What do you think?
Rate this book
Sun, Moon & Stars #3
Too Many Stars to Count: A Spicy Internet Frenemies to Lovers FX Romance
To her millions of social media followers, Irish influencer Maeve O'Martin looks like she's got it all. Looks, money, and a jet-setting lifestyle. But you can't believe everything you see online. Because there's one thing missing from Maeve's life and it's something she's starting to doubt she'll ever have. Love. True love. Sure look, she knows being asexual doesn't mean she's destined to live without a fulfilling romantic relationship in her life, but depressingly, it is starting to feel like that's what the stars have in store for her. That is, until a certain adult content creator slides into her DMs...
Lawrence "Loncey" Harris is a porn star. Actually, they're a polyamorous, aromantic, pansexual ethical porn star, to be exact. And they love it. More than the regular sex with fun, attractive people - which ain't half bad - they love how this work has given them the financial security and flexible working hours to be there for their chronically ill sister. They also love how being on the Internet helps them meet people like Maeve O'Martin who may be the most sarcastic woman in the cosmos, but there's something about her that has Loncey questioning, well, everything. Questioning everything and asking the stars for guidance...
Too Many Stars to Count is an Internet frenemies to lovers, opposites attract, long-distance romance with non-binary, asexual, aroflux, pansexual and panromantic rep. It is atypically spicy and is the third book in the Sun, Moon & Stars series. It's not necessary to have read Five Sunsets or The Moon Also Rises before reading this book, but it is recommended.
Lawrence "Loncey" Harris is a porn star. Actually, they're a polyamorous, aromantic, pansexual ethical porn star, to be exact. And they love it. More than the regular sex with fun, attractive people - which ain't half bad - they love how this work has given them the financial security and flexible working hours to be there for their chronically ill sister. They also love how being on the Internet helps them meet people like Maeve O'Martin who may be the most sarcastic woman in the cosmos, but there's something about her that has Loncey questioning, well, everything. Questioning everything and asking the stars for guidance...
Too Many Stars to Count is an Internet frenemies to lovers, opposites attract, long-distance romance with non-binary, asexual, aroflux, pansexual and panromantic rep. It is atypically spicy and is the third book in the Sun, Moon & Stars series. It's not necessary to have read Five Sunsets or The Moon Also Rises before reading this book, but it is recommended.
484 pages, Paperback
Published June 24, 2024
4 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Frances M. Thompson
31 books209 followersFrances M. Thompson writes stories about bisexual disaster heroes usually getting the HEAs they deserve in her spicy contemporary romance... but sometimes getting into a lot of trouble in her suspense thrillers.
Frances loves chatting with her readers and the best places to do so is in her Facebook Readers' Group or on Instagram.
Originally from London, UK, but now based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Frances is the author of the contemporary (and steamy!) romances, Five Sunsets, The Moon Also Rises, and Let Love Rule, sapphic romances Hummingbird and Butterflies, three short story collections (Shy Feet Short Stories Inspired by Travel, London Eyes Short Stories, and Nine Women: Short Stories), a collection of poetry called Lover Mother Other, and the London Killing series of fast-paced urban thrillers, including The Wait and The Weaker Sex.
To find out about Frances' upcoming books first, sign up to her newsletter.
You can find copies of her books (and more!) in her shop.
Frances also works as a freelance writer and blogger. You can read her (oft-neglected) blog, As the Bird flies. She is also the creator of WriteNOW Cards, positive affirmations cards designed to help writers build and enjoy a writing practice they love.
Follow Frances on href="https://www.instagram.com/FrancesMTho... or on TikTok @francesmthompson.
Frances loves chatting with her readers and the best places to do so is in her Facebook Readers' Group or on Instagram.
Originally from London, UK, but now based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Frances is the author of the contemporary (and steamy!) romances, Five Sunsets, The Moon Also Rises, and Let Love Rule, sapphic romances Hummingbird and Butterflies, three short story collections (Shy Feet Short Stories Inspired by Travel, London Eyes Short Stories, and Nine Women: Short Stories), a collection of poetry called Lover Mother Other, and the London Killing series of fast-paced urban thrillers, including The Wait and The Weaker Sex.
To find out about Frances' upcoming books first, sign up to her newsletter.
You can find copies of her books (and more!) in her shop.
Frances also works as a freelance writer and blogger. You can read her (oft-neglected) blog, As the Bird flies. She is also the creator of WriteNOW Cards, positive affirmations cards designed to help writers build and enjoy a writing practice they love.
Follow Frances on href="https://www.instagram.com/FrancesMTho... or on TikTok @francesmthompson.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Read
June 18, 2024This book. THIS BOOK. It has a piece of my heart in it. And a lot of my brain matter. It took a lot longer to write than I expected but that is not only life (or at least one with a chronic illness) but it's also testament to how many layers this book has. As well as updates for the two other Sun, Moon & Stars couples. All this is to say, I hope you enjoy. I hope you learn something. And I hope you know that even if the world doesn't have your back, the universe does.
July 4, 2024
I wanted to like this opposites attract queer F/X romance a little more than I did but I’m still glad I read it.
January 24, 2025
4,5/5
C’est la première fois que je lis une romance avec des sujets sur l’asexualité aussi bien traité, c’était une très belle histoire !
On va suivre Maeve qui est une influenceuse beauté basé à Dublin qui vient de faire son coming out en tant que personne asexuelle et Loncey qui est un acteur porno basé aux US, noir, non binaire, aromantique et qui sort d’une relation polyamoureuse. Au début on se dit que tout les sépare puisque Maeve est asexuelle et que Loncey gagne sa vie grâce au sexe mais justement ce livre traite de tout ces sujets là.
J’ai appris beaucoup de choses, les sujets abordés sont traités avec justesse, que ce soit sur l’identité, le genre, la sexualité, les stéréotypes, la maladie et j’en passe. Il y a beaucoup de déconstruction de faite, surtout sur l’asexualité qui devrait être connue de tous !
C’est une romance slow burn, qui se concentre sur l’intimité non physique et j’ai beaucoup apprécié cette aspect là, il était beaucoup plus mis en avant que l’intimité sexuelle et c’était rafraîchissant.
C’était doux, mignon et sexy, des personnages attachants et des problématiques réalistes !
C’est la première fois que je lis une romance avec des sujets sur l’asexualité aussi bien traité, c’était une très belle histoire !
On va suivre Maeve qui est une influenceuse beauté basé à Dublin qui vient de faire son coming out en tant que personne asexuelle et Loncey qui est un acteur porno basé aux US, noir, non binaire, aromantique et qui sort d’une relation polyamoureuse. Au début on se dit que tout les sépare puisque Maeve est asexuelle et que Loncey gagne sa vie grâce au sexe mais justement ce livre traite de tout ces sujets là.
J’ai appris beaucoup de choses, les sujets abordés sont traités avec justesse, que ce soit sur l’identité, le genre, la sexualité, les stéréotypes, la maladie et j’en passe. Il y a beaucoup de déconstruction de faite, surtout sur l’asexualité qui devrait être connue de tous !
C’est une romance slow burn, qui se concentre sur l’intimité non physique et j’ai beaucoup apprécié cette aspect là, il était beaucoup plus mis en avant que l’intimité sexuelle et c’était rafraîchissant.
C’était doux, mignon et sexy, des personnages attachants et des problématiques réalistes !
June 21, 2024
To say that this book was fantastic doesn't do it justice. Loncey and Maeve were everything I did not know I needed. The support these two characters had for each other was utterly soul soothing. They just accepted each other so damn beautifully that it literally made me ache. It was tender, so funny, so loving, and yet so real that I couldn't put it down. These two were crafted in the stars to fit each other's 'broken' pieces perfectly. Frances has a way with words that makes the reader feel seen and heard even if they don't necessarily relate to the character's struggles. I felt wholly included and educated about things that were new to me without ever losing the story line. The amount of diverse representation that we're waiting in this for me was absolutely thrilling. This was the HEA I have literally been waiting for since Five Sunsets and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT! This series has changed me as a whole human and as sad as I am to see it end, what an amazing ending it is! 🌟🌛✨🌚 Five stars for blowing my mind yet again Frankie! And thank you for letting us peek back in on Marty and Jenna and Rami and Jake too! Love everything about this!
March 12, 2025
So I can safely say that I have never read a book like this and I hope that I will read many more.
This book FEELS diametrically opposed but I was thrilled to have all this rep and see the intersections. You have a Black non-binary poly aromantic ethical pornstar main character and then you have a white cis asexual queer questioning social media influencer main character. A two end up connecting online and even though they live in literal different countries across the world they form a friendship.
This book is long. It's almost 500 pages and if you include the bonus epilogue that you can download once you finish it is over 500 pages and in my opinion it needs the epilogue.
So I think my favorite part of this book is all of the discussion about labels and how, why, when labels work for us and when they don't. I really enjoyed the discussions about what being a sexual meant to Maeve and what being aromantic, nonbinary, and poly meant to Loncey.
This book does have some explicit content but it's not overwhelming if that makes sense. There's a lot of focus on both of the main characters family members and friendships as well as their careers. This is technically the third book in the series but I haven't read the other two and I didn't necessarily feel like I was missing out. The only thing I feel like I might have missed was a little bit of background on how Maeve came to be a social media influencer but I don't think that it necessarily detracted from the story.
One of the things that this story does the absolute best for me is to allow these sometimes rigid queer labels the expansiveness that they deserve. You cannot define a queer identity with a one sentence definition. And maybe you can start there and perhaps that give someone a diving board to go off of but queer identities are in and of themselves expansive and seeing characters be able to really explore what each label means for them and how diverse each label can be and what sort of a spectrum it can look like was really important for me as both an aromantic and asexual person.
A few fav quotes:
"'
"
"And that’s the part I hate the most about telling people I’m ace. It’s the not understanding or the misunderstanding. And then there’s just this automatic burden on me to help them understand. It always feels like it’s my job to educate them.”
“Did you ever think about how the way you see and experience the world is actually more special than those of us who do enjoy sex and get sexually attracted to other people?” “I want to tell you that you’re talking bollocks,” Maeve says quietly. “But I also want to hear more.”
“First of all, I don’t care. I don’t care what the stars in the sky have to say about us. I care about the stars in your eyes. The galaxy of kindness in your heart. The safe, warm and beautiful universe that is your body to me. I care about what you can teach me about life, not what ancient balls of gas could possibly represent.”
Final rating: 4.5
SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW
SPOILERS BELOW
SPOILERS BELOW
SPOILERS BELOW
Okay so I think that the epilogue is absolutely necessary for this book. I don't think it should be an optional thing for people to download I think that it should be included in this book. One of the comments when you get to the end and whether or not you decide to download the epilogue is that if you wish to continue to view maeve and loncey in some sort of a monogamous relationship then you can keep believing that and I feel like that gives the reader too much power over these characters identities. The entire book loncey talks about being poly and maeve talks about questioning her queerness outside of her asexuality and I really think that allowing readers to put these characters in a monogamous relationship does them a disservice.
In addition, I think if you caught the book off where it actually ends it does a disservice to loncey's friendships. In the epilogue we see them connect back with their exes and get to have this sort of transcendent experience where both of them realize that a poly relationship might work for them. That scene was absolutely necessary to convince me that these two characters did not sacrifice pieces of themselves in order to shove themselves into a seemingly more normative monogamous relationship.
This book FEELS diametrically opposed but I was thrilled to have all this rep and see the intersections. You have a Black non-binary poly aromantic ethical pornstar main character and then you have a white cis asexual queer questioning social media influencer main character. A two end up connecting online and even though they live in literal different countries across the world they form a friendship.
This book is long. It's almost 500 pages and if you include the bonus epilogue that you can download once you finish it is over 500 pages and in my opinion it needs the epilogue.
So I think my favorite part of this book is all of the discussion about labels and how, why, when labels work for us and when they don't. I really enjoyed the discussions about what being a sexual meant to Maeve and what being aromantic, nonbinary, and poly meant to Loncey.
This book does have some explicit content but it's not overwhelming if that makes sense. There's a lot of focus on both of the main characters family members and friendships as well as their careers. This is technically the third book in the series but I haven't read the other two and I didn't necessarily feel like I was missing out. The only thing I feel like I might have missed was a little bit of background on how Maeve came to be a social media influencer but I don't think that it necessarily detracted from the story.
One of the things that this story does the absolute best for me is to allow these sometimes rigid queer labels the expansiveness that they deserve. You cannot define a queer identity with a one sentence definition. And maybe you can start there and perhaps that give someone a diving board to go off of but queer identities are in and of themselves expansive and seeing characters be able to really explore what each label means for them and how diverse each label can be and what sort of a spectrum it can look like was really important for me as both an aromantic and asexual person.
A few fav quotes:
"'
"
"And that’s the part I hate the most about telling people I’m ace. It’s the not understanding or the misunderstanding. And then there’s just this automatic burden on me to help them understand. It always feels like it’s my job to educate them.”
“Did you ever think about how the way you see and experience the world is actually more special than those of us who do enjoy sex and get sexually attracted to other people?” “I want to tell you that you’re talking bollocks,” Maeve says quietly. “But I also want to hear more.”
“First of all, I don’t care. I don’t care what the stars in the sky have to say about us. I care about the stars in your eyes. The galaxy of kindness in your heart. The safe, warm and beautiful universe that is your body to me. I care about what you can teach me about life, not what ancient balls of gas could possibly represent.”
Final rating: 4.5
SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW
SPOILERS BELOW
SPOILERS BELOW
SPOILERS BELOW
Okay so I think that the epilogue is absolutely necessary for this book. I don't think it should be an optional thing for people to download I think that it should be included in this book. One of the comments when you get to the end and whether or not you decide to download the epilogue is that if you wish to continue to view maeve and loncey in some sort of a monogamous relationship then you can keep believing that and I feel like that gives the reader too much power over these characters identities. The entire book loncey talks about being poly and maeve talks about questioning her queerness outside of her asexuality and I really think that allowing readers to put these characters in a monogamous relationship does them a disservice.
In addition, I think if you caught the book off where it actually ends it does a disservice to loncey's friendships. In the epilogue we see them connect back with their exes and get to have this sort of transcendent experience where both of them realize that a poly relationship might work for them. That scene was absolutely necessary to convince me that these two characters did not sacrifice pieces of themselves in order to shove themselves into a seemingly more normative monogamous relationship.
February 10, 2025
Thank you to Frances for giving me a copy of her book.
I was so excited when I heard about this book. A nonbinary and an ace main character in a romance novel? I sounded like heaven. Yet, I didn’t enjoy it all that much. It left me feeling lacklustre most of the time.
Also as a personal aspect, identifying as both of those labels, Maeve and Loncey’s experiences were different to my own, so sadly it missed that piece of representation for me personally. But that is always a risk with these identities since they’re such a broad spectrum.
The book is quite hypocritical. It keeps stating how Maeve doesn’t want her sexuality to always be the point, doesn’t want to keep explaining her sexuality, how she doesn’t want to make it this big important thing in this sex obsessed world, which is a feeling I heavily related with. But guess what? That exactly what the book did. It almost felt like an educational book on asexuality with all the conversations on what it is and is not. Most of Maeve’s characterisation and development is about her insecurities about being ace. I wouldn’t even be so bothered about it if the book didn’t also make a point out of how annoying that can be.
The characters were kind of boring. I just felt little need to get to know them. And that is fatal in contemporary romance because there really isn’t that much else going on. I had this moment of irony when Maeve said that her conversation with Loncey are so interesting and the things they have to say are so insightful. They felt like basic stuff to me that really wasn’t all that interesting and just made it appear as if Maeve is very easy to impress.
Then there is their relationship. Their banter is quite fun. Yet I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that it felt a bit cheap. That the only reason Maeve is falling Loncey is that they are the first person to treat her with some basic respect. That is too low of a bar for me to think that they are incredible for each other. It makes it more sad than romantic. Then there is also the issue with their terrible communication. I was getting so frustrated. Especially because they both are educated on the topic and know how to have healthier and better relationships. Yet, throughout this book, they were incapable of listening to their own advice.
When I saw how thick the book was I thought, well, a lot of things will happen in it. But that isn’t the case. The writing style is slow and descriptive. It feels like we’re going along in real time. The problem is, the things that are happening really aren’t interesting enough for that. At times I felt the author just needed to have them do things so they did some random thing that had very little point to it. Quite frankly, I come out of this book thinking if it were around 300-350 pages I would have been able to actually enjoy it. Now it felt like I was waiting around for two characters I don’t really care about to get their shit together.
Something I personally hate is when in a contemporary book someone really believes in astrology. I never feel like all that much of a scientist but damn this book made me want to rant about how much rubbish it is. It would be different if Loncey basically just used it for their own spirituality to feel better, but they took it too seriously, even though they appear to have basic knowledge about science. The scientist in me wasn’t happy.
I can appreciate the book for what it tried to do but I don’t think it was particularly successful in doing it.
I was so excited when I heard about this book. A nonbinary and an ace main character in a romance novel? I sounded like heaven. Yet, I didn’t enjoy it all that much. It left me feeling lacklustre most of the time.
Also as a personal aspect, identifying as both of those labels, Maeve and Loncey’s experiences were different to my own, so sadly it missed that piece of representation for me personally. But that is always a risk with these identities since they’re such a broad spectrum.
The book is quite hypocritical. It keeps stating how Maeve doesn’t want her sexuality to always be the point, doesn’t want to keep explaining her sexuality, how she doesn’t want to make it this big important thing in this sex obsessed world, which is a feeling I heavily related with. But guess what? That exactly what the book did. It almost felt like an educational book on asexuality with all the conversations on what it is and is not. Most of Maeve’s characterisation and development is about her insecurities about being ace. I wouldn’t even be so bothered about it if the book didn’t also make a point out of how annoying that can be.
The characters were kind of boring. I just felt little need to get to know them. And that is fatal in contemporary romance because there really isn’t that much else going on. I had this moment of irony when Maeve said that her conversation with Loncey are so interesting and the things they have to say are so insightful. They felt like basic stuff to me that really wasn’t all that interesting and just made it appear as if Maeve is very easy to impress.
Then there is their relationship. Their banter is quite fun. Yet I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that it felt a bit cheap. That the only reason Maeve is falling Loncey is that they are the first person to treat her with some basic respect. That is too low of a bar for me to think that they are incredible for each other. It makes it more sad than romantic. Then there is also the issue with their terrible communication. I was getting so frustrated. Especially because they both are educated on the topic and know how to have healthier and better relationships. Yet, throughout this book, they were incapable of listening to their own advice.
When I saw how thick the book was I thought, well, a lot of things will happen in it. But that isn’t the case. The writing style is slow and descriptive. It feels like we’re going along in real time. The problem is, the things that are happening really aren’t interesting enough for that. At times I felt the author just needed to have them do things so they did some random thing that had very little point to it. Quite frankly, I come out of this book thinking if it were around 300-350 pages I would have been able to actually enjoy it. Now it felt like I was waiting around for two characters I don’t really care about to get their shit together.
Something I personally hate is when in a contemporary book someone really believes in astrology. I never feel like all that much of a scientist but damn this book made me want to rant about how much rubbish it is. It would be different if Loncey basically just used it for their own spirituality to feel better, but they took it too seriously, even though they appear to have basic knowledge about science. The scientist in me wasn’t happy.
I can appreciate the book for what it tried to do but I don’t think it was particularly successful in doing it.
July 12, 2024
CW: chronically ill family member (CF), queerphobia, transphobia, misgendering, online death threats, racial microaggressions, mention of miscarriage, sexual assault, preterm birth, NBMC in sexual scenes with characters other than FMC but no cheating
🌟 Opposites attract
🌟 Friends to lovers
🌈 Pan poly aromantic NBMC
🌈 Asexual FMC
🌈 Black NBMC
🌶 NBTWTM scenes on camera
Frances Thompson will never cease to blow me away. This romance series is 100% one of if not my favourite romance series of all time. There's so much care put into effortlessly writing what our everyday real life looks like. We live in such a multicultural society with the full spectrum of gender and sexuality surrounding us and her books just feel so real. But it doesn't feel forced. The diversity isn't shoehorned in, it feels like that's who the characters were born to be, how they were initially imagined, how they were meant to exist.
Anyway, Maeve and Loncey are the perfect example of "opposites attract" an asexual influencer and a polyamorous aromatic sex worker. I was so intrigued as to HOW the two would end up together. Having embarrassingly poor knowledge of the asexuality spectrum, I learned a lot about asexual relationships and how big the spectrum is throughout the journey we're led on through the story.
I honestly don't know how to review this without spoilers on sexuality, gender, and queerness within the characters 😫 All I can say is, this series is a must read for any romance lovers, particularly those who are seeking out diverse stories. Diversity across gender, race, sexuality, and disability play out across the series without making the whole focus trauma based. These are characters who, for the most part, are living their queer lives happy with who they are. Even characters who are uncertain of who they are and where they fall on the gender and sexuality spectrum are on a journey to self discovery and self acceptance.
The series is beautiful, the characters are beautiful, I just adored the whole series and am just grateful that it exists. I've laughed, I've cried, my heart has been heavy, my heart has been full.
I cannot recommend this series enough. And for those who ONLY read "spicy" romance, please don't be put off by the presence of an asexual character. The intimate scenes between the MCs are so sensual that it serves as a reminder as to how special even a simple kiss can be. Also there are some seriously spicy scenes during the NBMC's sex work if it's a deal breaker for you.
🌟 Opposites attract
🌟 Friends to lovers
🌈 Pan poly aromantic NBMC
🌈 Asexual FMC
🌈 Black NBMC
🌶 NBTWTM scenes on camera
Frances Thompson will never cease to blow me away. This romance series is 100% one of if not my favourite romance series of all time. There's so much care put into effortlessly writing what our everyday real life looks like. We live in such a multicultural society with the full spectrum of gender and sexuality surrounding us and her books just feel so real. But it doesn't feel forced. The diversity isn't shoehorned in, it feels like that's who the characters were born to be, how they were initially imagined, how they were meant to exist.
Anyway, Maeve and Loncey are the perfect example of "opposites attract" an asexual influencer and a polyamorous aromatic sex worker. I was so intrigued as to HOW the two would end up together. Having embarrassingly poor knowledge of the asexuality spectrum, I learned a lot about asexual relationships and how big the spectrum is throughout the journey we're led on through the story.
I honestly don't know how to review this without spoilers on sexuality, gender, and queerness within the characters 😫 All I can say is, this series is a must read for any romance lovers, particularly those who are seeking out diverse stories. Diversity across gender, race, sexuality, and disability play out across the series without making the whole focus trauma based. These are characters who, for the most part, are living their queer lives happy with who they are. Even characters who are uncertain of who they are and where they fall on the gender and sexuality spectrum are on a journey to self discovery and self acceptance.
The series is beautiful, the characters are beautiful, I just adored the whole series and am just grateful that it exists. I've laughed, I've cried, my heart has been heavy, my heart has been full.
I cannot recommend this series enough. And for those who ONLY read "spicy" romance, please don't be put off by the presence of an asexual character. The intimate scenes between the MCs are so sensual that it serves as a reminder as to how special even a simple kiss can be. Also there are some seriously spicy scenes during the NBMC's sex work if it's a deal breaker for you.
August 2, 2024
A Beautiful Balance of Representation and Sensitivity. I can confidently say it left a profound impression on me. One of the standout aspects was the representation woven throughout the narrative. It's evident that the author put in genuine effort to create characters who are not only diverse but also richly developed, showcasing a variety of backgrounds and experiences. This authenticity resonated with me and made the story all the more relatable and impactful.
What truly impressed me was how the book handled sensitive topics. Such themes often risk overwhelming a narrative, but here, the author navigated them gracefully. Instead of exploiting these subjects for dramatic effect, the discussions felt thoughtful and respectful, fostering empathy and understanding. It was refreshing to see complex mental health issues and social challenges addressed in a way that felt both genuine and enlightening, rather than sensationalized.
The inclusion of kink elements added an intriguing layer to the story without overshadowing its central themes. The way these aspects were presented was tasteful and well-integrated, enhancing character development and intimacy rather than diverting attention. The balance struck between the story's emotional depth and the exploration of these kinks was masterful—it felt organic and fitting within the context of the characters' journeys.
This book is a triumph in representation, sensitivity, and narrative balance. It beautifully illustrates how complex subjects can be approached with grace while still allowing for exploration of personal desires and connections. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for a read that is both thought-provoking and enjoyable, with characters that resonate long after the last page is turned.
What truly impressed me was how the book handled sensitive topics. Such themes often risk overwhelming a narrative, but here, the author navigated them gracefully. Instead of exploiting these subjects for dramatic effect, the discussions felt thoughtful and respectful, fostering empathy and understanding. It was refreshing to see complex mental health issues and social challenges addressed in a way that felt both genuine and enlightening, rather than sensationalized.
The inclusion of kink elements added an intriguing layer to the story without overshadowing its central themes. The way these aspects were presented was tasteful and well-integrated, enhancing character development and intimacy rather than diverting attention. The balance struck between the story's emotional depth and the exploration of these kinks was masterful—it felt organic and fitting within the context of the characters' journeys.
This book is a triumph in representation, sensitivity, and narrative balance. It beautifully illustrates how complex subjects can be approached with grace while still allowing for exploration of personal desires and connections. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for a read that is both thought-provoking and enjoyable, with characters that resonate long after the last page is turned.
June 28, 2024
This is my first book by Frances M. Thompson (I know, always a good idea to go in on book three in a series) and honestly, I'm a little surprised I've never heard of her before? The quality of the writing here is very, very good. This is a really complicated love story, and I felt like Thompson handled it really well without it ever coming across as preachy. The banter between the two MCs was brilliant, and as somebody who is also deeply avoidant when in comes to online interactions Maeve’s early behaviour felt awkwardly familiar.
I can't comment on the rep here, how well it's done or how respectfully - I'm not aro or ace and I'm not sure where the pitfalls might be. There were a few moments where it felt like the characters offered origin stories to their identities, and maybe that's relatable or maybe it's not? I don't know. I found it a really interesting subject to explore, and it's certainly prompting me to want to know more about these identities. The romance, when we got to it, felt very very heartfelt and real, and I was sappily cheering them on. These two are very, very cute.
The astrology aspect at the start of the plot was not something I particularly enjoyed - this is a me thing, I don't have time for astrology so my eye rolls were massive. It got better (for me) as the story went on - Loncey's growing lack of reliance on it was a saving grace. I suspect this will bother most nobody other than me.
A really solid queer romance - I'll have to go back now and see how everything starts for the other couples!! I read an advance copy of this book, my thoughts are very much my own.
I can't comment on the rep here, how well it's done or how respectfully - I'm not aro or ace and I'm not sure where the pitfalls might be. There were a few moments where it felt like the characters offered origin stories to their identities, and maybe that's relatable or maybe it's not? I don't know. I found it a really interesting subject to explore, and it's certainly prompting me to want to know more about these identities. The romance, when we got to it, felt very very heartfelt and real, and I was sappily cheering them on. These two are very, very cute.
The astrology aspect at the start of the plot was not something I particularly enjoyed - this is a me thing, I don't have time for astrology so my eye rolls were massive. It got better (for me) as the story went on - Loncey's growing lack of reliance on it was a saving grace. I suspect this will bother most nobody other than me.
A really solid queer romance - I'll have to go back now and see how everything starts for the other couples!! I read an advance copy of this book, my thoughts are very much my own.
June 30, 2024
Too Many Stars to Count is the first book I've read from Frances M. Thompson. This book is the third in the series, it is not necessary to read the previous two books but it’s recommended.
I won’t lie, there were some terms that I did not comprehend enough. Regardless, Frances made it easy for me to understand everything in a way that felt really inclusive without me losing my way in the story. Too Many Stars to Count tells the story of two people that complement each other in a way that fits perfectly to them, regardless of what society may dictate. I love how Frances wrote this book in a really respectful manner of the topics in this story, as well as the storyline she gave each character in this book. I love the banter and chemistry between Loncey and Meave, how they go from frenemies to lovers. How once they become lovers, you can see how honest their feelings are for each other. How they always support one another, and most importantly how they accept one another.I really enjoyed Loncey and Meave's journey, from beginning to end. This is a must read book.
I won’t lie, there were some terms that I did not comprehend enough. Regardless, Frances made it easy for me to understand everything in a way that felt really inclusive without me losing my way in the story. Too Many Stars to Count tells the story of two people that complement each other in a way that fits perfectly to them, regardless of what society may dictate. I love how Frances wrote this book in a really respectful manner of the topics in this story, as well as the storyline she gave each character in this book. I love the banter and chemistry between Loncey and Meave, how they go from frenemies to lovers. How once they become lovers, you can see how honest their feelings are for each other. How they always support one another, and most importantly how they accept one another.I really enjoyed Loncey and Meave's journey, from beginning to end. This is a must read book.
January 7, 2026
I finished it because I’m a sap and still wanted to see how the characters got their HEA. But I was annoyed by it far too many times. One of the main characters is asexual. Liked her feistyness but she’s so selfish and absolutely obsessed with her asexuality - and constantly frustrated about other people being by allosexual. She evolves a bit but not much and the ending is all in her terms even though it would make far more sense for her to be the one making sacrifices. The second main character is an ethical porn star, pansexual, aromantic and non-binary, and have physical relationships that they film with every type of person - trans/poly being the main two, all of which they happily share with the world, but then we’re meant to believe they draw the line at sharing that they also like feminine clothing?? And the author mis-genders them at least once! Great to see a variety of different people referenced but even that feels forced to make an “acceptance” point. Just overall, not for me!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2025
This book has one of my absolute favourite tropes :
💻Internet correspondence/long distance relationship!
It's also inter-racial. Add to that, frenemies to lovers, with so many labels to count (as*xual, pans*xual, aromantic, non-binary, ambi...)
Apart from the fact that it was atypically🌶, it was, for lack of a better way to put it, "educational" for me.
I discovered new "labels" and gained some astrological knowledge too.
The love and intimacy that grew between our Loncey and Maeve was heartwarming, a bit emotional and I loved every second reading.
That being said, this book will not be for everyone and that's ok.
But I 💯 recommend if you are in search of a page-turning divergent book, or if you want to dip your toes in queer romance.
💻Internet correspondence/long distance relationship!
It's also inter-racial. Add to that, frenemies to lovers, with so many labels to count (as*xual, pans*xual, aromantic, non-binary, ambi...)
Apart from the fact that it was atypically🌶, it was, for lack of a better way to put it, "educational" for me.
I discovered new "labels" and gained some astrological knowledge too.
The love and intimacy that grew between our Loncey and Maeve was heartwarming, a bit emotional and I loved every second reading.
That being said, this book will not be for everyone and that's ok.
But I 💯 recommend if you are in search of a page-turning divergent book, or if you want to dip your toes in queer romance.
January 31, 2025
Okay, I absolutely loved Maeve! The way she was slightly a massive hater toward everyone being completely in love—simply because she wanted that so badly for herself—was SO relatable. I loved how we saw her find a label that fit her while simultaneously struggling with the fears that come with still understanding herself. And the chemistry she shared with Loncey, even from the very beginning, was whew. I loved how, in the end, Loncey was so confident in who they were while still being effortlessly charming to Maeve. I have to say, I absolutely ATE UP every single one of their interactions! Maeve and Loncey truly listened to each other and had the healthiest communication ever.
July 4, 2024
I love the Sun Moon & Stars series and loved this book as well. Since I can't not play favorites - the first book has my heart, but this is a strong follow and ending to the series. As always, Frances has created the most beautiful complex interesting characters who I've never met in books before. It was a joy to read and a get to know new characters and visit old ones who feel like old friends to me.
July 6, 2024
Lovely
What a fantastic representation of someone on the Ace spectrum. And a great, enjoyable story to go with it. And if course, it's always fun to catch up with Marty and Jenna, and Jake and Remi.
What a fantastic representation of someone on the Ace spectrum. And a great, enjoyable story to go with it. And if course, it's always fun to catch up with Marty and Jenna, and Jake and Remi.
featured
May 24, 2025Lawrence "Loncey" Harris from Too Many Stars to Count is aroflux!
Maeve O'Martin from Too Many Stars to Count is asexual!
https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...
Maeve O'Martin from Too Many Stars to Count is asexual!
https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews