Title: We Are the Stars
Author: Teagan Hunter
Genre: NA Contemporary 16+
Release Date: February 16-18, 2017
The first time I saw Carsen Wheatley, I flipped him off.
The second time, I kneed him in the balls.
The third? I kissed him.
Why? Because Carsen needed it.
Angry and full of hate, Carsen is a lost soul, searching. Since the death of his mother, he’s cold and isolated, needing someone to fill the gap she left wide open, someone to kiss the anger from his soul.
That’s where I come in.
I’m restless, on the search for a new adventure, something to make me feel…well, anything. I’m certain I’ll find a permanent fix soon, but in the meantime, I have this summer job and Carsen to keep me going.
But the summer is only temporary, and so is the fix.
We are imperfect.
We are mismatched.
We are the stars.
We are the Stars by Teagan Hunter is a YA/NA standalone
romance told in dual point of view. I have never read anything by this author,
and I completely forgot what this story was about, so I had no real
expectations going into it. What I discovered was a heartwarming,
humorous, and emotional tale with endearing characters and a sweet romance.
Though this is a novella, it felt very much like a full length
novel to me. I never felt like I only got part of the story or that I didn’t have
time to connect with the characters. In fact, I was invested in the fate of the
characters right away and throughout the entire story.
Elliot is unsatisfied with most everything in her life. She
is just plain bored, unfilled, and in need of some excitement. Carson is going
through a dark time and just trying to make it day to day. His mother was
murdered by his father, and though he went to jail for his crime, the vast
majority of the public believes it was Carsen that was truly responsible for
his mother’s demise.
Elliot has never been one to care about the court of public
opinion, so when her best friend, Jase, tells her that Carsen is a murderer,
she promptly chastises him for making assumptions based on gossip. It isn’t as
if she is Carsen’s biggest fan considering she flipped him off the first time
he sent his signature scowl in her direction, but that doesn’t make him a
murderer. Unfortunately, Carsen overheard Jase’s declaration, and before Elliot
can apologize for her friend’s behavior, he’s gone.
The next day, Elliot reports to the first day of her summer
job at the bowling alley where she discovers that Carsen is her fellow
employee. After several snarky comments and an abundance of dirty looks, Carsen
appears to warm up to Elliot...that is until he goes into full on dick mode
resulting in Elliot’s knee firmly connecting with his balls. He later apologizes,
Elliot accepts, and their friendship begins.
Since this is a romance, you can probably guess that
eventually their friendship turns into something more. The problem is that it’s
something neither of them is quite ready for. The overwhelming desire they have
for each other overrides the voice of reason in their heads. Things between
them escalate quickly, but when reality smacks them in the face, they are forced
to face the truths they have been ignoring all along.
This book was difficult for me to rate and review. It started
out perfectly, but evolved into something different than I would have liked. The
beginning of the book was a 4.5, but the end turned out to be more like a 3. Unfortunately,
I can’t fully explain myself without giving away the whole ending and much of
the story. What I can say is that the author does something that seemed to
cheapen or diminish the character’s feelings for one another in my opinion. I
understood it. I just didn’t like it. I also didn’t enjoy what was done with
Jase’s character. Honestly, it didn’t really make sense to me, and he seemed to
just be randomly thrown into the story when they needed a catalyst for certain
events to take place. The ending left me wanting in both a good and bad way. I needed
more from it, because I care about the characters enough to want to know what happens
next. I really hope the author decides to write more about this couple in the
future.
Now that I got what didn’t work for me out of the way, I
want to talk about what did. The witty banter between all of the characters was
by far my favorite thing about this story. Teagan must be a really fun person
to be around, because the dialogue was hilarious! The relationship between
Elliot and her family was amazing. I could read about them all day long. Seriously,
I probably enjoyed reading Elliot’s interactions with her family as much as I
did her interactions with Carson. In fact, most of the secondary characters
were pretty fantastic. I would read a story about any one of them.
Despite any issues I had with the story, We are the Stars was
an addictive romance that held my interest from start to finish. The writing is
engaging, the story is interesting and well-paced, and the characters are easy
to fall in love with. I would recommend this to any fans of YA/NA romance.
I’m a romance cover artist by day and a writer by…well, every free moment I get. I currently live in North Carolina with my US Marine husband where I spend my days bugging him about getting a cat so our puppy won’t be alone (he keeps saying no). I survive off coffee, pizza, and sarcasm. When I’m not writing, you can find me binge-watching various TV shows, especially Supernatural. I like cold weather, I buy more paperbacks than I’ll ever read, and I never match my socks—unless they’re fuzzy.
I’m weird. It’s kind of my “thing.”
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