A Pocketful of Stardust

Aster #1

by J.P. Barnaby, Rowan Speedwell

An Aster Story Noah Hitchens loves the New York City life he worked hard to build. But when his father dies and leaves him a bankrupt bookstore in their sleepy Georgia hometown, Noah knows he has to save it. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know anything about business. He finds unlikely help in Henry, the man who owned Stardust Books before his 1966 murder, and Kyle St. James, a shy but kind-hearted out-of-towner with a past almost as mysterious as Henry's. Kyle came to Aster, Georgia, looking for redemption. On the run and out of hope, he’s just trying to get on with his life. Then he meets Noah, a ghost, and a big sloppy lab named Jake who redefine his idea of living. But his past is closing in, and when it finds him, they could lose everything.

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, LGBT

234 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2019

About the author

An award-winning, best-selling novelist of over a dozen books, J. P. Barnaby is a proud member of the GLBT community both online and in her small town on the outskirts of Chicago. A member of Mensa, she is often described as brilliant but troubled, sweet but introverted and talented but deviant. She spends her days writing software and her nights writing erotica which is, of course, far more interesting. The spare time that she carves out between her career and her novels is spent reading about the concept of love, which, like some of her characters, she has never quite figured out for herself.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm struggling to review this one.
It was...different. SO different.
I was intrigued and engaged from start to finish.
I've never read anything like it before.
If I think about it as a paranormal story with a twist, I'd say 4 solid stars.
If I think about it as a paranormal romance story with a twist, I'd say 3 stars.
Because, well, frankly, there's not a lot of romance.
Personal journey? You bet.
Fresh start? Absolutely.
Survival story, bringing two different paths together? Without a doubt.
I loved Henry, our bookstore residence ghost.
I loved Noah, our grieving young man suddenly stuck at an unexpected crossroads in his life.
I loved Kyle, our mysterious gentle skittish new guy in town.
I loved how they all came together...family was lost, family was made, and family was chosen.
BUT!
It was a bizarre tale with strange surprises.
I've never read about a a religious cult or specifically a polygamist cult. And trigger warnings would include domestic violence and child abuse. Although we don't witness these crimes on page, Kyle is still recovering from his deep emotional wounds.
If you are looking for something off the beaten path and don't mind romance being on the back burner, this might be just what you need.
Just put all expectations aside and let go...it's one wild ride.

[Tracy~Bayou Book Junkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I loved Noah from the very beginning, but it took time for me to warm up to Kyle. He was very mysterious and secretive, and since the story is told completely from Noah’s POV, we are kept in the dark for quite some time regarding Kyle’s backstory. When we finally do get his backstory, it’s heartbreaking.

I loved the premise of the story and it’s well-written. My stomach was in knots the entire book wondering if Noah would raise/earn enough money to save the bookstore, Stardust, that his father left him, from foreclosure. Noah was so sweet and you couldn’t help but root for him!

While the story was enjoyable, for me, the romance portion was lacking. Noah and Kyle spent a lot of time together, but something was missing. I can’t quite pinpoint what it was. Perhaps it was that I didn’t feel a romantic vibe towards Noah from Kyle. It was never really conveyed that he was romantically interested in Noah. Had we gotten Kyle’s POV and been able to know what he was thinking/feeling, maybe the romance portion would have worked better.

Still, this was an enjoyable story featuring two likable guys, as well as some awesome secondary characters and I’m curious as to whose story will be next. Recommendable!


*copy provided by author/publisher in exchange for an honest review*

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://optimumm.blog/2019/09/15/revi...

Noah is happy with his life in New York until a phone call from his hometown announced that his father had died, and he has to get his father succession and inheritance in order.
He left New York suddenly and went back home to bury his only parent. Soon he realizes that his father’s bookstore is almost at bankruptcy and Noah doesn’t know how to save it or if he wants to save it. Meeting Henry, the ghost, and Kyle his hot and shy neighbor might help him, but when the time comes, Noah will have to make a decision between the nostalgia of his childhood and the reality of his future.
A Pocketful of Stardust by JP Barnaby and Rowan Speedwell was my first book by both of the authors.

It was a sweet and beautiful story, with a rainbow of feelings. The book was told from Noah’s POV, and we follow him in his journey. We’re with him at each step, and we share his pain with him, along with tears, love, and happiness. I really appreciated how the authors had described all the emotions of the MCs well.

Noah and Kyle are made for each other. Noah is confident, but Kyle is stronger, he has a horrible and traumatic past that he struggles to deal with, until Noah helps him. I loved how they’re different but also how they’re similar. I loved Kyle. He touched me with his shyness, and his purity moved me. They are very sweet and adorable, two kind souls who met and recognized each other.

The authors transcribed very well, also, all the small town atmosphere, with a strong community ready to help and support each other. I loved it, in the crazy world where we live nowadays, we need that reminder that there’s still good people around us.
The writing was good, even if sometimes a little bit repetitive, I was still hooked in the story.

Even if it wasn’t all candies and rainbows, this book was sweet, beautiful and I really had a good time with them.
4 Stars for them

[Elaine White · Rating 5 out of 5]

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine

~

A Pocketful of Stardust (Aster #1) by J.P. Barnaby and Rowan Speedwell
★★★★★
234 Pages
POV: 3rd person, one character POV
Content Warning: deals with loss of parent, grief, off-page domestic/child abuse


With a dose of southern charm, and a blend of genres – from contemporary romance, a mystery, a ghost story, and a journey of self-discovery – A Pocketful of Stardust has everything to take you on an emotional journey. It may have a lot of elements, but it has even more heart.

The story is primarily a contemporary romance, about Noah. His life is ticking along, until he gets that phone call – his father has died, suddenly. He goes home, to all those conflicting emotions of 'why didn't I come home more often' and 'I should have known' and 'how do I go on without him?'. As he tries to navigate this exhausting wheel of emotion and stress and responsibility, a kaleidoscope of events derail his already shattered world; he loses his job, he meets Kyle, and he inherits a house and a bookstore.

Though the story has the supernatural element of a ghost, and deals with a few criminal elements, it is primarily a story about Noah discovering himself, his strength, his ability to go on. The story spends a very generous and heartbreaking 13% revolving around Noah dealing with his father's death. I love that. Because, this is a HUGE event in his life, and it was treated as such. It wasn't something washed over or ignored after a while, it was the main focus of the story. How Noah dealt with losing his father and the consequences of that loss. Because of that, it's not an easy easy.

It's nowhere near the lighthearted and sort-of magical story that I expected from the cover. BUT, it is heartwarming, heartbreaking, and it will leave you sobbing into a box of tissues, craving some healing chocolate and – for me, as I lost my dog last year – wishing there was still that fur-covered pup to cuddle. It will make you need comfort, and give you comfort at the same time.

It utterly broke my heart. But, I'll admit, the worst part was when Jake came home. I've owned dogs all my life and I've lost more than a few of them; seeing Jake walk into that house and search for Noah's dad was the most heartbreaking part of the novel, and it's making me cry right now, just remembering it. In that moment, I knew I was going to love this book. It wasn't the glasses on the floor, though they smashed my heart with a hammer; it was Jake.

Alright, yes...I cried a lot, actually. The glasses, Jake coming home, even Kyle made me cry sometimes because he was just so sweet and clueless and alone, Miss Edna and Thad, and then...Henry, and that last bit at the end at the church... Yeah, I cried a lot.

I loved the respect that was given to each of the very serious issues raised throughout the book, without it becoming lecturing – the Syrian refugee, cultism, domestic abuse, child abuse, civil rights, religious persecution, equality, race, and sexuality. They were all handled with care, but without minimising or overshadowing them, without stooping to using them as a tool to add more diversity without understanding them.

When it comes to characters, you can't ask for a better bunch. Miss Edna, with her rifle friends and sweetness; innocent and sweetly clueless Kyle; outrageous and loveable Thad; brusk and intriguing Cooper; and the smart and sophisticated Henry. I loved each and every one of them.

Honestly, this is my first book by JP Barnaby, and I chose it because of Rowan Speedwell. I've learned that I can never be disappointed by a book by Rowan Speedwell, and – if this book is any indication of talent – then I've just added JP Barnaby to my list of “must read” authors, because...wow. The writing style was exactly up my alley. The blend of genres was utterly perfect and engaging. The characters were wonderful, heartfelt and real, with a huge diversity of personalities, sexuality, gender, strength, race, and quirks. The plot had a perfect pace, for me. It was always moving along with some even or other and it was always building the story with every event. Nothing was pointless or unexplained.

In the end, what can I say? I loved it. I laughed, cried, broke my heart, and it made me heartsick for people lost and pets no longer with me. Every character had their place, their purpose, and has forged a place in my heart. I can't wait for the next book in Aster.

~

Favourite Quotes

“A wracking moan shook him, and he cried harder, grief and loneliness ganging up on him and pounding him into the ground until he wanted to yell “Enough!” and have all this end.
And then warm lips brushed his ear and Kyle’s sweet voice said, “I’ve got you. Let go,” and he did, letting everything go until he lay limp and exhausted in Kyle’s arms.”

[Annie Maus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here’s high praise: JP Barnaby and Rowan Speedwell’s enchanting A Pocketful of Stardust sped me happily through bronchitis. For those hours I forgot my misery. It reads so smoothly and breezily I savored every moment.

This is the story of Noah, a young man working in New York, whose beloved father dies too early, leaving him a house and bookstore in their Georgia hometown. Both properties are close to foreclosure. While in grief Noah must learn how to run the store and decide whether he wants to keep it … assuming he can possibly earn the necessary 50k to meet his one month loan deadline.

Along the way, Noah meets Kyle, a beguilingly helpful man with a mysterious and horrific past; Henry, the bookstore ghost; plus, a supportive cast of sweet-tea-drinking small-town characters. As Noah lets himself love them, he realizes what is and isn’t important. Unfortunately, he also encounters the specter of homophobia and old enemies. Luckily, he’s reminded of his values with well-timed quotes peppered throughout, like Martin Luther King’s, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

A Pocketful of Stardust is about true faith, which (as we know) must be backed up by works. Barnaby and Speedwell show what it might take for a clueless man to honor his father’s legacy, the difficulties of cataloging and inventorying, online sales, long hours of paperwork, co-existing with other vendors, and marketing, etc. Yet these details entrance us because they take time, which is the one thing Noah and Kyle simply don’t have. Will they make the deadline?

Speedwell and Barnaby invest us in the bookstore, and its history, the town, even the big sloppy dog, with perfectly executed quirky portrayals that pull us in. Here’s a charming southern description of rubbing that dog’s belly. “Noah…scratched his way from the neck down, making sure to miss the dog’s frank and beans.”

Despite A Pocketful of Stardust’s spectral light-heartedness, tension builds. Because Kyle’s past arrives, just as the bookstore’s loan comes due! We know there will be conflict, just not how badly it will end. Can two young men, barely discovering themselves and each other, find a way to make peace with the unfair hands they’ve been dealt? Just maybe, assisted by a ghost and a refined elderly fine-baking, rifle-toting Southern woman to count upon.

Barnaby and Speedwell never dramatize emotions, yet we experience Noah and Kyle’s sadness, like at Noah’s dad’s memorial at his home, when Noah reacts. “He wanted to yell at them that his father had lost his life right there where their dirty shoes scuffed over the tile. But he caught himself because it was ridiculous. It was so ridiculous.” And we equally experience the joy of Noah and Kyle’s discovery… a tentative attraction, a first kiss, the awkwardness of their first intimacy, which like real life doesn’t go as planned, but is marvelous never-the-less.

Do you need a dose of common decency? How about love that grows slowly and purely? Or the struggle for a life we can be proud to call our own? With their first installment in the Aster series, JP Barnaby and Rowan Speedwell have hit a home run of Americana – easy reading, appropriate for young adults, sweet, fulfilling and brimming with warmth, just like the hot coffee delights Kyle crafts for their bookstore.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.75 stars

A Pocketful of Stardust was something of a mixed bag. It’s at times charming and sweet and feels like it has a defined and rooted plot. At other times, the pacing meanders and the characters don’t always connect as well as they should. Let’s start with the positives. The plot, while not original, is a warming one. The idea of coming home and finding renewed purpose in the wake of tragedy is a theme I enjoy and I found it relatable. Noel’s grief regarding his father and his sense of being overwhelmed by everything concerning the Stardust feels realistic and believable. His character is pragmatic, but he reads as decently developed. Kyle seems almost immature at times. Some of that could be put down to his twisted upbringing, but he’s been away from the cult since he was 15. So some of his backward awkwardness doesn’t feel very believable. He doesn’t have any of Noel’s definition and he isn’t terribly personable. I just found his character hard to connect with.

Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.

[Kioo · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing didn't work for me. I could never get into the story because it never flowed. The dialogue was terrible. I also wish sensitivity readers were more widely used. Any time a white guy corrects the way a black person "corrects" the way a black person refers to another black person, that's a problem for me.

[MariF · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the writing and the story which was really different and off the beaten path. Blurb says it all and story is very life-affirming despite some tragedies that bring both MCs together.
Would like to read more Aster stories.

[Jeff Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need more Aster stories. I adored every bit of this story.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the premise, the setting and some of the characters but Noah and his decisions irritated me a lot and even though I've enjoyed books by both authors this one was a lot less enjoyable.

[Stella ╰☆╮╰☆╮ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a great time with this new novel, I found the plot so in tune with what I usually like to read, I finished it quickly. I loved Noah deeply, he sacrificed his life and job in New York to take care of his father dream, even if later he discovered it was his own dream too. I knew his pain and his devotion, I ached for him when things weren’t going well. I was glad he had first Henry and then Kyle to help, and the whole Aster people.

The book is beautifully written, it wasn’t a surprise knowing some of the authors’ previous releases. That said there were a couple of things that didn’t work for me: first in all in this story I think Kyle’s POV was necessary. His background, his fears, the reason why he was in Aster and he acted like he was from another planet, knowing all of these from his mouth would have made the narration more fluid and complete. I missed his thoughts, his POV, it wasn’t enough having only Noah’s. Plus the romance part fell a little short to me, I wasn’t able to feel a connection between the MCs. I can understand the authors wanted to probably focus the book on Noah and his loss and more, but a romance is made of two parts, it seems to me like on of them was not ignored, cause we knew a lot about Kyle, but almost like not developed or less important. And because of this, I wasn’t able to fully appreciate and understand Kyle feelings for Noah.

I will surely read the next installment in the series, I was conquered by Aster population and can’t wait to discover more about it.

The cover art by Tiferet Design is lovely, I like it a lot

[Helke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read for a rainy afternoon with a cup of hot tea and maybe a little fire in the pit. The writing stile is very descriptive so I could really picture the bookshop in my minds eye and longed to go there to sit down with a nice book and a hot cocoa. I would also like to meet one of the MC´s. But sadly part of the story felt constructed like the author thought they had to add some suspence to the story to make it more substancial. That feeling lessened my positive reaction to the book. So I´ll give it 3 stars.

[PaperMoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute read with decent MCs, a little unexpected paranormal activity, a couple of douchey antagonists, some alarming drama from one MCs hidden backstory and more than a few supportive townsfolk secondary characters.