Page Princess: STAR OF BETHLEHEM by Sarah Daltry

Title: STAR OF BETHLEHEM

Series: Flowering #2.5

Author: Sarah Daltry

Publish Date: 10.23.13

Publisher: SDE Press

Category: NA, Romance, Erotica

Recommended for: 18+, explicit sex

Grammar/editing: A – near perfect

Received from: Purchased on Amazon.com

Goodreads: Star of Bethlehem

Date completed: 10.26.13

Description from the publisher:

Jack isn’t a rock star. He’s not the leader of a MC. He isn’t a billionaire. Lily’s not the daughter of a mob boss, or a stripper, or a virgin with a BDSM fascination. They’re just regular college kids, who somehow found each other in the middle of all the crap and chaos of growing up.

“With you, Jack, it was the first time I ever felt real. It was the first time anyone looked at me and saw substance. It was the first time I wanted to make someone see me.”

Jack and Lily have navigated his past, her desire to move on from her family’s demands of her, his depression, and her loneliness. Now, on New Year’s Eve, they have an entire year laid out ahead of them. First, though, Jack needs to meet Lily’s family, to be welcomed into her life. It’s intimidating, but with a sweater that is way too hot and his grandmother’s ugly car, he arrives at Lily’s gleaming house on a hill, ready to open himself up completely to her.

Inside the perfect, sparkling house, Lily waits for the boy she has come to love. But Lily’s house and family are a lot like her – shiny and pretty on the outside, with a sad emptiness on the interior. Lily wants to give Jack the one thing he has always dreamed of – family and love – but can she keep him from seeing how hollow a lot of the picture perfect life he fantasizes about really is?

This is a novella length work that follows Forget Me Not and Lily of the Valley.

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In this accompanying novella, Jack has been invited to Lily’s house to celebrate New Year’s Eve with the family. The WHOLE family is there, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. When Derek shows up, the tension is unbearable. Can Lily convince him to stay?

I remember the first time I met several of the mothers. One was an Italian mamma. All she said to me was “mangia” (I’m probably spelling it wrong, but she was telling me to eat). When I met the ex-husband’s mother, I was so stressed, I got a nose bleed!

I refuse to call the author Ms. Daltry anymore. Nope. This is my friend, Sarah. Thank God she seems to have about the same amount of insomnia as I do (which may explain why we’re both nutz). When I read a book, I read everything: the forward, acknowledgments, bio - anything that is provided. Two pages in, I sent a Facebook post to Sarah telling her that she had me LMAO at the note beside DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN. It says “coming eventually.” Then I turned the page and I had to write another note to her. She mentioned me in the acknowledgments! I was a total fan-girl at that point, and thank God I was home alone, or I would have awakened the rest of the house. Do I think that influenced my feeling about the book? Nope. The story is just too freaking fantastic to need any influence. The final note I sent to Sarah was “I don't think I'll ever get tired of Jack and Lily. When they have children, I can be Grandma Mary Lou.”

In my opinion, this is a perfect holiday story. Not because everyone is perfect, and nice, and sweet. It's perfect because some are assholes, and some are clueless, and some are petty, just like in real life. But they're family, so we love them. Lily and Jack continue to learn about each other and each about themselves. The sex is as urgent and steamy as only new love can be. The emotion is raw and real. I will be continuing to Facebook stalk Sarah and encouraging her in both this series and the Eden’s Fall trilogy that ya’all haven’t even started on yet.

The Flowering series: