I met Adam Nova under the twinkling lights of a nighttime sky.He was hiding, but that gorgeous boy didn’t belong in the dark.Nevertheless it was where he lived; a different world than mine.I was Livingston Montgomery, Southern debutante.With the world at my fingertips, I was well on my way to being another spoiled socialite. But I didn’t want money. I didn’t want social status. I wanted him; … status.
I wanted him; tattoos, sarcastic smirk, bad boy reputation and all.
It didn’t matter that he was from the wrong side of the tracks.
It didn’t matter that my family forbade me from seeing him.
I just wanted to be Beneath His Stars.
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Beneath His Stars is the first book in Amie Knight’s highly anticipated The Stars Duet and I am already counting down the days until I can get my hands on the conclusion to this emotionally captivating duet. This story pulled on every single one of my heartstrings and I quickly found myself deeply invested in Liv and Adam’s story. Their love story was written in the stars and I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation right from the very beginning to that shock-worthy cliffhanger ending.
My heart broke when I first discovered Livingston’s complicated life and the pain she suffered when she lost not only her mother through childbirth, but her father several years later. I wept for her and wished upon a star that she would be able to take her life back into her heart. When she met Adam my heart fluttered and I knew he was going to bring her happiness. Adam was the perfect match for Liv and I knew that their love was going to shine as bright as the stars in the night sky. Unlike Liv who comes from money, he grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. This is like a modern day Cinderella story with a twist. While I did expect many twists and turns I have to say I certainly did not expect that ending…like at all.
If this story made me feel this emotionally drained, I have no clue how I am going to survive, In Her Space, the conclusion in The Stars Duet, but I am READY to dive in headfirst RIGHT NOW…if only I didn’t have to wait a few weeks!
I absolutely fell in love with Liv and Adam’s epic love story. It was not a typical good girl fell in love with bad boy romance; there were so much more to the story. The writing and words were hypnotizing. Through the reading, I felt the all-consuming intensity of the first love, the hopefulness brought out by their youthful innocence and the angst and heartaches delivered by the cruel world.
Even though their backgrounds and appearances were totally opposite, Liv and Adam’s connection and love were pure and magical. They both erected a shield to protect themselves from their painful past; but somehow they were able to be their true self and see behind the shield of the other. I loved them together and was all swoony watching them fall in love. The devastating cliff-hanger was expected but the how was a surprise. I cannot wait for the second half of the duet to come out and continue on this epic journey with Liv and Adam.
I received an advance reviewer copy of the book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Oh god. You know the first time you read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and you ‘see’ Sirius Falling through the veil? And it’s like your heart feels as if it’s actually breaking and you grieve in a way you shouldn’t grieve over someone that’s fictional?
It’s rare for a book to give you feelings that strong and even when those feelings include sadness, it’s a rare and precious gift for an author to bestow upon us and I cannot strongly enough convey my gratitude towards Amie Knight for the diamond that is this book. Every word is chosen with such loving care and they string together so poetically that it feels like magic at your fingertips. Every emotion explored, every heart wrenching tear Liv sheds and every line of ink across Adam’s skin, every social issue, every prejudice and ugliness and hatred, every piece of beautiful symbolism, it all poured from the pages and bled into my soul.
This book is life, and love, and loss and by the end of it I was such a wreck that I didn’t know if I loved or hated the author more. All I know, is I need the next instalment immediately and I’ll never get enough of Amie Knight’s words.
From the inamorati, to Romeo and Juliet, to Liv and Adam. Star crossed lovers are literary favourite and while the story of Liv and her tattooed boy from the wrong side of the bridge draw on elements of Romeo and Juliet, it 10000% stands on its own two feet (…on its own pages?) as a unique and heart wrenching love story that’s tattooed itself onto my heart.
I’m a huge fan of Amie Knight’s writing. She writes grandly romantic, Southern love stories overflowing with heart, heat, humor and hope. Emotion-filled romances that run me through the wringer, leaving me utterly gutted, and just when I think I cannot bear any more, she finds a way to put me back together again with a beautiful love story.
Beneath His Stars, the first book in The Stars Duet, was not at all what I thought it would be. I think I went into this story expecting it to be a Young Adult (YA) story, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. YA is not my jam, and generally, when I think a story is a teenage romance, I pass it by. I’m so glad I didn’t do that with this book because I’d have missed out on a truly memorable and moving love story. The Stars Duet begins with the story of how Adam Nova and Liv Montgomery meet as teenagers in Beneath His Stars, and it’s important that readers remember that this book is only the start of this couple’s journey. Neither of them were typical teens, and they both were wise well beyond their years. In haunting, heartbreaking detail, Knight tells the story of the two teens from very different ends of the social spectrum, meeting and finding solace from their turbulent, lonely lives in each other.
Brimming with heartfelt emotion, I devoured every word of this unique story. Beneath His Stars is a gut-wrenching, dramatic and devastating young love story, but it’s only the start of it. There is more to tell, and readers will finish this book positively panting for In Her Space. Five smooches from me for Beneath His Stars by Amie Knight!
~Danielle Palumbo, Red Cheeks Reads
Beneath His Stars was a phenomenal read. I don’t have the words to accurately describe how amazing this book was. Adam and Livvy’s story just consumed me. The prologue hooked me as soon as I started reading and I was quickly wrapped up and swept away. Losing myself in the pages of this deeply emotional and spellbinding story. It’s a tale of two young lovers fighting against the forces that wish to keep them separate and hold them back. It’s about hope and finding the light in your darkest of times.
The ending of this book broke my heart but Adam and Livvy’s story isn’t over yet. I look forward to reading the second part of it.
I would absolutely recommend Beneath His Stars.
So, I finished this book a little under 24 hours ago….. I needed time to process it. Process the ending, because I wasn’t prepared….
It ripped my heart out, then proceeded to stomp all over it. I felt crushed, much like Adam and Livy most probably did.
Why? Because I loved their story so hard.
The passion, the disappointment, the anger and plain unfairness of their story had me so invested.
That tattooed boy from the wrong side of the bridge stole my heart and I was rooting hard for him.
All I can add is that I am now (not so patiently) waiting for the next book because I know it isn’t over, it can’t be!
Well done, Amie. I had never read your work before, but you have scored yourself another fan here. This story is worth more than the 5 stars that I can give you.
Amie Knight
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book. The beginning was rather slow. It eventually got better so don’t give up on it! It was a slow burn book to me. But I really enjoyed it. I felt a lot from these characters. You could feel the pain that both Liv and Adam felt. I wasn’t overly excited about how young they were. I wish they would have been just a little older. And the ending! Wow! I sure didn’t see that coming!! I knew there was going to be a cliffy but I was ready for it. Just didn’t realize what it was going to be! I can’t wait to finish Adam and Liv’s story!
I’ve always being drawn to the romance and science of astronomy, so when the chance to read Beneath His Stars was presented to me, I didn’t think twice about picking it up. This was the first book I’ve read by Amie Knight, and it definitely won’t be the last.
This is the story of Adam Nova and Livingston Montgomery, two young people from two different worlds connected by a bridge. Adam lives in Madison, a place overrun with “homelessness, prostitution, and drugs” while Liv resides on an island just off the coast in the town of Saint Ashley, where life is more than comfortable. It is privileged.
Liv knows she has it better than those in Madison. Nevertheless, she is stifled and resists following the proper rules her step-mother insists upon. Whenever Liv needs to put physical distance between herself and the demands of high society, she seeks refuge in an empty field that lies on the other side of the bridge – a spot that has a strong emotional attachment to her. Here, she spends many evenings remembering better times as she stares up at starlit skies.
During one of these evenings, she is discovered in the field by a group of boys, including Adam. He begins a secret admirer type courtship with her by leaving notes inside a Coke bottle, pointing out different stars and constellations above and guiding her stargazing. At first, he is content to watch from afar but eventually makes his presence known to Liv.
Soon, the relationship between them deepens and blossoms. For a time, there is a blissful, magnetic field that surrounds the young lovers. The rest of the world fades away as these two become immersed in a universe of their own. As they fall for one another, both Liv and Adam are aware of the odds. Both are intelligent and thoughtful characters, vowing that no one and nothing will interfere with their love. It is them against the world, and the world is full of characters who are determined to break them apart.
Beneath His Stars is the first book of a duet, so the story of Liv and Adam is not complete by the end of this novel. As I was closing in on the final pages of this book, I halted my reading for a couple of days. Even though I was fully invested in this couple, I knew their happily ever after would remain elusive. Instead of rushing through the story, I set it aside to help Liv and Adam extend their temporary happiness just a bit longer. It was the least I could do for them.
The glimpse I was given of the follow up book, In Her Space, has me deeply intrigued. I’m especially curious about the course Adam’s life will take, and so I’ll be waiting anxiously for the second half of this love story to go live.
Beautifully written, as all books written by this author. The tone of the book is pensive, a little melancholic, and it meanders, doesn’t go fast to the end.
Livingston is living a life in suspense, waiting for the day she can leave town. After her father died three years ago, she was left in the care of her stepmother, who is not kind and solicitous. She’s rather selfish, self-involved and a total snob. They live in a very ritzy island with other rich people, and connected to the city by a bridge, where the poor people live. She feels a connection to the baseball stadium because she used to go with her father to gaze at the stars. She keeps doing it to feel close to her parents but it’s a dangerous place. One day she was accosted by a guy, but one of his companions stopped him. He was remarkable, gorgeous and covered in tattoos. He fascinated her!
Adam Nova is a brilliant young man with no future. His father is semi-invalid and needs him and there’s no way Adam will leave him. So a promising future in Astronomy, his passion, is not available for him. When he meets Livingston and knows about her penchant for watching stars at night, they feel like soulmates. Initially, he’s remote, silent, but so very present at her side. He’s in turn fascinated by this girl who lives in such lonely and sad circumstances, surrounded by rich people with no souls when her soul shines so bright. Being together was inevitable, but it was a forbidden love because she comes from the island of rich people and he comes from the dilapidated buildings of the relentlessly poor.
You become so invested in their relation, and yet you are waiting for the hammer to hit because the people around Livingston are cruel and vindictive and entitled. The story is enthralling and you are riveted reading until the dramatic cliffhanger. Then you are left desperate for the continuation of Adam and Liv’s story.
A-mazing! Amie did a fabulous job! Livingston and Adam are from two different worlds. But together they mesh. Livingston is bidding her time until she is free of the stepmonster. Adam is just who she needs to help her dream while looking at the stars. The cliffhanger gah!! I am ready for the conclusion!!! I need to know more NOW!!!! Amie is a fabulous writer and it shows in this book!!
This story! I am trying to catch my breath. This is a heart wrenching Cinderella tale. Livngston is from the rich side of the tracks. Her mother died during childbirth. Her father, rich from being an artist, remarried but he died. Now she was stuck in a mansion with her only caring about appearances “stepmonster” and her creepy step brother. She follows the rules to make others happy. But she hides herself from everyone. Her one place of comfort is the field over the bridge on the poor side of the tracks. It’s where most would be afraid of. Not Livingston. She takes a blanket and her dog every night to look at the stars where her father took her before he died. She meets Adam and they change each others worlds. She shows him that she sees the beauty in him and he shows her real love. But people in their lives want them apart and life circumstances betray them.
I don’t know how I am going to recover from this book. I feel for Livingston. She is so miserable. I just wanna yell at those that are supposed to care for her. And Adam is the sweetest. He doesn’t deserve anything that has happened to him. Their romance is so beautiful. This whole book is beautiful. The way this author wrote it just has me in awe. And that ending… But it’s not really. Talk about a cliffhanger. Thankfully we get the second book in a few weeks. I am on pins and needles needing it.
I can’t express enough how this is a story that needs to be read. I learned so much from it. And it’s truth and beauty just consumed me.
I’m wrecked, still wrecked days later and I’m not sure I’ll be unwrecked until I’m able to read the second half of the duet, In Her Space.
Beneath His Stars is a highly emotional read. Torn between two worlds, it’s a growing love story that deep down you know cannot possibly end well, but you so desperately want to end well so you keep reading because they just have to find a way.
Did I mention I’m wrecked? Yeah. Prepare yourself for all the emotions.
Livingston Montgomery hated being a debutant. She hated moving to the island where social status meant more than human kindness did. She hated the etiquette classes that her stepmonster made her take. She counted down the days until she was able to leave until then all she had were the memories of the time she’d spent with her dad while he’d been alive. The place she felt most at home with her memories was in a field, across the bridge late at night looking up at the stars.
That was when she first met him.
It wasn’t love at first sight. Actually it was frightening and she should never have gone back after the scare she had, but it was truly the one spot she had left in her lonely world and she wasn’t giving it up because she’d had one scare. No one was scaring her away from the viewing the stars and eventually viewing who Adam Nova really was.
The night Adam first saw “Luna” she was laying upon the grass, a vision in white, under a blanket of stars. She was beautiful right up until his buddy terrified her and she eventually took off. Adam figured she’d be too frightened to ever return to the field, or she should have been. She had no right crossing the bridge to his side of the world, where he lived was filled with poverty, crime, and darkness. Keeping a vigil his Luna returned and Adam found himself ensnared in her light, pulled further and further into her orbit until he couldn’t escape until it was too late.
I was thinking this was a sweet love story with a couple from both sides of the tracks, but it was more. It was magical in the way of love notes and stars, but something was lurking. Something was going to happen considering he wanted to always protect her, but it was flipped on its axis. I need to know what happens next!
Holy smokes – my first Amie Knight book and I was blown away! Liv and Adam’s story’s is so beautiful. It pulled at all my heart strings and some I didn’t know I had. I can’t even put into words what I’m feeling. This book blew me away! There is so much more in this story than rich girl meets poor boy. I loved this book and their journey of young love, but the cliffhanger… I dying to read more!
Livingston is a rich girl living with her bitchy stepmother and sleazy, creepy stepbrother when she meets the tattooed bad boy from the wrong side of the bridge, Adam Nova. They fall into each other by way of star gazing, and all is going well. As well as things can go with teenagers who live in opposite worlds and have to sneak around to be with each other. And it’s one of those sweet, painfully beautiful YA loves that we’ve all read about, have all experienced. And I was entranced by these two young people with the whole big world, their whole future, ahead of them.
And then that horrible cliffy that had me wanting to beat up some very nasty individuals.
And now I’m anxiously awaiting In Her Space, the second part of this duet, because I have to know if Adam and Liv make it through to the other side! I don’t normally read and/or like YA fiction, but Amie Knight knocked it out of the park with Beneath His Stars. It’s poetic and beautiful in an angsty but not overly so, way. November 15th really cannot come soon enough for this woman!
Beneath the Stars by Amie Knight
5+++ Stars
First, I love love the beautiful cover! ITS so gorgeous!! Second, the story is beyond unbelievable!! AMAZE BALLS!! The story is very well written!! Kept my interest!! Absolutely can not wait for the next book in the series!!
“A star was realized.”
“A dream was born.”
“But even stars and dreams die.”
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
Amazing book!! Livingston and Adam, two people that never should have met…she from the “right” side of town, he from the “wrong”…I can’t even describe how perfect they are for each other!! The sparks between them! But of course it can’t be smooth sailing for them. And what an ending!! I can not WAIT for the second book!!
efore we get into all the reasons that I loved Beneath His Stars, can we just take a moment to appreciate the absolutely stunning covers that Amie Knight chose for the Stars Duet? **huge sigh**
“He wasn’t just a phase. He wasn’t just anything. How could he be anything when he was everything?”
“Forget setting the world on fire. Liv and I? We were going to burn down the universe.”
Amie Knight’s writing is completely captivating, and I have never loved her words more than I have since reading the Stars duet. Beneath His Stars, the first book in the duet, was a sweet, sexy and heartbreaking journey through a young couple’s doomed romance. Instead of reading reviews, I would tell you to one-click this incredible duet immediately. It’s absolutely worth investing your time into and you’ll thank me when you’re done! In the meantime, this review will not spin a new synopsis for the book and will instead tell you why I loved them so much.
“Close your eyes, Nova.” — “Why?” — “Because you can’t dream with your eyes open.” I lifted up on one elbow until my face was right above hers. I could practically taste her sweet breath. “I’m pretty sure I can.”
“My dreams had never compared to a moment I’d spent with her. She was the dream. She was it for me.”
Amie Knight’s books are fantastic. They are very well written with outstanding plots and characters you will love. I always run the gauntlet with my emotions while reading her words. Typically, I prefer romances where the hero and heroine are at least in their mid-twenties (or more). My reason for this is relatively straightforward—I like sexy times in my romance reads. Beneath His Stars brought us a sixteen-year-old heroine and a nineteen-year-old hero and it quickly became the exception to my rule. Just like any other book I’ve had the pleasure of reading by Amie Knight, Beneath His Stars is incredible! It lacks nothing—Adam and Liv’s romance is every bit as compelling as I have come to expect with Amie Knight. It’s romantic and super sexy regardless of their ages. And the angst is delicious! As with most duets, Amie Knight leaves readers floundering with an epic cliffhanger that made me want to throw my kindle. It also made me extremely happy to be a beta reader who got to read the books back to back! I truly hate cliffhangers, I do. However, sometimes they just work, and Beneath His Stars is one of those times. This duet is beautifully crafted with a YA trope for Beneath His Stars and a second-chance romance for In Her Space. Adam Nova and Livingston Montgomery’s romance was unique and inspired. Though Beneath His Stars shows how easy it was for the pair to fall in love, their relationship had many obstacles. Obviously having told you that Beneath His Stars had a cliffhanger, this is not a standalone and you will need to read both books to see Adam and Liv through to their HEA. But I highly doubt you’ll be able to put down the dual POV romance anyway so just buy them both now and get to reading!!!
“You and I, Liv? We’re just not written in the stars,” I choked out the lie. It left a horrible taste in my mouth. But she had an answer for everything. “Then we’ll rewrite them.”
“I wouldn’t take, I’d give. It was what she deserved. If I took, then I’d want to keep her forever and Livingston Montgomery was not anything I could keep. She was on loan from the universe like my own walking, talking miracle.”
“Most girl’s first time would be a fumbling mess of hands and teeth and pain. But not mine. No mine would be a night I’d think back on for the rest of my life as one of the most romantic experiences ever. My boy with the tattoos had given me the stars. It made me want to give him the universe.”
I started reading Beneath his Stars not knowing quite what to expect. The blurb initially had me wondering whether or not I was going to encounter a stuck up, entitled, heroine, who needed to be taken down a peg or two, or a hero who was selfish and a complete jerk. I couldn’t have been more wrong. These two young people were wonderful, true star crossed lovers, and I read their story with a big smile on my face. I felt the story did take a little time to settle in at first but once Adam entered the picture, it picked up pace and I devoured it.
Quite literally from opposite sides of the tracks, or bridge in this case, Liv and Adam’s lives couldn’t be more different.
“She was covered in lace and small bows and me, I was covered in dark ink and despair”
Adam’s protective nature and his concern for Liv’s safety, have him looking out for her in an adorably sweet way and I loved them together. There was nothing I disliked about either of these characters and I thought their actions were real and relatable for their age. However, not everything is a bed of roses and there are some characters I wouldn’t trust as far as I could throw them. As the story progressed, things started to take a slightly darker turn and as I read on with more than a little trepidation, I couldn’t help but wonder when the other shoe was going to drop. For Adam and Liv it was simple. They just wanted to be together. By the end, I began to worry that their naïveté and their youthful misguided confidence would ultimately be their undoing. I wanted to wrap them in cotton wool and keep them safe.
Beneath his Stars is book one of a duet. It’s a beautifully written romance with a little angst and some sexual content and ends on one heck of a cliffhanger. Fortunately, the conclusion is due for release on November 15th, and I can’t wait to read it.
Woah… Amie Knight… you evil genius you! Beneath His Stars brought me back to those beginning days with the first flutters of young love. It’s so damn strong and it happens in the blink of an eye. It’s completely all-consuming. There’s some extra “oomph” added when a good girl meets her bad boy! You know? There’s something about that injured man/boy that steals a woman’s/girl’s heart. Livingston (Liv) might be the rich, privileged girl on the outside but she’s struggling on the inside with the hand life has dealt her. Adam is broken and a bit lost hiding behind his tough exterior he pushes everyone away except his father and a best friend.
What happens when these two stumble upon each other? They form this bond that is just everything… for both of them. They found each other when they needed someone the most. This story builds in tempo the entire story… and that ending… gah! That ending crushed me! Amie Knight builds these characters and their situation up so much that I was right there with them! It was intense and it consumed me! Amie Knight’s writing flowed perfectly. You feel the intensity, the love, the disdain, the excitement, the desire, the fear, the loneliness… Amie Knight captured all the feelings these characters go though. That ending though… good Lord, that was a tough cliffy! I’m so ready for “In Her Space.”
I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I would leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… my opinions.