Book Review: Where the Stars Meets the Sea

Heidi Kimball is quickly becoming an auto-buy for me. I LOVE her new book, Where the Stars Meet the Sea. I'm still thinking about some of the moments the hero and heroine had long after I finished the book!

Juliet Graham is at a house party at Shaldorn castle so her cousin can woo the sister of a duke. She tries to sneak away from a long evening of polite conversation and meets up with a snarky, borderline insulting man who is also avoiding the rest of the party. She gives back as good as she gets and later finds out she was talking to the reclusive Duke of Halstead. Oops. But that encounter starts a chain of events that will have you turning pages long into the night. I nearly finished it in one sitting, because I couldn't put it down.

I loved how vulnerable Juliet was, and yet the more we get to know her, the more we realize the incredible inner strength she had to have to survive her situation. The duke is also vulnerable and fighting his own demons so putting these two together caused some really big sparks. I loved the push/pull between them and how the outer forces of family and society affected their slow-burn romance. So good! The duke was everything a wounded hero should be and everyone will cheer for him to find his happily-ever-after. The author's use of setting and society rules is superb, the secondary cast is memorable, especially the "villain" and the ending was sigh-worthy. Historical romance readers won't want to miss this one!

You can get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

Juliet Graham fervently counts the days until her twenty-first birthday, when she can claim the inheritance that will grant her the freedom she has always craved and the guardianship of her younger brother. Until then, she is trapped under her aunt Agnes’s domineering will. When forced to accompany the family to a house party at Shaldorn Castle, Juliet’s only objective is to keep to herself. That is, until a chance encounter with a boorish stranger stirs up an unexpected whirlwind of emotions in her. Thrown off-balance, Juliet does the unthinkable: loses her temper and insults the man—who turns out to be her unwilling host, the Duke of Halstead. Fully expecting to be sent away, Juliet is surprised when the brusque and callous duke instead takes an interest in her.

Drawn to the duke in unguarded moments, Juliet finds herself more and more intrigued by the man who shuns Society’s rules as completely as she does, and over the next few weeks, their unlikely friendship deepens into a connection neither expected.

But even as Juliet comes to recognize her true feelings, her scheming aunt issues an ultimatum that threatens the future she was just beginning to hope for. Juliet must choose: either break the promise she made to herself years ago, or lose the man who has captured her heart and soul.