“You’re telling me you’ve never stumbled across something great? Maybe you weren’t looking for it, but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to you? Don’t you think that’s possible? That sometimes we just get lucky?”

Hang the Moon

Brendon Lowell loves love. It’s why he created a dating app to help people find their one true pairing and why he’s convinced “the one” is out there, even if he hasn’t met her yet. Or… has he? When his sister’s best friend turns up in Seattle unexpectedly, Brendon jumps at the chance to hang out with her. He’s crushed on Annie since they were kids, and the stars have finally aligned, putting them in the same city at the same time.

Annie booked a spur-of-the-moment trip to Seattle to spend time with friends before moving across the globe. She’s not looking for love, especially with her best friend’s brother. Annie remembers Brendon as a sweet, dorky kid. Except, the 6-foot-4 man who shows up at her door is a certified Hot Nerd and Annie… wants him? Oh yes.

Getting involved would be a terrible idea—her stay is temporary and he wants forever—but when Brendon learns Annie has given up on dating, he’s determined to prove that romance is real. Taking cues from his favorite rom-coms, Brendon plans to woo her with elaborate dates straight out of Nora Ephron’s playbook. The clock is ticking on Annie’s time in Seattle, and Brendon’s starting to realize romance isn’t just flowers and chocolate. But maybe real love doesn’t need to be as perfect as the movies… as long as you think your partner hung the moon.

Brendon and Annie were my favorite side characters in Written in the Stars, so I was totally excited to read their story in Hang the Moon.

Brendon loves everything to do with love, rom-coms, romantic gestures, matchmaking. And although Brendon has had a hard time meeting his own one true love, that doesn’t stop him from being determined to convince everyone that true love exists. It’s why he developed his own matchmaking app. So when his sister’s best friend Annie comes to town for a surprise visit saying that she has given up looking for love, Brendon becomes determined to prove to her that romance is real. His reputation depends on it. It has nothing to do with his childhood crush on her.

As they begin to spend together, they realize they have amazing chemistry. However, Annie is moving across the globe in a few weeks. When his plans to woo her with a series of dates from his favorite romcoms aren’t convincing her to stay, he starts to realize that maybe there’s more to romance and winning Annie’s heart than grand gestures.

I absolutely loved Hang the Moon. It had some of my favorite tropes, and I honestly can’t decide which character was my favorite. Brendon was a perfect cinnamon roll hero with an amazing ability to be adorable one minute and downright sexy the next. I loved his love for love and all of the rom-com recreations he went through. Annie was my ideal heroine with how much she cared about those around her. They have amazing chemistry and even their awkward moments were somehow cute.

It had a lot of the same elements that made me fall in love with Written in the Stars. The found family aspect and the way the friend group adopted Annie into the fold warmed my heart, and the pop culture references and witty banter genuinely made me laugh out loud.

Hang the Moon continued the perfect blend of humor and heart that was in Written in the Stars and has definitely earned its way onto my list of favorite romance books.