend, and first love, resurfaces in her life. Suddenly, they get a second chance to make their relationship work. What follows is a fun, frothy, and beautiful love story. I have thoroughly enjoyed this entire series and will continue to read anything Alexandria Bellefleur writes!

“If you don’t reckon with your feelings, sooner or later your feelings are going to reckon with you.”

COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS is a tender and sexy second-chance, childhood-friends-to-lovers queer romance, bursting with humor and complex feelings. It’s the third in Bellefleur’s series, starring Margot (Elle’s best friend who we met in book one) and a new character, Olivia. Brief plot summary: Margot is the best woman for Brendon, who’s getting married to Annie. Their wedding planner happens to be Olivia, Margot’s former best friend from high school with whom she had one unforgettable week of intimacy before things abruptly ended. Olivia is recently divorced and has just moved back to Seattle to start fresh, and of course, ends up with a flooded apartment, forcing her and Margot into close proximity - and to deal with the feelings they’ve been suppressing for eleven years.

While I really enjoyed WRITTEN IN THE STARS and HANG THE MOON, this book is definitely my favorite - partially because I was already invested in multiple characters from the other books, partially because Margot is so much fun to root for in all her hot cantankerous glory, and partially because the book felt like it had a deeper emotional maturity than the other two. I found Margot and Olivia’s individual issues and conflict as a couple very compelling and relatable (and not just because Olivia and I are both white bisexual women in our early thirties who drive Subarus and are recently divorced from Brads). I loved watching these two slowly open up to each other, Margot begrudgingly dealing with her emotions and Olivia processing her divorce and what it means to be in a new relationship. Other things to love: pansexual and bisexual rep, a very cute cat (that may or may not end up playing with a sex toy), a minor skiing accident, astrology-themed IPAs, just a little bit of well-deserved robbery, seeing Elle and Darcy be stupidly in love still, and lots of delicious steam.

It’s the perfect conclusion to this fun, sexy queer romance series, and I can’t wait to read what Bellefleur writes next! Thanks to Avon Books for the eARC. This book is out today!

I think the addition is my favorite in this series. Everything about it brought me such joy while reading it. I was sad when it ended.

Margot Cooper’s two best friends have found the love of their lives but she can’t seem to find hers. Now she’s going to be the Best Woman at her friend’s wedding and it’s not that she’s not happy for them, but does she have to be the only one without a partner? Is not that she needs someone, but it would be nice not to feel so lonely. She doesn’t even have a roommate now and the only ones she can talk to are her plants.

Olivia Grant recently divorced and moved to Seattle to become a wedding Planner. Her boss is finally letting her plan a big wedding by herself, so nothing can go wrong. This is going to be a great opportunity for her career. What she doesn’t expect is that the Best Woman at the wedding is the only person that has made her truly happy and that she hadn’t seen in eleven years.

After some awkward situations and some unfortunate events, Olivia ends up with no place to live so Margot reluctantly offers up her spare bedroom. But Olivia isn’t moving alone, she’s moving with her mischievous cat Cat (yes, the name of the cat is Cat). Living together forces them to relive the past and bring back all those feelings they once felt for each other.

Both Olivia and Margot are great characters. I really enjoyed their personalities and the banter and tension between them. Also, Cat became one of my favorite characters in the series! All of the parts featuring Cat are hilarious! The story features some of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, friends to lovers and second chance at love.

This is the third and last book of the Written in the Stars series. Even though I would love to keep reading about their lives, Count Your Lucky Stars was not only an amazing love story between Olivia and Margot but also the perfect closure for this unforgettable group of friends.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital review copy of this amazing book!

Alexandria Bellefleur invites readers back into the Seattle scene in this wonderful story about Margot and her go at a second chance romance. Although Margot has been in the group of these loveable characters through the series, I was excited to get a chance to see her more in depth and read her story. Even if you have not read "Written in the Stars" or "Hang the Moon" you can still enjoy this story. Margot and Olivia are two likeable characters that I found myself rooting for throughout the book! Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Count Your Lucky Stars is the steamy second chance book that I needed. I’m not usually a fan of the miscommunication trope, but I didn’t mind it in this case since it happened before the book. Having not read any of the books adjacent to this one, I can safely say it’s good as a standalone. I did wish we had stayed a little bit longer in the tension stage, because it seemed at the end that they had no problems with their relationship so one came up sort of out of nowhere in a big case of overreaction. There were a few times where the characters came across a little more juvenile than them being on the cusp of thirty. All that being said I really liked the play between the characters and thought it was a nice amount of steam. For me, this was a 4/5.

If you like wedding planners falling for the Best Woman, old flames coming back for more, or need more sapphic romance in your life, this is the one for you.

I received a digital copy of this book free from Netgalley and Avon in exchange for an honest review.

4.75 Stars. Now this was the type of main character that I really enjoy reading about. I adored Margot from Written in the Stars and was looking forward to seeing her in her own book. While I had fun with the first book, I didn't particularly like Brandon, so skipped the second book. I think this is Ms. Bellefleur's best book of the series. Margot is a complex, messy person, who had to deal with a lot of complex emotions that were just amplified when her first love, and old best friend, Olivia, comes crashing back into her life.

One of the things that I found slightly off putting about Written in the Stars is that I thought Darcy and Elle took a really long time to really gel for me as a couple, even as it was fun watching them butt heads. With Margot and Olivia, I could tell they just worked together almost from the first day they were roommates. They just clicked as friends as well. It was lovely to see them just falling right back into stride with each other, even after so long apart.

I think this book has the best story of the bunch, and Margot's abandonment issues are just well done. It's not always there, but it is a good explainer as to why she avoids romantic entanglements and has a very small group of close friends. It kind of hurts to see, from Margot's perspective, her friends being paired off and loosing time with her. Its something that loads of people go through as their friends find others, and how it is handled here is so grounded. It just works so well, especially when played off of Olivia's gentle soul. The best thing here is that Olivia has massive confidence issues - not in the ways that Elle had in the first book - but in her own sense of self. Her self worth is measured in her ability to make others happy and keeping her loved ones safe. She needs a partner who is willing to absorb that, but remind her when she needs to reign that in. Her ex husband was characterized as a bit of a taker, and he basically smothered her personality.

Before I go on and on, I will say that I don't think you need to have read the first two books of the series, but the book does not do much exposition, and it may take a bit to figure out the relationship dynamics of Margot's friend group. I will say that Margot works so much better as a lead, and Olivia is the best complementary character as a co-lead. For me this is the best of the series by a mile, and I think fans will have loads of fun with this one.

Thank you @avonbooks for the [gifted] copies of WRITTEN IN THE STARS and COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS!

As a Seattlite I was absolutely thrilled to read a romance series set in my beloved city. It’s always so fun to see places and restaurants I adore called out on the page. And she absolutely nails some of the quirkiness of the people who live in Seattle and the PNW!

Another thing that I absolutely loved about this series is Bellefleur’s representation of many different sexualities. She has bisexual, pansexual, homosexual and heterosexual main characters. I loved seeing these characters get their HEAs.

COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS - Y’all know I love a second chance romance trope and this one did not disappoint. We also get some forced proximity in this one too as Olivia becomes Margot’s new roommate due to a leak at her apartment. A lot of the drama in CYLS is based off of miscommunication which normally drives me crazy. But considering that a lot of their issues stem back from when they were insecure high school seniors, it worked for me.

COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS is out today, February 1, 2022!
4/5 stars

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