Review: When Stars Collide by Micalea Smeltzer (Light in the Dark #2)
Note: This ARC was provided by Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
When Stars Collide is the second novel in the Micalea Smeltzer-penned new adult series entitled Light in the Dark but can be read independently from its predecessor and series starter, Rae of Sunshine. This sequel is about nineteen-year-old college sophomore Thea Montgomery and twenty-three-year-old newbie architect and rookie professional football player Xander Kincaid, who were both supporting characters in the first book, with Thea playing a predominant role as Rachael Wilder's roommate and best friend as well as Cade Montgomery's younger sister. Xander is Cade's best friend, with the two of them making their mark on the football field and are now working side by side as architects in Xander's father's architecture firm. For years, Thea has had feelings for her brother's best friend, feelings that turn out to be more than mutual, but they've kept a safe distance from one another out of respect for Cade. And then one night in Vegas changes everything. Sometimes, what happens in Vegas follows you back to Colorado...
The romance between Thea Montgomery and Xander Kincaid was what I would call understated in book one. It was clear that they had more than friendly feelings toward each other and I wondered how these two would finally get around to doing something about those feelings. Well, talk about a surprising turn of events from the get-go in book two. Thea and Xander wake up after a night of drinking to find themselves married, but while Thea is flabbergasted at being married to the guy she's always loved but having very little memory of it, Xander is surprisingly far more relaxed by everything and is genuinely taken aback by Thea's demands of nipping their marriage in the bud. Xander's insistence that they remain married over the summer so as to give him the opportunity to prove to Thea that a marriage between them can work presents an interesting way for them to accept that their feelings are in no way fleeting and that the Vegas wedding could very well be the best thing to happen to either one of them. It was quirky but eye-opening.
I will say, though, that it felt as if there really wasn't all that much going on in terms of conflict. Yes, they kept their marriage a secret from everyone around them, but that wasn't the only secret being kept, and that was the thing that bothered me a bit. Why all the secret keeping on Xander's end? I get why Thea wanted to remain mum about the marriage--she was nineteen, after all--as well as the dirty family secret she was keeping, but Xander's motivations for not saying anything about his career choices were just shallow in my opinion, and it seemed as if he worried over nothing and ended up hurting other people by his silence rather than coming clean from the beginning. All the secrecy was drawn out a tad longer than I felt necessary, so the whole book felt as if it didn't have much going on other than that. I did, however, like Xander and Thea's love story and how their love for each other transformed over the years. And Prue's rescue was a personal favorite as well. When Stars Collide had its highs and lows and receives four stars. ♥
When Stars Collide is the second novel in the Micalea Smeltzer-penned new adult series entitled Light in the Dark but can be read independently from its predecessor and series starter, Rae of Sunshine. This sequel is about nineteen-year-old college sophomore Thea Montgomery and twenty-three-year-old newbie architect and rookie professional football player Xander Kincaid, who were both supporting characters in the first book, with Thea playing a predominant role as Rachael Wilder's roommate and best friend as well as Cade Montgomery's younger sister. Xander is Cade's best friend, with the two of them making their mark on the football field and are now working side by side as architects in Xander's father's architecture firm. For years, Thea has had feelings for her brother's best friend, feelings that turn out to be more than mutual, but they've kept a safe distance from one another out of respect for Cade. And then one night in Vegas changes everything. Sometimes, what happens in Vegas follows you back to Colorado...
The romance between Thea Montgomery and Xander Kincaid was what I would call understated in book one. It was clear that they had more than friendly feelings toward each other and I wondered how these two would finally get around to doing something about those feelings. Well, talk about a surprising turn of events from the get-go in book two. Thea and Xander wake up after a night of drinking to find themselves married, but while Thea is flabbergasted at being married to the guy she's always loved but having very little memory of it, Xander is surprisingly far more relaxed by everything and is genuinely taken aback by Thea's demands of nipping their marriage in the bud. Xander's insistence that they remain married over the summer so as to give him the opportunity to prove to Thea that a marriage between them can work presents an interesting way for them to accept that their feelings are in no way fleeting and that the Vegas wedding could very well be the best thing to happen to either one of them. It was quirky but eye-opening.
I will say, though, that it felt as if there really wasn't all that much going on in terms of conflict. Yes, they kept their marriage a secret from everyone around them, but that wasn't the only secret being kept, and that was the thing that bothered me a bit. Why all the secret keeping on Xander's end? I get why Thea wanted to remain mum about the marriage--she was nineteen, after all--as well as the dirty family secret she was keeping, but Xander's motivations for not saying anything about his career choices were just shallow in my opinion, and it seemed as if he worried over nothing and ended up hurting other people by his silence rather than coming clean from the beginning. All the secrecy was drawn out a tad longer than I felt necessary, so the whole book felt as if it didn't have much going on other than that. I did, however, like Xander and Thea's love story and how their love for each other transformed over the years. And Prue's rescue was a personal favorite as well. When Stars Collide had its highs and lows and receives four stars. ♥
Date Read: 30 August 2016
Learn more about Micalea Smeltzer.
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