Starstruck

**Chef's Kiss**

This was just delicious - exactly what I expected. A cute, funny, light-hearted romance with a little spice sprinkled between the pages. ❤️

If you're looking for a super sweet, light hearted romance, with a tiniest bit of on page spice. This is for you! (and by tiny - I mean, about half a paragraph ♥️)

Celebrity x Aspiring Actress with a contract that could make or break their relationship.

Aspiring Actress Katherine (Kat to her friends) Caplan is defeated! Her relationship just ended, her 'boss' is a demanding jerk and career is going no-where. Little does she know, one wrong turn could be the greatest mistake of her life.

Enter James Everrett, leading man on Starlight Productions latest movie <i> Under Violet Skies</i>. Being famous has it's perks, but for James, the limelight isn't something he seeks. Desparate to get to the end of his movie and reach new management status in his family's company, his plans are derailed when he meet's a tearful PA at the back of the studios.

Kat and James are both incredibly wholesome characters, I loved watching them realise they could be themselves around each other, and allowing themselves to heal (and the late night phone calls ignited a hint of nostalgia of being young and in love)

"You have always deserved someone who puts your first and makes you feel seen and heard and love."

There’s just something about the MMC saying”my girl” that literally makes me swoon. This book was so good I read it in one sitting. I loved how protective and supportive James was. Everything about this story was amazing and I definitely can’t wait for the next book! If you love forbidden romance, secret relationship, celebrity romance, dual pov, and HEA then you should add this to your TBR list!

I'm going to start this review out by saying that for a debut novel, this is a fantastic start. The story is well written and the characters are fleshed out well. The tropes are well represented and well done. The plot moves along at a proper pace and the supporting characters succeed in their job. Knowing that Roman is the center of the next book, I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit more of him here though, but I look forward to it nonetheless. I was provided this ARC in exchange for my honest review and it was honestly a pleasurable read.

I loved everything about this book and I could not put it down!

Starstruck is a dual POV romance between Kat and James and it is the perfect combination of plot, sweet moments and spice! I found Kat to be so relatable and loved how supportive and caring James was. I was so invested in their love story, I read this cover to cover in one sitting! If you like celebrity romance, secret relationships, Hollywood romance, hidden identities, or just a swoony love story with some spice, you definitely have to give this a read! I cant wait for Roman & Clover’s story next!

Thanks Netgalley, Flower & Bear books, and Ivy for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

If you are someone who loves early 2000s rom-coms this is a book for you. This book brought back a lot of nostalgia in the pacing and trying to decide what each character wants. Kat was such a real character dealing with heartbreak and confusion about life in your 20s and feeling like you’re starting over. James was such a sweetheart and though he had his issues I’m glad that he wasn’t “perfect” throughout the book. The side characters were also incredibly loveable and I cannot wait to see what future books will hold.

Thank you to Flower & Bear Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Starstruck in exchange for an honest and independent review.

Holy cats! Standing ovation for Ivy Dawes and her work on Starstuck, especially considering this is her debut novel. Any other day of the week, I have less than zero interest in the typical Hollywood Cinderella trope, but this one blows my original opinion out of the water. This book honestly has it all. Engaging (and believable) plotline: check. Witty banter and interesting (deep) characters/issues: check. Spice: check, check. Swoon factor: check. Hand on bible, I loved every bit of this book, and I am honestly so excited that it will apart of a series that highlights each of the Everett siblings in their own wonderful light. Lets start here with book one, which contains the love story of Kat and James.

Kat is simultaneously dumped by her talent agent and long time shitty boyfriend (little does she know this is the biggest blessing she could have asked for). In hopes of building her self esteem back up, her best friend, Rose, gets her a PA job on the next Oscar projected film under Starlight Studios. The downside of this is that she's assigned to an absolute jerk of a lead actor on the film who makes her life living hell. The upside of this gig is that she meets an intriguing "background actor" on set that gives her butterflies in all the right places, even though he's always made up in gruesome facial prosthetics who goes by Alex. What Kat doesn't realize, thanks to all the blood and gore that is always present on his face on set, is that Alex is in fact not a background actor, but rather a heartthrob leading actor named James Everett, son of the infamously evil Deacon Everett, owner of Starlight Studios.

Once Kat learns of Alex's true identity, she absolutely cannot fathom why someone like him would be interested in someone like her for even a second, especially considering James's father is shoving a fake romance contract down his throat with the leading lady, Ava, in order to create a publicity stunt to promote the movie. James either agrees, or his father revokes any chance James has as taking a larger role in his fathers company. Is the risk worth the reward? Is it time for James to stand up to his father once and for all to create the future he wants, and not the one his father is forcing on him? And can Kat finally trust in herself that she is in fact enough and she's just not a means to an end to advance someone else's career or opinion of themselves?

This book touches on some tough subjects such as manipulative relationships, feeling unworthy or unloved, and learning to trust again and go for your dreams in spite of that nagging voice in your head that continuously tells you you'll never be good enough. What happens when you shut that voice off and go for your dreams? Your dream job, dream relationship, dream life...Kat and James are about to risk it all to determine if love is worth the risk.

RUN...do not walk to your nearest bookstore when this one drops May 21st. I promise you will love it and I will certainly be on the lookout for Ivy's next installment in this series, focused on James's younger brother Roman Everett. I have it on good authority that this one will be equally swoon worthy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5 (a few spicy scenes with detail)

Wow! This had everything I could want in a book! A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ivy Dawes for allowing me to read this incredible book early and share my thoughts with other readers.

Let me start by saying, I love all these tropes so this book was an instant sign up for me. What I wasn't expecting is to read all of my favorites in a completely new way. He falls first but reading Jame's fall first, felt like reading this trope for the first time- It gave me the butterflies, dang it! Usually, the big reveal that he isn't who he first says is the main conflict but when that happened so early on, I was excited to see what else would happen and let's say I was incredibly impressed with the plot from the first page to the very last page.

I have a not-so-little book boyfriend crush on James because from the moment he unabashedly takes care of her in front of everyone and anyone, I was a melted puddle on the ground. He sees her and treats her for the beautiful, talented person she is despite her self-talk always making her question her own worth. There are few relationships, and what a gift to read this done in a masterfully artful way, where a person is able to grow and become a better version of themselves within a relationship. These two found it. They help each other grow, define boundaries and become their best selves together.

There is incredible mental health representation in this book. As someone who struggles with anxiety, depression and has felt the wrath of panic attacks, I felt so incredibly seen and supported as Kat describes this horrifying experience in all the words I've never had myself. James's reaction is 12/10 exactly what everyone deserves and the treatment a person should get when experiencing this. He immediately prioritizes her and is calm, reassuring, non-judgemental and loving. He then walks her slowly through breathing and then grounding techniques.Thank you Ivy Dawes from the bottom of my heart for talking about and teaching good coping skills. <3

James says two of my favorite things of all time first is immediately after they fight and good communication trope might be the new sexiest thing to read. When he says "I don't like how we ended that conversation downstairs. Can we talk?". YES! How sexy is that.
Also I may have a new favorite praise trope, when he says "my girl", that might just be my new "good girl". That is HOT AF.

Finally, the ending was perfection. I can't say much without wanting to say everything, but it was a perfect tribute to the entire story and their journeys together with both obvious and subtle nods to how far they came.

This book is definitely for you if you like:
Fake Dating (not in the way you expect though!)
Travel Romance
Celebrity Romance
He Falls First
Mental Health Rep
Forbidden Romance
Dual POV
HEA

Shoutout for my favorite microtropes as well: making her pancakes, grey sweatpants, getting her fries when she's had too much to drink, carrying her to bed, wearing his jacket when she's cold, best friends who get together

Don't sleep on this one, the hype is real because this was better than I could have hoped!