Oxford Star tells the romance of a Harry Styles type popstar and the girl he let down four years earlier. It’s set at an Oxford college, which I absolutely loved. Oxford is a great city and the author is clearly very familiar with it.
This is was the first book I read in the series and it worked well as a standalone. I assume the “skulk” was already present in book #1 but I never felt I missed relevant backstory.
Jack and Lisa were ok as characters but I didn’t find them particularly interesting. The love story was also a little bland for me. There was no third-act break-up (which I don’t mind at all) but clearly the author felt something was needed to up the drama even though it didn’t make sense in the story.

The blurb describes the book as an enemies-to-lovers, slow burn (but steamy) romance, but I don’t really agree. There was sex but it faded to black. That doesn’t bother me at all, but calling it ‘steamy’ seems to be a bit of an exaggeration. They weren’t any real enemies either, while the romance wasn’t instantaneous, it wasn’t much of a slow burn either.

All in all not a bad book, but not great either.

3.5/5 rounded up.

I love how this book represented anxiety, has queer side characters, and a plus size body-positive FMC.

A little bit of a slow start (maybe slightly overwritten in the beginning?) and I had some difficulty relating to aspects within the characterization. That aside, this book would be a great accompaniment at the pool/beach. It’s easy to read, light, a slow burn, and follows an enemies to lovers trope. If you’re reading it and also struggling to stay invested, it picks up about a quarter of the way in—at that point, you’ll find yourself very endeared to Lucy/Jack!!

Thanks to NetGalley, Grape Books, and Laura Bradbury for allowing me to read and honestly review this ARC!

This was cute until the third act and then it fell apart for me. It became a little unbelievable with the plot twist instead of the usual breakup. It didn’t feel earned. Romance was cute, spice was there but low. It was fine. Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC.

Oxford Star by Laura Bradbury
I received an ARC from NetGalley after the book was published, so the timing is a little weird. 😊

I ADORED the authentic Panic and Anxiety representation! So many people have brains wired for panic and anxiety (it's me!) and unless you know the anxiety monster intimately, it doesn't make a lot of sense to outsiders. Having authentic representation helps end the stigma around mental health and neurodivergence.

Things I am here for:
Lucy is a size 16 Goddess!
Jack's red hair, green eyes, and charisma
Found family in friends
Newfoundland
Sea shanties and songs that span countries, oceans, and continents
Finding great acoustics
Studying the stars
Locked in a bookstore overnight fantasies
The whole ball evening! Double swoon!
Men supporting their partners!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4⭐️ You can never go wrong with a fake-dating/celebrity romance! I thought this book was very cute and I absolutely loved the ending. I was able to predict some of the story but I did enjoy my time reading about Jack and Lucy and how they found their way back to each other. The anxiety/mental health representation made this book even better than expected.

I love it when a romcom not only makes you fall in love but also teaches you something, the way Laura handled Jack's anxiety and Lucy's insecurities over her body was fenomenal!

AND HOW CAN LUCY AND JACK BE SO CUTE?!

I had a blast reading this book and now I'm on my way to find my own Jack :)

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC!

This was so adorable, fun, felt semi-realistic as far as famous tropes go and overall I felt myself get lost in this world in the best way possible!

One of the first things about this book that I loved was that it has a plus size FMC.
It also has allt of different aspects of books that draw me in: friends-enemies-friends-lovers, fake dating, forced proximity, Rockstar MMC, a decent amount of spice, and even obsessive women with a crazy streak. I would definitely recommend this to someone wanting a quick read romance!

Oxford Star, by Laura Bradbury, is a second chance romance set in Oxford University. Lucy has never forgiven Jack for abandoning her at a signing competition when he signed a record deal. Jack has never forgotten about Lucy and absolutely hates being a rock star. Four years later the pair reunite when they are spending a term at Oxford together.

I liked the two main character. I liked the struggles that each of them faced individually. Lucy feeling chained to helping her mom and sister to her own detriment. Jack being contactually obligated to the thing he hates doing, and not being able to fully commit to study astronomy. I do think that there could have been more character growth between the two. I wish that both characters would have realized that they had shitty parents that shouldn't have been protected. The conflicts are very quickly wrapped up at the end, and I don't that the way they were closed was very satisfying.

There is an eclectic cast of secondary characters. Lucy and Jack are immediately accepted by their friend group when they get to Oxford. I really enjoyed the secondary characters. I wish that they had been used more in the book. They kind of felt like an afterthought to the main plot.

This books is labeled as a slow burn, second chance, fake dating, enemies to lovers romance. I, personally, would not consider this book to be a slow burn or enemies to lovers. Though Lucy is supposed to hate Jack for ruining her dreams, she does forgive him very quickly. The romance plot is also fairly fast moving. There is not much will they or won't they tension that you would expect in a slow burn romance.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a second chance romance or a book set in an academic setting.

Oxford Star has a cute premise. Lucy is about to start a law degree at Oxford, only she discovers that Jack, her former crush, is also enrolled and she's eager to never see him again. He's an international pop star, akin to Harry Styles, and he abandoned her during their American Idol-esque audition, ruining her dreams of becoming a professional singer. They start out with a rivals-to-lovers relationship, but Jack wins Lucy over in the end. There's good anxiety and fat rep here, and the main characters were cute and had okay chemistry, but I thought the antagonistic characters were all too moustache twirly and flat for my taste. There wasn't a lot of emotional growth for the main characters, either, besides them both deciding to quit their day jobs. But overall, this was a cute and fluffy, low-conflict romance, if that's what you're looking for.

Overall this was a cute story, but it did leave me feeling like I wanted just a bit more from these characters.

This book is told from dual POVs of both Lucy and Jack. Lucy has just been accepted to Oxford’s Law program (a career path she is choosing over music because she made a promise to her father that she would take care of her sister and mother). On her flight she is seated next to Jack, who is a reluctantly famous Rock Star who happens to have broken her heart 4 years prior when he bailed on her during their audition for the equivalent of the Voice.

Unfortunately for Lucy and Jack’s characters, there just wasn’t anything particularly lovable about either one of them and I didn't find myself all that invested in their storylines. While I can tell the author was trying to give them both deep tooted issues that they needed to work through. the depth fell short to me. Their struggles didn't feel believable and as a result, neither did their attraction or chemistry.

All in all 2.5/5 rounded to 3 stars ⭐️

Oxford Star Written by Laura Bradbury was my first reading and collaboration from NetGalley.
After being the first title will always have a place in my heart.
Oxford Star it is the story of a music phenomenon in the Rock Genre called Jack that after success he feels lost and overwhelmed due his mental health.
On the other hand, we have a co -protagonist called Lucy, a future Lawyer and a ex singer who leaves home to help her mother and ten year old sister.
One flight; the beginning of an old love.
This book has important topics such as; Forgiveness, Panick Attacks, Anxiety, success and loneliness.
The reading is smooth and fast but there a lot of extra info that is unnecessary (in my personal opinion)
The story is Fresh, and most of the time I had Harry Styles on my mind.

(3.5 stars rounded down to a 3)

Oxford Star by Laura Bradbury is a contemporary enemies-to-lovers romance with some steam. It can be read as a standalone, but is the second book in the Romancing Oxford series.

Jack, a member of a famous boy band, has decided to take a sabbatical from performing to study astronomy at Oxford. Hopefully, this reprieve will help him deal with his anxiety disorder and debilitating panic attacks. By some coincidence, Lucy--the curvy girl that got away pre-stardom--is studying law at Oxford at the same time. To help stave off tabloid rumors, perhaps she'll agree to be his fake girlfriend.

This is my first book by this author. I initially requested this on NetGalley because there was a plus-sized heroine, but was honestly thinking about DNFing this book until I got to about the 20% mark. I kept running into an issue where some of the dialog felt overplayed and kept pulling me out of the story.

The writing definitely got better as the book went on, and in the end I was invested in Jack and Lucy as a couple. We're in both of their heads for the majority of this book, so you hear what they're thinking or feeling about the other person, but I wish they spent more time talking *to* each other. I think I would have felt their chemistry more if they were actively in more scenes together.

One of my favorite things about this book is its representation. As someone who suffers from anxiety, this book does a pretty good job of explaining how it feels. There's also some really good fat positive representation in our heroine, and there are several queer side characters.

Tropes: slow burn, enemies-to-lovers, second chance, celebrity, fake dating, forced proximity, plus-sized heroine, queer side characters

CW: parent death (off-page, prior to novel), anxiety, description of panic attacks, gaslighting, firearms, abduction

Oxford Star follows the lives of an unlikely pair. There’s miscommunication, a 4 year time lapse of separation that did nothing to change their feelings and finally some common ground.

This 8 week fake dating celebrity rockstar relationship to help hide an anxiety disorder turns into a career swap for this couple that leaves them both happy and fulfilled.

There’s also a crazy suspense scene the end that I definitely didn’t see coming and so think that element could have been layered throughout the story to build up that dramatic element and gives us more reason behind the stalker.

Overall giving this 3 stars. I liked the character development but ai just wanted a bit more depth with the friend group, more struggle and more time with the characters adapting to life in Oxford.

I had been in a reading slump before reading this so thank you NetGalley and Laura Bradbury!

This was such a fun read! The characters were so cute and lovable. I also really enjoyed the story line. It was hard for me to put this book down.

OK, so. I did really enjoy this book. I consistently looked forward to picking it back up and I read it the whole way through. It did seem a little like a fanfic but I actually really enjoyed this fact as it made it a light, enjoyable read. The anxiety representation was so fantastic! I also loved Jack and Lucy's relationship (when he calls her 'my Luce' <3).

All of that being said, there were some parts that gave me the ick. Firstly, Jack and Lucy's reunion happens far too early. I barely got my bearings before she begins thinking about him and then suddenly turns to find him sitting next to her (I think this all happens on page 2??) I would have loved the chance to care about Lucy and her world first. I won't lie, it almost made me stop reading. Still, I am glad that I didn't!

I also feel really strongly about the Ceilidh scene. Please, please DO YOUR RESEARCH before you write scenes regarding Irish culture. Once again, I nearly stopped reading here. As an Irish person, I found it borderline offensive. Please don't use British songs and call them Irish. We fought long and hard to be separated!

This was an easy mindless read. It wasn’t anything super special. But overall it was enjoyable. Definitely something you can read when you got a lot on your mind.

This is a second chance, fake dating romance novel featuring a plus-sized heroine and a rock star suffering from panic attacks. Jack uses his fame to study astronomy at Oxford, but his past catches up with him when he encounters Lucy, the woman whose dream he stole. Jack offers to help Lucy, but she refuses, leading to a dangerous idea. The novel explores love, dreams, and redemption in the context of Oxford University.

The book was an easy and enjoyable read, despite its serious topics. The contrasting desires of the main characters, with each wanting what the other has, was an interesting concept. I loved that they found their home and people in Oxford. My favorite character is Jack, as he was a communicative character, who preferred to talk things through instead of ignoring them.

However, despite the blurb describing the book as "enemies to lovers" and slow burn, the main characters weren't actually enemies, and Jack clearly liked Lucy from the beginning. Their relationship didn't take long to develop, so it wasn't a slow burn. There were a few grammatical and punctuation errors, but the overall story was good!

Oxford Star

OH MY HEART! THIS BOOK!!!

Jack, A Pop Star with crippling anxiety and dreams of a quiet academic life studying the stars.

Lucy, A girl just trying to grasp for a way to get a better career to make a better life for her family.

Oh, and they totally have history!

These two unexpectedly run into each other again in the most surprising way, and life keeps throwing them together when all Lucy wants to do is RUN far away from Jack.

This book filled my heart to the brim. I loved these two so much. They had a lot to work through and overcome, but they did it! My favorite was how very much they talked and communicated with each other. By the end of this book they knew each other so well and it was so heartwarming to see them live out their HEA. Such a satisfying ending!!!

And the location setting for this book could not be more GORGEOUS! I love how Laura describes these real beautiful locations in Oxford to us as readers. I also love how Laura pours her own life experiences into her stories, it brings so much more depth to the story.

Highly Recommend! This book is so fun and so heart felt at the same time! Don't sleep on Jack and Lucy!

🎤 Celebrity romance
🍁 Canadians in England
💭 Second chance
⚡️ Forced proximity
🦋 Curvy fmm
👫 Fake Dating
❤️ ‘It’s always been you’

TW. Panic attacks, anxiety, mental abuse, past relative death.

Lucy Snow is starting college in Oxford, England, far away from her city in Newfoundland, Canada. She wants to leave all her broken dreams behind her and only provide for her family. it’s not going as he planned it when Jack Seary, member of a band boys, and Lucy’s former crush, happens to be her neighbor. He has trouble juggling between his always-there anxiety and the life he didn’t really want… So when the opportunity to stay longer in College arises, he decides he can do everything he can to stay and make Lucy his at the same time.

The whole book is divided into a few sections, one section equals one week of time. I can’t say how much I appreciate it. With this, we have a great understanding of how time is spent (for the main characters). Without those time markers, I’m sure the story would have felt much faster, and I’m more of a slow burn kind of reader…. So yes, bonus points for that !!

Now let’s talk about the two lovebirds : I love it when the characters have a multi-dimensional personality, when they aren’t just described as one thing, and have multiple centers of interest. It’s obviously the case with Jack, the nerdy rock star (there’s something so hot with nerds I love it !!) It makes the characters so much more real and relatable !
Their love story, although laborious, is so pure and real. Jack actually spent 4 years in misery Land, only so he can end up the way he edn up : with his Luce.

Even though I didn’t fall in love with this story, I really enjoyed it. I’m not usually a fan of ‘Fake Dating’ and I’m usually more prone to like ‘Marriage of convenience’ (Which I think are step 2 of Fake Dating) But the story felt so natural. The chemistry between Lucy and Jack was cute, the friends were so supportive of Lucy, it really warmed my heart a few times ! The ‘english university’ combined with the ‘boy band’ vibes were delightful ! I keep picturing the university in the movies, with its grandiose decor and architecture.

I did some research and even though this book isn’t part of a series, there’s another book about two people who appears quite a lot in this one. So if you like this one, you should totally check it out because I probably will. (It’s called Oxford Wild)

A huge thanks to Netgalley, the Publisher and Obviously Laura Bradbury for the opportunity to read this book !