I was left at the altar.

There, I said it.

I wish I didn’t find it so embarrassing. Wish it didn’t hurt so much, all these months later. Wish I could say I was handling it well, but I’m not.

It feels like everything around me has changed. Or maybe, I am the thing that has changed. As a pastry chef, I’m used to creating perfection, but lately everything around me is falling flat, including my soufflés. Sweet taste bitter. Nights are darker. I’m finding it hard to care about anything.

The worst part of all, however, is the fact that I’ve lost my ability to see bright sides. Finding light in a person, or a situation, is a Fullbright family trait and now that it’s faded, I feel like I’ve lost a big piece of myself.

I’d been thinking I needed a break, a change of pace or scenery or something, to help bring the brightness back to my life, when I received the call from my aunt Bean.

When she asked me to come back to my hometown of Starlight, Alabama, for a family meeting, I made a split-second decision to extend the stay. Just a few weeks, in hopes that my time there would be the reset I need to get my life back on track. After all, Aunt Bean’s farmhouse had always been a haven, and Aunt Bean has always felt like home. Being with her is where I’d always felt the most like me.

I’m on my way there now, and I have to admit I do have some concerns about going back.

My grandfather, for one. He wants something that belongs to my sister Addie and me: Our family land. Land that’s home to a crater where a fallen star once fell and where a special kind of starlight glows at night. It’s being held in trust until my next birthday, which is only a month away. Even though he’s expecting me to sell the land to him, I’m not sure it’s something I want to do. But telling him no is next to impossible, especially since he’s a man who isn’t afraid to exact revenge. Even against his own granddaughter.

Then there’s Addie. My half-sister. To describe our relationship as estranged is putting it mildly. Nonexistent might be a better term. Complicated should also be thrown in there. For my whole life she’s wanted nothing to do with me. So why do I keep wishing that might change?

Will the benefits of going to Starlight outweigh the risks? Will I be able to find the way back to myself, back to seeing bright sides, back to being happy?

Only time will tell.

But I’m hopeful.

Wish me luck, okay?

A Certain Kind of Starlight
Genre: Magic Realism
Release: July 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

In the face of hardship, two women learn how to rise up again under the bright side of the stars in A Certain Kind of Starlight, the next book from USA Today bestselling author Heather Webber.

Everyone knows that Addie Fullbright can’t keep a secret. Yet, twelve years ago, as her best friend lay dying, she entrusted Addie with the biggest secret of all. One so shattering that Addie felt she had to leave her hometown of Starlight, Alabama, to keep from revealing a devastating truth to someone she cares for deeply. Now she’s living a lonely life, keeping everyone at a distance, not only to protect the secret but also her heart from the pain of losing someone else. But when her beloved aunt, the woman who helped raise her, gets a shocking diagnosis and asks her to come back to Starlight to help run the family bakery, Addie knows it’s finally time to go home again.

Tessa Jane Wingrove-Fullbright feels like she’s failing. She’s always been able to see the lighter side of life but lately darkness has descended. Her world is suddenly in shambles after a painful breakup, her favorite aunt’s unexpected health troubles, and because crushing expectations from the Wingrove side of her family are forcing her to keep secrets and make painful choices. When she’s called back to Starlight to help her aunt, she’s barely holding herself together and fears she’ll never find her way back to who she used to be.

Under the bright side of the stars, Addie and Tessa Jane come to see that magic can be found in trusting yourself, that falling apart is simply a chance to rise up again, stronger than ever, and that the heart usually knows the best path through the darkness.

About the author
USA Today bestselling author Heather Webber loves to read, drink too much coffee and tea, birdwatch, crochet, and bake. She currently lives near Cincinnati, Ohio, and is hard at work on her next book.