What do you think?
Rate this book
Win a free print copy of this book!
21 days and 12:54:57
50 copies available
U.S. only
Written in Starlight
Not yet published
Expected 13 Oct 26Win a free print copy of this book!
21 days and 12:54:57
50 copies available
U.S. only
For fans of Tusk Love and The Spellshop comes a romantic portal fantasy with a cosmic twist about a storybook chambermaid and an intergalactic bounty hunter whose worlds—and hearts—collide through a magical book, threatening to rewrite fate.
Della Farley has always known her place in the scrubbing floors, keeping her head down, and dreaming of something more. But when she stumbles upon a strange book that seems to be writing itself—a story about a man named Ansel Tulzok, a wanted fugitive traveling the stars—her quiet life turns extraordinary.
Light-years away, Ansel finds a mirror copy of the same book. Page by page, the story unfolds with details of a woman he’s never met—one whose words feel achingly familiar. As the two begin writing to each other through the mysterious pages, they open doors not just to each other’s worlds, but to their most vulnerable hopes and fears.
When Della takes an impossible leap of faith and writes herself into Ansel’s story, she soon finds herself aboard his ship, surrounded by stars, danger, and a crew of outlaws who might just become her family. Together, Della and Ansel strike a she’ll help him clear his name in exchange for passage to the planet that holds the cure for her mother’s deadly illness.
But every story has its price. And as their worlds entwine and their hearts collide, Della and Ansel must decide how far they’re willing to go to change the ending fate has written for them.
Della Farley has always known her place in the scrubbing floors, keeping her head down, and dreaming of something more. But when she stumbles upon a strange book that seems to be writing itself—a story about a man named Ansel Tulzok, a wanted fugitive traveling the stars—her quiet life turns extraordinary.
Light-years away, Ansel finds a mirror copy of the same book. Page by page, the story unfolds with details of a woman he’s never met—one whose words feel achingly familiar. As the two begin writing to each other through the mysterious pages, they open doors not just to each other’s worlds, but to their most vulnerable hopes and fears.
When Della takes an impossible leap of faith and writes herself into Ansel’s story, she soon finds herself aboard his ship, surrounded by stars, danger, and a crew of outlaws who might just become her family. Together, Della and Ansel strike a she’ll help him clear his name in exchange for passage to the planet that holds the cure for her mother’s deadly illness.
But every story has its price. And as their worlds entwine and their hearts collide, Della and Ansel must decide how far they’re willing to go to change the ending fate has written for them.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 13, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
arcs-to-read
June 16, 2026The premise sounds ✨amazing✨ and the cover is gorgeous 😍🫶🏼
June 18, 2026
Okay, this was FUNNNNNNNN. I loved this book. I requested it off NetGalley in a whim because a good sci-fi romance can be hard to find and one that includes traveling in different dimensions can be a challenge to craft a world that’s understandable. This book WAS IT. Starting in Victorian type England and ending up in space through books that the main characters can read each others thoughts was unique, and so much fun. The main characters were so well crafted, the romance was magical, the side characters were so fun, and the plot was gripping. ✨
Currently Reading
June 11, 2026I just cannot refrain from requesting on NetGalley it seems. I LOVE portal fantasy and this sounds so fun.
June 20, 2026
I received an eARC from Atria Books via NetGalley and this is my honest review!
- 👽 sci-romantasy
- ✍🏼 letters
- 📖 magical book
- 💪🏻 she rescues him
- 🤭 flirting
- 💕 SHE says “you’re mine”
- ♾️ I will fall in love with you every time
- ❤️ epic romance
- 🤩 exciting plot with action
Amazing! 5 solid stars! My review does have minor spoilers.
If you are interested in reading a very unique epic romance, that includes a portal like fantasy setting in space with magical books and letter writing, plus mature characters that love adventure and constantly flirt, with an amazing found family, this is the book for you!
This book started with a magical library and information about the keepers of the library. There was a unique female keeper who read the books she was only suppose to take care of, never read. This young woman wanted to change the books to have once upon a time beginnings and HEA endings. So, she wrote her own story. There was so much mystery to this rebel library book keeper all the way up until the ending. This woman’s story only got one or two pages every now and then that were randomly sprinkled throughout the book.
This book’s world was very unique and the perspective taken was different than anything I have ever read. I was immediately intrigued!
The MFC was a young, anxious, and sheltered woman, yet optimistic and a dreamer. The MMC was experienced, an accused criminal on the run, and had trust issues. They were opposites in many ways, but shared the desire for connection. The MFC was so refreshing. She found a magical book and started communicating and building a relationship via letter writing with a random man she had never met. Instead of approaching this with trepidation and distrust issues, she approached it with curiosity, excitement, and honesty. She was willing to take a chance, rarely was angry, and was always trying to see the other side of the story, with understanding, empathy, and compassion. The MMC was a traumatized man that had been framed for a crime he did not commit. This led to him going to prison, breaking out, and being on the run with his found family, seeking the man who framed him in order to achieve justice. Because of this MMC‘s trauma, he was pessimistic, did not trust anybody, and always pushed everyone away when they got too close.
In regards to the setting, the MFC was on an Earth like planet with carriages and horses, no technology, whereas the MMC was in a different galaxy with robots and spaceships, living a highly technological life.
Both MC’s found a magical book that allowed them to communicate with each other across the universe. They use these books to write letters to each other, as well as generally communicate. Not only could the MC’s communicate via writing back-and-forth, the books magically transcribed their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Therefore, no thoughts, emotions, or activities that they engaged in in a day-to-day setting were hidden from the other. This allowed them to truly get to know one another quite quickly because there were no secrets, all of which I highly enjoyed. I appreciated this honesty and vulnerability because so many books in the genre now days are filled with secrets and the MCS hiding things from each other constantly… it is overdone. This book was quite refreshing.
Other aspects of this book that were super enjoyable and I loved included:
- 😂 Humor! There were so many scenes that I was laughing at. The outward humor, as well as the dry humor, in addition to the sexual related humor were fantastic.
- 🤭 Flirting! This book by far had some of the best flirting between the MCs I have ever read. It happened often and throughout the whole book.
- 🤩Assertive & kind MFC. I just finished an ALC and any moment that MMC pushed the MFC away, the MFC threw a tantrum, which I despised. For this book, the MMC pushed the MFC away due to his trauma, and the MFC responded in such a fantastic way! She was so mature, understanding, empathetic, compassionate, and thoughtful, I loved every aspect of her. For example, when the MMC started to push the MFC away and wanted things to remain more “professional“ between them, the MFC automatically thought that maybe he didn’t like her like that, but then she was able to challenge that thought, understand it was her insecurities, and just see that he was being stubborn due to his history. She was able to critically think and understand the MMC for who he was and why he would push her away. Knowing that his words were not necessarily what he was feeling. FINALLY someone who didn’t have a pity party and could pause to take time to understand the person, knowing their past. She then stood up for herself in an assertive, but not aggressive way!!! REFRESHING!
Not only was she empathetic and assertive, she also was super fun. She saw the MMC as a challenge that she was willing to take on. The way the MFC antagonized the MMC via letters was one of the best components of this book. These letters were funny, heated, and teasing. Later she used them to rile him up sexually since he wanted to cross the line and be intimate with her, but wouldn’t. She was such a flirt. I loved that she was the assertive one!
Speaking of assertive, she was the one to push him to be sexually intimate. She was also the one to call him hers. Loved that the standard gender norm of the man being the more assertive one was changed!!
- 🤩 The MMC: The MMC had his trauma history and kept pushing the MFC away, which was frustrating at times, but that added more tension to the story and allowed the MFC to shine. The MMC was such a thoughtful and caring gentleman. He truly cared about those he loved and was willing to put his life on the line to protect them. He was not a man of words, he was a man of action. He was FANTASTIC.
- ❤️ ♾️ The love story. Truly, the love story in this book was phenomenal, and I was hooked from very early on. I wanted to just keep reading and reading to see what would happen between the two. This was a story about how they would choose each other no matter what, every time.
- 🫂 Found family. I adored the side characters. They were a group of incredibly diverse misfits that each had their own, very unique personality, made a ton of mistakes, and were very loyal to each other. They were the family we all love to read in books. They had a sense of humor, picked fun at each other, were aggressive yet very soft on the inside, were loyal, and just truly everything you like reading about.
- 🪴 Growth: the character growth for the MC’s and the side characters was awesome. Not every character had a lot of depth to them, but the MC’s and their relationship definitely did, making their growth even more wonderful.
- 🌪️Pacing and Twists: The pacing was moderate almost the whole book. The story progressed in a very natural way. Around 75% there was a twist followed by more surprises, most of which I did not see coming. HOLY CRAP! This is when the pace really picked up.
- 😡The antagonists: there were several antagonists that we all loved to hate. They added so much grit to the story.
- ⁉️ The ending: we were given our HEA. Yet, the way it ended, I think our MC’s are about to go on a major adventure together, and there will be a book two. If there will be a book two, I will definitely be picking it up!
- 👽 sci-romantasy
- ✍🏼 letters
- 📖 magical book
- 💪🏻 she rescues him
- 🤭 flirting
- 💕 SHE says “you’re mine”
- ♾️ I will fall in love with you every time
- ❤️ epic romance
- 🤩 exciting plot with action
Amazing! 5 solid stars! My review does have minor spoilers.
If you are interested in reading a very unique epic romance, that includes a portal like fantasy setting in space with magical books and letter writing, plus mature characters that love adventure and constantly flirt, with an amazing found family, this is the book for you!
This book started with a magical library and information about the keepers of the library. There was a unique female keeper who read the books she was only suppose to take care of, never read. This young woman wanted to change the books to have once upon a time beginnings and HEA endings. So, she wrote her own story. There was so much mystery to this rebel library book keeper all the way up until the ending. This woman’s story only got one or two pages every now and then that were randomly sprinkled throughout the book.
This book’s world was very unique and the perspective taken was different than anything I have ever read. I was immediately intrigued!
The MFC was a young, anxious, and sheltered woman, yet optimistic and a dreamer. The MMC was experienced, an accused criminal on the run, and had trust issues. They were opposites in many ways, but shared the desire for connection. The MFC was so refreshing. She found a magical book and started communicating and building a relationship via letter writing with a random man she had never met. Instead of approaching this with trepidation and distrust issues, she approached it with curiosity, excitement, and honesty. She was willing to take a chance, rarely was angry, and was always trying to see the other side of the story, with understanding, empathy, and compassion. The MMC was a traumatized man that had been framed for a crime he did not commit. This led to him going to prison, breaking out, and being on the run with his found family, seeking the man who framed him in order to achieve justice. Because of this MMC‘s trauma, he was pessimistic, did not trust anybody, and always pushed everyone away when they got too close.
In regards to the setting, the MFC was on an Earth like planet with carriages and horses, no technology, whereas the MMC was in a different galaxy with robots and spaceships, living a highly technological life.
Both MC’s found a magical book that allowed them to communicate with each other across the universe. They use these books to write letters to each other, as well as generally communicate. Not only could the MC’s communicate via writing back-and-forth, the books magically transcribed their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Therefore, no thoughts, emotions, or activities that they engaged in in a day-to-day setting were hidden from the other. This allowed them to truly get to know one another quite quickly because there were no secrets, all of which I highly enjoyed. I appreciated this honesty and vulnerability because so many books in the genre now days are filled with secrets and the MCS hiding things from each other constantly… it is overdone. This book was quite refreshing.
Other aspects of this book that were super enjoyable and I loved included:
- 😂 Humor! There were so many scenes that I was laughing at. The outward humor, as well as the dry humor, in addition to the sexual related humor were fantastic.
- 🤭 Flirting! This book by far had some of the best flirting between the MCs I have ever read. It happened often and throughout the whole book.
- 🤩Assertive & kind MFC. I just finished an ALC and any moment that MMC pushed the MFC away, the MFC threw a tantrum, which I despised. For this book, the MMC pushed the MFC away due to his trauma, and the MFC responded in such a fantastic way! She was so mature, understanding, empathetic, compassionate, and thoughtful, I loved every aspect of her. For example, when the MMC started to push the MFC away and wanted things to remain more “professional“ between them, the MFC automatically thought that maybe he didn’t like her like that, but then she was able to challenge that thought, understand it was her insecurities, and just see that he was being stubborn due to his history. She was able to critically think and understand the MMC for who he was and why he would push her away. Knowing that his words were not necessarily what he was feeling. FINALLY someone who didn’t have a pity party and could pause to take time to understand the person, knowing their past. She then stood up for herself in an assertive, but not aggressive way!!! REFRESHING!
Not only was she empathetic and assertive, she also was super fun. She saw the MMC as a challenge that she was willing to take on. The way the MFC antagonized the MMC via letters was one of the best components of this book. These letters were funny, heated, and teasing. Later she used them to rile him up sexually since he wanted to cross the line and be intimate with her, but wouldn’t. She was such a flirt. I loved that she was the assertive one!
Speaking of assertive, she was the one to push him to be sexually intimate. She was also the one to call him hers. Loved that the standard gender norm of the man being the more assertive one was changed!!
- 🤩 The MMC: The MMC had his trauma history and kept pushing the MFC away, which was frustrating at times, but that added more tension to the story and allowed the MFC to shine. The MMC was such a thoughtful and caring gentleman. He truly cared about those he loved and was willing to put his life on the line to protect them. He was not a man of words, he was a man of action. He was FANTASTIC.
- ❤️ ♾️ The love story. Truly, the love story in this book was phenomenal, and I was hooked from very early on. I wanted to just keep reading and reading to see what would happen between the two. This was a story about how they would choose each other no matter what, every time.
- 🫂 Found family. I adored the side characters. They were a group of incredibly diverse misfits that each had their own, very unique personality, made a ton of mistakes, and were very loyal to each other. They were the family we all love to read in books. They had a sense of humor, picked fun at each other, were aggressive yet very soft on the inside, were loyal, and just truly everything you like reading about.
- 🪴 Growth: the character growth for the MC’s and the side characters was awesome. Not every character had a lot of depth to them, but the MC’s and their relationship definitely did, making their growth even more wonderful.
- 🌪️Pacing and Twists: The pacing was moderate almost the whole book. The story progressed in a very natural way. Around 75% there was a twist followed by more surprises, most of which I did not see coming. HOLY CRAP! This is when the pace really picked up.
- 😡The antagonists: there were several antagonists that we all loved to hate. They added so much grit to the story.
- ⁉️ The ending: we were given our HEA. Yet, the way it ended, I think our MC’s are about to go on a major adventure together, and there will be a book two. If there will be a book two, I will definitely be picking it up!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a read on this book.
I'm a cynical person, and hard to please when it comes to romance but this story. [fist clench, shakes head] It's so perfect? I can't. I want more. I want more of this universe, more of them, just more like this.
You have two completely opposite people, bound by a magical book, that connects two completely different universes. You watch these two people fall in love as if Tom Riddles Diary was akin to the Lake House letters (just not years apart). A shy, meek maid who has (as she thinks) no future and a rogue, deflective space smuggler who wants to be someone to someone (and has past relationship issues).
The book unfolds like a Chinese box. Unlock one part of the story, it opens up another. The adventure is when the two of them finally meet / cross paths, and she gets her adventure and he gets his someone... but there is more to the story, and the maid's mother who is sick. There is also the thought of: can a romance between two different people from two different worlds survive?
There are supporting characters from the space smuggler's story (his crew), and they aren't just cardboard people. They're quirky and I have to admit my favorite character was his sarcastic, co-pilot who has a water tank around her head and is just a dry, sarcastic lady (with a soft side that comes out once in a while).
Again. I really liked this story, and I loved the ending and how it all seemed to come together. (There is another story that runs concurrently, but talking about that one would probably spoil more than needed.) I thank the author for writing it and hope she knows I'd love to return to this world (or worlds) anytime.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy.
I would give this 3.5 stars. The premise of this book – falling into books, moving through stories, crossing worlds – was so appealing. I totally enjoyed Yaggrel, Xaks, and Eryl in their supporting roles. If you like alien side characters, this is for you. Xaks' especially had good roasting banter, and I loved Yaggrel's description. I also thought the companion that one of the characters ends up with (I won’t spoil) was a really unique idea and contributed majorly to the story in a fun and fresh way that I’ve not yet seen in other books. I thought the book was at its strongest when it leaned into the juxtaposition between a Victorian era romance to a space fantasy.
Ansel had some great lines, and Della had a compelling backstory. The dramatic tension between them was fun, particularly when they used the books to communicate. I wish the book had spent a little more time with Ansel’s backstory and with Ansel’s point of view. I found him to be likable, but I was having trouble feeling him as a character who was more than just Della’s love interest. As the book didn’t start out from solely Della’s point of view, I found it jarring to almost completely lose Ansel’s.
There were points where I wanted more action and less lingering in Della’s internal monologue. I felt like the end was a little rushed. I would’ve enjoyed the epilogue as an entire third act.
I would recommend this book to folks who enjoyed Sarah Rees Brennan’s “Long Live Evil” or even The Neverending Story or a Kid in King Arthur’s Court. I would say that this book is romance forward but not explicit.
Great fun and thank you for the ARC!
I would give this 3.5 stars. The premise of this book – falling into books, moving through stories, crossing worlds – was so appealing. I totally enjoyed Yaggrel, Xaks, and Eryl in their supporting roles. If you like alien side characters, this is for you. Xaks' especially had good roasting banter, and I loved Yaggrel's description. I also thought the companion that one of the characters ends up with (I won’t spoil) was a really unique idea and contributed majorly to the story in a fun and fresh way that I’ve not yet seen in other books. I thought the book was at its strongest when it leaned into the juxtaposition between a Victorian era romance to a space fantasy.
Ansel had some great lines, and Della had a compelling backstory. The dramatic tension between them was fun, particularly when they used the books to communicate. I wish the book had spent a little more time with Ansel’s backstory and with Ansel’s point of view. I found him to be likable, but I was having trouble feeling him as a character who was more than just Della’s love interest. As the book didn’t start out from solely Della’s point of view, I found it jarring to almost completely lose Ansel’s.
There were points where I wanted more action and less lingering in Della’s internal monologue. I felt like the end was a little rushed. I would’ve enjoyed the epilogue as an entire third act.
I would recommend this book to folks who enjoyed Sarah Rees Brennan’s “Long Live Evil” or even The Neverending Story or a Kid in King Arthur’s Court. I would say that this book is romance forward but not explicit.
Great fun and thank you for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is one of those “what am I supposed to do with my life now that the story is over” kind of books. Adorable? End-game? Goals? Perfection? Yes, Ansel and Della are all those things and more. I was squealing like a child at every interaction and refused to sleep until I finished it. The banter was top notch and their adventure was both thrilling and unpredictable. The author does third person fiction just effortlessly. Everything was so vivid and believable. The ending hurts my chest to think about and I was page turning like a frantic crazy person. Let me just say - from start to finish it is worth it every moment of your life that you spend invested in this story. In my mental library of some of my favorite sci-fi fantasy romance books, this story has just earned itself a spot. Can’t wait to get it so I can snuggle it to sleep and reread it to mend my heart. I didn’t want their story to end! So happy NetGalley provided me the opportunity to read it prior to release! Thank you! I didn’t know what my heart was missing! I must read more romance from this author. MORE!
Review of advance copy
Della Farley vive atrapada en una rutina donde los sueños son un lujo que no puede permitirse. Todo lo que creía saber cambia cuando un libro extraño comienza a mostrarle la vida de Ansel, un hombre marcado por un pasado que no deja de alcanzarlo y que siempre tiene que estar huyendo.
Ansel Tulzok carga con un pasado que lo obliga a desconfiar de todo y de todos. Su único objetivo es terminar una misión que podría cambiar su futuro, hasta que descubre que una joven desconocida aparece en un libro que desafía cualquier explicación. Cuanto más aprende sobre Della, más difícil resulta convencerse de que todo es una simple coincidencia.
Dos personas separadas por mundos completamente distintos deberán decidir si vale la pena seguir el camino que ese extraño libro les está mostrando.
_______
No dire nada para no dar spoilers de como es posible que se conozcan a través de un libro.
Ansel Tulzok carga con un pasado que lo obliga a desconfiar de todo y de todos. Su único objetivo es terminar una misión que podría cambiar su futuro, hasta que descubre que una joven desconocida aparece en un libro que desafía cualquier explicación. Cuanto más aprende sobre Della, más difícil resulta convencerse de que todo es una simple coincidencia.
Dos personas separadas por mundos completamente distintos deberán decidir si vale la pena seguir el camino que ese extraño libro les está mostrando.
_______
No dire nada para no dar spoilers de como es posible que se conozcan a través de un libro.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
As soon as I saw this pop up on NetGalley I KNEW I had to read it! The cover caught my attention and the blurb sounded like a dream (that I wish would come true). This book was so great, I was hooked from the very beginning and kept being surprised by how the story evolved. This was definitely a book with a bunch of surprises and things didn’t always go the way I thought it would but that made it even more exciting. I really loved the FMC and MMC and I will definitely think about this book for a while! I will definitely be recommending this to my book loving friends!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book is like... if Han Solo and Malcom Reynolds were one swoony space captain, and that one swoony space captain had to team up with sort-of-Belle to save himself and his crew, and then huge adventures happened. Perfection. I loved every dang second.
June 23, 2026
Wow, what a book! I started this completely on a whim and I’m so glad I did. I finished this in less than 24 hours and it completely consumed me the entire time. I loved our main character Della. She’s an easy character to root for and I loved watching her character grow. The found family was amazing and I enjoyed seeing the little group come together. The romance was adorable and had me smiling throughout the book. The story was refreshing, original, and was done so well. I finished it and immediately wanted to restart it because I missed the characters so much. I really hope the author writes more in this world. Perfect for anyone who enjoys historical romances and space operas.
I received an arc from Edelweiss.
I received an arc from Edelweiss.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews