Stars & Smoke

Stars and Smoke 

By Marie Lu 

Narrated by Becca Q. Co

Listening length: 11 hours, 57 minutes 

Release date March 28, 2023 

My review: five stars out of five stars

The Hating Game meets Mission: Impossible in this smoldering new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu about a superstar tapped to become a secret agent and the reluctant young spy assigned to be his partner.

Meet Winter Young–rookie backup dancer turned global pop phenomenon. His star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London. Now he’s bringing his swoonworthy assets to a whole new arena...

Infamous criminal tycoon Eli Morrison has just one weakness–his daughter, Penelope. And Penelope has just one wish for her nineteenth birthday–a private concert with Winter Young. When covert ops organization The Panacea Group approaches Winter with this once-in-a-lifetime chance to infiltrate Morrison’s inner circle, Winter must use his fame, cunning, and charisma to pull it off–only he won’t be on his own.

Posing as Winter’s bodyguard is the fiery Sydney Cossette, Panacea’s youngest spy. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter's charms, but as the mission brings them closer, she's forced to admit there's more to this A-lister than slick dance moves and a handsome face. Panacea's unlikeliest partners just might become its biggest heroes–and maybe even more–if they can survive each other first.

Although I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the opportunity to listen to this novel! 

When a young spy is forced to team up with a global pop superstar to take down an infamous criminal, all bets are off on if this duo can pull it off. Both of them have a vial of "death" in their pockets, "just in case" it goes wrong, they can't be caught alive after all. Will they be able to pull it off against the odds and keep a new biological weapon off the market? 

This book was so fun! Interesting characters, the story just kept you going, left me wondering what the heck was going to happen. I also LOVE that there is the opportunity for a sequel, but it wasn't left with a totally open ending. I'm ready to re-listen to this book all over again, just to see what details I might have missed. Seriously a great read!