A Wish Upon a Star Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A tender neighbours-to-lovers romance between two women in their fifties, carried by one of the best-loved child characters in sapphic romance, held back by a final stretch some readers found rushed and a small, quiet readership.

Best for: Readers who want mature heroines, a slow burn built around family life, a dog who steals scenes and a thoughtful portrait of raising an autistic child, and who do not mind a book with little buzz behind it.

Heat level: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5 — sources split between medium and hot; romance.io has no steam rating)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.2/5 — a 4.44 Goodreads average across 694 ratings, with praise that is close to unanimous and a quiet readership)

Tropes: Neighbours to lovers, slow burn, friends to lovers, both heroines in their fifties, single mother, autistic child, starting over, found family, rescue dog, bisexual heroine.

A Wish Upon a Star is Jeannie Levig’s 2018 standalone contemporary lesbian romance from Bold Strokes Books, set in Burbank, California, in which Leslie Raymond, a heartbroken woman in her fifties who has moved into her late parents’ house with strict new rules about who she will date, finds herself living next door to Erica Cooper, a fiercely self-reliant single mother, and Erica’s autistic seven-year-old daughter, Siena — who adopts Leslie long before her mother does.

It holds a 4.44 average across 694 Goodreads ratings, and fewer than 2% of those ratings are one or two stars. It is Levig’s highest-rated and most-read book. The question is not whether readers like it — they overwhelmingly do — but whether a small, older book with almost no buzz is worth tracking down. The answer depends on what you want from a romance.

What Is A Wish Upon a Star About?

This is a later-in-life slow burn and a family story at the same time. Both heroines are in their fifties, and the romance has to make room for a child, an ex, a dog and two women’s very firm ideas about what they can and cannot risk. The Burbank setting is suburban rather than glamorous: two houses side by side, a neighbourhood routine, and a relationship that grows out of everyday proximity.

Leslie has kindness to spare and a heart that has been badly broken, and what she lacks is trust — in anyone who could leave. Erica has spent years relying on no one because, in her experience, people do not stay when raising Siena gets hard. The story follows both women closely, so the reader sees each of them wanting more and deciding, for good reasons, not to ask for it.

What Makes This Later-in-Life Sapphic Romance Work

Siena: The most praised element by a distance. Lambda Literary called her fully formed rather than a plot device, and Goodreads reviewers — including readers with autistic family members — single out how well she is written.
Two heroines in their fifties: Reviewers keep noting how rare this is and how naturally the book handles it, with both women written as desirable and complicated.
A slow burn with reasons: This is friends to lovers that takes its time because both women have real baggage. Readers say the delay feels earned rather than stalled.
Gus the dog: A roadside rescue who bonds with Siena first. Reviewers mention him almost as often as the leads, with several simply wanting to adopt him.
Found family: Leslie learns to meet Siena where she is, and readers find that process — the observation, the patience, the small wins — as moving as the romance.

Book Synopsis

Leslie Raymond has spent two years wishing her life had gone differently. After a relationship that left her heartbroken and her parents’ deaths left their Burbank house empty, she drives across the country to start over, armed with a set of rules meant to keep her safe: no straight women, no women with kids, and no commitment.

On her first morning home she is cross-examined by Siena, the seven-year-old next door, who is autistic, direct and immediately interested in Leslie and the scruffy dog she has picked up on the road. Siena’s mother, Erica Cooper, is beautiful, capable and very clear that she does not need help from anyone. There is also a man in the picture, Siena’s father, Trent, and Leslie assumes the obvious about Erica before she learns otherwise.

As the weeks pass, Siena draws the two households together, and Leslie finds herself breaking her own rules one by one. Erica, meanwhile, has built a quiet, safe life around her daughter and has no intention of letting someone in who might not stay. The question is whether two women who have both learned not to hope can risk it with each other — and with Siena’s trust at stake as well as their own.

My Review

The best thing in this book is Siena. Children in romance are often props or plot devices, and Levig avoids both: Siena has her own logic, her own humour and her own way of deciding who can be trusted, and the romance is built around learning to understand her rather than around her needs as an obstacle. That is why readers who normally avoid kids in romance make an exception here.

The second strength is how the leads are written. Both are in their fifties, both have lived through real loss, and both behave like adults who know exactly why they are afraid. On StoryGraph, every reader who answered calls the characters loveable, and 87% tag the book as emotional. Leslie’s patience with Siena — watching, learning, adapting — does a lot of the romantic work, because it is what shows Erica she might stay.

The criticisms are few and scattered, which is itself the finding. The one that recurs is the ending: at least one otherwise enthusiastic reader felt the final stretch was rushed after a book that took its time everywhere else, as if something had been cut. Another reader noted that the slow burn leans on some angst and miscommunication to keep the leads apart. Neither complaint appears often enough to be a consensus, and with 88% of ratings at four or five stars, most readers came away happy.

Reset one expectation. The listings disagree about the heat — one files it as hot and steamy, another as medium — and some readers call it low angst while one calls it heavily angst-filled. If a gentle read is what drew you, calibrate: Leslie’s past and Erica’s fears give it real emotional weight. If heavy drama is what worried you, relax — it is warm, and the child and the dog keep it light.

My honest note: A lovely, emotionally generous romance that deserves a bigger readership than it has. If mature heroines and a well-written autistic child appeal to you, it is well worth finding; if you need a lot of plot or a slow, drawn-out ending, it may feel slight.

Element	In A Wish Upon a Star
Central relationship	Leslie Raymond & Erica Cooper — heartbroken newcomer and self-reliant single mother, both in their fifties, neighbours to lovers
Core tropes	Neighbours to lovers, slow burn, friends to lovers, single mother, autistic child, starting over
Setting	Burbank, California — Leslie’s late parents’ house and the house next door
Heat level	3.5/5 — medium to hot depending on the source; no romance.io rating
Series	Standalone — happy resolution; HEA or HFN not specified by reviewers
Content notes	Sexual content, grief and parents’ deaths, a painful past relationship, parenting stress; StoryGraph has no user-submitted warnings yet

How Spicy Is A Wish Upon a Star?

A 3.5/5, and this is one of the rare books where the sources disagree. romance.io has too few ratings to give it a steam level. I Heart SapphFic files it as hot and steamy with full, graphic scenes, while The Lesbian Review’s audiobook review tags it average spice and medium heat and describes a good balance between humour, angst and sexiness. Goodreads reviewers talk about sizzling chemistry and call the leads sexy and passionate, but none describe the scenes in detail.

The middle of those sources is the safest guide: expect open-door intimacy once the slow burn resolves, not a book built around its sex scenes. Nothing on the page is flagged as a concern. For comparison, Midnight Rain, another single-parent romance between women in their forties, sits at 4/5, and Hooked on You runs cooler at 3/5.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want heroines in their fifties, you like romance that grows out of family life, you want a thoughtful, affectionate portrait of an autistic child, and you enjoy a slow burn with emotional weight.

You may want to skip it if: you avoid children in romance entirely, you need a fast pace or a big external plot, a rushed final act bothers you, or you want a clearly defined heat level before you start.

In short: A warm, family-centred mature romance that most readers love and too few have found.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

There is no viral moment, no BookTok presence I could find and no Reddit threads in search results. What this book has is the steady support of the sapphic review community: Lambda Literary reviewed it in January 2019, LesFic Reviews gave it five stars, and The Lesbian Review made its 2024 audiobook a “best of the best” pick. That audiobook, narrated by Paige McKinney for Bold Strokes Books, is the most recent route in, and The Lesbian Review particularly praised the way she voices Siena — with a subtle flatness rather than a high child’s pitch. There are no mainstream trade reviews, which is normal for Bold Strokes, and it is not in Kindle Unlimited.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Siena first, by a distance, followed closely by Gus — the two are named in review after review. Second, the ages: reviewer after reviewer says how rare it is to read two women in their fifties written as romantic leads, including one who admitted she normally avoids anyone over forty. Third, the slow burn itself, which readers describe as authentic, with “no insta-romance”. StoryGraph is almost level with Goodreads at 4.4 from 113 reviews.

What readers argue about and complain about: Very little, and that is the honest summary. The only criticisms I found come from single voices. One reader felt the ending was rushed compared with the rest of the book. Another said the story leans on angst and miscommunication to move the plot. A third, who had mixed feelings about Levig’s other books, came in wary — and ended up rating this one highly. The genuine split is about tone: some listings and reviews call it low angst and light, others say it is emotional and weighty, and on StoryGraph 25% of readers tag it sad. Both are true at different points in the book.

The standalone question worth asking first: A Wish Upon a Star stands alone and needs nothing else. If it works for you, Levig’s Embracing the Dawn is the natural next step — close behind on Goodreads at 4.37 from 611 ratings, and the Levig book reviewers here compare it with most often. Embracing the Moon (4.28) is also well regarded, while A Heart to Call Home (4.08) and Into Thin Air (3.97) sit lower.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does A Wish Upon a Star have a happy ending?

Yes, the reviews point to a happy resolution that readers describe as earned. I found no review that says whether it closes on a full HEA or a happy-for-now, and at least one reader felt the final chapters were rushed.

How spicy is A Wish Upon a Star?

Somewhere between medium and hot, and the sources disagree. I Heart SapphFic files it as hot and steamy with graphic scenes, The Lesbian Review tags it medium heat, and romance.io has no steam rating for it yet.

How old are the main characters in A Wish Upon a Star?

Both are in their fifties. Reviewers give Leslie’s age as 53 and Erica’s as 51, and Erica is raising a seven-year-old daughter.

Is the autism representation in A Wish Upon a Star good?

Readers think so. Lambda Literary called Siena a fully formed character rather than a plot device, and Goodreads reviewers, including some with autistic family members, praise how she is written.

Is there an audiobook of A Wish Upon a Star?

Yes. Paige McKinney narrates the Bold Strokes Books audio edition, released in 2024, and The Lesbian Review praised how she voices Siena.

If You Loved A Wish Upon a Star, Read These Next

If the ages and the family focus were the draw, Hooked on You pairs two 51-year-old divorced mothers — one of them raising an autistic son — over a crochet class, at lower heat. Discovering Nicola gives you fifty-something heroines with far more banter and a later-in-life awakening. Midnight Rain is another single-parent romance built on reunion and longing. For more in this lane, browse our single mom lesbian romance list, the mature lesbian romance guide, our neurodivergent sapphic romance list, or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

A Wish Upon a Star sets out to give two women in their fifties a love story that has to make room for a child, and it does that beautifully: Siena is written with real care, the leads are mature and believable, and the slow burn earns its payoff. What holds it back is modest: the ending feels rushed to some readers, the heat is hard to pin down before you start, and the book has too little buzz to reach the readers who would love it. It is well worth it for anyone who wants a warm, family-centred mature romance. Check A Wish Upon a Star on Amazon →

The Eikna Overall Ranking

On the Eikna scale, A Wish Upon a Star ranks as an under-read gem of later-in-life sapphic romance — warm, emotionally generous and exceptional in its child character, held back by a rushed finish and a small readership, and best approached for Siena and the family it builds rather than for heat or plot.