Star-Crossed by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin [Review]

Star-Crossed (Townsend Harbor #4) by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia St. Aubin
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 24, 2023

Townsend Harbor
1. Nevermore Bookstore
2. Brewbies
3. Bazaar Girls
4. Star-Crossed - Paperback | Kindle
5. Sirens

Kerrigan Byrne
| Website | Amazon |

Cynthia St. Aubin
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Everyone thinks LYRA MCKENDRICK is magic. She’s not, for the record, just a lawyer who predicted a few outcomes that were blown out of proportion in the robust Townsend Harbor rumor mill. After a messy breakup in which she lost her thriving practice, she’s returned to her hometown to lick her wounds and is persuaded by a local town cook to capitalize on her cringe-worthy reputation by running the local new-age shop. How hard could it be to sell chakra-cleansing crystals, libraries worth of tarot cards, crops of candles, and enough incense to choke out Willie Nelson’s entire entourage? When one of Townsend Harbor’s many ancient trees threatens her plumbing, she engages Cypress Forrester, aka “Cy the Tree Guy” to rid her of the problem. Instead, he seems intent on becoming one.

Cy’s family have been arborists and healers for generations, and they’re firm believers in the mysticism of trees, among other things. When she hires him to chop down an endangered tree to save her business, they find themselves on opposite ends of a battle neither of them is willing to lose. As a man tethered by indigenous roots to the earth, Cy immediately realizes Lyra is a woman who lives in her head, which often disassociates her from her heart, body, and intuition. It’s how she always finds “practical” explanations for the series of unexplained, serendipitous coincidences that keep thrusting them together. Alone. But Cy knows better, and he realizes that he must tempt her out of her thoughts and back into her body, and what better way to do that than by a thorough seduction?

Thoughts on Star-Crossed: Gemma's twin sister, Lyra, is up and she's at as much as a crossroads in her life as Gemma was. Maybe more. I only say that because Lyra had been holding onto the idea that she had to be the practical twin, the twin that keep on track, the twin that did what needed to be done. She didn't give herself the luxury of ever allowing herself to fail which means her breakup with her fiancé (who was a total d-bag, thankyouverymuch) and subsequent joblessness sort of sent her spinning.

BUT...now she's settling into Townsend Harbor. Mostly. She gives brutally frank tarot readings, has to deal with a new-age shop and all the new-age people who come with it, and she's starting to find herself a piece at a time.

One of those pieces lies in Cy's direction. After a missed opportunity when they were younger, an accident that made Cy learn to live with limitation he never expected to live with, and more than a little miscommunication (because Lyra was locked up tight and didn't want to deal with the angst that came with listening) circumstances force Lyra and Cy to deal with one another as (mostly) mature adults. On Cy's end, he sees in Lyra everything he could ever want, but he's dealing with those aforementioned limitations (some of which he put on himself) and that has him as locked down as Lyra was about communicating.

Small town shenanigans, a little oversharing by everyone's favorite uptight former sheriff, a few cranky tarot readings, a whole lot of family, a man who keeps himself hidden until his special someone tempts him out, and a lady who is very lost until she allows herself to be found. GOOD STUFF.