Star Mother is an epic romantic fantasy about sacrifice and loss

Charlie N. Holmberg’s Star Mother takes the reader on a journey with Ceris Wenden. Ceris starts the book as a regular young woman. She’s waiting to marry her ultimate crush, Caen, playing pranks on her neighbors, and waiting to get out of her parent’s house.

But then the spire on top of the church catches fire and everything changes. The fire is a sign that the Sun, the god they worship, is looking for a mother for his next star child. When a star dies, the Sun looks to Earth for a woman to give him another one.

This woman almost becomes a goddess in her own right within the community she came from. The catch? The experience of birthing a star is so traumatic it kills the mother.

But Ceris isn’t worried. She’s about to be married. She doesn’t need to sacrifice herself. Or so she thinks.

Star Mother is an epic romantic fantasy that takes you on a journey

She finds out a secret that changes everything. Caen is not as in love with her as she thought. So feeling like she doesn’t fit in her community, she decides it’s better if she’s the one to sacrifice herself and become a star mother.

This choice becomes the catalyst for an adventure, a romance, and a life that Ceris could have never imagined.

Spoiler alert! It’s very difficult to talk about this book and not spoil some parts of it so… be warned!

When Ceris is taken to the Sun’s kingdom, she has her star child. But…she doesn’t die. She survives and no one really knows what to do. So she figures she can go back to Earth. She can see her friends and family again.

Except when she gets back home, she realizes, somehow, centuries have passed since she was last on Earth and everyone she ever knew is gone. As you can imagine, it’s devastating.

While in this new, unfamiliar world, she meets a godling named Ristriel. He can change shapes but is only a solid form in the dark. When the sun or the moonlight hits him, he becomes ghostly.

At first, they only become allies because Ristriel is running from some godlings hunting him and Ceris needs someone to show her how to get to the town where her family’s descendants might be. But as they travel together, they form an unbreakable bond that turns into a love story for the ages.

This book, y’all. The worldbuilding alone is brilliant. Add to that the character development and the relationship between Ceris and Ristriel and you have a beautiful story.

But beyond the beautiful story…where does one find a Ristriel in real life? Inquiring minds want to know.

If you love fantasy or fantasy with a side of romance, you definitely need to check out Star Mother. It’s so well-written and I cannot wait for Star Father, the sequel, to come out next year.

Star Mother is currently available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook formats.