Growing up, Jude McCallister was the bane of my existence.
My best friend. Fiercest ally. The most annoying boy in the world.
At eighteen, the boy I loved to hate became the man I couldn’t live without.

We were young. Madly in love. Invincible.
Strong enough to weather any storm.
Cocky enough to believe that no amount of time or distance could destroy us.

When Jude finally returned home from overseas, it should have been cause for celebration. But the man I’d fallen in love with was gone, and in his place was someone I no longer recognized.

𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. 𝐼’𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦.

Now, after six long years he’s back. Only my heart … it doesn’t beat just for him anymore.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ Overall Rating: When The Stars Fall, book one in the Lost Stars Series by Emery Rose is a heartwrenching, heartbreakingly beautiful, slow burn, contemporary romance about a first love that endures a lifetime of trials and tribulations. Oh, my heart.💔💔💔 This book broke me down ya’ll. I’ve read a couple of Rose’s books at this point and let me tell you, the woman knows how to write that leave you on the edge of your seat, beginning for a HEA type of angst! If you are a fan of first love and/or second chance romance, then do yourself a favor and check out When The Stars Fall, I HIGHLY recommend.

❝What happens when the stars fall, Jude?”
“I’ll put them back in the sky for you.❞

Jude and Lila became each other’s everything when they were nine years old. Their love continued to grow and change throughout the years until with a little help from Jude’s cousin Brody, the two finally became a couple in their teens.

But as always, life happened.

They both graduated from high school and while Lila was headed off to college, Jude was pursuing his life’s dream of joining the Marines.

❝For five long years I’d waited for him. For five long years I’d counted down the months and days until we would be together again. And now that he was here, it felt like he wasn’t really here at all.❞

After five long years of active service, Jude returns… but the Jude that Lila know’s is long gone lost somewhere overseas in a combat zone.

❝I used to think our love was strong enough to survive anything. Even a combat zone. I was wrong. What I hadn’t counted on was the injuries that left no scars.❞

The two of them have a whole lot of love between them, he’s her best friend, she’s his ride or die but ultimately instead of putting the stars in her sky… he makes them fall.

❝I took the light out of your eyes when all I ever wanted to do was make you shine brighter.❞

Experience love, loss, friendship, and a whole lot of heartache along with a lifetime of love as far as a galaxy in When The Stars Fall.

Emery Rose is an amazing author. I love that she wrote When The Stars Fall in three parts so that we can watch the characters grow and develop from young kids to teens, to adults. It was a great way for readers to see the extent of their relationship over the years. Plus, following along with the story that way made me a lot more invested in the characters and the eventual outcome of their relationship.

❝Love tested your limits. It was so damn easy to fall in love. So easy to love a person when times were good. The real challenge was sticking it out even when the going got rough.❞

I’m not sure if it was because my daughter’s father was also in the military and when he came back from overseas… let’s just say life was a struggle. Or maybe it was just the realistic way that Rose wrote the story, like showing how difficult life was for not only Jude but for his loved ones and the people around them. And showing that he had to WORK through his problems, no matter how much we wish it was, love, is NOT a cure-all, especially for mental illness, like so many authors lead readers to believe these days. That’s not realistic. It takes strength, courage, and hard work and I was so, so glad to see that Rose acknowledged the journey that Jude had to go through.

Whatever the reason, When The Stars Fall had me emotionally wrecked for the better half of the story. Again, I can’t recommend this one enough!

💙 (H) Hero: Jude McCallister, I wanted to hate him. And when he was a teen, I almost did hate his cocky arrogant self. But I couldn’t hate Jude the broken and suffering man. Did he handle things correctly by leaving the way he did? No. Did he think in his heart of hearts that he was doing the right thing by leaving? Yes. So I couldn’t hate him. He was an absolute mess and although it’s a nice thought to think that love just magically heals all, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Jude needed help, the kind of help that Lila wasn’t able to give him no matter how hard she tried. But nevertheless, he eventually gets it together and comes back more determined than ever and I loved seeing him pull through.

❝Our love story had played out like a fucking tragedy.
Redemption never came easy but I was up to the task.❞

❤️ (h) Heroine: Lila Turner, my heart bled for that girl. She’s suffered so much loss.
But she was such a strong and charismatic character and I loved that she never backed down from those boys, even when she was a kid. She gave just as good as she got and I love that in a female lead. Just like with Jude, I wanted to be mad at Lila for doing what she did… I mean really girl? His family? SMH. 🤦… but mistakes happen. She did what she thought she had to do and she did whatever she could to try and hold herself together. I can’t condemn her for that.

❝Pillow-soft lips met mine and she kissed me like she always did. Like I was her oxygen and she couldn’t breathe without me. Her kisses were my drug of choice and I chased the high that only she could give me.❞

🔥🔥🔥🔥 𝟒/𝟓 Romance & Steam: When The Stars Fall is definitely a slow burn romance. There is a lot of push and pull but these two were written in the stars so it wasn’t long before they finally got it right. Even though it took a bit for them to resolve their differences because both of them were so dang stubborn. I’m only going to rate this one four stars for steam, although it wasn’t overly steamy, there was just enough.

❝Baby. I love you. Tell me what I can do to make this better. I’ll do anything.”
“Put the stars back in the sky, Jude. It’s so dark and lonely without them.❞

❥❥ 𝟚 ❥❥ Secondary Characters: There was an awesome cast of secondary characters. Besides Jude’s awesome parents, we met his brothers Gideon and Jesse, and of course, cousin Brody. Brody… how can I not mention Brody?! There was a hot minute there that I WANTED Brody and Lila to be together. But it just would have never worked. Lila was ALWAYS meant to be Jude’s. But Brody, I really can’t wait until this bad boy, black sheep, horse whispering, cowboy finds the lady that knocks him off his saddle. Sooo excited for his and the rest of the brother’s stories to come in the Lost Star Series.

🌪🌪 Cliffhanger Warning: Nope, NO cliffhanger. Jude and Lila’s story wraps up with a beautiful happily ever after. BUT I still gave two cliffhanger tornadoes for what’s to come in the Lost Star Series… I’m pretty sure (I’m hoping anyway!) that Brody’s story is up next and I am more than excited for what’s to come.

❝Thank you,”
“For what?”
“For putting the stars back in the sky.”
“You ain’t see nothing yet, baby. I’m going to give you an entire universe.❞

⚠️ Trigger Warning: There are a couple of difficult subjects that could be considered triggers. If you would like to know more about what those subjects are, feel free to DM me, I would rather not post since they could be considered spoilers.

❝I have found my way home and the journey I took to get here made the reward so much sweeter.❞

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Grab your copy of When The Stars Fall today!

💫 Amazon US ➻ http://bit.ly/WTSF_US

💫 Amazon UK ➻ http://bit.ly/WTSF_UK

💫 Amazon CA ➻ http://bit.ly/WTSF_CA

💫 Amazon AU ➻ http://bit.ly/WTSF_AU

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