Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Book Review: Starlight Nights

I'm trying to stay on top of my monthly book subscription box books, but I am failing miserably. It's out of control yet I can't stop myself. I want them ALL.

Starlight Nights - Stacey Kade

At twenty-three, Calista Beckett is trying to overcome her early fame and fortune. The former savior of the world on Starlight is now a freshman at college--miles away from L.A. and her former existence. She sees it as her start to a new life, a normal life, one where she won't make the same mistakes she made before--a brush with heroin addiction and losing her freedom to her controlling mother, thanks to a court order.

Eric Stone played her older brother, Byron, on Starlight. But she's been in love with him pretty much since they kissed--her first kiss--while auditioning. When Eric shows up on campus out of the blue asking her to return to California for a role, Calista's struck immediately by two things: first, in spite of everything that's happened, she still feels something dangerous for him, and second, she's absolutely determined not to let him ruin her life again.

Only Eric's not giving up so easily.

I have to be honest and tell you that had this not come in my PageHabit box, I wouldn't have chosen this one to read. It comes in at almost 400 pages and honest to goodness, at least 100, maybe 150 pages of it could be written out. It's so slow to start that I almost put it in the DNF pile, but I wanted to read the annotations and understand why they were there.

In this book we have a really hard to like heroine, Calista, and easier to like Eric. Both were actors on a hit TV show back in the day, they had a tragic falling out involving another actor on the show, and because neither one of them have any kind of maturity or communication skills, they go years without talking. Until Eric branches out on his own and is making a web series from a book that Calista loves, and he wants her for the lead. Only she isn't acting anymore but doesn't really seem sure about being in college and all of that. Throw in an over the top stage mom (Calista's) and an asshole dad (Eric's), and you've got more drama than even necessary. This is a follow up book to 738 Days, which I hadn't read but didn't need to because it was all recapped in this one.

Overall I'm giving this one a solid two stars. It was alright. It wasn't great, it's not one I'd read again, and it's not one that I would buy for my friends, but I wouldn't stop them from reading it. The book does have a sweet ending and once their romance gets going (almost towards the END), it picks up in interest.

  


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