Star-Crossed

Darke’s winning debut follows a horoscope writer’s devious yet delightful plan to snag a boyfriend. Justine Carmichael has worked her way up at the Alexandria Park Star, an Australian magazine, and has recently been promoted to contributions manager. When she crosses paths with childhood sweetheart Nick Jordan, now a handsome actor and ardent astrology believer, she learns he reads the Star’s weekly horoscope and hatches a scheme: she begins surreptitiously rewriting the horoscopes, into which she sprinkles subtle hints that Nick should ask her out. Unfortunately, Nick’s interpretation of the messages leads him to start dating a model. Justine, meanwhile, learns that a lot of the magazine’s readers make important life decisions based on her faux horoscopes, and she begins to wonder: Is everything “lucky, random chaos” or is there something more? Unpretentious, well-drawn characters and the fresh twist on the childhood sweethearts reunited setup make this perfect for fans of romantic comedies. [em](May) [/em]