It’s going to be incredibly difficult for me to review what is possibly my favorite swoony read of 2021. Hang the Moon is a joyful and romantic breath of fresh air. If you’ve read Written in the Stars, then you already know that Alexandria Bellefleur is one of the most gifted debut romance authors of 2020, and with this book, she basically takes romance to a whole other level. I sincerely believe that this book is romance perfection. So, this will be a gushy raving review and I hope I’ll succeed in convincing you to give this book a read.

A HOPELESSLY ROMANTIC SIMP
I’ll be honest and tell you that the main reason I devoured this book was Brendon, the male MC. Over the years of reading romance, I’ve come to realize that my perfect fictional romantic interest is the cinnamon roll archetype. Brendon is most certainly a cinnamon roll and what’s more, he is a hopelessly romantic cinnamon roll. *swoons* He grew up loving love and the idea of romance – this is a man who loves his love stories, could recite romcom dialogues by heart, and has even gone on to create a successful dating app. He’s a complete simp, as the kids say, and he’s utterly charming. Therefore, there was no better person to show Annie, his older sister’s best friend, and his childhood crush, all about love and romance.

A GUARDED & VULNERABLE WOMAN WHO LEARNS TO OPEN UP
Annie isn’t sure if she believes Brendon. How could she when she has been burned too many times in the past? She’s just a bit guarded with her heart and her feelings because relationships haven’t always panned out for her because of her jet-setting career. I loved Annie’s character just as much I loved Brendon. Initially, I was a bit concerned that she would spend most of Hang the Moon actively resisting his wooing, but she proved me wrong by opening up to Brendon. She allows him in to her heart and shows glimpses of her vulnerability. I felt Annie’s fears and burdens so deeply it hurt at times.

A REALISTIC PORTRAYAL OF FRIENDSHIP
Her uneasiness about the growing physical distance in her friendship with Darcy felt uncomfortably real. It’s not easy having those conversations with friends, especially when they seem to be moving on with their adult lives and growing families, but they are important conversations to be had. I love how frankly Alexandria Bellefleur wrote the friendship between Annie and Darcy here. These two women harbor a deep love for each other. Though it may not have been the friendship they had years ago, they knew they could 110% count on each other.

THE LOW-ANGST ROMANCE IS THE STAR
If the friendship is that perfect, can you imagine just how flawlessly the romance is written in Hang the Moon? I appreciated that the romance remained optimistic and low-angst throughout most of the book. Brendon, being the sappy romantic that he is, wants to prove to Annie that romance is well and alive. He shows her all the romantic spots in Seattle and helps her discover the romantic in her. Gosh, I loved every single one of their dates and was basically a puddle of goo anytime Brendon declared any sort of romantic affection for Annie. After all of that, Annie simply couldn’t resist him and I’m so glad she went with his flow because she deserved to be loved as wholeheartedly as Brendon loved her.

I swear, I highlighted something on almost every page of Hang the Moon! Most importantly, I smiled my entire way through this book and wanted to hug it in the end. Even the conflict in this book felt authentic and fitting and not overblown just for the sake of a third-act breakup.

READ THIS BOOK, FRIENDS
In conclusion, I need you all to pick up Hang the Moon. It’s one of my top books of the year and I think we all deserve happy, serotonin-inducing, and swoony romantic reads. 🙂

This will post soon on Romance Reviews Today: http://romrevtoday.com/


HANG THE MOON – Alexandria Bellefleur
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06-300084-1
May 25, 2021
Romantic Comedy

Seattle, Washington – Present Day

Annie is at the crossroads of her life. Dissatisfied with her job in Philadelphia, she is on the brink of accepting a job promotion across the ocean in London. But first, she books a spur of the moment trip to her best friend in Seattle, with plans to spend two weeks with Darcy. Calling Darcy while in the airport, Annie learns that Darcy is in Vancouver, B.C. with her girlfriend for the long weekend. However, Annie can stay at her apartment and she will get Brendon (Darcy’s brother) to give her the key and let her in. While sorry she won’t get to see her bestie for a few days, Annie decides to enjoy her vacation anyway. Brendan offers to show her around Seattle.

Brendon is two years younger than Annie and he had a big crush on her when they were both younger. He runs a dating app site and believes in true love and devours romantic comedy movies. Annie is skeptical of love and relationships, so Brendon is determined to prove her wrong. He takes her on the best of the best of Seattle, where they get to know each other—and they begin to fall for each other. But Annie keeps her heart locked inside. Remember, real true love doesn’t exist, it only happens in the movies. Can Brendon get Annie to change her mind? What about her plans to move overseas? Will their buds of love turn into dead flowers?

HANG THE MOON revolves around the concept of romantic comedies, especially the ones based in Seattle. Brendon is determined to prove to Annie that it does really happen. She is skeptical yet goes along with his plans. They have several laugh out moments, such as their getting stuck on a roller coaster and Annie needing to use the bathroom facilities. It seems that just about every romantic gesture Brendon tries turns into a folly of some kind, but it always ends up with them growing closer. They can’t see it at first, but Brendon and Annie are slowly and surely falling in love with each other. She doesn’t tell him at first about her plans to move to London, but once she does, will he try to convince her to change them…and move to Seattle?

While HANG THE MOON focuses on Brendon and Annie’s romance, there are other characters who provide importance to the story. There is Darcy, the sister of Brendon, and Annie’s best friend since childhood. She is grinning as she watches her two favorite people dance around love. Darcy herself has recently fallen in love with Elle, so maybe they can provide a good role model. Margot works with Brendon and is there to act as his confidant. Will she advise him to reach for the stars when it comes to Annie?

HANG THE MOON is a sexy and enjoyable romantic comedy that will surely tickle the funny bone of readers. Grab a copy and prepare yourself to indulge in some fun reading.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

I read the author's earlier title earlier this year and enjoyed it very much. I was very eager to see where she went with Annie and Brandon's story. I enjoyed hearing their story and also getting snippets of Darcie and Elle throughout. The characters were lovable. I loved the buildup and wondering whether Annie would find a reason to stay in the country (though ultimately, it's not a big surprise what will happen). The love story was tender and sweet. I will definitely read the third book which I hear is coming out in the future.

3.5. This is a really sweet read about the growing attraction and romance between Brendon and Annie (who is bisexual, so plus one for that representation!), with plenty of Darcy/Elle cameos for those who read and enjoyed the first book in the series. The unrequited crush trope works fairly well here--there's just enough longing without it being creepy--and I liked Brendon and Annie together. I was, however, uncomfortable with the pacing. Even though Brendon and Annie met years ago, things moved VERY quickly. I also bristle whenever a character is coerced into making a major life change within, uh, a couple of weeks?

Read this if you're looking for something cute and light, enjoyed Written in the Stars, and don't mind any of the aspects I mentioned above.

I enjoyed Written in the Stars when I read it last year and was very much looking forward to its follow up, Hang the Moon, which I am happy to say was even more of a delight than its predecessor. Hang the Moon follows Brendon and Annie, the brother and best friend of Darcy from Written in the Stars. Annie comes to Seattle for two weeks to surprise Darcy and drop some big news: she got a promotion and she's moving to London in a month. But Annie first arrives, Darcy is out of town, so Brendon steps in to show Annie around town. As sparks start to fly, hopeless romantic Brendon tries his hardest to convince Annie, who is much more cynical when it comes to romance, to stay in town and give him and Seattle a chance.

What I really liked about this romance is how mature it is. The conflict between Brendon and Annie doesn't feel forced at all. Annie doesn't love her job, doesn't love Philly (where she currently lives) and doesn't particularly want to move to London, but the idea of giving up the stability all this offers and moving to Seattle is scary, even if it means being close to her best friend and allowing her fledgling relationship with Brendon a chance to grow. It's totally understandable to me that making such a huge decision after only a couple weeks in town is daunting, and I really empathized with Annie's struggles (and quite frankly, was sort of mad at everyone else for pressuring her so much to stay!). On top of all that, the romance here was just really great. Bellefleur writes tension and banter really well, and the steamy scenes were top notch. Brendon is also a sweet cinnamon roll and arguably is too perfect, but hey, isn't that what escapist romances are for? The only thing I didn't really like about this book was the very end itself. After a lot of discussion about adapting to speak your partner's love language, I feel like the end ignored all that growth. All in all, though, this is a fun summer romance and I'd definitely recommend it.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

This was delightful from start to end. It's very much a Characters Hanging Out kind of a book, but a good one if that's what you're looking for. You're rooting for the main couple the whole way through, and it's nice having Darcy, Elle, and Margot from the author's previous book along for the ride. The third-act breakup feels a little out of nowhere/there for the sake of being there, but I liked the place this ended.

This was such a sweet book, and I related to our female characters exhaustion with dating and inconsistencies in effort so much. I also loved that the male character was the more hopeless romantic in this case, as we don’t see that often. The conflict made sense, and I pulled for this couple throughout.

While Annie is in Seattle visiting her best friend Darcy, she spends time hanging out with Darcy's brother, Brendon. He's had a crush on Annie since they were teens, but now she starts to return his feelings. Trouble is, she's about to start a new job in London. Is she willing to give up everything to give their blossoming romance a try?

This is the second book in the Written in the Stars series, and it's another low-angst rom com. The conflict could be stronger, but it's a fun read with well-developed characters.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I loved this just as much as the first novel, Written in the Stars. I was so happy that this focused on Brendon and him finding happiness because he’s such a sweet cinnamon roll and deserved it so much! That epilogue 😍

I am super looking forward to Margot’s book!

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Annie is a traveling HR specialist who dreams of being a translator. She’s never put down any roots, and if her past dating experience has taught her anything, it’s that men always lose interest. Brendon is the creator of an up-and-coming dating app ... and he just so happens to be Annie’s childhood best friend’s little brother. While Annie is in town visiting his sister, Brendon makes it his mission to get Annie to start believing in love. As he recreates his favorite scenes from his favorite romcoms, Brendon learns that his childhood crush may become his happily ever after ... but only if he can convince her to stay.

I liked this book! Full disclosure: I didn’t read the first book in the series, but Hang the Moon can totally be read as a stand-alone. It’s a light and fluffy feel-good romance between two incredibly relatable main characters. What I liked most is the reversal of stereotypical gender roles in romance: Brendon is a Disney adult who loves the idea of love, while Annie is the skeptic. The plot was entirely predictable, but that’s didn’t make it any less swoon-worthy. Pick up this book if you need a quick an easy read that will make your heart do a little happy dance. 3/5 stars.

Annie is very successful and decides to visit her friend cross country in Seattle only to discover she's on holiday in Vancouver. Enter cute baby brother Brendon to come help out and show her stuff except now he's tall and muscular and very attractive.

I just loved the hilarious conversations they would have, the places they would go, then the Epilogue!! 😍😍

I definitely recommend this book made me have all the feels. There was a part there where they didn't think it would work and I felt like I had been broken up with, I hate that feeling but I felt so broken. I don't always get those impressions when reading through these books and I loved that I got an echo of that. The huge emotions are my favorite, aquarius here (not a cold emotionless monster). I rate off of emotions lol.

I had taken a picture but after reading I realized I had some of the things they talked about. Look for the Easter eggs in my picture lol. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥

Thank you net galley and avon books for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

I was late to the party in reading Written in the Stars so I jumped on the chance tonresd Hang the Moon early. I didn't think it would be possible to like it more but on my gosh, this is so good. I really loved Annie and Brendon (does anyone else picture him as Skylar Astin?)  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ just read this book!

Compared to Written in the Stars, I struggled to get into the story of Hang the Moon. I'm not entirely sure why it was a rocky start for me - maybe I just wasn't in the headspace for this one - but once I got into a groove, I did really enjoy it. Brendon is adorable, and I found Annie to be compelling (and loved the Greek-American representation!). I also loved seeing Darcy and Elle from the first book make some appearances. Overall, it was just a really delightful read.

This is the second book in Alexandria Bellefleur’s Written in the Stars series, and I do recommend reading the books in order if you’re interested in the first book, but this book can be enjoyed on its own.

I adored Brendon in the first book, so I was happy that he was getting his chance at love. He is such a sweetheart. I loved his geekiness and his big heart and his grand romantic gestures.

I had mixed feelings about Annie though. Who flies across the country to visit a friend with no warning first? Rude! She whines about people not making enough effort to get to know her and spend time with her, and then she admits that she’s been neglecting her best friend. Worse yet, she engages in one of my biggest pet peeves: making assumptions about other people without discussing her feelings with them. I understand why she’s behaving the way she does, but I desperately wanted to tell her to go get some therapy!

The best part of the book is definitely the banter between the primary characters, and their banter with friends. It was nice to see Darcy and Elle happy together, and to see Margot’s friendship with Brendon. I also appreciated the chemistry between Annie and Brendon. And as someone who has lived in Seattle for years, I enjoyed seeing some of the local landmarks featured.

Annie’s secretive behavior at the end annoyed me, but I am hopeful that she and Brendon will be happy together just as Darcy and Elle have been. Despite some frustration with certain characters’ neurotic behaviors, I look forward to reading Margot’s story in the next book, and seeing how the whole gang is getting along.

Thanks to Avon Books and Harper Voyager for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley, which I volunteered to review.

This is the second book in this series, and I adored the first book, Written in the Stars.

Brendon is completely, head-over-heels in love…with love. He even created a dating app to help people find their person. So when he meets up with his childhood crush, who he hasn’t seen in eight years, he’s determined to show her what wooing really looks like.

Annie is feeling a bit lost, she is in a job he doesn’t particularly love, and has just accepted a promotion because isn’t that just what you do? But she’s so busy with work she hasn’t connected with anyone in a long time, hell, she can’t even keep a house plant alive! But on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Seattle to visit her best friend she runs into Brendon (who happens to be her best friend’s brother) and boy oh boy has he grown up gooood.

As determined as Brendon is to get Annie to fall for him and stay in Seattle, she’s equally sure it’s a bad idea to get involved.

I had a really hard time rating this one, for several reasons. The author can really write, the book was super cute and honestly it was a pleasure to read. Plus, I always love a book set in Seattle. But nothing really interesting actually happens, and the characters are fairly unmemorable. I think if you asked me in a month to tell you about this book I’d remember the scene on the Seattle wheel and that’s probably about it. So that was a bit of a let-down. After loving Written in the Stars so much I had high expectations going into this one but afterward I sort of shrugged and said ‘well that was nice’ but it didn’t make me feel anything. I didn’t laugh, or cry, and there wasn’t anything unexpected at all.

Is it still worth a read? Absolutely. Like I said, the author can really write and it was overall a very cute book.

I read Written In The Stars last year and adored it so I was very excited to get approved for the sequel, Hang The Moon. Alexandria Bellefleur has succeeded in writing another funny, sexy, heartwarming romance!

This book had the sweetest romantic storyline and I loved Brendon's desire to prove to Annie that romance wasn't dead. Everything he did had me swooning. I also understood Annie's hesitancy and skepticism.

Hang The Moon had so many laugh out loud moments (The Big Wheel scene!!) that had me giggling throughout the whole thing. The author does funny banter so well!

I was so happy that Darcy and Elle from the first book played such a big role in this sequel. This can be read as a standalone, but it was really fun to be back in Darcy and Elle's life for a bit too. And I can't wait for Margot's story next year!!

To all the romance lovers, I definitely recommend getting this on your tbr!

4.5/5 stars

This was absolutely delightful, even more enjoyable than the first book! I felt like I related to Annie a lot and I really enjoyed this story and the characters. I 100% will continue reading books by this author - I really like her writing style!

Thanks to the publisher for sending me an e-ARC via Netgalley!

Thank you to Avon Books for my arc of this title. All opinions are my own.

One sentence review: I really enjoyed this romance between a dating app creator who believes strongly in love and his sister's best friend who travels all the time and is a love skeptic.

Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur is a sequel to Written in the Stars but can easily stand alone. The book centers around Brendon, a dating app creator who strongly believes that happily ever afters are attainable for everyone. The heroine is Annie, his sister Darcy's best friend, and the girl he has had a crush on since he was little. She is a HR specialist who travels the world troubleshooting for her company.

My thoughts:

- I loved the characters in this one. Darcy, Elle and Margot are all return characters from Written in the Stars and maintain the quirky personalities I loved so much in that book.
- The friendship between Darcy and Annie really was something special. I loved seeing the love and support these two had for each other.
- In the book Brendon introduces Annie to the Seattle area. I really enjoy the travelogue of places to see and things to do.
- These two don't necessarily travel a smooth path but for me that made the story feel realistic.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. If you are looking for a romance with likable main characters and quirky side characters - this would be a good one.

I couldn't put this down and read this in one day. Annie travels to Seattle for a surprise visit to her best friend, Darcy, and to let her know she's moving to London in a month. While there, she reconnects with Darcy's brother, Brenden. Brenden has always had a crush on Annie. A fanatic for rom-coms, he has made a business of love, having created a dating app. He decides this is his chance to finally woo Annie and convince her that they could be something for the long haul.

I really loved the feel to this story. Bellefleur's writing flows so well. The setting of Seattle is so much fun. There is banter between the friends in the book and I loved the shared history between Brenden and Annie. I appreciated Annie's feeling of caution and yet couldn't help falling for Brenden. His pure belief in love and romance was just so sweet. While I'm normally not a fan of insta love this felt more like a slow burn, considering they've known each other for so long, and I just couldn't help but swoon over Brenden's feelings for Annie. Their chemistry was amazing. I also really like the strong feelings and emotions that were brought up between Darcy and Annie. You could tell this was a deep and lasting friendship and it was nice to read that on the page and not just have the book solely cover the romance aspect.

This was my first book from Bellefleur and I've been hooked. I will be looking for more from this author in the future.

Who says romance is dead?!

This was such a delightful rom com that captured me right from the start and held my heart through the final chapters.

Brandon is a strong believer in romance. He has developed an app to help people find their true love. Only he is still looking for his.

When his sister’s best friend Annie shows up in Seattle. He is instantly smitten. Well it’s not a new crush. He has always been infatuated with her… since they were teenagers. And now the very beautiful adult Annie is right in front of him and he instantly knows she is The One.

Only Annie isn’t a believer in love and romance. Can Brandon win her heart in just the few weeks of her visit? Will love conquer all?

Set in the backdrop of Seattle Brandon shows Annie all the beauty of living in the Pacific Northwest. And having just recently visited Seattle I couldn’t agree more. It was fun to revisit all the touristy highlights with Brandon and Annie.

This is book two of the Written in the Stars series. And though I just jumped straight into book two, there is absolutely enough background information that I didn’t feel like I missed anything.

If you enjoy your rom coms slightly 🌶 🌶. This is the perfect read for you!

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Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC to read and review.