Why Stars Chase the Sun by C.R. Ellis

JADE

Twenty-four hours.

A no-strings-attached adventure with the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen—this was my alcohol-slash-lust-fueled proposal, and given before I could consider the potential ramifications. While his looks alone are enough to make a girl swoon, it’s the rest of him—a perfect balance of mysterious, sweet, and effortlessly charming—that draws me in. Through his cryptic comments and half-answers, he’s quickly become an enigma I’m determined to solve.

One way or another, this adventure promises to snap the stagnant, lackluster pattern my love life has been locked in lately.

Is it naive and a little reckless to think this won’t blow up in my face? Probably.

But the bigger question is the only one I need to answer…

Is the chance to soar among the stars worth the risk of being burned when the sun eventually rises?

EMMETT

Love is a mistake I won’t make again.

My rules are simple. Keep things surface-deep. Don’t make plans. And never, ever get attached.

One look at her is all it takes for me to break my first rule.
One conversation with her is all it takes for me to question everything.

Which means accepting her proposal is bound to be a mistake.

She has no idea who I am or what kind of demons I live with, so I tell myself there’s no harm in spending one day with her. But the more I lose myself in her, the more she brings me out of the darkness and into her light, the harder it’ll be to let her go.

When reality comes crashing down on us in the worst way possible, I have to decide between walking away…or risking everything for the woman who breaks all of my rules.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33259027-the-duchess-deal

Title: Why Stars Chase the Sun
Author: C.R. Ellis
Series: Forget Me Knot
Pages: 338
Genre(s): Contemporary, US
Hot Buttons: /

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the first book by C.R. Ellis that I have read - and in fact, it’s also the first book that C.R. Ellis has written. It’s a match made in heaven.

Which is exactly the way that I felt about Jade and Emmett. They meet quickly, have instant attraction, and 24 hours later they properly have the feelings for each other. And, I’ll be honest - I believed it. Sometimes, no matter how hard an author tries, I’m not buying what they’re selling. But two thumbs up here - I believed in their feelings from the first. Even if they themselves didn’t!

The book is written in first person with us getting alternating viewpoints from both Jade and Emmett in complete chapters. None of this alternating paragraphs malarky.

I really enjoyed the writing style in the story. Ms Ellis writes a fast paced, fun story that involves you from the get-go and really pulls you into the tale. Emmett was just mysterious enough with his back story - not drawn out - not melodramatic - just enough. He was also a little bit of a dream boat! A bit swoon-worthy and someone I wanted for my very own. Sorry Jade.

Having said that, I did also really like Jade. She was straight forward and smart but her feelings were exactly how I could imagine myself feeling if I was around a man like Emmett. If she was real, I would want to be her friend - which is probably the best compliment I could give a heroine.

Together the pair had great chemistry, great banter and I can’t tell you how much I adore cute little nicknames between a hero and heroine. Tiny - his name for her - was sweet…but Boston - her name for him - give me the feels every time Jade said it.

Add into the mix some humour (the stick throwing incident was hilarious!), some sexy times (love me some sexy times), some colourful language (yay for f-bombs!) and you’ve got the ingredients for a really enjoyable love story with a little bit extra thrown in for good measure.

I also have to add that I’m normally not a fan of names with the same first letter in the same story - Jade and her best friend Jasmine being the example here. And no, I’m not joking when I say that I honestly can’t seem to differentiate between characters with the same first initial in books. It’s normally a no-no for me - but for some reason it didn’t affect me in this story. Maybe I’m evolving!

And speaking of Jasmine, throughout the whole book there are hints dropped about a history between her and Dean, Jade’s brother. Imagine my excitement when I realised that the next book in series, When Light Leads to You, is Dean and Jas’s story. Giddy times!

The only reason that I didn’t give this book 5 stars is a little bit personally superficial. It’s just another admittedly strange quirk of mine. As I’ve mentioned, the writing was excellent and the conversation between the characters flowed naturally…but sometimes there was just a little bit of flowery language added into the mix. There’s a very clear ‘romantic chat’ line for me and at times Emmett and Jade’s conversations edged over that. But fear not, I say the same thing about the language in Pride and Prejudice!!

I could have also done with a wee bit more of detail during the climax of the storyline involving Emmett’s family but it still all resolved satisfactorily so I guess I was just greedy for more of the story.

And as an FYI, every time an author - or anyone - uses the phrase “off of”, a British person pops their clogs. Just saying.

For a first book this was an absolute delight. It has a little bit of everything including a great couple, lots of love and a satisfying ending including an epilogue - woop! I’d highly recommend it and I’m off to grab Jas and Dean’s story and continue the series. 4 stars.