The Story: While the city of Chicago sleeps, a war wages in the streets between two powerful families. While the public assumes organized crime is nothing more than a chapter torn out of America’s history, the Costa and Moran families battle for territory and domination.

Caught up in the middle of this sinister world is Josette, the only child of Salvatore Costa, the ringleader and notorious godfather of Chicago’s Italian mafia. After the Irish Morans attempted to assassinate her when she was a child, Josette’s parents hid her behind the walls of their sprawling estate and kept her contact with outsiders to a minimum. But now Josette’s eighteen, and she’s questioning if a long life behind walls is worth trading for a potentially short one filled with excitement and adventure and all the things she’s only lived in her dreams.

On the night she decides to risk becoming just an anonymous face in the crowd, Josette realizes that death isn’t only a possibility—it’s a certainty. Yet when a young man comes to her rescue, the turbulent waters between life and death are further muddied.

The mere mention of (modern day) Romeo and Juliet with its own flair plus Nicole Williams had me sold. There’s so much I’d like to say about this book, but I’m having to choose my words with extra care. The element of the plot that most appealed to me was how it kept twisting in unexpected directions, and the last thing I want is to give too much away.

Crossing Stars is an incredibly powerful story about love, friendship, and the potentially destructive nature of secrets.

The romantical element was brilliant and refreshing. I have always loved forbidden romance type stories but they really need to have some real depth in them and consequences I can feel. This isn’t some predictable kind of love story but this forbidden slow dance that just leaves you breathless and your heart pounding especially at the end. It’s not simple or easy or even really a “romance” but more of these forbidden feelings that are just starting to really be explored before the SHIT HITS THE FAN.

Josette, our heroine is the only child of Salvatore Costa, the ringleader and notorious godfather of Chicago’s Italian mafia and one of the most powerful organized crime leaders. Because of the danger that lurks within their community, her family has tried to keep her out of the eyes of both the public and the other reigning mob family in Chicago, the Heat.

But the sheltered life she has known for 18 years turned 360 degrees the night she met Rylan.

Rylan let her feel emotions she wasn’t used to experiencing. He made her feel nervous and excited. Scared and strong. Apprehensive and eager. Love. That is! They barely know each other but the sensation they feel is strong enough to defy their families. And because fate is not on their side, they make secret plan to run away.

Everything in this story is written so brilliantly. And while, initially it took me about 20 pages to really get into it, the way the story is told it’s just so hard not to be absorbed into this new world and its political structure, the character and the romance. And the plot just moved along at a great pace that kept me engaged and at times on the edge of my seat. Nicole Williams knows how to tell a good story!

Josette is a fantastic heroine that really stood out to me. She is very smart, determined and strong-minded. There was something about Rylan that she sensed and she wanted to know. I think it’s because they both had this rebellious sort of kindred spirit thing going on but I equally loved Josette and Rylan and who they were and what they fought for.

The story starts a bit slow but like a good chess game the pieces are being moved in a subtle manner until SHIT HAPPENS and oh does it happen. I was gasping for breath when I realized what was going on and what it meant for our heroine and the story and then the action just kept coming at me and was relentless until the very emotional ending. The story just kept beating the hell out of me as all my emotions and FEELS (anger, sadness, shock, betrayal, triumph) exploded out. So HOLD ON TO YOUR PANTS! This action got quite intense.

Nicole Williams kept me guessing about the ending right up until the last page, and I came away feeling rather tearful, but immensely satisfied. Though not your typical romance novel, this book has enough of the crucial components—heartache, suspense, sexual tension—to entice many fans of this genre. I thoroughly enjoyed it!