Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!

This was so well-written for a debut - I fully enjoyed this Shakespeare retelling, though if that hadn't been advertised on the cover, I probably never would've realized! I found Bea to be a great romance character to follow - she's logical and a bit prickly, and also has very good reason to hold a grudge against our MMC, Ben. Heron on the other hand...was a bit frustrating, I think, at the start. We were seeing her through Bea's ideas, in fairness, and I fully understood her perspective of annoyance at everyone asking her if marriage was the right choice (and certainly am biased to agree that college was young for marriage.) Ultimately, Heron and I got off on the wrong foot from the start, when her internal POV monologue was about staying quiet and supportive of her boyfriend so that "he could see" that she would make for a great lawyer wife. Ugh. I think there were a lot of other internal monologue reasons that would've been more compelling for her to stay with her boyfriend, that would've also been more realistic. Ultimately, I do feel like both of our women came off relatively realistic and placed in the contemporary age, despite being plays on age-old Shakespeare characters - and the STEMinist romance that this book is marketed as felt true to its word. There was a decent amount of conversation around tenure and achieving tenure, in ways that felt realistic to an academia setting that was enjoyable.

How to Align the Stars by Amy Dressler is a refreshing twist on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, set against the backdrop of a quaint college town. Beatrice, an astronomy professor, is brilliantly juxtaposed with her whimsical cousin, Heron, weaving a tale of love, doubt, and self-discovery. Dressler’s writing is both smart and laugh-out-loud funny, particularly in the verbal sparring between Beatrice and Ben, the librarian she loves to hate. What I truly enjoyed about this book was its heart and humor; it’s a celebration of how opposites can indeed attract and the unexpected ways life can surprise us.

I really enjoyed this re-imagining of Shakespeare tales, it had everything that I was looking for and enjoyed how well everything worked in this storyline. The characters felt like they were supposed to and enjoyed how well the academic element worked with this universe. Amy Dressler has a great writing style and left me wanting to read more in this world.

Ever wondered what happens when a star-gazing prof falls for the campus librarian she can’t stand? 🌟 Meet Beatrice – she’s all logic, no love. But her cousin’s wild heart and a cheeky wedding plan are about to shake up her universe! 'ow to Align the Stars turned my beach day into a binge-reading session. Amy Dressler packs a hilarious punch with dialogues that zing and a story that wraps you up like a warm summer night. If you’re looking for laughs, love, and a few lessons in astronomy, this book’s got your name on it. Seriously, grab this gem and thank me later! 😜📚💖

I think this book was going in too many directions for me to grasp what was happening. I didn't like the style of storytelling, but I love this cover and concept. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I liked the premise of HOW TO ALIGN THE STARS; however, when it came to reading it, I found myself having a hard time caring about the characters and was hoping for more depth and chemistry particularly between Bea and Ben.. It didn't feel as much as a romance as it did more of a coming-of-age story for one of the main characters, Heron. Even though it wasn't my cup of tea, I can see others (especially around college-age) enjoying this new adult story..

Thank you to Egret Lake Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read-loosely based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. We follow the lives of cousins, Bea and Heron. Bea is a college professor, on track to get tenure and in her late thirties. She doesn't believe in love for herself and she especially doesn't believe in love with her old crush Ben, who happens to get a job as the librarian at the college she is teaching at. Heron is in her early twenties and is in her senior year of college. She is wholeheartedly in love with her boyfriend Charlie and does everything she can to make him feel supported, sometimes to the detriment of herself.

I love how this story addressed Heron’s struggle with anxiety and how she learned to be happy with her own company rather than relying on Charlie’s. Her journey was oh so satisfying!! Bea’s story was completely different. Bea learns how to open up her heart and share her life with another, not because she needs to but because she wants to. And dear sweet Ben was absolutely the guy to do that.

It seems like more of the storyline was devoted to Heron’s storyline but I was actually totally fine with that. I enjoyed the hell out of Heron and her journey of self worth. I would have loved more of Bea and Ben but, their ending? *Chef’s Kiss* I loved it!

Thank you to Egret Lake Books for practicing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

im usually a sucker for modern day retellings so i thought this book would be right up my street but unfortunately it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

i didn’t find myself caring about any of the characters so anything they did or the relationships they were building fell short for me and ultimately i just didn’t care about who ended up with who because there wasn’t a lot of chemistry on page.

the dialogue was very robotic and just didn’t flow naturally like an actual conversation should. the writing was disjointed at times and i think the book could have been cut down by 80/100 pages because it was just full of unnecessary backstory and lore about situations that didn’t really add to the plot of the story.

the only reason i didn’t dnf was because i hated charlie so much that i just wanted to see his downfall

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this arc