alexandria Bellefleur

Count Your Lucky Stars

Count Your Lucky Stars (Written in the Stars #3)

By: Alexandria Bellefleur

Blurb:

Margot Cooper doesn’t do relationships. She tried and it blew up in her face, so she’ll stick with casual hookups, thank you very much. But now her entire crew has found “the one” and she’s beginning to feel like a fifth wheel. And then fate (the heartless bitch) intervenes. While touring a wedding venue with her engaged friends, Margot comes face-to-face with Olivia Grant—her childhood friend, her first love, her first… well, everything. It’s been ten years, but the moment they lock eyes, Margot’s cold, dead heart thumps in her chest.

Olivia must be hallucinating. In the decade since she last saw Margot, her life hasn’t gone exactly as planned. At almost thirty, she’s been married… and divorced. However, a wedding planner job in Seattle means a fresh start and a chance to follow her dreams. Never in a million years did she expect her important new client’s Best Woman would be the one that got away.

When a series of unfortunate events leaves Olivia without a place to stay, Margot offers up her spare room because she’s a Very Good Person. Obviously. It has nothing to do with the fact that Olivia is as beautiful as ever and the sparks between them still make Margot tingle. As they spend time in close quarters, Margot starts to question her no-strings stance. Olivia is everything she’s ever wanted, but Margot let her in once and it ended in disaster. Will history repeat itself or should she count her lucky stars that she gets a second chance with her first love?

Review:

The first book in this series, Written in the Stars, blew me away. I was not expecting to love it as much as I did because of the astrology aspect, but it was wonderful. The second book, Hang the Moon, I didn’t like as much. It was a solid 3 stars, but honestly a bit boring. So, I wasn’t sure what I was going to get with Count Your Lucky Stars. I ended up not loving it as much as Written in the Stars, but it was better than Hang the Moon.

The romance this time is between two bisexual/pansexual women. They used to be high school best friends, things happened, and they hadn’t talked to each other in eleven years. Then they’re thrown back into each other’s lives and things start back up pretty quickly.

I was glad it didn’t take them long to get back together, but their main issue was lack of communication and those issues were not even touched on until near the end of the book. They both had feelings they weren’t expressing and were completely unable to read the other’s emotions. Plus, one of them avoided conflict to the point where she always took the easier route when it came to people. That drives me crazy. I don’t like conflict, but when people avoid it to this degree it’s annoying and I find it hard to sympathize with them.

Anyway, the intimate scenes in Count Your Lucky Stars were *fans self* incredibly hot. There were also several scenes that had me laughing out loud. If you’re hoping for a direct conflict with the ex, though, it’s not happening. There is a little bit of payback, but not enough to satisfy me.

The characters in the previous books are all present, but you don’t technically have to have read them to understand what’s going on. Since there are no more unattached people I assume that there will be no more books in this series. I would be interested in another series by Bellefleur, but she hasn’t made her way onto my immediately buy list.

4/5

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Written in the Stars

Written in the Stars

By: Alexandria Bellefleur

Blurb:

After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love—and the inevitable heartbreak—is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.

Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account, Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy… a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother—and Elle’s new business partner—expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because… awkward.

When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship.

But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?

Review:

I was not expecting to love Written in the Stars as much as I did. I figured if I were lucky, it would be cute, but I expected to be put off by the astrologist. As much as I enjoy looking at the occasional horoscope, it’s not something that I believe in. I expected Elle to be super flighty and borderline stupid. I had low expectations that Bellefleur would be able to sell the relationship. I was wrong.

Elle is an astrologist, but you never get the impression that she’s anything less than passionate, driven, and smart. She knows who she is as a person, and she likes herself. She does what makes her happy, and she’s found a way to make a living at it. She’s living the dream, except for being unable to find her soul mate.

Meanwhile, Darcy is two years out of a bad relationship. She’s closed herself off, and the last thing she wants is to fall in love. She keeps going on dates only because she loves her brother so much and wants to make him happy. Even that has its limits, though, and she convinces Elle that faking a relationship will help them both. If it weren’t for the obvious sparks flying between the characters, the fake relationship wouldn’t have worked because there was almost nothing in it for Elle.

They were beautiful together. In the In Death series, there’s an older couple, Dr. Mira and her husband, Dr. Mira (I don’t remember their first names, lol). They’re both brilliant but pretty different in personality. However, you never doubt how much they feel for each other. I could see Elle and Darcy becoming like them. It was adorable.

There is nothing on Goodreads about this being a series, but there were a couple of characters that could conceivably be written about, Darcy’s brother, Elle’s roommate, and Darcy’s best friend. I would definitely read them if they’re written. Especially since I’m hoping there’ll be peeks at Elle and Darcy. The book ended a bit abruptly, and I want to know more about what happens to them.

5/5

Currently Reading 02-01-21

I DNFd The Twelve Dates of Christmas, but I read almost half so I will be writing a blog post. Now I’m on to my last Christmas romance book.

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur sounds like it’s going to be an opposites attract romance with some fake relationship stuff. It sounds promising.

I’ve also started reading Stuff You Should Know by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant. I’m a fan of the podcast so when I saw this on the new nonfiction shelf at the library I picked it up. Already, I love the texture of the paper. (Yes I know I’m weird)