Star-Crossed

March 1, 2019

Justine Carmichael is a copy-runner, a sort of glorified gofer, for Australia's monthly Alexandria Park Star, though she hopes to become a full-time reporter. She and Nick Jordan were best friends growing up in Edenvale until his family moved away. When she runs into Nick on the street, it's been quite a while since they last saw each other on a dual family holiday. Nick is now an aspiring actor, taking advertising gigs (he's dressed as a fish) and waitering to make ends meet, and Justine is still in love with him after all these years. Nick is a huge fan of the Star, especially the astrology column and its contributor, Leo Thornbury. Is it fate that leads Justine to a promotion and the opportunity to "realign" Nick's horoscope to be in her favor? In her U.S. adult fiction debut, pseudonymous author Darke creates a world of stargazers whose destinies eventually collide. And, yes, love doesn't need astrology to find its way home. VERDICT Funny and enticing, this novel will appeal to readers who enjoy a hint of slapstick with their fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 11/26/18; library marketing.]--Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 18, 2019
Darke’s winning debut follows a horoscope writer’s devious yet delightful plan to snag a boyfriend. Justine Carmichael has worked her way up at the Alexandria Park Star, an Australian magazine, and has recently been promoted to contributions manager. When she crosses paths with childhood sweetheart Nick Jordan, now a handsome actor and ardent astrology believer, she learns he reads the Star’s weekly horoscope and hatches a scheme: she begins surreptitiously rewriting the horoscopes, into which she sprinkles subtle hints that Nick should ask her out. Unfortunately, Nick’s interpretation of the messages leads him to start dating a model. Justine, meanwhile, learns that a lot of the magazine’s readers make important life decisions based on her faux horoscopes, and she begins to wonder: Is everything “lucky, random chaos” or is there something more? Unpretentious, well-drawn characters and the fresh twist on the childhood sweethearts reunited setup make this perfect for fans of romantic comedies.

March 15, 2019
For all that he coined the phrase "star-crossed," Shakespeare didn't really show his work, astrologically speaking. Tasmanian author Danielle Wood--debuting as Minnie Darke--is here to fix that, and, luckily for her lovers, her novel is a comedy.Nick (Aquarius) and Justine (Sagittarius), childhood friends and sharers of one electric teen make-out session, reconnect in the Alexandria Park neighborhood of Sydney, where Justine is an aspiring reporter and Nick an aspiring actor. Love is in the air, but because Nick is intimidated by Justine's smarts and Justine is incapable of acting remotely interested, nothing happens. That is, until Justine is promoted to contributions manager of the glossy news magazine where she works and given access to the horoscopes; she thinks these prognostications are bunk but knows that Nick takes them seriously. What harm can come from her editing the memo to Aquarians in an attempt to drive Nick into her arms? And what harm can come from doing it again and again when her messages continue, painfully, to have the opposite of their intended effect? It's dispiriting that the plot comes from a modern heroine making such incredibly dumb decisions, but impetuousness is, apparently, a Sagittarian trait. Adding a magical flair to the book are a bevy of subplots wherein seemingly random Aquarians (every character in the novel is announced with their sign and a handful of quirky personal trivia) read Justine's fabricated horoscopes and are inspired to make sweeping life decisions. Where will it all lead? The author has a great deal of fun with words, circling themes (two different productions of Romeo and Juliet occur in the span of the book), and crafting an intricate, interlocking plot, but the cleverness can feel self-satisfied.The stars foretell of happy endings.

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