SEPTEMBER 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Nicole Poole returns listeners to the popular Chicago Stars football series with this romance between back-up quarterback Thad Owens and opera star Olivia Stone. The pair is thrust together on a promotional tour for high-end watches. Poole captures Olivia, the haughty diva, then skillfully switches to down-to-earth Thad, giving a pleasing contrast between the two characters. Olivia has been receiving disturbing mail, and the stress is affecting her singing. Poole conveys her panic as she struggles to overcome her vocal problems before the end of the tour. In this satisfying listen, two opposing personalities find that their differences are not as great as they thought. S.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 04/19/2021
Phillips’s captivating ninth Chicago Stars romance (after First Star I See Tonight) explores the surprising compatibility between an athlete and an opera singer in the midst of a twisty mystery. Olivia Shore, a famed soprano, and Thad Owens, the backup quarterback for the Chicago Stars, are paired together on a monthlong promotional tour for a luxury watch brand. Olivia initially sees Thad as a “brainless, overpaid jock” while Thad views Olivia as a stuck-up diva—but the ambitious, career-driven pair soon discover they’re more alike than they thought. When Thad learns Olivia has been receiving threatening messages, he makes it his mission to help her. Impossibly, the threats seem to come from Olivia’s ex-fiancé, who recently died by suicide, and Olivia’s fear and guilt has caused her to lose her voice. As she and Thad fight, flirt, and investigate, their attraction becomes undeniable, but both worry about what a future together would mean for their careers. The thrilling suspense plot and intoxicating chemistry will hook new readers and returning fans alike. This is a page-turner.Agent: Steven Axelrod, the Axelrod Agency. (June)
From the Publisher
"RITA Award-winning and best-selling romance author Phillips’ latest virtuoso literary performance and new addition to her outstanding Chicago Stars series delivers a full score of irresistible delights. From savvy characterization, sassy humor, and sparkling dialogue to a smartly composed plot... this brilliantly conceived contemporary romance will have readers shouting, Brava!" — Booklist (starred review)
“Captivating. The thrilling suspense plot and intoxicating chemistry will hook new readers and returning fans alike. This is a page-turner.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“If you’re a fan of opposites attract couples, forced proximity setups, and road tripping across the US, When Stars Collide will be a highly entertaining read for you. A not-to-miss new release from the one and only Susan Elizabeth Phillips.” — HarlequinJunkie.com
“First Star I See Tonight is Susan Elizabeth Phillips at her best—funny, charming and un-put-downable. Oh, and I call dibs on Cooper!” — #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery
“Fall into the addictive voice of Susan Elizabeth Phillips—compulsively readable and deeply satisfying!" — #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr
“First Star I See Tonight is Susan Elizabeth Phillips at her very best, and there’s no one better at writing romantic fiction. Susan is the absolute queen of contemporary romance.” — #1 New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah
“I always laugh my head off when I read Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ novels. She never fails to leave a smile on my face.” — #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter
#1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr
Fall into the addictive voice of Susan Elizabeth Phillips—compulsively readable and deeply satisfying!"
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah
First Star I See Tonight is Susan Elizabeth Phillips at her very best, and there’s no one better at writing romantic fiction. Susan is the absolute queen of contemporary romance.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery
First Star I See Tonight is Susan Elizabeth Phillips at her best—funny, charming and un-put-downable. Oh, and I call dibs on Cooper!
HarlequinJunkie.com
If you’re a fan of opposites attract couples, forced proximity setups, and road tripping across the US, When Stars Collide will be a highly entertaining read for you. A not-to-miss new release from the one and only Susan Elizabeth Phillips.”
Booklist (starred review)
"RITA Award-winning and best-selling romance author Phillips’ latest virtuoso literary performance and new addition to her outstanding Chicago Stars series delivers a full score of irresistible delights. From savvy characterization, sassy humor, and sparkling dialogue to a smartly composed plot... this brilliantly conceived contemporary romance will have readers shouting, Brava!"
#1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter
I always laugh my head off when I read Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ novels. She never fails to leave a smile on my face.
Linda Howard
First Star I See Tonight is a perfect example of why Susan Elizabeth Phillips is so popular. The characterization is spot on; Piper is original and gutsy and real, and Cooper Graham is macho seasoned with a sense of humor. Characters from previous Chicago Stars books make their appearance without overshadowing the main characters in this installment. The ending made me smile even though I was going into mourning because—you know—it ended.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood
In First Star I See Tonight, Susan Elizabeth Phillips writes about the kind of strong, self-assured women I love! I found myself cheering for this heroine with her unwavering ethics from the first page to the last!”
null #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood
In First Star I See Tonight, Susan Elizabeth Phillips writes about the kind of strong, self-assured women I love! I found myself cheering for this heroine with her unwavering ethics from the first page to the last!”
null #1 New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah
First Star I See Tonight is Susan Elizabeth Phillips at her very best, and there’s no one better at writing romantic fiction. Susan is the absolute queen of contemporary romance.
null #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter
I always laugh my head off when I read Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ novels. She never fails to leave a smile on my face.
null #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr
Fall into the addictive voice of Susan Elizabeth Phillips—compulsively readable and deeply satisfying!"
Library Journal
01/01/2021
In this new addition to the Regency-set "Westcott" series, recently widowed Lydia Tavernor wants Someone To Cherish but would rather have a lover than a husband after the numbing servitude of marriage to Rev. Isaiah Tavernor. In Brenner's Blush, college senior Sadie Bailey discovers that straitlaced Grandma Vivian once ran a book club devoted to scandalous women's fiction. To find respite from griefover her grandfather's death, Marisa Rosso travels to a seaside Cornish village, where she helps locals save their beloved bakery (well known to Colgan's fans) in Sunrise by the Sea (100,000-copy paperback and 30,000-copy hardcover first printing). On the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, life-hungry 17-year-old Lenni joins forces with 83-year-old rebel Margot in debuter Cronin's The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot (150,000-copy paperback and 25,000-copy hardcover first printing). With The Paper Palace, Heller, HBO head of drama, turns in a first novel about a woman who makes a momentous and long-overdue decision one bright Cape Cod morning. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, newly married Lauren decides to leave her husband 12 letters to guide him through the first year without her in Higgins's Pack Up the Moon. Killed in a hit-and-run in Nantucket, novelist Vivi is given heavenly permission to spend a year watching over her children, her best friend, and her ex-husband in Hilderbrand's Golden Girl (750,000-copy first printing). In Phillips's When Stars Collide, opera diva Olivia Shore and Thaddeus Walker Bowman Owens, backup quarterback for the Chicago Stars, are paired on a nationwide tour promoting a luxury watch brand with tumultuous results (150,000-copy first printing). Debuter Ray's The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton features a once-aspiring artist now running from a tragedy in her life by simply collecting beautiful objects—until the collection-conscious little boy whose family moves in next door makes her rethink things (100,000-copy first printing).
Kirkus Reviews
2021-04-14
A quarterback and an opera singer fall in love while on a press tour for a luxury watch brand.
Although Thad Owens has an unparalleled ability to read the football field, a flaw in his peripheral vision has relegated him to second string for the upcoming season. His new endorsement contract for a luxury watch brand includes a monthlong tour with Olivia Shore, a world-renowned soprano with the Chicago Municipal Opera. The bright side of the tour for Thad is that he can get away from Chicago and the expectation that he’ll mentor the young quarterback taking his place. Olivia has her own problems: Her ex-fiance committed suicide and sent her an email blaming her for the act. The accusation is so upsetting that she's unable to sing even though she's contracted to perform a demanding lead role in just a few weeks. After a rough start fueled by false assumptions, Thad and Olivia become friends and then lovers. He protects her from overzealous fans and the threat of a stalker but also helps her find her voice again. Olivia and Thad’s ongoing discussion about whose career should come first is modern and engaging. In her previous relationship, Olivia gave up several opportunities to soothe her fiance's ego; she’s determined not to repeat the same mistake with a man as high-powered and successful as Thad. Unfortunately, other elements of the book are not as forward-thinking. Phillips is unusually focused on Olivia's weight and how she fits into the stereotype of an opera singer—even though she's described as being 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 140 pounds, which sounds more like a model—and the description of the ex-fiance’s behavior traffics in stale stereotypes about suicide.
Dated elements detract from what might have been a charming romance.
