NA review: At the Stars by Elisabeth Staab

Title: At the Stars
Author: Elisabeth Staab
Series: N/A
Acquired: Review
Genre: New Adult
Publisher: Self Published
Release date: 5th May 2015

Until the day she was attacked in her local and favourite music store, Cassie was just a normal teenager. When a family tragedy happened Cassie knew she couldn't stay in her home town any longer. The only option she has is to get in her car and drive, no destination in mind. Cassie's car breaks down just outside of a small town called Evergreen Grove and that's where she meets Jake, the most unexpected event on her trip. 

Review
At the Stars begins full of tension and excitement. It's the middle of the night and Cassie is stood in the middle of the road facing off with on-coming traffic in the rain. She know exactly how it looks; crazy. She doesn't care though because she feels free and it's not like she's trying to get herself killed. Before she can move on her own though a big lump of a man knocks her out of the way. That's Jake. Cassie should feel threatened due to her past but she doesn't. Jake his this calming presence about him and actually seems to care. 

Circumstances are what throws Cassie and Jake together. Cassie's car has died and Jake works as a mechanic in near by town Evergreen Grove. The fix will be a long and expensive one forcing Cassie to stick around in a motel for a while before she can get back on the road. She even manages to get a job in the bakery for the time being until she can get herself sorted. I really enjoyed the small town feeling in this book. It's a place where people seem to know one another quite well and a place where people cared about each other which was really nice. 

Cassie and Jake do not get along well at first so there is no insta love relationship here. There's a lot of tension between the two characters for various reasons but I enjoyed the back and forth between them. Each character has issues from their past that they need to work through before they even think about starting something together. What I appreciated the most was that each of the main characters were very distinct on their own and they didn't need to be in a relationship to define them or to make them stand out as someone special. 

The plot explores both Cassie and Jake's pasts although it does focus on Jake quite a bit more. I wouldn't call At the Stars exciting exactly but there is certainly enough going on and the plot moves along at quite a steady pace. Jack has a lot of secrets about his past and they throw a lot of spanners in the works. Jake is such an interesting character because of his past. I loved watching him unravel and for certain realisations to sink in. 

At the Stars was a really enjoyable read full of emotion and tension. Elisabeth Staab gives readers fantastic characters, a slow burning romance and enough mystery to keep things interesting.