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Once Upon a Time #6
Star-Crossed Lovers
Michele Logan falls in love with Ian Stuart, a handsome architect, despite the centuries long feud between their families.
- GenresRomanceRomantic Suspense
244 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1990
About the author
Kay Hooper
109 books2,461 followersKay Hooper (aka Kay Robbins) was born in California, in an air force base hospital since her father was stationed there at the time. The family moved back to North Carolina shortly afterward, so she was raised and went to school there.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 16, 2026
This was published 35 years ago, and it hasn’t aged well. While I understand that some things were more tolerated then, when a person says no, repeatedly, in several ways, and is then ignored, it’s a hard pass for me. Even if you want to say that it was a different time, the MMC recognized that his behavior toward the FMC was not good, but kept being an asshat anyway. No thank you.
October 20, 2025
Author: Kay Hooper
Title: Star-Crossed Lovers
Series: Once Upon a Time #6
Cover Rating:
Gold star
Book Rating:
5 stars
About the Book:
Michele Logan falls in love with Ian Stuart, a handsome architect, despite the centuries long feud between their families.
My Thoughts:
My heart does the pitter patter when I think about Star Crossed Lovers. Kay Hooper is an all time romance writing queen. Among the first five romance books I ever read Star Crossed Lovers is so much more than just Romeo and Juliet coming together. There is so much wonderful build up and tension and summer heat that Ian will melt your panties right off of you. I la la la loooove this book. Thank you Kay Hooper for writing this story. It has great sentimental value.
Disclaimer:
Krissys Bookshelf Reviews purchased a print copy for personal collection. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.
Note:
If any of Krissy's Bookshelf Reviews has been helpful please stop by to like my post or leave a comment to let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!
Title: Star-Crossed Lovers
Series: Once Upon a Time #6
Cover Rating:
Gold star
Book Rating:
5 stars
About the Book:
Michele Logan falls in love with Ian Stuart, a handsome architect, despite the centuries long feud between their families.
My Thoughts:
My heart does the pitter patter when I think about Star Crossed Lovers. Kay Hooper is an all time romance writing queen. Among the first five romance books I ever read Star Crossed Lovers is so much more than just Romeo and Juliet coming together. There is so much wonderful build up and tension and summer heat that Ian will melt your panties right off of you. I la la la loooove this book. Thank you Kay Hooper for writing this story. It has great sentimental value.
Disclaimer:
Krissys Bookshelf Reviews purchased a print copy for personal collection. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.
Note:
If any of Krissy's Bookshelf Reviews has been helpful please stop by to like my post or leave a comment to let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!
July 30, 2019
Ian and Michele meet on Martinique. He helps her with her broken down rental. Then drive her to their hotel. However, they are not strangers and their families have been feuding for over five hundred years. Can they learn to trust each other and stop the feuding. Or it something else in play with both families? Read and find out.
October 25, 2017
Great plot.
I love Hoopers stories. Have read several and all are very different.
Looking forward to more when i have them
E
I love Hoopers stories. Have read several and all are very different.
Looking forward to more when i have them
E
August 28, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all in this series. I wish there were more.
I have enjoyed all the Hooper books I have read.
I have enjoyed all the Hooper books I have read.
June 11, 2021
This goes on with the unusual premise that started in "Matchmaker". It is missing something that makes the writing flow as in her later books. I quickly skimmed through this book and that was all it took to figure it out. I started reading it but by the 4th chapter I was skimming. It didn't capture my interest.
December 22, 2016
FINAL DECISION: Classic Hatfield/McCoy, Romeo and Juliet tale about two people who were born to hate one another and yet fell in love. The story also has a romantic suspense element as the two need to discover who wants to make sure that hate prevails.
THE STORY: A modern day Romeo and Juliet. The Logans and the Stuarts have been enemies for five centuries. In every generation there is an opportunity for the families to avoid the feud or make it personal and more bitter. Michele Logan and Ian Stuart unexpectedly meet on a tropical island away from the feuding families and while there is no personal enmity between them. there is a wariness caused by the feud. There is also a deep attraction. The question is whether they can overcome the feud or be completely subsumed by it.
OPINION: I'm a sucker for the family feud stories. This one is particularly well done as Michele especially feels the programming done by her family to hate the Stuarts -- including Ian. There is the real chance that love is not enough to overcome five hundred years of hate. The story also has a little romantic suspense element as the question arises what is actually happening between these families in the present day.
Angst, drama, suspense, two people destined to be apart but drawn inexorably together. Just my kind of catnip. I read this book when it was originally published and I had forgotten how much I liked it then. It expanded my idea of what a good romance could be when it was written. The romantic suspense with just a bit of magic became the direction that Kay Hooper went when she stopped writing pure romance. This book shows the beginning of her journey in that direction.
This book was written as an "extra-long" category series book and thus doesn't have the full complexity one might expect from a full length novel, but I seriously liked the drama between the characters, their intense desire to hold on to the love that it developing between them and the little bit of good fortune that comes their way.
WORTH MENTIONING: This book was previously published in the early 1990s.
CONNECTED BOOKS: STAR-CROSSED LOVERS is book 5 in the Once Upon a Time series (although it was published 6th). The series is only loosely connected by the matchmaker who briefly appears in each book so each book can be read as a standalone.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.This review was originally posted on Top10RomanceBooks.com
THE STORY: A modern day Romeo and Juliet. The Logans and the Stuarts have been enemies for five centuries. In every generation there is an opportunity for the families to avoid the feud or make it personal and more bitter. Michele Logan and Ian Stuart unexpectedly meet on a tropical island away from the feuding families and while there is no personal enmity between them. there is a wariness caused by the feud. There is also a deep attraction. The question is whether they can overcome the feud or be completely subsumed by it.
OPINION: I'm a sucker for the family feud stories. This one is particularly well done as Michele especially feels the programming done by her family to hate the Stuarts -- including Ian. There is the real chance that love is not enough to overcome five hundred years of hate. The story also has a little romantic suspense element as the question arises what is actually happening between these families in the present day.
Angst, drama, suspense, two people destined to be apart but drawn inexorably together. Just my kind of catnip. I read this book when it was originally published and I had forgotten how much I liked it then. It expanded my idea of what a good romance could be when it was written. The romantic suspense with just a bit of magic became the direction that Kay Hooper went when she stopped writing pure romance. This book shows the beginning of her journey in that direction.
This book was written as an "extra-long" category series book and thus doesn't have the full complexity one might expect from a full length novel, but I seriously liked the drama between the characters, their intense desire to hold on to the love that it developing between them and the little bit of good fortune that comes their way.
WORTH MENTIONING: This book was previously published in the early 1990s.
CONNECTED BOOKS: STAR-CROSSED LOVERS is book 5 in the Once Upon a Time series (although it was published 6th). The series is only loosely connected by the matchmaker who briefly appears in each book so each book can be read as a standalone.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.This review was originally posted on Top10RomanceBooks.com
December 25, 2020
Once upon a time was what excited me when i was a Kid and now also when am a grow up all the lovely Fairy Tales are woven into modern times by Kay Hooper .
Wonderful series , this one is about Romeo and Juliet , The star crossed lovers .
Wonderful series , this one is about Romeo and Juliet , The star crossed lovers .
March 7, 2017
After re-reading the 2016 edition am once again reminded of how wonderful Ms. Hooper's stories are. They just pull you into the world she creates with her words.
April 6, 2011
Intéressant. Avis complet à venir.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews