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True North #3
North Star
Franny Fyfe was content with her quiet existence in the small town of Ayashe, Alaska. As the waitress in the only diner in town, she has come to know almost everyone. Except, that is, for the intimidating Sheriff Drew. But when circumstances bring them together, she learns that there is more to the normally-reserved man than meets the eye, something warm and funny and irresistibly sexy.
And the more time they spend together, the deeper the attraction grows, until Franny finds herself yearning for more…
~
Drew Alden has only ever seen himself as the guardian of Ayashe, whose sole purpose is to serve and protect. Until Franny enters his life in a burst of questions and dreams and, for the first time, he begins to want something for himself.
But when the woman he lives with presents him with an unexpected offer—a relationship and the chance to be a father—Drew is faced with a difficult choice.
Caught between duty and desire, Franny and Drew must decide whether to follow their hearts or sacrifice their chance at happiness for the sake of doing what’s right.
And the more time they spend together, the deeper the attraction grows, until Franny finds herself yearning for more…
~
Drew Alden has only ever seen himself as the guardian of Ayashe, whose sole purpose is to serve and protect. Until Franny enters his life in a burst of questions and dreams and, for the first time, he begins to want something for himself.
But when the woman he lives with presents him with an unexpected offer—a relationship and the chance to be a father—Drew is faced with a difficult choice.
Caught between duty and desire, Franny and Drew must decide whether to follow their hearts or sacrifice their chance at happiness for the sake of doing what’s right.
- GenresContemporary Romance
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 26, 2023
1 person is currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
June Gray
39 books611 followersI am a writer who likes to titillate and enrage, who revels in breaking the reader's heart and putting it back together again.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 24, 2025
“For the first time, in a long time, I felt like maybe I could be worth the effort of loving.”
North Star is the third book in June Gray’s True North series. Having enjoyed her two offerings in the small town, Oakwood Hollow series, this series, with its small town Alaska setting, appeared to at least have some similarities. And it did. But this one has some differences as well.
It’s always risky to start with a later entry in a series, but the story-line of this one appealed to me the most. I really had no issues getting a feel for the characters or the small Alaska town of Ayashe with its scant 200 residents. While there was obviously prior history here between some of the characters, it never felt like I’d missed too much because of the deft way past events were alluded to and integrated into the narrative. Basically, for anyone wishing to do as I did and start here, North Star can be enjoyed as a standalone. That’s a good thing, because North Star is a tremendously engaging read in the contemporary romance genre.
The narrative alternates between Franny and Drew, who is an Alaskan State Trooper everyone in Ayashe calls Sheriff, because their very small town is among those he’s assigned to protect. Often these back and forth switches in narrative viewpoints don’t work well, coming off as a superficial device. June Gray however is adept at using them, each switch picking up where the previous left off, rather than covering the same ground through different eyes.
Since this is my fourth read from this author, another thing I’ve noticed is how well she writes from the male point of view. Often in these contemporary romances, the male is superficial or sketchy, often painted as weak or one dimensional in the hands of female writers. Gray treats and writes her male characters with the same care as her female characters, giving them just enough dimension and depth that they feel real, which I found refreshing.
There is warmth and a low-key realness to a lot of North Star’s narrative. Franny has a mother who is a wet blanket in her life, belittling her value, misinterpreting her kindness as weakness. That includes her job as a waitress, her love of books and reading, and the lack of a man in her life. But there was a man, once, who was awful.
Drew is a good guy — perhaps too good for his own sake — with his own baggage; this includes a roommate, Jackie, and her son, who is not Drew’s. There was once a flame there, but it went out a long time ago. Drew’s good heart and his sense of responsibility has led to the entire town believing that he and Jackie are still a couple. With only two hundred people in the small Alaska town, it is very much a fish bowl.
June Gray allows Drew and Franny to come together slowly, in a quiet and romantic way. The more we learn about each the more we like them, and the more we like them, the more the reader longs for them to become a couple. The setting becomes a rugged yet romantic backdrop, with camping and bears and secret spots. It’s warm and charming, with good dialog that flows as naturally as the growing feelings between the two protagonists. When passions reach a boiling point, they threaten to explode, then they do.
“Our cheeks were pressed together, eyes bright, our smiles wide and wild. Together we looked like two people who had found a slice of happiness up there, on top of the world.”
But just when happiness is on the horizon, someone wants to make another try, and with a child involved, true happiness may be sacrificed by a sense of obligation and honor, in this compelling, character-driven narrative about finding love, finding our place in life, while at the same time attempting to do the right thing.
One of the wonderful things about this story is that there aren’t a bunch of bad people in it, just other people trying to do the same as Franny and Drew, in their own way. Only Franny’s mother, and her smarmy ex boyfriend come off badly, but also in a believable way; we’ve all known people just like them.
The beauty of Alaska, lake rescues, a jewelry story robbery and a video store that’s closing down are just some of the pieces to this romantic and tenderly resonating contemporary romance puzzle. It does have some frank scenes of intimacy, moderately explicit in their content, but here within this story, by the time they happen it seems natural, almost inevitable. They were well written and spicy, but filled with feelings as well as passions by the time they occur. Because the alternating chapters between Franny and Drew are relatively short, it’s easy to click past these scenes for those who’d rather have the spice be alluded to, and be behind closed doors.
Warm and likable characters, a nice small-town Alaska setting, dialog which feels natural and not forced, and a romance between two people the reader likes and cares about make North Star a compelling read with just enough substance to lift this story into the upper echelons of its genre. Another wonderful read from author June Gray.
North Star is the third book in June Gray’s True North series. Having enjoyed her two offerings in the small town, Oakwood Hollow series, this series, with its small town Alaska setting, appeared to at least have some similarities. And it did. But this one has some differences as well.
It’s always risky to start with a later entry in a series, but the story-line of this one appealed to me the most. I really had no issues getting a feel for the characters or the small Alaska town of Ayashe with its scant 200 residents. While there was obviously prior history here between some of the characters, it never felt like I’d missed too much because of the deft way past events were alluded to and integrated into the narrative. Basically, for anyone wishing to do as I did and start here, North Star can be enjoyed as a standalone. That’s a good thing, because North Star is a tremendously engaging read in the contemporary romance genre.
The narrative alternates between Franny and Drew, who is an Alaskan State Trooper everyone in Ayashe calls Sheriff, because their very small town is among those he’s assigned to protect. Often these back and forth switches in narrative viewpoints don’t work well, coming off as a superficial device. June Gray however is adept at using them, each switch picking up where the previous left off, rather than covering the same ground through different eyes.
Since this is my fourth read from this author, another thing I’ve noticed is how well she writes from the male point of view. Often in these contemporary romances, the male is superficial or sketchy, often painted as weak or one dimensional in the hands of female writers. Gray treats and writes her male characters with the same care as her female characters, giving them just enough dimension and depth that they feel real, which I found refreshing.
There is warmth and a low-key realness to a lot of North Star’s narrative. Franny has a mother who is a wet blanket in her life, belittling her value, misinterpreting her kindness as weakness. That includes her job as a waitress, her love of books and reading, and the lack of a man in her life. But there was a man, once, who was awful.
Drew is a good guy — perhaps too good for his own sake — with his own baggage; this includes a roommate, Jackie, and her son, who is not Drew’s. There was once a flame there, but it went out a long time ago. Drew’s good heart and his sense of responsibility has led to the entire town believing that he and Jackie are still a couple. With only two hundred people in the small Alaska town, it is very much a fish bowl.
June Gray allows Drew and Franny to come together slowly, in a quiet and romantic way. The more we learn about each the more we like them, and the more we like them, the more the reader longs for them to become a couple. The setting becomes a rugged yet romantic backdrop, with camping and bears and secret spots. It’s warm and charming, with good dialog that flows as naturally as the growing feelings between the two protagonists. When passions reach a boiling point, they threaten to explode, then they do.
“Our cheeks were pressed together, eyes bright, our smiles wide and wild. Together we looked like two people who had found a slice of happiness up there, on top of the world.”
But just when happiness is on the horizon, someone wants to make another try, and with a child involved, true happiness may be sacrificed by a sense of obligation and honor, in this compelling, character-driven narrative about finding love, finding our place in life, while at the same time attempting to do the right thing.
One of the wonderful things about this story is that there aren’t a bunch of bad people in it, just other people trying to do the same as Franny and Drew, in their own way. Only Franny’s mother, and her smarmy ex boyfriend come off badly, but also in a believable way; we’ve all known people just like them.
The beauty of Alaska, lake rescues, a jewelry story robbery and a video store that’s closing down are just some of the pieces to this romantic and tenderly resonating contemporary romance puzzle. It does have some frank scenes of intimacy, moderately explicit in their content, but here within this story, by the time they happen it seems natural, almost inevitable. They were well written and spicy, but filled with feelings as well as passions by the time they occur. Because the alternating chapters between Franny and Drew are relatively short, it’s easy to click past these scenes for those who’d rather have the spice be alluded to, and be behind closed doors.
Warm and likable characters, a nice small-town Alaska setting, dialog which feels natural and not forced, and a romance between two people the reader likes and cares about make North Star a compelling read with just enough substance to lift this story into the upper echelons of its genre. Another wonderful read from author June Gray.
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