Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 29 Aug 23
Star Shine Meadows is definitely a product of her hippie parents. She juggles her two jobs, a character actor and standing in line for anything and everything someone else thinks they don’t have the time for, and has a blast doing so. Some grumpiness is about to invade her world and her need to be free in her own way pulls her in different directions, most of which she isn’t happy about. But that grump? He’s a whole ‘nother story, as far as Star is concerned.
Rafe Whitman is a stand-up guy, a veterinarian, and tired of his family trying to fix him up with the perfect woman. When he meets
Star at his niece’s princess-themed birthday party, he’s not impressed. He can’t understand someone who has no ambition beyond dress-up and freedom at all costs. They go their separate ways, and that’s the end of that. Isn’t it?
But they meet up again, and we see how opposites attract, despite their best efforts to keep that at bay. Eventually, after they’re able to have a discussion or two, they agree Star will be Rafe’s pretend girlfriend to hopefully keep his mother and sister-in-law off his back about getting married. She gets big bucks to finally do that traveling she’s always wanted to do. But slowly the relationship transitions through every emotion possible, something Samantha Young gets right every time.
I so enjoyed how Rafe begins to defend Star and her decisions in life. He becomes a more stand-up guy the better you get to know him. And Star Shine is absolutely fun and heart wrenching at the same time, when you learn more about her parents and their seeming disinterest in her. Suddenly Rafe sees her in the light of love, and changing her mind about feelings and romance is priority number one.
Once again, Ms.Young gives readers the perfect road to romance with characters who will steal your heart and never let go. This story is absolute perfection of why Samantha Young is a favorite of mine and I anxiously await each of her books.
Grade: A
Summary:
Star Shine Meadows is all about freedom, thanks to the hippie parents who raised her. Juggling her jobs as a professional costume character actor and a line sitter, she believes in no expectations, no stressful ambitions, and no-strings-attached relationships. So when she meets a birthday girl’s grumpy uncle while working a princess party, she can’t help but needle him. She’ll never see him again, and honestly, he’s pretty hot.
Rafe Whitman may be a veterinarian with a great bedside manner, but that doesn’t mean his patience extends to anyone with opposable thumbs. His family will not stop nagging him about finding “the one,” so when he runs into obnoxiously cheery Star again, he makes her an offer: He’ll pay her more than she would make doing her odd jobs if she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at family gatherings. She can stop sitting in line waiting for someone else’s new phone, and he’ll get his family off his back.
When the tension between them heats to a breaking point, Star’s desire for “no strings” is tested against Rafe’s staunch stability. They say opposites attract, after all….
No excerpt available.
