ARC Review: Beyond The Stars by Stacy Wise

Title: Beyond the Stars 
Author: Stacy Wise 
Genre: New Adult, Romance 
Source: NetGalley 
Publisher: Entangled Embrace 
Publication Date: February 8th 2016 


Summary: 

Most girls would kill for the opportunity to work for Jack McAlister, Hollywood’s hottest actor, but twenty-one-year-old Jessica Beckett is ready to kick him out of her red Ford Fiesta and never look back. She should be spending her junior year in France, eating pastries and sharpening her foreign language skills. Instead she’s reluctantly working as Jack’s personal assistant, thanks to her powerhouse talent agent aunt Jack is private, prickly, and downright condescending. Jessica pushes his buttons—she’s not the type of girl to swoon over celebrity heartthrobs, precisely why her aunt thought she’d be perfect for the job—and Jack pushes right back. But as she begins to peel away his layers, Jessica is shocked to find she craves her boss’s easy smile and sexy blue eyes. The problem is, so does the entire female population. And what started out as the job from hell soon has Jess wondering if a guy like Jack could ever find love with a regular girl like her.

I haven't read any New Adult books in a while, and this one seemed interesting enough. With how things were going at the point that I read this book (I read it on 1/7/16) I hadn't been in much of a reading mood and I was hoping that Beyond the Stars would change that. It did! Beyond the stars was sweet, funny, and romantic. 

After a unexpected health set back left Jessica from her year abroad in France, Jessica is stuck working as the assistant for Hollywood's bad boy Jack McAlister. Jack is everything you expect from the rich and famous, he is paranoid, condescending, and prickly. But then he has moments of extreme sweetness. When Jessica starts to feel an attraction towards her boss she knows it is wrong, for one he is her boss and two every other girl on the planet wants him. But what could Jessica do? She refuses to let her aunt down, so she continues working for Jack and his revolving door of girls. Even if it is breaking her heart. 

The opening scene of Beyond the Stars Jessica is driving to the set of a talk show host with Jack's pet pig on her front seat. Yes, a pig. I think that was the moment I fell in love with this book. Shortly after I met Jack, and I didn't like him. He was rude, condescending of Jessica and was still against the whole idea of having a personal assistant. But eventually the more you got to know Jack, that more you were able to fall in love with him. The part that he plays paramedic when Jessica's scraps her arm *swoon* 

I liked Jessica character. She is hard working and a go-getter. Despite the fact that this is the last person she wants to be working for she makes the best of it. Eventually she doesn't even mind it anymore. We all understand that Jack's job as an actor sometimes includes him kissing other people, but rationally someone who is falling in love with that person would of course be upset about that. Especially when they felt like that never would have a chance. I felt bad for Jessica. 

I loved the romance in this book. It is a slow burn, and I spent most of the book wanting to push their faces together. In other terms it was torturous. It is a subtle touch here, a hug there, a few steamy thoughts occasionally. Like I said slow burn, but it was painful! It isn't until the last 90% of the book before any major kissing action happens. For a New Adult novel I found Beyond the Stars to be clean. Meaning: There was no sex scenes, or graphic make out scenes. (Which I was slightly disappointed with.) It was implied though. 

Overall I really enjoyed Beyond the Stars! Considering the lack of sex and graphic content I would say its a perfect introduction book into the world of New Adult. I would love to read more from Stacy soon!