If you're looking for an easy cozy Sapphic sci-fi then this is not a bad choice.

I personally would have liked to see more world building, without it was hard for me to really immerse myself in the story. Same with the at time clunky dialogue.

As for the characters, there were times that the characters had qualities that felt unexplored. The backstory's and unique nature of where they came from felt like an after thought and I wasn't sure added to the story.

That is not to say I didn't enjoy the book, the relationship between the two main characters was sweet. I did laugh with the way they Space u-hauled.

Thank you NetGalley and Kosmic Syren for the advanced copy.

Cori is a new doctor heading up the smallest clinic on Victory station when she meets Aster. Aster is a frequent patient at the clinic, always coming in with various unusual injuries due to her dangerous and taboo occupation as an escort catering to aliens. As they get to know each other a bit through Aster's frequent visits their relationship turns into something more.
Unfortunately this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I was hoping for some more adventure as it is set in space but it felt more like a romance that just had a unique setting. Both MC's seem to have good outlines for a backstory but the details here are a bit vague and all the interesting parts of that have already happened. There are a few flashbacks for each but they are pretty mundane scenes and just didn't add the adventure I was hoping for. Aster's family is interesting and I liked bits of their scenes together but there were some that seemed overly dramatic or at least not detailed enough to explain the dynamic.
There are a couple of openings for some more interesting side plots with Cori's vague background on Earth and the terrorists but the drama on both counts was kept to a minimum and ended up more footnotes than part of the plot. I'd have liked to see one of these become a larger part of the story that could have led to new books in the series but I am not sure exactly where this story will go as it seems to have a finality to the ending that I wasn't expecting.
I also had a hard time connecting with the characters a bit. They weren't quite developed enough for me to really understand either of them or why they are so attached to each other. They end up u-hauling it right after they each reveal they want a romantic relationship and it all just felt a bit too easy. On top of that there are some things that were a bit puzzling, mostly related to the debt that Aster holds and how she pays it off and why Cori isn't able to help more herself.
Overall this was a cute romance with a few holes but if you're looking for more space adventure then this may not be quite the right pick.

I’m a big fan of scifi so I picked up this book because of the cool cover. I had a good time reading it and would recommend to low key fans of the genre. The author writes like she’s also a big fan of scifi and enjoying herself while she gives her own spin.

Dr. Cori Nova has newly moved to an old raggedy space station where she begins a rotation in an urgent care clinic. Most of her patients are community residents with typical ailments with the exception of one woman, Aster Moss, who consistently arrives in bad shape. Although her condition is often serious, she is tagged as being low priority in the clinic’s triage because she is a sex worker. Cori bucks her superiors and fights against the discrimination. Gradually, Cori and Aster become friends and then more.

Aster is a bit of a whirlwind but a good person. She is searching for her place in the world. I rooted for her and felt the tension when she would go out to do her work. Cori is a delight, sometimes naïve but also with a strong set of convictions. Once upon a time, she was a tech-enhanced teenage soldier in the war between Earth and Mars so she knows tragedy. Cori views the world with a pure joy that only survivors know and so I really liked her character.

For the SciFi crowd, this book has good nuggets of tech that are fun to read. My favorite aspect of the story is the movement. The characters are constantly visiting restaurants, clubs, other space stations, planets, they are always in motion. So many debuts often remain static but not this one. Yes, the beginning especially, felt like a debut. A little too much tell but the author got in a groove later on and ended with a solid world and good secondary characters. I am looking forward to reading more books in the series.

Rating, rounding up from 3.5
Read this if you're looking for something set in space, that's sapphic, cozy, generally low stress and low conflict.

This book caught my eye because I think it has a super interesting premise - human-alien escort, sort of awkward but brilliant human doctor, love story in space. I

I like the queer romance genre, and I like hard and soft sci-fi, but I'm often a bit hesitant to read them when the two are combined, because sometimes it can be weird in a bad way. This wasn't weird in a bad way, it was a weird in a cute way. Full of tropes, including: instalove, u-hauling, and rescue romance. These were mixed with some good interpersonal communication around respect and personal autonomy (some might argue to a fault, but it wouldn't be me), and some social awkwardness.

There were parts I really enjoyed, and there were parts I felt could have been expanded upon a bit more for a richer story.

I did love the vignettes into Cori and Astor's previous lives on other planets and places (past lives as in pre-Victory space station lives, not reincarnation, to be clear, it's not that kind of story.) But I wanted to know more about the pre-station Cori, and I wanted to know A LOT more about the well travelled pre-station Astor.

I don't mind a lack of any major interpersonal conflict, for me, it was enjoyable to just read a story about two people navigating challenging worlds, and situations and being in love. But there was this backdrop of darkness that never felt like it impacted anyone in any serious way, and that part bothered me a bit as I was reading.

Like Aster is being shaken down for a massive payment for something that seems unfair and ridiculous, and turns to serving as a human escort for non-humans, because the pay is substantial, is looked down on by a society that has normalized human-human sex work (in "pleasure centres"). Astor is refused proper medical treatment (pain relief) because of the biases of a previous physician, until Cori swoops in and saves the day. Astor is regularly injured, sometimes near catastrophically through her work, and while the technology is there that it heals her physically, I suppose I can't see a way that it wouldn't impact her more psychologically.

So this book is this odd dichotomy of extremely cozy-lovey vibes between two people that are generally Good, features some extremely good luck in the form of a very convenient whirlwind of a deus ex machina, and some shockingly terrible (but not graphic) parts mixed in. The conflict (not much of it) was all external, and not really between the couple, which again, was fine with me, but I know that wouldn't be for everyone. The story is somewhat clean and somewhat not. I have a hard time placing it - but I also enjoyed reading it despite the criticisms I've mentioned.

Was this book flawless? No.
Did I enjoy it and stay up reading anyway? Yes!
Will I look out for more books in the Nova Moss Chronicles? Also yes.

This is one of those books where the message is so important to the author that story, plot, characterization, and flow all suffer. At its heart, the book is about unconditional acceptance (a very important concern for the lgbqt+ community, to be sure). But here, the topic is pigeonhole so hard as to be unrealistic, unconscionable, and even foolish. The romance is bland, milieu wasted, characterization stilted, and dialogue completely unbelievable.

Story: Dr. Cori Nova runs a clinic in a small backwater-type of station. When a young woman comes in with severe injuries that the other staff refuse to treat, Cori finds a deep seated prejudice against sex works whose customers are aliens. It is dangerous, if not illegal, work for Aster but massive debt has made her desperate. As the two women come to know each other better through Aster's frequent visits for help, they form a relationship.

Aster's work with aliens means unpredictable and very deadly physical harm. In more than three situations, she would have died had Cori not been the doctor treating her. Cori does not attempt to dissuade her or find her alternate means of employment; instead, she ignores the danger and when an injured and half dead Aster shows up, patches her up. This was problematic for me: akin to giving drunk drivers keys to their car so you don't appear pushy or judgmental, Cori doing nothing to help Aster was quizzical (especially considering Cori could have supported Aster while she found other employment). Even more inexplicable, Aster would take money from strangers to get out of debt but never asked Cori.

The above was one huge problem for me but also that the book had the most robotic dialogue and actions. It felt like both women were being written by aliens who had used a monstrous deflavorizing dialogue generator in an attempt to guess how humans sound. Honestly, it was only a few steps elevated from "Spot is a dog. Spot likes to bark" complexity. None of the characters' backgrounds explained this very Stepford Wives type of interaction.

This is a 'cozy' type of romance with no conflicts other than Aster's choice of employment. Because the dialogue is so facile, it is really hard to see the romance (which is 99% of the book's focus) as organic or even interesting. The whole idea of a sci fi setting was completely wasted and fairly unrelated to the characters. Cori has a bit of backstory that sounds sci fi but we don't really see the consequences of a dire existence in her personality (other than to sound/act like a robot).

There wasn't a lot here to grab my attention. The romance was tepid and instaluv, every action required a verbal consent/acceptance first, not much happened with a lot of the injuries Aster sustained being done off screen so there was little fear of death or tension. It made for a very unsatisfying read. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Cozy space opera? Sort of like cozy fantasy, or cozy mystery, but in space!

We meet Cori a doctor and Aster an escort, who meet on a space station and become thick and fast with each other, uhauling it space style.

This was an odd one to come to terms with in terms of story. What confronted me many times was the darker side of things in this reality. Things that were acknowledged but then just not given enough seriousness.

It was a weird dichotomy that never felt right, to me.

The reality of escort work, and terrorism are mentioned and seen, time and time again. But shrugged off as common and expected, which felt a bit too nihlistic and jaded, even for my misanthropic thought process! I had a hard time accepting Aster actions and Cori's acceptance here and their fast connection.

A lot here just didn't work for me. I was reading and kept reading only because it was reasonably short and I kept hoping for something more to click and to happen, but it just didn't?

It's very well written, don't get me wrong - I think I am just not the target audience here. So please try it for yourself!

2.5 rounded up for being a decent debut! I think I liked the idea of this book more than the actual execution.

For me, I enjoy books with some tension and build-up in the plot or in the relationships between characters. This book didn't really have any of that. It was a super low (or really no) angst, no conflict story, which left it a bit repetitive and flat. The author said she wrote a book that she wanted to read, so I'm sure this would be great for other readers looking for a fun, easy, low stress read.

The pros:
- the f/f romance; I love books with queen representation.
- the space setting.
- Dr. Cori Nova's insistence on treating all patients equally, regardless of their occupation.
- the middle section where we met Patrek and Joely; I enjoyed their characters and would have loved to see more of them with Aster.
- the flashbacks because I felt like they gave the characters a bit more depth.

The cons:
- it was a bit too perfect for my taste; I like to have some tension with stories because otherwise I get a bit bored.
- Cori and Aster's relationship; I liked the idea of them, but everything moved so quickly and I feel like a lot of the development happened off page which left me confused how they were already moving in together after essentially one date. I also didn't like how they literally never disagreed. It just felt like an unrealistic relationship.
- I wish there was a bit more exploration of the setting. I love space and I would love to see the author develop this world more in future installments.
- the first half was a little repetitive (Aster gets hurt, Cori fixes her, Cori goes to work, they kiss and have sex, repeat). I would have liked a bit more variety.

I think this was a good debut, it just unfortunately wasn't to my personal taste. I would recommend it for readers who want a low angst, quick read though.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kosmic Syren Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

So cozy! The plot was surprisingly mild with things going more and more smoothly as the book went on. I have seen that in certain kinds of "young woman with cupcake shop" romances, and it's nice to see it in sci fi too. I appreciated that kind of pastoral feeling. There was a certain amount of "fade to black" in the romace, but I was expecting either more fading or more description. I'm not sure it would work for folks who want a clean romance, but it's mild enough that others might find it too mild. I found myself wanting more, just a bit more character development, world building, plot, something to match the tension of the premise. I would recommend for fans of Becky Chambers and Ann Agguire. A fun way to spend some time.

When I read that "Where Starlight Burns" was a f/f romance, a cozy sci-fi and a space opera I couldn't request this book fast enough. They literally are three of my most favorite boxes to check!

There were things I really enjoyed and things that left me wishing for something different. I liked the idea of an independent woman like Aster figuring out how to best work off her debt from a job gone wrong and having that be a form of sex work that her fellow humans look down upon (unlike the legal sex workers who are treated just fine). It was an interesting angle! I liked learning about the way that the universe was laid out and especially liked the 2nd location Ceri and Aster relocated to. I wanted to be able to explore more there. It sounded a bit like an outer space version of Las Vegas or New Orleans.
What I wasn't thrilled about is that most relationships in this book seemed to only skim the surface and then find themselves all of a sudden soul mates or the best of friends. There needed to be a lot more relationship building and deeper conversations between these people. Ceri and Aster 1000% did a warp speed ahead version of a U-Haul relationship. They found a couple things in common like books and TV shows, but never seemed to have a talk about anything of substance besides Aster's work and dealing with her injuries.
Ceri's character had some background (that kinda didn't go anywhere) but the character's personality as a whole was just SO flat. She acted like an android and tbh it would have kinda been better if she was. Especially after having had "upgrades". She never said the wrong thing, never created conflict, never brought any drama or worry...she was just too perfect and didn't seem at all human.

There were some great ideas here but most needed to be much more flushed out for my personal taste.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kosmic Syren Books for this e-ARC so that I may share my honest review.