A Sky Full of Stars

By Fay Keenan

When Dr. Charlotte James, a historical astronomical archivist at the University of North West Wessex, said goodbye to the last of the departing undergraduate students she supervised in dormitory housing, she moved for five weeks to Brambleton. With incredible timing, because she had just broken up with a boyfriend who returned to the U.S., Charlotte was offered a temporary job archiving the remaining documents at the Lower Brambleton Observatory, which was being decommissioned. A housing development is scheduled to replace the observatory when archiving and demolition of the structure are complete.

Although the site is remote, Charlotte is provided nice housing in an annexe to Lorelai Ashcombe’s cottage. It is within walking distance of the observatory with a nice area for her cocker spaniel, Comet, to play. Lorelai raised twins Tristan and Thea (her grandchildren) when their parents, both astronomers, died in a car accident. Mystery shrouds the observatory as well as the Ashcombe family. Many years later, they are still trying to recover from the trauma of the unexpected deaths. Charlotte’s discovery of an important document may change the way certain family members are perceived.

Tristan and Charlotte have a rocky start as he is very protective of his grandmother and fearful of her taking in strangers. It doesn’t help that their first accidental meeting occurred when Comet decided to explore the observatory site fenced off in preparation for demolition. The enemy to lover trope appears early in the book, and Tristan and Charlotte’s initial, bristly response to each other is fairly quickly resolved. Then the story branches out to Charlotte’s finds at the site’s records room and her interaction with various family members. A resident and aficionado of Bristol, she finds she also enjoys the quiet and beauty of Brambleton and the new friends she makes in the area. The denouement of the novel showcases a lot of breath-holding action followed by a satisfying conclusion.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5 

Category: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Notes: 1. #1 in the Brambleton Series

    2. Contains one steamy scene, but nothing graphic. There is some swearing, but not a lot and mainly during a crisis scene.

    3. In the U.S., we call an addition to a building an “annex.” In Great Britain, it is called an “annexe.” Likewise, “realize” becomes “realise.”

Publication:  March 18, 2025—Boldwood Books

Memorable Lines:

“Some things deserve to be torn down,” Lorelai replied, and this time there was no mistaking the dark edge to her tone, more pronounced than it had been last night when they’d first discussed the development. “It’ll be for the best when that place is gone. And then, maybe everyone can at last move on.”

Charlotte was more than used to encountering rogue pieces of information; documents that implied one thing but on further investigation revealed another; suggested truths that became elegantly constructed falsehoods after further investigation and research.

She hadn’t realised how accustomed she’d got to the quiet until she was back in the noise of the city.