Rewrite the Stars, the debut novel of Christina Consolino, will be released next Thursday, March 18th. To kick it off, she is giving away a signed copy to a lucky Eight Ladies’ reader in the U.S. or an ebook anywhere worldwide.

Sadie Rollins-Lancaster is legally separated from Theo, her husband of fifteen years. Because of Theo’s PTSD, they still share a house and responsibility for their three children, who range in age from eighteen months to eleven years. Neither is in any hurry to sign the papers that will finalize their divorce until a chance encounter at the local grocery on Father’s Day brings Andrew into Sadie’s life.

She sets aside the initial surge of attraction she feels toward this handsome stranger, but life has other plans, throwing Andrew in her path several more times in the ensuing days. This could easily feel contrived, but in Consolino’s deft hands, it feels more like what happens when we hear something new to us and then re-encounter it twice more within the next twenty-four hours. Perhaps it isn’t so much that Sadie never seen Andrew before as that she’d never noticed because she wasn’t paying attention.

The story alternates point-of-view between Sadie and Theo, giving us an unsparing picture of the very real struggle Theo has with the legacy of his service in Afghanistan. Although he’s agreed to their planned divorce, he’s also struggling with whether to let their marriage reach its conclusion, despite the fact that it was he who initiated their separation. He loves his children very much, and on good days he remembers how he felt about Sadie back in the day.

With solid and, at times, lovely writing, Christina Consolino’s novel tells the story of a woman trying to balance old love and new without harming her husband’s attempts to heal or wrecking her children’s lives in the process. She is a genuinely good person, with more compassion for others than for herself, but the pull of new love is heady and strong.

If you’re a fan of stories that center on women making the journey through life in the face of both adversity and joy, Christina Consolino’s Rewrite the Stars is just your ticket. You can pre-order it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

To enter the drawing, just leave a comment below letting me know you’re interested. I’ll announce the winner next Tuesday and make arrangements to get you your free copy!

Christina Consolino is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in multiple online and print outlets. She is the co-author of Historic Photos of University of Michigan, and her debut novel, Rewrite the Stars, was named one of ten finalists for the Ohio Writers’ Association Great Novel Contest 2020. She serves as senior editor at the online journal Literary Mama, freelance edits both fiction and nonfiction, and teaches writing classes at Word’s Worth Writing Connections. Christina enjoys warm cups of coffee, good books, and long runs outside.