Houston, 1962
Anne-Marie Smith wanted normal: a loving husband, two beautiful kids, and a well-kept house. But when she catches her husband cheating, she decides that normal isn’t worth it. Now in a new city with a new job, she’s trying to find her new normal—but she knows it doesn’t include the sexy playboy astronaut next door.
Commander Kit Campbell has a taste for fast: fast cars, fast … fast cars, fast planes, and even faster women. But no ride he’s ever taken will be as fast as the one he’s taking into orbit. He’s willing to put up with the prying adoration of an entire country if it will get him into space.
But Anne-Marie and Kit’s inconvenient attraction threatens both normal and fast. As the space race heats up, his ambitions and their connection collide and combustion threatens their plans… and their hearts.
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I love trying historical romance in areas outside the one I write and I’ve fallen in love with Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner’s wonderful Fly Me to the Moon series, starting with Book 1, Star Dust.
Anne-Marie Smith is still hoping she did the right thing by divorcing her cheating ex and moving her two kids from Dallas to Houston when she meets the sexy astrononaut next door. Kit Campbell is willing to put up with the lack of privacy and press attention of being in the public eye so long as it means he can go into space. And he’s not exactly sad about the attention from willing ladies. But his sexy new neighbor seems immune to his charms.
Love the writing, love the characters, love the world building!
If you’re missing the sharp heroines and gorgeous clothes of Mrs. Maisel and (sadly canceled) Good Girls Revolt, the Fly Me to the Moon series is for you!
I knew ten pages in to this book that I was going to love it. And I did. All of it, the setting, the characters, the plot, all of it was (pardon the pun) absolutely heavenly.
I can’t remember reading a book by two authors that flowed so naturally that you forgot there were two authors. The plot and character arcs were wonderful. It was very easy to imagine Kit Campbell on the front of Life as well as Anne-Marie’s dashing next door neighbor. Just as it was very easy to imagine how Anne-Marie felt about starting over after a divorce and putting walls up to protect herself and her children. As for the secondary characters, everyone needs a Margie in their life, and the sorority of astronaut wives was practically perfect for Anne-Marie as she found her footing as a newly divorced, young mother of two.
What I liked most about the book is also what surprised me the most. With divorce being commonplace in today’s world, I was a bit shocked to see how negatively divorcees were treated by the rest of society. Stardust gives an excellent history lesson in day to day life in the 1960s; from the gossip Anne-Marie endured to the “acceptable” bad behavior of the men, this read like a Mad Men for the space race.
If I can come down to earth ( yes, another pun) from gushing about this book, I’m sure I’ll devour the rest of the series with just as much delight.
What if Mad Men’s Betty Draper had divorced Don’s cheatin’ ass at the end of S1 and moved to Houston at the dawn of the Space Race? This is that book. It is so good.
A book set in the 1950s about a woman who has the audacity to divorce her husband … and her romance with the astronaut who lived next door.
I picked this up because someone mentioned it had decent representation of STEM characters in it. Which it does. Kit is a pilot and a very good one. He works with an extremely grumpy engineer. I liked the fact that although he didn’t LIKE the guy, he respected his expertise.
Anne-Marie is prickly, but has good reason for being so (I’m not keen on heroines who are prickly for the sake of it – there has to be a reason, even if you don’t find it out until later in the book). She’s a woman making it on her own in a very patriarchal society. She is judged most harshly by the other women around her. On the other hand, she also gets support from the other astronauts’ wives.
I really like the fact that the story explored the push-pull between work and home life for the men as well as the expectations society placed on the women.
I found the characters and their struggles compelling and loved the period setting. This was an immensely enjoyable book. I’ve just bought the boxed set of the first three books so that I can read more.
Wonderful in all ways! This story took me back to a time well remembered…a time when life was different and filled with promise and the fun of childhood. I remember the space race and disaster drills and all of the rest and though vicariously enjoying the romance between Anne-Marie and Kit I also enjoyed remembering being a child living in the Midwest so many decades ago – a simpler time so filled with promise.
The writing was superb, the characters well developed, the scenes so very real and believable, the children and dog a wonderful addition, the adherence to history impeccable – I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next book!
Thank you to Genevieve Turner for the copy of this delightful book to read and review!