Release Date April 25th, 2020
When Stars Collide is a standalone sequel to When Time Stands Still, a multi-award-winning second chance romance.
Mena Straszewski has always lived life on her own terms. After graduating from the prestigious Cogsworth University, she landed her dream job as an editor at a publishing company in Queens, leaving her life in Virginia behind. Years later, having established herself in New York, a turn of events reunites her with her former boyfriend and partner in off-color commentary, Peter Monroe, now a single father still living in Virginia. Everything seems to be falling into place for Mena, until one by one, the dominoes of her life begin to fall.
Heartbroken after their long-distance relationship forces Peter to break up with her, Mena’s life is thrown off course in ways no amount of planning could have prepared her for, and straight into the path of Phineas Drake. Phineas Drake is handsome, charismatic, and one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City. He also happens to be the founder of Drake Publishing and Mena’s boss.
Between red carpet events and luxury penthouses, Phineas shows Mena a life she could only imagine before. But just as she’s beginning to move on, Peter finds his way back to her, and for the first time in her life, Mena is rendered indecisive; torn between the life she always wanted and the one she never knew she needed.
As a long time fan of Sara’s I have been waiting for this book for what seems like forever-heck, I’m the whole reason why this book exists! No, really-it was all my doing! Okay, Sara probably had the idea before I begged for it but come on, life has been pretty crappy the past month so I’m taking whatever nuggets of goodness I can get. (Or make up, whatever floats your boat.) Whichever way you want to take it, I fell in love with Mena and her smart-ass brand of snark in “When Time Stands Still” and I needed for there to be more to her story. I would have even settled for a non-romance (okay that IS a lie) just to get more witty comments because Mena says the kinds of things I dream of saying on a daily basis but don’t dare to attempt!
Now that we’ve covered my role in the genesis of this masterpiece, let’s get to the good stuff! First off Mena has to be one of my favorite characters of all time with her balance of irreverent humor with heart, and by the way prepare to have yours broken a little in this book. Mena has long been in love with Peter, though their relationship has been always long distance because of her career in New York and his job and son in Virginia. They’ve managed to make it work however until a series of events cause Peter to break things off with her.
Waiting in the wings is her boss Phineas who had harbored a secret interest in Mena prior to her breakup with Peter. At first Mena is uncertain of the wisdom of a romantic entanglement with him, but eventually she decides she has to move past Peter and explore the possibilities of a new relationship with Phineas. They share a lot of interests and living in the same city is an obvious advantage but there is always a part of her that still loves Peter so it is no surprise that she at last has to choose between the two. Which love wins out? You will have to read it and find out for yourself!
Should you read this book? Well, duh. It is written by Sara and it has Mena so that’s a given! Should you read “Time” first? Absolutely yes, I’m a big proponent of starting from the beginning plus you can’t truly understand the emotional depth of one of the subplots in “Stars” which made me cry like a baby! In tandem they deliver a sucker punch to your emotions but it is a journey you won’t regret!!
A huge thank you to Sara for the opportunity to read this early, though as alway all opinions are my own!