Thank you to Christine DePetrillo, Sarina Bowen, Jenn Gaffney and the rest of the World of True North team for the advance reader copy of Starlight, the seventh story in the Speakeasy Taproom series.

Read all of my World of True North reviews here.

Check out the Goodreads synopsis…

“He doesn’t trust women. She only trusts dogs. Why can’t they keep their paws off each other?

Darren Reade builds stone walls in Vermont–and around his heart. Women don’t stick around, so it’s better to put up No Trespassing signs and focus on raising his adopted son. Darren is willing to do whatever it takes to help the boy cope with his mother’s death. But doing it alone is a challenge.

Grace Hollings indulges her love of old-school jazz by singing nights at the Speakeasy Taproom, and spends her days training service dogs, connecting small humans with smart pooches. Of course she’d planned to be married already, but a failed engagement has taught her that dogs make better company than men.

One evening, Grace and Darren don’t exchange names, but they do engage in a single night neither of them will forget. Is once all there is? Or can they train their hearts to trust what they’ve built under the starlight?”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Grace by day is a service dog trainer. Grace by night is the jazz singer Sasha Soul. She has quite a lot going into her personality. The jazz singer side is sultry and flirty. While the dog-loving Grace is kind, caring, compassionate and sweet. Most of her flirtatious side comes out when Darren is around. Darren owns a local masonry and has a son named Keaton. Darren adopted Keaton after Keaton’s mother and Darren’s girlfriend at the time died of an accidental overdose. Keaton saw the whole thing and it really messed with his mental health. He has extreme anxiety and panic attacks. Darren is such a caring father and a sweet guy. Not only does he treat Keaton extremely well, but he is also such a gentleman where Grace is concerned.
• Setting: The story is set in Colebury, Vermont. The Speakeasy Taproom gets incorporated as the place that started it all. Grace sings and waits tables at the Speakeasy. Darren is dragged there the night of his birthday for drinks. The two of them lock eyes and the romance kicks off!
• Pacing: This was quite a lovely, quick read. Perfect for someone who wants to read an easy love story with a bit of an emotional depth and intensity thrown in.
• Romance: Their romance starts with a hookup. With one night where they flirted at the Speakeasy and ended up not in an actual bed, but a truck bed together. Neither can stop thinking about the other after that night and then they begin to run into each other around town. I could not be the only reader who was thankful that Colebury is a small place, so it forced them to keep running into each other. This story is much more than a love story between Grace and Darren. It is one of Grace falling in love with Darren’s family. With Keaton and the service dog included. If you are looking for a read that is more of an emotional and heartwarming story than steamy I would totally point you in the direction of Starlight.

Starlight receives four out of five stars.

You can pick up the story at Amazon here.

Thank you again to Sarina, Jenn, and the rest of the team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!