Beneath the Stars Sugarlake Series, Book One

Loved I loved this book. And while I normally want to root for the guy that sticks around, I was so impressed with the character growth in this book. Definitely a book with heart that you'll love to read.

I read this one in (almost) one sitting on a day at work where multitasking was my best friend. I wasn't even planning to read it that day. I was just extremely hungover and needed a small distraction, so I looked this up on Kindle after seeing several reels on Instagram from the author and had planned to only read the first chapter, just to get a feel for it. Next thing I know, I'm 100 pages in and I. Can't. Stop. It was so easy to get sucked into their humble, small town life and get invested in the lives of these characters. I enjoyed reading their journey from friends, to lovers, to strangers, and then finding their way back to each other. The romance aspect was sweet (and oof spicy), but I also appreciated the way the author touched on other subjects like death, loss, and mental health. I'm giving it 5 stars because I wasn't even going to read this book, much less finish it, epecially not in one day, and I feel like that speaks to just how enthralling it was.

Okay, wow! Definitely different that Emily’s other series, but still just as amazing! My heart was out through the ringer with this one. I loved getting all of the backstory for Alina and Chase throughout the years. It definitely sets up their romance in such a beautiful and meaningful way. It was impossible not to fall for every single character introduced, especially Jax (whom I’ve now deemed the character my dog is named after). I can’t wait to binge this series!

Okay, wow! Definitely different that Emily’s other series, but still just as amazing! My heart was out through the ringer with this one. I loved getting all of the backstory for Alina and Chase throughout the years. It definitely sets up their romance in such a beautiful and meaningful way. It was impossible not to fall for every single character introduced, especially Jax (whom I’ve now deemed the character my dog is named after). I can’t wait to binge this series!

Couldn't put this down! The story had me angry, and happy, and sad. All of the emotions! I don't normally rate 5 stars, but this one deserved it!

I started this book after seeing some mutual followers read the series and thought I'd give it a try. I can typically read a romance this length in about a day, maybe two if I start it late at night. But it took me a bit of time to get through this one. Times it felt like a slow burn and other times it picks up really quickly. It follows the two main characters, Alina & Chase from childhood to teens to adults in their small Tennessee town. There are a lot of tropes with this one, best friend's brother, best friends-lovers-sorta kinda enemies-lovers, second chance. I did like that there was more to the story than just the romance. The secondary plot involves Chase's sister Lily and her inner battles. I'm guessing this will carry through the series even though the books are standalones. The supporting characters have just as much depth as the main characters, again setting up their stories for other books. It has positive mentions of going to therapy and attending/participating in support groups. This book did have some frustrating moments. You will find yourself wanting to just shake Chase & Alina, they are both stubborn and bullheaded in their own right. Overall I liked the book just enough to keep reading and to follow the secondary plot.

** spoiler alert ** By reading the blurb I thought I was going to love the book but I have very mixed emotions about it. I found it easy to read, I just read it in one sitting and I’ll probably read the next books as they come out, but I still expected more of the story. I hated all the heroine had to got through with her dad, especially after she was a daddy’s girl and also because after her mother’s death she lost almost everyone all of a sudden and the friends she kept closed didn’t even know what she was going through. There were a lot of problems with most of the characters but there wasn’t a lot of development about them, like we didn’t know Lily very much so for me it wasn’t that relevant that she disappeared. I guess after reading the epilogue something will happen with her in the next books and I hope then we can understand more of her story. And about Chase, I didn’t feel very connected to him at the beginning, I know he had a lot of problems growing up but I hated his indecision’s throughout the book. I liked reading when he tried to help Alina with her dad and he was there for her when nobody knew was she was going through. So in general I enjoyed most of the book but I would’ve loved to read a better development on the side characters and I hope the next books can change a bit that.