This was a fun read, but a bit predictable. If you are looking for something light, fun, and a bit steamy, look no further. I feel like this read very much like a YA novel, except for the sex scenes. The ending felt a little abrupt. It's interesting to see this being marketed as an ownvoices book...as it's not really clear what is meant by that. I can't tell from the author bio or website if the author is LGBTQIA+ identified. I am not trying to police anyone's identity, but I am very suspicious of the potential co-optation of ownvoices branding for white centered stories. This story centers two cisgender white women, one bisexual and one lesbian, but lacks diverse representation overall.

"Written in the Stars" is a very on-the-nose retelling of Pride & Prejudice as a sweet wlw romance. Readers will pick up on the retelling of Pride & Prejudice almost immediately; the Austen comparison is unavoidable. Character names are thinly veiled nicknames (Ellie and Darcy), and the general gist of the story has the same beats. That said, "Written in the Stars" is more than a simple rote retelling of a classic in modern times. The characters of Elle and Darcy are appropriately spirited, and the modern changes and graceful shifts in perspectives between Elle and Darcy both give a nice breath of fresh air in a well-known story.

Readers will enjoy this modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice; although it's mostly predictable, it's a fun and fast read and the modern updates to the retelling do add quite a bit. Recommended for readers of LGBTQ fiction, women's fiction, and romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC for an honest review.

Written in the Stars boasts to be a loose Pride and Prejudice re-telling, but I found that it only borrowed the personalities of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Darcy and Elle had very similar archetypes from their inspiration, but the story itself was very different. It wasn't at all original, but it was cute nonetheless. The chemistry between Darcy and Elle was obvious from the beginning, and as a reader, I couldn't wait to see how this fake relationship would morph into something real.

The characters themselves were very well written. They each have their moments where they absolutely shine and other times you kind of want to smack them upside the head. Even the secondary characters, Margot and Brenden were well fleshed out, and I'm excited to see where Alexandria takes Brenden's story. I hope Margot is part of that because I really liked her. She was such a great friend to Elle, and I'm so glad that we got a lot of scenes with them. I love when friendships aren't pushed to the side for romance. Even Darcy had her best friend, whose name escapes me right now (Annie?). Romance is great, but platonic relationships are important, too and they usually never get a lot of love. This wasn't the case with this book.

My biggest gripe was the pacing of this book. It starts off rather slow then we get about half way and BOOM, all systems go this is for real now! This also caused the conflict to appear somewhat contrived, because I honestly didn't believe Darcy and Elle were "in love" after a month and half. Elle was so hell-bent on finding her OTP and the love of her life, that she didn't really listen to what Darcy was saying. Also Darcy had every good reason to be cautious, especially after a bad break up. To expect her to fall head over heels for Elle was a bit far fetched. I actually sided with Darcy on this. Regardless, the conflict wasn't well written and then it was over. They confessed their feelings, or more so Darcy, and they were on their road to happily ever after.

All in all, this book was a joy to read and the perfect summer read despite the Thanksgiving/Christmas setting in the book. Definitely check it out when it comes out.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of “Written in the Stars” by Alexandria Bellefleur. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was such a cute read. A female/female romance with nods to Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones. There was fake dating and opposites attract and so much to love.

The book is told from the POVs of the main couple Elle and Darcy. Elle was immediately someone I had to root for. Darcy took me a little longer to warm up to so I’m glad her POV was provided to give some context to her often aloof and cold behavior.

Both Elle and Darcy had varying degrees of family drama and I loved seeing them grow together and relate and stick up for one another. I wanted the family issues to be dealt with more on page as a lot of things are addressed behind the scenes or, in the case of Darcy’s mother, not really wrapped up at all. The family dramas were so relatable and heartbreaking so I would have liked to see Elle especially get the acknowledgement from her family about how poorly they treat her either overtly or by ignoring the behavior of those who do. Another thing that was put aside was Darcy’s certification test. It was so important to her and the reason she didn’t have time or energy for a social life, but then we never got the resolution to that. Although it looks like Darcy’s brother Brendan will feature in the second book so maybe the results will be mentioned there? I hope Brendan also faces more consequences for his tendencies to stick his nose in other people’s lives.

There were so many cute scenes and settings in this story and I really enjoyed all the astrological elements. I will definitely be picking up the next book in this series.

4/5 stars

I was drawn in by P&P inspiration and the queer romance, but this was a little bit too rom-com for me.

I’m going to be honest, I saw the beautiful cover and the cute af title and was instantly sold. I was not disappointed!

Written in the Stars is a lighthearted queer romcom that starts with a first date from hell that turns into a fake dating ploy to get both Darcy & Elle through the holidays and to get their families off their backs. WITS is filled with tons of swoon worthy cuteness, intense heated moments, laugh out loud hilarity. Also, kudos needs to be given to WITS for not being all fluff—it touched on toxic familial relationships, as well as the fallout that divorce has on the children involved and how it shaped their lives.

I adored this book, and cannot recommend it enough!

Written In The Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur is a delightful sapphic holiday rom-com, hitting shelves just in time for the 2020 holiday season. {Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Publishing for my advance reader copy.}

“An astrologer and an actuary walk into a bar” sounds like the start of a bad joke--but for Darcy, it’s just the latest in a series of terrible blind dates her brother has sent her on. The date goes horribly, as expected, but she lies just to get him to quit. She doesn’t expect her lie to get back to Elle…

This one checked all my favorite boxes. Fake dating. Relationship rules. And feelings that slowly start to feel a little too real. I loved the connection between carefree Elle and uptight Darcy, despite all their differences. They balance each other in all the best ways. Bellefleur writes with humor and warmth, and I couldn’t help but root for them.

If you’re looking for a cute f/f romance to read over the holidays, put this one at the top of your TBR.

I loved the story, but the writing leaves a little bit to be desired. Every time the author used "ghosting" I cringed and there were bits that felt repetitive, I will have to read it again after it is published to see what, if anything, changes from the ARC to the final copy.

Having said that, I loved Elle. She unabashedly lives her life to the beat of her own drummer. Seeking her mother's approval, she went to college where she was on her way to earning a doctorate when a business opportunity reminded her what her true passion was. She became an astrologer and started a business with her best friend Margot. A business that became quite successful, thank you very much. Except her mother and sister always belittled her accomplishments because of the nature of her business.

Darcy knows what it is like to have her heart ripped to shreds and has avoided romantic entanglements ever since. Her brother Brendon, however, is an unabashed romantic who has created a very successful matchmaking app called OTP. He keeps arranging dates for Darcy and one of those dates was with Elle, who has recently inked a deal to be OTP's resident astrologer.

The date was a disaster and Elle flees mid-date. Darcy decides she is fed up with her brother's interference, but since Brendon doesn't take no for an answer, she lies and says she can't go on another dating adventure because things went well with Elle. Brendon sees Elle the next morning and expresses his delight that things worked out so well with his sister. Elle, who had been having breakfast with her mother at the time, is flabbergasted but does not contradict Brendon. Btw, wtf, Brendon? Do you even know if Elle is out to her family?

Elle decides to contact Darcy (in a textual exchange that is hilarious and telling) and they decide to fake date until after Christmas and, well, this being a romance, you can guess what happens.

I loved their dates and Elle's over-the-top exuberance when juxtaposed with Darcy's more reserved gestures. I especially enjoyed the fact that their chemistry was obvious from their first scene together put they had to work hard to dampen the flames... until they were consumed by their passion. And even though I was expecting something to break up their bliss, it is a romance novel after all, the scene where they "break up" was brutal to the point where I felt their pain.

Bellefleur is definitely an author I will keep an eye out for in the future.

A loose reinterpretation of Pride and Prejudice – the characters are more archetypal than direct representations of Austen’s  –  Written in the Stars is a fun, light-weight and light-hearted romp through the worlds of two Seattle women who find love together in spite of themselves.

Elle Jones is on a blind date.  A blind date set up for her by her friend, Brendon Lowell, who was so eager to get his sister Darcy in on the game he didn’t realize that perhaps it would be a good idea to give Elle a description or a picture of her intended.  Darcy turns out to be the woman Elle mistook for a hostess at the bar where they’re meeting, and the rest of the date becomes an awkward nightmare which embarrasses Elle and leaves Darcy swearing she’ll never go on a blind date at her brother’s behest again.

Elle is a bubbly, free-living extrovert of an astrology addict who works at a metaphysical bookshop and runs a popular astrology-centered Twitter account.  Actuary Darcy is an extremely ordered introvert devoted to the soap opera Whisper Cove who Just Wants to be Left Alone after a nasty break-up drove her to live in Seattle.  Which is why she lies to Brendon that the date went well.  Which means Brendon burbles to Elle about how excited he is that Darcy likes Elle and now they can all double date together with him and his husband.  Which means Elle has to confront Darcy about her lie. The two agree to fake-date to get out of the situation, as Elle and Brendon are brand-new business partners on top of it all, with Elle providing horoscope-based matchmaking advice and quizzes for his dating ap.

Their limited fake-dating relationship will span the holidays so Elle won’t have to deal with her disapproving family alone,  and end on New Year’s Day, but it has its complications.  For fake-dating leads to real feelings, and then Darcy and Elle must figure out how to navigate a situation that’s rapidly getting out of control.  Is it real love, or is it just impulse?

Sometimes, you just want to read a fun romance novel, and Written in the Stars is that.  Gooey with kindness and affable as a puppy, it’s a warm, near-perfect sink into a sweetness and light.

You may have seen these kind of archetypes and this kind of romance before (hint: the grumpy one is soft for the sunshiny one), but you’ve never quite seen it written the way Bellefleur does it.  The result is sweet and breezy and generally easy to read (though I hope the book’s point of view shifts – the main reason this doesn’t get a full on A grade - are sorted and before the book is released).

Darcy and Elle are both likable, and their romance is spicy-sweet and wonderful to follow.  The Seattle setting is generally credible – but on the other hand it never rains, not once, during the course of the book – odd for one set in the winter within the Pacific Northwest!

There are some fine supporting characters on deck as well – eternal romantic and optimist Brendon, the girl’s incredibly dichotomous parents, and I liked Margot, Elle’s roommate/best friend, who is sardonic where Elle is not.

Overall, the book is a sweet little romantic romp that’s a perfectly cozy holiday season read.

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent bookstore
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Written in the Stars is everything you could ever want from an enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, Pride and Prejudice inspired book.

Elizabeth (who goes by Elle) and Darcy are complete opposites. The only thing they have in common is that they want their families to get off of their backs about dating someone. So after a complete disaster of a first, blind date that Darcy lies to her brother about, they hatch a plot: they’ll pretend to be dating until New Year’s Eve. They’ll go to events together to appease their families, and cut it off. No harm, no foul. Except… what if that spark they both felt on that disastrous date flames into something more?

While it doesn’t seem like Elle and Darcy would make a good couple, they really do. They balance each other out. Where Elle is carefree and living on the edge, Darcy plans and is cautious. Elle makes Darcy more adventurous, and Darcy helps Elle settle down a little. One of my favorite things was how Elle helped Darcy take pride in fandom instead of being ashamed by it. I also loved that these are women in their late 20s who still love fandom and fanfiction! So many of the books out there that are love letters to fandom are about teenagers, so seeing older fandom members represented was beautiful.

I also loved how Written in the Stars portrays success. While Darcy is more conventionally successful, a large focus of the book is also on how Elle is successful even though she has taken a different path through life. It shows that if you follow your heart, you’ll find whatever success means to you.

While the book is mostly happy, fluffy, and romantic, it also manages to approach the topic of toxic family members, and in my opinion, it deals with it successfully. I wish we had just gotten a little bit more closure on both of their relationships with their mothers. It seems like the book brought up possible plot points, used them for the romantic scenes that could come after, and then sort of… left them without fully dealing with the repercussions of them.

I also wanted to take a quick moment to discuss the relationship between Darcy and her younger brother, Brendon. As a product of divorce, and as someone with an older sister who took care of her for years, I was able to relate to them and their struggles. Often people will ask how me and my sister are so close, and they don’t understand how divorce could bring people together in such a way. But reading about Darcy and Brendon’s relationship felt like reading about my sister and I’s relationship.

While astrology plays a large part in Elle’s story, I was still able to enjoy the book even though I don’t know much about astrology. And while this book does take place over the holidays, I would not categorize it as a holiday book.

Overall, this book is amazing. It is a breath of fresh air. I hope you all love it as much as I do.

What might appear to others as women dating, may not be what is the truth at all. Darcy and Elle had an awful first date. However, when Darcy's brother asks about her date with Elle, she tells him it went well. Only thinking he would lay off finding her blind dates to set her up on. What she didn't know was Elle is his new business partner. She has to beg Elle to play along. What Darcy doesn't know is that Elle already likes her. Will this fake relationship turn into a real one or end with no one being the wiser?
The only fault I found in this book was that the emojis were not clear. It appeared that they were stretched to fit but instead they look like a bold line.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

WRITTEN IN THE STARS is a fake dating sapphic romance. It packs some heat, plenty of swoony moments, and is frankly hilarious. I adored Bellefleur's sense of humor. This novel also features a kind of average meet that you don't see a lot in romances, a family member/friend set up. Mind you, the blind date goes horrifically wrong, but it's still wonderful to see a mostly average meet-cute.
I have a hard time coming up with criticisms for this novel. I feel the characters acted appropriately, Bellefleu's writing style was wonderful and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Darcy, an actuary with a bruised heart is about to leave the restaurant when Elle, an astrologist who believes in true love, arrives late. Wine is spilled. Darcy vents in the bathroom. Elle overhears and leaves. Once everyone's home, Brenden, Darcy's younger brother and Elle future business partner, tries to stong arm Darcy into speed dating. Darcy lies and tells her brother things went wonderful, that she has feelings for Elle. She swears him to secrecy but Brenden can't keep his trap shut. He runs into Elle and her mother at brunch and spills the beans, forcing Elle to go along with this little lie.
Of course, there's a confrontation and they begin fake dating through the holidays to dodge the familial pressure that both of them feel.

I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley, but I plan on pre-ordering this novel. Five stars, I adored it.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. I was thrilled that there was a happy ending. I am glad that the characters discovered they were interested in one another early in the book, so we could have more romance. I felt it was easy to identify with both of the characters. I really like that Darcy was clumsy while she was in love. It was charming to see a nerdy character in a romance. I think it was great to see Darcy`s brother be so supportive of the relationship.

This was a fun read. I really enjoyed both of the main characters and the way the author wove in their family backstories to their current feelings about romance and life partnerships. It was super timely to tie in Elle's love of astrology with all the AstroPoet devotees out there and I enjoyed reading all the meme lists Elle created. I wish the book has included more of Darcy's work life, too. But overall love this f/f romance, which is so necessary and needed! A sweet story many rom-com fans will love.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Opposites attract.

Opposites form an unlikely alliance to manage family interference and judgement of their lives.

Opposites fall in love, but Darcy is so afraid of being hurt, it cripples her blossoming relationship with Elle.

The book takes you through how family drama and judgement affects your adult relationships.

A good story for a lazy weekend read.

After a series of unsatisfactory dates, Elle (Elizabeth) is looking for someone special, and her friend Brendan thinks she needs to meet his sister, Darcy. (Elizabeth and Darcy--that sounds familiar.) Their first date is a disaster, with astrologer Elle showing up late, annoying the punctual actuary Darcy, and spilling wine all over Darcy's dress. Brendan will keep setting up dates until his sister meets someone, so the two very different women who don't like each other very much decide to pretend to be in a relationship. If you have ever read a romance, you can guess how that will end. A cute, if predictable story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is a super strong opposites-attract meets fake-it-til-you-make-it love story. I was most enthused by the acceptance of bisexuality - there was no bi-erasure to be seen in this same-sex romance! I also have to congratulate the author for identifying the most difficult physical reminder of another person - glitter will be with us forever!

This book is an amazing romance and hooks you in right from the beginning. With the point of view switching between the two main protagonists, Elle and Darcy, you are immediately pulled into their world and get to see how they each view the other. These two perspectives are amazing because they are such different and interesting people (Elle being a messy, creative astrologer and Darcy a more organized actuary who doesn’t believe in astrology). The structure of the story itself is perfectly crafted. There is the disastrous first date, which is even better being able to know Darcy and Elle’s distinct impressions from it. The seed of tension and romance is planted right from that first meeting, and you find yourself reading page after page in an urge to watch it grow. And it is BEAUTIFUL.

Perhaps the best part of the story are the small details that enhance characterization while carrying on the theme of stars/space and the “opposites attract” trope. The outfits Darcy and Elle wear, where they live, EVERYTHING is written painstakingly with their personality and the aforementioned themes in mind. The other characters in the story such as Darcy’s brother and Elle’s best friend are not simply side characters, they play an essential part in the story without taking away from the main romance story being told. I found myself getting excited when these other characters appeared, and wanting to know more about them and what their future holds. I also love how the relationships in this story are not perfect. Family, friends, etc, they have their issues and everyone in the book has flaws, but it never reached the point of no return as some relationships do in stories, where they become so toxic you wonder what the point is. No, these struggles the characters face in various relationships are extremely relatable and believable and add to the magnificent characterization seen in this story.

I’d also like to add that the humor in this story is genuinely funny. I am not one to laugh easily while reading, but the dialogue in this was so good that I laughed out loud several times. The dialogue not only flows well, but is a joy to read. This is simultaneously a light-hearted and deeply loving book, and I recommend to anyone and especially those looking for a beautiful and entertaining sapphic romance. I am looking forward to more from Alexandria Bellefleur, as I know from this book that she is a great and intelligent author.

Written in the Stars creates a loose f/f romance connection to Pride and Prejudice via the names and personalities of its protagonists. Elle is an astronomer turned successful social media astrologer looking for "the one;". Darcy is a buttoned up actuary who has been burned by love. What starts as a "fake date" turns into a complicated relationship between two believable modern characters. Will they make it? It might be written in the stars.

Elle Jones is free-spirited social media astrologer looking for her soul mate. Darcy Lowell is a serious actuary for who's more than a little skeptical when it comes to love. Even though the two had a completely terrible blind date, Darcy lies to her brother, Brendon (the matchmaker & Elle's business partner), and tells him that she and Elle hit it off, hoping that will buy her break from his persistent efforts to help her find love. Seeing this as an opportunity to have a buffer against her own judgmental family at Thanksgiving, Elle agrees to a fake relationship.
***
This was such a smart, sexy, sweet rom-com, and I absolutely loved the shoutouts to Pride & Prejudice and Bridget Jones. The character Elle was so charming, and anyone who has ever felt like the odd-woman out (amongst family or friends) will completely relate. Darcy is very much like her namesake, a little stuck-up and pretentious on the surface, but affectionate, loyal, and caring at her core. I also ADORED Elle's best friend, Margot - she's feisty and a fierce friend.
***
Written in the Stars is a delightful, I-can't-put-it-down-and-it's-now-3am-and-I-have-to-work-tomorrow-but-it-was-totally-worth-it read! :] Looking forward to Brendon's story next!