Lenore Kosinski
4 stars — I absolutely LOVED the first 70% of this book. It made me swoon, it gave me the awww’s, it just fulfilled something I was looking for. The last 30% wasn’t bad or anything, it just took a turn towards probably the more realistic, and I don’t think I was in the right mood for that. The problem with celebrity romances is that there is the fairytale, and then there’s the reality…and I will admit, I tend to want more fairytale than reality. 😛 Which is not to say this book didn’t deliver some reality in other ways. I really enjoyed the subplot of Alice’s dealing with sexual harassment…which sounds really bad, but I mean enjoyed in that I thought it was dealt with really well. I loved that her story was a bit more subtle, because I think we mostly get shown extreme cases, but the subtle ones that make women uncomfortable are just as important, and just as damaging. I really think that story needed to be told. And it made her trust issues very valid (not to mention leftovers from her childhood). I liked Alice a lot, even if I sometimes didn’t agree with her decisions and assessments. I think she provided a valid perspective of a “normal” to the Hollywood lifestyle. I appreciated what she was dealing with trying to figure out what she truly wanted to do with her life, and how hard it was to get to that PhD finish line. Griffin had some wonderfully swoony moments, but also some super douchey moments, and I feel like I didn’t quite get the growth I was looking for from him. He laments his self-absorption, but he doesn’t seem to try to dive deep and figure out if it’s something he wants to change, and how to go about doing it. I wanted better from him in the end. I mean, I wanted better from both of them, but mostly I wanted him to be a bit more thoughtful of it all. Their friendship to more was absolutely sweet and swoony and sexy. I loved the relationship they developed, and how they connected with one another. I loved how their chemistry came out once they got brave enough to admit what they wanted. But I hated the way that celebrity isolated them, and made some parts so toxic. I don’t know how I feel about their chances…since it took a realistic turn, I wouldn’t have minded knowing some of those hardships, and a bit more of how they handled it. *shrugs* Greedy. There wasn’t a lot of secondary cast in this one. I think that’s what made it so hard for both of them, because they didn’t have many other people to rely on. I mean, Alice sort of had Rachel, and that got better later, but it was a bummer not to see any other relationships/friendships for either of them. So yeah. I’m almost thinking maybe even 3.5 rounded up…but meh, I really loved that first 70%.
Rachel Henderson
Both characters were real and had flaws that meant even though they loved each other they had default responses to situations that affected their new relationship, easy to read, sweet & sexy too
Erika Moore
Rising Star is a light, sweet, slow-burn with steamy parts kind of read. I love the friendship that developed between Alice and Griffin before the love, relationship, steaminess. I laughed out loud and stayed up way too late because I wanted to see how it ended! I loved Susannah Nix Rocket Science series, and I love this series so far as well! Can't wait for the next one. 2019 seems way too far away! :) *I was given an ARC copy in exchange for this review
