Count Your Lucky Stars

Starred review from October 1, 2021

In this latest from Lambda Literary Award winner Bellefleur (Written in the Stars, Hang the Moon), much-, relationship-shy Margot Cooper has opted for easy hookups but is feeling envious of all her friends who are settling down. Then she encounters childhood friend and first love Olivia Grant, who's been through marriage and divorce by age 30, and Margot's got to decide whether to risk her heart again. With a 30,000-copy first printing.

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November 15, 2021
Lambda Award winner Bellefleur’s heartwarming third Written in the Stars romance (after Hang the Moon) sees childhood friends forced to confront their complicated past while planning a wedding. Despite Margot Cooper’s coupled friends’ best efforts, she remains happily single. That is until Olivia Grant, the childhood best friend turned lover who broke Margot’s heart after a brief affair, walks back into her life. Recently divorced Olivia is focused on her job as an event planner, and pulling off the high-profile wedding where Margot is the best woman could land her a promotion. Determined to stay professional, the women agree it’s best to ignore their history. But when a plumbing malfunction forces Olivia out of her apartment and Margot offers a place to crash, they quickly give in to temptation. Though feelings reignite for them both, neither will admit it, leading to a friends-with-benefits setup that satisfies nobody. Meanwhile, people pleaser Olivia struggles to balance caring for others with caring for herself. Margot does her best to help, but before their relationship can turn into something more they’ll have to address what happened in their past. Bellefleur’s lively characters charm from start to finish. This is a perfect pick for readers looking for a light-hearted romance centered on emotional growth. Agent: Sarah Younger, Nancy Yost Literary.

December 1, 2021
Former best friends--and one-time lovers--meet again more than a decade after their relationship fell apart. Margot Cooper doesn't need romance to be happy. She's perfectly content with her single life in Seattle, filled with her work at astrology business Oh My Stars and her close friendships with business partner Elle, Elle's girlfriend, Darcy, Darcy's brother, Brendon, and his fiancee, Annie. But with Brendon and Annie's wedding right around the corner and Elle and Darcy more committed than ever, Margot can't help feeling like the fifth wheel, always in danger of being left out--and someday left behind. Recently divorced Olivia Grant has just moved to Seattle to pursue her dream of becoming a successful event planner, and she's finally got her chance. Brendon Lowell, one of her boss's biggest clients, is getting married in just three weeks, and if Olivia can pull the wedding off, she'll be promoted. When Olivia shows up to tour a venue with the happy couple, she meets Brendon's best woman--Margot, the high school best friend she spent one romantic week with 11 years ago and never spoke to again. When Olivia's apartment floods and Margot offers her a place to stay, the two fall quickly into old patterns and bring up old hurts. And they'll have to finally face the past to look toward the future. This third installment in Bellefleur's series of interconnected rom-coms--following Written in the Stars (2020) and Hang the Moon (2021)--features her trademark wit, heartfelt friendships, and steamy romance. But the plot hinges entirely on several overblown miscommunications and misunderstandings, which some readers may find grating. Margot and Olivia, too, are less well rounded than Bellefleur's other characters, and their relationship focuses more on their physical than their emotional connection. A sweet, though uneven, conclusion to the series.

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Starred review from January 1, 2022
There are more than four-million people living in Seattle. So of course, the best woman in the wedding, one person who could make or break assistant event coordinator Olivia Grant's career, would have to be Margot Cooper. It has been more than a decade since Olivia last saw Margot, but the romantic spark she felt for Margot when they were high-school seniors still burns hot. However, Olivia's career rests on her getting this wedding off without a hitch, so keeping things strictly professional between herself and Margot is the plan. Until Olivia needs a place to stay, and Margot offers up the newly vacated spare room in her apartment. Bellefleur (Written in the Stars, 2020) continues on her dazzling trajectory with another completely charming, achingly romantic love story. This tale not only delivers an abundance of wit-infused writing and some scorchingly hot love scenes, it also gracefully illuminates the importance in life of family and the friends we hold most dear.

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