Distant Stars was an unexpected surprise. It has been awhile since I’ve seen or read a new YA Christian contemporary so I was super excited to start this one.
Of course, the first thing I noticed was the cover, and wow. It is eye-catching and perfectly showed the mood of the story.
This book is not realistic, BUT it was so entertaining that I did not care. I was flipping pages as fast as I could and ended up reading it in one sitting. The characters really grew as the book progressed and I was especially please with Will’s character arc.
One thing that I liked was that this book does not have a perfect ending. Yes, the characters all experienced growth, however, a relationship was not the magic fix to life’s problems, and they were still working through issues.
I appreciated how faith was woven throughout the whole story and remained a central part of the plot.

5 Stars

Content: (past) abusive father, kidnapping, gunshot wound, lots of ogling, kissing, death of sibling

Note: This book straddles the line between YA and NA but remains appropriate for 15 (characters aged 18-20 and already graduated school)

*I received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required. ( )

After aging out of the foster system, a time during which brothers Will and Kane Rutledge ran away as often as they could, they decide to continue to stick together. And they decide that they need a fresh start, and that the best way to get it is to kidnap Hannah Cole, daughter of a wealthy man, and get a nice payday. But things start to go wrong from the first moment of this kidnapping, and the worst flaw in the plan is that Will didn't expect himself to be so drawn to their victim.

The premise of this story is what drew me to it—a romance that begins as a kidnapping is intriguing to me, even while being a bit of a stretch in believability. But I knew it could be done and be a romance I would enjoy, especially under the banner of Christian fiction. The Christianity, though, is quite light and mostly involved with Hannah being angry at God for a fairly recent loss. Will has some early religious roots too, but I would have liked to see all of that drawn out a lot more, especially given the plot. Add to that the romance being mostly about physical looks (and smells...what does sunshine smell like, anyway?) for a while, and I didn't really get into the romance aspect of the story much at all. Plus, I didn't really buy Will's softy act, for various reasons.

When I read a self-published book, it is my intention not to let things that a professional editor would help with affect my view too much. I’m not saying that there is no burden of responsibility here, but it’s harder for self-published authors. So while it did not affect my rating, I will at least mention that there were punctuation errors throughout this book, as well as other issues or confusions an editor would/should have caught. It can detract from the book for some, so let that be a warning.

On the positive side, the descriptions of the setting(s) made me feel like I was there, probably helped a bit by my own memory of a recent trip to a beach in the Dominican Republic, and I really like the depth to backstories the author came up with for the main characters. The story has a lot going for it, and I think that with some polishing and less tropes in the plot, it could be a sweet, enjoyable read. Given the way that others have responded to this book, it's possible I'm simply not the right audience for it, so please check out other reviews on this page if the book sounds interesting to you.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ( )