Beatriz Williams is an auto-buy author for me, and has been ever since I read Tiny Little Thing. Under the Stars is yet another of Williams' novels that doesn't disappoint (and look for the cameo appearance of Tiny Little Thing in the story). While Audrey and her mom return to Winthrop Island for personal needs, it sets into motion an enveloping series of events that bring history and their future all together. Written in three timelines, Williams does a beautiful job of seamlessly dovetailing all the stories and events into one cohesive and enjoyable story. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to pre-read and review this novel.

I read another of Beatriz books and loved it. This one didn’t disappoint. She has a way of wrapping you up in the story and transporting you into their lives. So great!

Book review 📖

📜Under The Stars
✍️Beatriz Williams
📠Random House/Ballantine
📚Historical Fiction
🗓️Pub date: July 29, 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @randomhouse @ballantinebooks for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨Audrey Fisher has always tried to escape the shadow of her mother’s celebrity status and pave her own stardom as a world-class chef. Meredith Fisher is trying to escape the tragic accident that will mark the end of her career. Together they land on Winthrop Island to try and recoup Meredith’s comeback.

✨Finding items and paintings in a wooden chest in their rented cottage, Meredith and Audrey seek to uncover secrets tied to the island, including an 1890 shipwreck of a luxury steamship, The Atlantic, and the mysterious disappearance of a woman on board.

✨Spanning centuries and the destinies of three women, Under The Stars is an epic tale of mothers and daughters, family secrets, and love lost and found.

✨I love Beatriz William’s voice and will never hesitate to pick up any of her memorable books. This was slower moving than some of her others, which took me a bit to get into, but like any of her stories, so well told.

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Thank you to Net Galley and Ballantine books for an ARC of this book!

I love anything Beatriz William's and her trio of authors publishes so I am probably a bit biased. This book is a standalone historical fiction, however it is more enjoyable if you have read more of her novels. Under The Stars is best read after William's three other novels set on the fictional Winthrop Island (The Summer Wives, The Beach at Summerly, and Husbands and Lovers). There are also so many easter eggs references other works. Overall, the story has elements of romance but I think the predominant theme is dysfunctional families and the drama that can impact generations.

I usually love Beatriz Williams' books and was so excited to read the NetGalley ARC for Under the Stars. However, I had to officially DNF at around 30% due to the vulgarity and constant sex talk. I really don't remember her other novels being THIS brash with the F word and so many sex scenes. Maybe I'm too big of a prude now haha, but I just couldn't get into it with the vulgarity. Was not interested at all. I didn't even have a chance to figure out the connection between the two main timelines (they seemed SO disjointed and I was extremely bored with the Atlantic storyline).

First let me say, I am a Beatriz Williams fan. I read all her books, and this was the first one that I DNF'd. There were too many storylines in three different timelines to keep up with, and then Audrey does some things that it doesn't seem would fit her character to do, and I just couldn't care any more what happened to her, let alone her annoying mother. Not worth my time.

“Under the Stars” by Beatriz Williams is a story that takes place on an island where the rich and famous spend their summers and shipwrecks are the historical legacy. It is told by 3 women over 3 centuries and features mysterious paintings, an actress struggling to overcome addiction with her estranged daughter as her minder, unbridled romance and a shipwreck all intertwined.
I am a fan of this author and have enjoyed her books in the past, this just didn’t work for me.
I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and became distracted by characters from a past novel suddenly appearing in this story. The ties between the many characters finally came together but it took me way too long to get there. The mystery around the paintings was clever, but the book was more of a romance driven mystery than a compelling historical fiction. I think this would be a great beach read for many readers looking for a romantic sexy novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I've enjoyed many of Beatriz Williams' books in the past so was thrilled to get a copy of Under the Stars. The story centers around three women and how they maneuver through their lives. Along the way, there's ex-husband drama and some unusual twists. I found the characters to be boring and unlikable. I wasn't particularly interested but did finish the book. It wasn't a favorite.

⭐️: 4/5

I’ve really enjoyed almost every Beatriz Williams book I’ve read, which is why she’s an auto buy author for me. It’s almost hard to rate them anymore, since I’m so familiar with her writing style and storytelling, so each and every one is enjoyable. So while this was not one of my absolute favorites by her, it was a really good read, and I enjoyed it without reservations.

I have to admit, I am more familiar with the Schuyler family tree and lineage than the population of Winthrop Island, so I’m sure I was missing a few connections here. I loved that the main characters from Husbands and Lovers, which is one of my all time favorites by Williams, featured prominently in this one as well.

There’s something about the voice that she gives at least one of her main POV characters in each book that really does it for me, and this time it was Audrey. While I really enjoyed Meredith’s story too, Audrey’s was my favorite POV. I didn’t love the Providence Dare sections, but I think I just wasn’t really invested in that aspect of the story, since we were finding everything out in tandem in the more present day chapters. I also just didn’t love her narrative voice.

The plot really gets going toward the end of this book, when all the storylines start to come together and create tension and drama. It’s a typical Beatriz Williams genre-bending journey that I loved reading, and couldn’t put down once I got invested!

Thank you to @netgalley and @ballantinebooks for providing this eARC for my review!!

With Under the Stars, Beatriz Williams returns to Winthrop Island, delivering another lushly atmospheric, intricately layered tale of love, legacy, and long-buried secrets. All the things I love about her earlier books are here—complicated women, sweeping historical threads, slow-burn romance, and an island setting steeped in the past.

The narrative orbits three women across two timelines. In the present day, we meet Audrey Fisher, a chef determined to define herself outside the glamorous shadow of her mother, Meredith Fisher, a faded screen legend now battling addiction and the scars of a traumatic past. The two reluctantly return to Winthrop Island for the summer, where Meredith is supposed to get sober and where Audrey discovers mysterious paintings in the cellar of her father's dive bar.

Threaded through the story is an historical narrative that begins aboard the doomed (and real-life) steamship Atlantic in 1846. Providence Dare, an assistant to a famous painter who is fleeing scandal in Boston, becomes entangled in a deadly cat-and-mouse chase with the detective who suspects her of the painter's murder. As the ship struggles against a violent storm off the coast of Winthrop Island, Providence’s choices ripple forward through generations.

As some reviewers have noted, the characters are all difficult to like at first, but they grew on me and by the end, I stayed up late to finish the second half of the book. In short: I loved it. Highly recommend.

Dual timeline story that takes place on Winthrop Island. In the modern day storyline, a mother and daughter return to the island and find old paintings in a trunk in the basement, painted by an artist in the 1800s. The earlier timeline is a diary of the model in the paintings who was in a shipwreck off the island in 1847. The novel explores the connection between the families.

Three different timelines are woven together in this book that centers around famous actress Meredith Fischer and her daughter Audrey, who return to Winthrop Island so Meredith can stay sober. Maybe it's because I read this on the Kindle, but I had trouble figuring out/keeping straight the connections. A few characters from previous books set in the same location make an appearance. Overall, this didn't feel as cohesive as it could have, and I'm left with questions. I also got sick of Meredith always calling Audrey "honeybee."

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I finished the book unsure if I actually liked it. The story itself was what I enjoyed, which is odd because every character is just awful. They all have messed up pasts that leave them confused about love and life.

Also, this book is full of the F-word. I don’t usually mind swearing, but this felt excessive, like a kid just learning the word and trying to wedge it into every sentence, whether it fits or not.

There’s a dual timeline, and within each one, it jumps abruptly to flashbacks explaining why the characters are the way they are. It was a lot of time jumping for me.

That said, I did like the story overall and how completely messed up the characters were.

Beatriz Williams is the master of engrossing family sagas and Under the Stars is no exception. This dual-timeline, dual POV story moves along rapidly with a ribbon of historical fiction entwined with several mysteries and love stories. A great summer beach read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Told from the voices of three women over nearly a three-hundred-year period, Under the Stars is the story of Winthrop Island, where shipwrecks are the legacy and where the rich and famous retreat for summers, or more, to recover from their hectic lives.
Peppered with excerpts from accounts of the sinking of the Steamship Atlantic in 1846, this story is a story of recovery. Audrey Fisher has been summoned to her famous actress mother’s companion as she dries out enough to act in an important, to her, role. She’s an alcoholic, and Audrey is her only child, and their relationship is as rocky as the New England coast. She’s also a professional chef whose husband has betrayed her professionally and personally.
Audrey merely has to survive on the island where she was born, and then she can deliver her mother to Hollywood, and get on with her life.
Only, there are complications. People who turn up dead. Beloved, estranged, father’s whose dive bar is in dire need of fresh life. And then there are the men.
It’s a wonderful, can’t put down, read, perfect for summer reading on the Cape or any other body of water you choose. You are going to want to swim with these characters!
Under the Stars will be released July 29 by Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a great kick off for Summer 2025.

What a story! I’m not going to lie. It took me awhile to get into it. There are a couple of stories being told with flashbacks and current. One is the story of a shipwreck off Winthrop Island. Then there is the story of Meredith Fisher and her daughter, Audrey. There are so many intertwined lives! But basically it’s a story of family, revisiting your past, and looking at the future.

DNF unfortunately. Too many storylines and characters to keep track of, and bounce back and forth too quickly for me.

Beatriz Williams is a go to author for me. I have read many of her books. I love coming back to Winthrop Island. It is right in my own backyard as I live on Long Island not too far away. It was wonderful meeting some characters from her other books.
This book has an interesting dual time. In the present we meet Meredith Fisher a renowned actress who is recovering from alcoholism. Her daughter Audrey is in charge of her detox. They have come back to Grey Friars the family home. Neither of them have been there for several years. Meredith and Audrey have always had a difficult relationship.
Audrey also has problems as her husband has left her and took everything of value with him. I loved how when Meredith’s films were discussed the titles were from previous books by Beatriz Williams.
The present story goes back and forth between 1993 and 2024.
Meanwhile back in 1846, Prudence Dare boards The steamship Atlantic. She is trying to escape a murder charge for the murder of her employer, Henry Irving, the famous painter. The Atlantic was a steamship built by Cornelius Vanderbilt for transportation for the rich. There was an explosion on the ship leaving it without power. The ship was wrecked near what is known as Fishers Island.
Back in the present time, Audrey finds an old wooden trunk filled with old paintings. Who was the beautiful woman in the painting’s and why were they on Winthrop Island?
This story was beautifully woven together. I enjoyed it very much. I would have liked to have read more about the ship in the story.
Wonderful Historical Fiction
Thank you to Ballantine Books/Random house and Net Galley for this advanced readers copy.

Beatriz Williams will always be one of my absolute favorite authors! This one, like her previous one (Husbands & Lovers), has a little more spice and edge than her older books, but I think it just makes them feel slightly more modern and current with 2025. It's definitely still got historical fiction going on (I love learning about actual historical events while reading novels), but also a handful of love stories as well. This one felt like it had more than her normal amount of perspectives/timelines (it was really 3 with mom/daughter/providence) and I had to concentrate a tiny bit more, but really her writing is just awesome so I enjoyed every minute of being carried through their lives and seeing how they were intertwined. I LOVE that BW always ties in previous characters - SO FUN!! And I loved the nod to her writing pals, the 3Ws.