Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke
This Australian novel was a delightful read. Justine Carmichael has been working as a copy-runner at the Alexandria Park Star, doing whatever is asked of her while she waits for a reporting position to open up. The Star has developed over the last thirty years from a street rag to a glossy current affairs magazine. Justine runs errands, gets coffee, delivers messages and generally does whatever needs to be done. Justine has an incredible memory, a love of literature, and a penchant for correct grammar. She carries a sharpie in her purse and corrects signs, menus, and other sources of grammar and spelling mistakes that she encounters in her day. Nick Jordan is an actor, so far not very successful. His latest gig has him wearing a fish costume at the local market, which is where Justine and him meet, or rather meet again after several years of not seeing each other. Their mothers had been best friends, until his family moved across the country. Justine has never really forgot Nick and the one evening they spent together at the young age their were then.
Catching up on each other's lives, Justine discovers that Nick is a big believer in horoscopes, particularly the ones that run in the magazine she works for. When an unexpected opening at work brings the transcription of the horoscopes under Justine's purview, she can't resist tweaking them to encourage Nick to think of her romantically. But of course, Nick is not the only Aquarius reading those horoscopes, and there are other people who make life choices based on what Justine has done.
I really enjoyed this read, liking Justine, and Nick and several of the other characters that come along. There is a good deal of humour, a general light-hearted flavour to the book, and of course some romance. Definitely recommended.
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