Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  And All Their Stars

SERIES:  Water, Air, Earth, Fire #2.5

AUTHOR:   Riley Nash

PUBLISHER:  Self Published

LENGTH:  109 pages

RELEASE DATE:  September, 14, 2022

BLURB:

We’re complete opposites, the sun and the moon, things that were never meant to touch.

Everything changed the day this brooding, high-powered lawyer found his forever in a scrappy farm boy from Iowa. Jonah’s my sun, the center of my orbit. Separately, we’re lost souls. Together, we make something unforgettable.

I’ve planned out every single step of our happily-ever-after—a chance to start over in a new home and build a beautiful life together. Lazy early morning kisses, summer fairs and barbecues, our perfect daughter. Turns out, you can’t walk into the future without facing your past. The unexpected appearance of an orphaned boy brings back my oldest wounds. Jonah faces a choice between his identity and his family’s business. But no matter what comes, we’ll meet it together.

When our short-sighted plans fall apart, we realize the sun and moon are never alone; they exist in a universe of stars so much bigger and brighter and more chaotic than we could ever imagine.

This 30,000-word novella picks up right after the ending of Jonah and Gray’s love story, Make Me Fall. To avoid spoilers and understand the characters and plot, please read Make Me Fall first!

Author’s note: Contains some emotionally difficult content related to children stuck in foster care

REVIEW:

This review contains spoilers for Make Me Fall. Please do not continue if you haven’t yet read that book.

 And All Their Stars is a gift from Riley Nash to her readers – a wonderful, extended epilogue to Jonah and Gray’s love story in the form of a 109-page novella. That on top of the epitome of perfect epilogues in Make Me Fall, which ended with Jonah and Gray adopting precious three-year-old Kenzie. Gray’s emotional scars of having never been chosen by a family of his own while in foster care rose to the surface – “always waiting for someone who never came”.  He is deeply affected by her, his own pain somewhat alleviated by choosing her.

And All Their Stars picks up briefly before the original epilogue and then jumps to about six months after it for the bulk of the story. They have relocated to Hollow Creek where Gray has become the town’s new lawyer and Jonah is preparing to take over his father’s auto repair business. Their little family of three is perfect. A hole in Gray’s soul is starting to mend.

“He’s her entire world, her entire fucking universe; I’m just someone she kindly allows to hang out. I could never be jealous, if it had even crossed my mind, because the pure, utter joy they give each other is my reason for living.” – Jonah

Jonah feels like he’s letting his father down. Their relationship has not been quite the same since he brought Gray home with him. He feels he has to “step up and be a man” to gain his dad’s respect. Running the business has its setbacks, too, and he has to work extra hard to break down barriers and succeed. He’s carrying the weight of being accepted in his hometown.

As he fights off his past so it doesn’t cloud his future, Gray makes a spreadsheet to plan their life together as a family. But then life throws them a curveball that disrupts his tidy plan.

This novella has everything I could wish for, including the sexy times. I adored Make Me Fall so any continuation of Jonah and Gray’s love story is a delight for me. These guys are deeply characterized as individuals and wonderful as a couple. Add in little Kenzie and it’s near perfect. This is, once again for Nash, a 5 heart/star read.

RATING: 

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