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A review by jeet_the_maiden
When Stars Collide by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
3.0
I've always liked reading SEP, she adds a lot of smart banter between the romantic leads, fleshes out her characters' professional lives and creates good frisson that's delicious to read. The climax usually entails miscommunications and misunderstanding with separation supported with a bit of reflection that brings about a happy coupling at the end.
In this story we see an actual diva - Olivia is a renowned opera singer - team up with leading Chicago quarterback Thad Owens to endorse a luxury brand of watches, with a multi city tour promotion, but they begin by initially hating each other. They learn to become friends soon enough, partly due to Olivia's history with her insecure ex committing suicide and partly because there's someone trying to actively harm her throughout the trip. That's a mystery that gets solved near the end, but it's a little strange and the arc feels forced.
I didn't like the denouement, Olivia loves Thad and tells him so but he's not ready to be in a serious relationship with anyone, and especially not with someone equally or more driven than him and unwilling to compromise on her career. It didn't sit well with me that in the end she apologises for having her own (even if slightly skewed due to experience) reasons to not want a relationship with him.
The slightly disappointing ending mars an otherwise bright, fast paced story of travel and increasing attraction between Liv and Thad, two strong personalities who gel well. I stayed up the night reading three-quarters of it.
In this story we see an actual diva - Olivia is a renowned opera singer - team up with leading Chicago quarterback Thad Owens to endorse a luxury brand of watches, with a multi city tour promotion, but they begin by initially hating each other. They learn to become friends soon enough, partly due to Olivia's history with her insecure ex committing suicide and partly because there's someone trying to actively harm her throughout the trip. That's a mystery that gets solved near the end, but it's a little strange and the arc feels forced.
I didn't like the denouement, Olivia loves Thad and tells him so but he's not ready to be in a serious relationship with anyone, and especially not with someone equally or more driven than him and unwilling to compromise on her career. It didn't sit well with me that in the end she apologises for having her own (even if slightly skewed due to experience) reasons to not want a relationship with him.
The slightly disappointing ending mars an otherwise bright, fast paced story of travel and increasing attraction between Liv and Thad, two strong personalities who gel well. I stayed up the night reading three-quarters of it.