Book Review: Falling for a Star in the City by Krysten Lindsay Hager

I’m so pleased to be welcoming Krysten Lindsay Hager back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Falling for a Star in the City, book two in the Stars in the City series. 

Paige thought she had it all: a job on a soap opera and a boyfriend who was trying to get discovered as a singer/songwriter. Then her part on the show is reduced to reoccurring status and her family pushes her to leave her acting dreams behind to major in journalism—what they call a “real job.” Her relationship with her wannabe pop star boyfriend ends only for her to find out he signed a recording contract right after their breakup. Then she reads online that his new album is about their relationship.

She gets an internship in the sports department at a TV station where she meets a college hockey player named Viktor who has trust issues from a past relationship. Now with Walker’s pop star dreams taking off, it leaves her questioning her acting career and self-worth.

Paige and Viktor begin to fall for each other, but Paige worries their worlds are too different for them to work as a couple. Plus, there’s the issue of her ex coming back into her life.

Now she must figure out what she really needs to be happy and fulfilled in life. Can Paige find both her purpose & true love?

*****

Paige feels that her life is going pretty well. She’s an actress on Charmed Lives and has a boyfriend trying to make it as a singer/songwriter. Then, just like that, it’s all gone and she doesn’t know what she’s going to do. When she gets an internship as a sports journalist, maybe she can begin to piece her life back together again?

Having read and enjoyed the first novel in this series, Stars in the City, I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour for the second novel, Falling For a Star in the City. This latest novel can be read as a standalone if you’re new to the series although I recommend book one. It was nice to see some familiar faces from the previous story. As usual, I am going to try and review without spoilers.

This novel is technically YA so I am definitely not the target audience. However, in my opinion, I feel it can be enjoyed by people of any age from young adult and beyond. It contains believable, relatable characters and some interesting themes including grief and the importance of finding your own path especially when the toxic environment of social media is a factor.

I wanted to give Paige a big hug and tell her that she was going to be OK. Seeing her journey as she made her way through the narrative was an interesting one.

I found both the main guys frustrating and compelling in equal measure and I have to admit, at times I wanted to bang their heads together. On the flip side of that, Walker and Viktor each had trouble talking about emotional issues and this novel casts an important light on how important it is not to bottle up experiences, emotions and trauma. Everyone needs to look after their mental health and I think the author has done a great job at shining a light on these kinds of issues.

The plot unfolds well and had me hooked from page one.

Above all, Falling for a Star in the City is a lovely romance. It’s a wonderful escape where you can disappear for a few hours and come out the other end feeling like you’ve made some friends along the way.

It’s an ideal novel for those autumn evenings and gives me the same comfort vibes that I get from The Gilmore Girls. It felt right to be curled up with this book, a blanket and a hot chocolate. Plus, as an Ice Hockey fan, its featured sport perfectly coincided with the start of the hockey season and I’m not going to argue with that.

I have become such a fan of Krysten Lindsay Hager’s novels and I look forward to book three in the series.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. 

About Krysten Lindsay Hager –

Krysten is an author, blogger, and podcast guest host for Michigan Avenue Media. She writes about friendship, dating, self-esteem, fitting in, fame, and values. Her work includes YA contemporary books, new adult, and middle grade fiction. Krysten’s book, Cecily in the City, won the 2023 Readers’ Favorite Award for best young adult romance.  Can Dreams Come True and True Colors were both Wishing Book Shelf Finalists. She received her BA in English and master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

Krysten’s work has been featured in USA Today, The Flint Journal, the Grand Haven Tribune, the Beavercreek Current, the Bellbrook Times, Springfield News-Sun, Grand Blanc View, Dayton Daily News and on Living Dayton. She is a frequent guest host on the Michigan Avenue Media podcast with Marsha Casper Cook.

Say hello to Krysten Lindsay via her website, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and You Tube.  

Falling for a Star in the City is book two in the Stars in the City series and was released in 2024. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Waterstones, Amazon US, Amazon Canada and Amazon Australia. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.