From the moment she first met him, Callie knew that Simon Montague was a dead man walking.
From rock-climbing to wing-suiting, the infuriatingly charismatic tech CEO lives every moment of his life like it might be his last - and given his packed schedule of adrenaline-fueled adventures, Callie calculated that statistically, one would be soon enough.
In order to secure funding for her ground-breaking work in astrophysics, Callie must work with Simon â and as much as she tries to resist it, the shy and play-it-safe scientist soon finds herself warming to his outgoing personality and thirst for life â the kind she had long since buried away.
But when the promise of a kiss is interrupted by Callie witnessing Simon literally flicker from existence, even her logical, rational mind struggles to find a scientific explanation. She learns that a supernatural phenomenon is threatening to tear Simon from reality itself - and only by facing her own dark and traumatic past can Callie learn what she needs to save the life of the man sheâs reluctantly developed feelings for.
From the moment she first met him, Callie knew that Simon Montague was a dead man walking.
From rock-climbing to wing-suiting, the infuriatingly charismatic tech CEO lives every moment of his life like it might be his last - and given his packed schedule of adrenaline-fueled adventures, Callie calculated that statistically, one would be soon enough.
In order to secure funding for her ground-breaking work in astrophysics, Callie must work with Simon â and as much as she tries to resist it, the shy and play-it-safe scientist soon finds herself warming to his outgoing personality and thirst for life â the kind she had long since buried away.
But when the promise of a kiss is interrupted by Callie witnessing Simon literally flicker from existence, even her logical, rational mind struggles to find a scientific explanation. She learns that a supernatural phenomenon is threatening to tear Simon from reality itself - and only by facing her own dark and traumatic past can Callie learn what she needs to save the life of the man sheâs reluctantly developed feelings for.
Take-off
The Universe started with the Big Bang. Callieâs universe was perhaps about to end in one.
She stared at the long, windowless body of the passenger plane parked on the tarmac and questioned her decision. Or rather, Avaâs decision.
Her friend caught up with her in a light jogging rhythm and fixed the collar of the slate gray flight jumpsuit. She put her hands on her hips and followed Callieâs gaze to the plane. âWow. It looks amazing.â
It looked like a death trap. Perfect to take her up to thirty thousand feet, then drop into a free fall. Provided it didnât go out in a fiery crash beforehand.
âAre you sure we canât cancel?â Callie asked.
âAre you not feeling well?â
âUhâwellââ
âOh, I get it. Itâs the pre-flight jitters. Donât worry.â Ava looped her arm around Callieâs. âItâs gonna be fun. Just shake it off.â She bounced on her feet.
Callie swallowed another objection. Avaâs decision to go on a zero-gravity flight may have been questionable, but it wouldnât be fair of Callie to pull out now. Ava hadnât pulled out that time Callie asked her to accompany her to the Science Festival and dragged her along for three days straight. And unlike the festival, these flights were incredibly hard to come by for civilians, and surely cost an arm and a leg. Ava had been lucky to win a trip for two and instead of inviting her boyfriend, sheâd thought of Callie, saying sheâd love it âbecause of all the science-y things.â
So, just for today, Callie would suck it up and let her friend enjoy the experience. âIâm fine. Letâs go.â
Ava didnât need to be told twice and ran towards the staircase extending from the back of the plane. Callie took a deep breath and followed. She showed her ticket to a man standing at the bottom of the steps and ascended into the gloom.
Inside the plane, only a few rows of seats at the tail remained; the rest of the interior had been stripped clean, and safety nets clung to the walls. It wasnât as claustrophobic as Callie had expected, but it still felt like a coffin. Was this how spacecraft felt? Good thing sheâd never find out.
Some passengers from their small group had boarded already, one of them talking with the instructor up in front. Callie sat down next to Ava, who was positively buzzing; like a kid in a candy store, already in the middle of a sugar rush. Callie closed her eyes and counted along with her slow, controlled breaths.
At least their instructor was an actual astronaut, and the pilots were more than qualified for this. Plus, most zero-gravity flights were done for scientific experiments; if it was safe for people to run on treadmills while doing this, surely it was safe for her to just ⌠exist.
âExcuse me?â A hand following the female voice gently touched her shoulder. Callie opened her eyes. âI think youâre in my seat,â the woman said.
Callie checked her ticket, then glanced up. The numbers didnât match. Sheâd been so preoccupied with her thoughts sheâd simply assumed she and Ava had been seated together.
Baseless assumption. As if youâre a freaking astrologist, not an astrophysicist.
âS-so sorry,â she mumbled and got up. Ava attempted to intervene, but Callie said, âItâs fine. My seat is right over there,â and maneuvered around the lady to the opposite row. Why didnât you check the ticket? That was so awkward. She sat down and kept her head low, hoping no one noticed her stupidity.
âHello there.â The seat next to her shook as the owner of the cheerful voice sat down. A man, about her ageâthirty or so. âNice weather weâre having, isnât it?â He took off his aviatorsâreally, he had to wear sunglasses to this?âtucked them into the collar of his jumpsuit, and smiled and winked at her.
They didnât know each other. Why was he talking to her so casually?
âIsnât this gonna be fun?â he continued. âSuits. Special plane. Zero gravity. Itâs very spy movie, donât you think? We should get code names for each other.â
Oh, no. He was one of those people. Those who liked to approach random strangers in public and infringe on their personal space and ⌠chat. She never understood how people could do that.
He looked like heâd walked straight off a set of Top Gun. The aviator sunglasses; the burnished red hair, perfectly ruffled and curled at the top, shorter at the sides; the otherwise unattractive jumpsuit that somehow looked great on him, as if theyâd chosen the design especially for himâprepared for a photo shoot, not a deadly flight.
âSo, whatâs yours?â he asked.
Callie blinked, forcing her focus away from his perfectly chiseled jawline. Seriously, no one had the right to be this good-looking. âH-huh?â
âCode name. If weâre pretending this is a secret spy mission.â
Most of her senses finally came back. âAre you serious?â she raised her voice, then continued quieter when a few people turned their heads. âWe could die at any moment, and youâre concerned with code names?â
âWe could always die at any moment.â He shrugged. âThis one is no different from the rest.â
âIâd beg to differ.â
âOh, would you now?â His dark blue eyes twinkled. âAnd whatâs so bad about this moment?â
âNot this one in particular, but the moment about half an hour from now. Ascending at a steep angle and then letting the plane go into a free fallâcommercial planes werenât meant to fly in a single parabola, much less fifteen of them, one after the other. People werenât meant to fly at all.â
âAnd yet weâre all here. Including you.â
âOnly becauseââ she stopped herself when she caught sight of Ava, leaning past the lady in Callieâs former seat. Her friend scrunched her nose in a clear âwhat are you doingâ gestureâone Callie had seen many times.
Mostly when she was talking to other people in public.
Callie grunted and folded her arms.
âI think Iâll go with Falcon,â the man continued. âCheesy, but a classic code name. And you can be ⌠Phoenix.â
âLike the galaxy cluster?â
âI thought more about the comic book superhero, but sure,â he said after a moment of hesitation. âThat way, if something bad happens, youâll be reborn.â
âThat is not even remotely close to how thingsââ
âLadies and gentlemen, ready to get going?â the instructor said, loud enough to shush the chatting passengers. âFasten your seat belts, please. Weâll go over the standard flight procedures, and then weâll be ready to take off âŚâ
âI donât suppose you want to try a dance once weâre in zero gravity,â Falcon whispered to her.
She wanted to reply with something witty. âIâll be busy dyingâ came to mind, but it probably wasnât particularly witty, and besidesâwhy did she suddenly want to be witty?
He was confusing her.
And she didnât like it one bit.
So she only stared at the seat in front, unsuccessfully trying to block him from her periphery.
âYeah, thought so.â He clicked his seat belt and looked to the front, a slight smile playing on his lips, as if he enjoyed provoking her.
Callie sunk lower, blowing a lock of hair off her face.
It was going to be a long two hours.
First Parabola
Simon would be having the time of his life if it werenât for her. Phoenix. He wondered why she even signed up for this experience if sheâd only complain about it. Maybe she was a masochist. Simon preferred doing only what he loved, but hey, to each their own. Unfortunately, while she might enjoy her own torment, he was stuck next to her.
Maybe heâd already used up all of his luck in the accident. All of his universe-given goodwill. And now, wherever he went, heâd forever be stuck with a co-passenger like her. He smiled; not at the prospect itself, but at the ridiculous image of those bouncy, deep mahogany curls peeking from behind the headrest in front as Phoenix chased him into every ride, drive, and flight heâd make in the future, cursed to forever spoil his fun.
The plane took off and climbed steadily as the instructor ran over the tripâs details and advised them on how to prepare and act once they went into free fall. Free fallâSimon liked the sound of that. Freedom and falling. Beautiful combination. How had he never thought of trying a zero-gravity flight before? This should top even skydiving.
Finally, after flying at a steady height for a while, the plane began its first parabola. The passengers were invited to join the instructor in the area up front, cleared of seats; as Simon unbuckled his seatbelt, he briefly considered some encouragement for Phoenix, but she was avoiding his gaze, her hair almost covering the slight blush spreading across her russet brown cheeks.
She hesitated with her seatbelt, and Simon instead moved on, letting a pretty brunette from the other row pass in front of him.
âHey,â he said as he walked after the brunette. âWould you like to try dancing in zero gravity?â
She looked back, eyed him for a second, and smiled. âSure.â
Now that was better already.
To prevent motion sickness, the passengers were advised to lie on their backs while the plane climbed steeply and the force of gravity grew stronger. Simon stared at the white inner shell of the plane as his limbs became heavier and heavierâand then, suddenly, they released. With a slight push, Simon came off the ground and nearly shot straight into the ceiling.
Around him, others had similar problems with control. They floated around the cabin, laughing and apologizing for bumping into each other. Simon oriented himself and, using a safety net as a guide, propelled himself toward his dancing partner.
She extended a hand and smiled. âIâm not sure Iâll be a very graceful dancer.â
âI donât think any of us are graceful at the moment.â And off they went. They circled the cabin, pushing off walls and floating to the other side, laughing way too much to care that their dance looked nothing like a dance.
âItâs a good thing nobody is taking picturesââ He bumped into something. Someone, based on a little yelp behind his back, and thenâ
âSeriously?â
Oh, no. Not her. True, there were only twenty people in here, and they were all crowded in a reasonably small place, but of those twenty people, did it have to be Phoenix?
She couldnât be more than a few inches over five feet, but floating, their eyes were levelâand hers looked less than impressed despite her not appearing injured.
One more try. He wasnât in the habit of letting people dislike him. âSorry.â He smiled and scratched the back of his head, where theyâd made contact. âPeople do say Iâm thick-headed.â
No smile from her. Only a short wrinkling of her eyebrows as she grabbed her phone and a set of keys with a plush moon pendant attached to them, which had wandered off on a trajectory of their own.
âIs it a good idea to wave those around? You could take someoneâs eye out,â he said.
She pressed the items to her chest. âI donât think you should advise me on good ideas.â
âMe? I was just dancing.â
âAnd I was trying to perform a scientific experiment.â
âI think you boarded the wrong flight, then.â
She grunted and pushed a floating lock of coiled hair off her face. âWhy are you so determined to ruin everything?â
âWhy are you so determined to not have fun?â he shot back.
âI was having fun until you bumped into me.â
âAh, so you were waiting on an unsuspecting victim with those keys.â
Simonâs dancing partner made some half-hearted sound; he wasnât sure what it was, because Phoenix went, âYouâaghââ and the gravity started pressing on his limbs, and the instructor announced everyone should find a spot to lie down.
âNext parabola.â He pointed a challenging finger at her and half-floated, half-jumped towards the other side of the cabin.
Seventh Parabola
Callie had found the solution for her situation: treat it as a scientific experiment. Sheâd had some motion sickness, and she didnât like the lack of control in zero gravity, but once she got used to it, she dared to push herself all the way to the ceiling and even do a simple somersault. She only had to think about the application of various gravity theories instead of the pilots trying to keep the plane in the air, and everything was fine.
âHey.â Ava floated to her. âWho was that?â
âWho?â
âThe sexy pale ginger guy you spoke with earlier.â
Before she could stop herself, Callie looked at Falconâsurrounded by a group of five, hanging on his every word as he made sweeping motions with his armsâthen snapped back to her friend. âAva! You have a boyfriend.â
âYou donât.â
No. No chance. Whenâifâshe had a relationship again, sheâd find someone sensible, serious. Someone who liked the same things she did. Someone who wasnât that intimidatingly handsome. âDonât even think about it.â
Falconâs laugh echoed across the cabin.
Ava shrugged. âHe seems fun. He winked at you! And you said at least five words to him, which is an improvement.â
âHe probably had an eyelash in his eye.â She had to get the topic off him. âDo you want to try a joint somersault?â
âOoh, letâs do it!â
After a semi-successful attempt, Ava left to float around some more, and Callie brought her phone and key set back out. True, this wasnât a scientific flight, but that didnât mean she couldnât do a bit of equivalence principle testing.
âWeâre coming off the parabola,â the instructor said. âGet ready to lie back down.â
âA second,â Callie murmured, and tried to toss the phone and the keys simultaneously. No, not in syncâshe quickly caught them and tried again, as in her peripheral vision, people laid back on the floor.
âMaâam,â the instructor said.
âYes, Iââ Fine, next parabola. There were still a few left. Callie caught her phone just as the gravity roseâand then she plopped down on the floor.
The floor groaned.
âIf you wanted to cuddle, you couldâve said so,â the voice said from under her.
Of course. Of the twenty people in here, she had to accidentally land on him. Falcon. Maybe she should call him Sexy Pale Ginger Guy, instead of that stupid nickname.
Or maybe just Pale Ginger Guy. No need to delve into the attractiveness part.
âOn your back, please,â the instructor said.
âDonât flatter yourself.â She rolled off Falcon, wishing she could also roll off this plane. She didnât dare look at him, but she heard him snicker.
And then she heardâand feltâsomething else. A little rumble in her stomach. A burning sensation rising up her throat.
Too many somersaults.
âUh, are you okay?â Falcon askedâand a second later, got his answer as she rolled to the side and gave him a nice display of her breakfast.
Landing
âHow was it?â Stan held the door of the limo open and waited for Simon to slip into the back seat.
âUp to the middle of the flight, it was fantastic.â Simon automatically brushed the sleeve of his left arm, even though by now, heâd changed out of the jumpsuit and was wearing his racer leather jacket.
Stan got behind the wheel, negating half of the late afternoon sun with his massive figure. âAnd then?â
âThen an infuriatingly humorless woman puked on me.â
âRough.â
âAh, well, no need to dwell on it.â Simon motioned Stan to drive off. âItâs not like Iâm ever going to see her again.â
*
âSee, told you itâd be fun,â Ava said as she and Callie headed towards her car. âMinus the ⌠event.â
âYouâre not making it better.â Every painful second of that parabola replayed in Callieâs head, over and over. In some versions, she later apologized to Falcon in a whole, un-stuttered, coherent sentence. In other versions, she caught herself in time and magically didnât puke on him.
Unfortunately, those versions werenât her reality.
âCome on.â Ava hugged her around the shoulders. âHappens to everyone. Besides, only twenty people saw you.â
âNobody was recording it, right?â
âNah. We were all lying on the floor.â
Including him. He was lying right there. Being swallowed by the earth wouldnât be enough; sheâd have to get at least as far as Jupiter to escape the embarrassment. And even without counting the event, Callie had felt awkward. Rattled, flusteredânot because of the flight, but because of him. He behaved and spoke so casually, and when he talked to her, all of her responses somehow came out wrong.
Thank the Universe it was over now.
âDonât worry,â Ava said. âThose peopleâthey donât know you. By tomorrow, theyâll forget all about it. Well, except for Sexy Pale Ginger Guy. Iâd give him ⌠two weeks to forget since he was the prime target.â
Callie managed a slight smile. âThatâs fine. Itâs not like Iâm ever going to see him again.â
Simon Montague, the charismatic CEO of a successful tech company, seems to have a death wish: from eating pufferfish to rock-climbing, he appears to always be on the lookout for a new dangerous activity. For sensible, risk-averse astrophysicist Callie Guidry, this is deeply annoying and close to infuriating.
Yet when circumstances force the two of them to spend time together in order to secure funding for Callie's research, she finds that there may be more to Simon than meets the eye, and his outgoing personality and thirst for life re-awaken in Callie something she had long since buried away. But everything is not as it seems, and rational thought might have to give way to a part of Callie's past she has been trying to forget if there is to be any hope of saving Simon from the supernatural phenomenon that threatens his very existence.
Kate Serzenta continues to deliver a cozy and heartwarming slow-burn romance in this second instalment of the Perks of Being Paranormal series. Both Callie and Simon have suffered in the past, reacting in completely opposite ways, and watching them learn from one other and lean into each other's strengths to support their vulnerabilities makes for a delightful reading experience.
Where this book seems to struggle slightly is with the paranormal element itself which, though original and somewhat surprising, does not appear to be developed to its full potential, remaining a largely marginal element until fairly late in the story. The conflicts, though appearing solid in the build-up, are also resolved far too easily in the end, leaving the feeling of a rush preventing the reader from feeling fully satisfied by the (extremely cute) ending. Secondary characters could have also benefited from slightly greater development, especially those introduced later in the narrative, as they came across as little more than cookie-cutter figures embodying specific traits, making little to no impression and being forgotten as easily as they were introduced.
Overall, Starrily is a pleasant read that is sure to entertain and delight fans of the genre, despite a few minor issues.