I loved this! I've been looking forwards to more books after reading One Night in Hartswood and this didn't disappoint. I loved the in-disguise-as-a-knight-to-save-my-lady plot and the unexpected detour to the brewery - or not so unexpected, one they ran off they had to wind up somewhere, and what better place to further the romantic plot than a safe one? I was tickled by the twist - when reading Hartswood I had wondered if Oliver and Leo were the same person. they are not, but I was right to assume that Something Was Up with Leo and finding out what happened to him in this book was great.

now all we need is Ash's book...

This was a light and fun read. Fluffy and enjoyable in all the right ways and did a good job of the historical fiction elements to it too. It didn't rock my world but it was a good way to pass the time.

A really wholesome, cozy read!


All the Painted Stars is a slow burn, friends to lovers, forbidden romance with knights and jousting and BEER.

A 14th Century atmospheric sapphic, freinds to lovers romance...what more can you say?

A slow burning book, of friendships, pining, trauma & self discovery.

I’m unsure if it’s just because of the poor formatting of my arc and the way it kept rearranging words and missing them out entirely, and placing the publishers titles and the word copyright over words or in random places mid sentence, which was jarring, and always pulled me out of the story, but I enjoyed this book a lot less than I thought I was going to. I loved Lily and how she found her empowerment in dressing sometimes in men’s clothing and fighting in the tourney, whilst still excelling and enjoying things like embroidery. I really liked the slow build of the relationship between her and Jo, and Jo’s slow realisation of her nature of her feelings towards Lily. I loved seeing Jo reunite with Leo too, and I’d suspected that he was Mabel’s husband, so I was glad when he finally reappeared and we got to see him. I liked that he’d been John at the tourney too, that was a nice touch. But I found this a very slow read and very hard to get into, but that may have just been the ARC formatting that was pulling me out of it.

I wasn't able to read this due to the formatting of the book I was sent. I sent an email to report this and they said they would send it in an alternative format but that never happened.

‘My Lady.’ - ‘My champion.’

All The Painted Stars, the second book in the Barden Series / 14th Century Oxfordshire Series, is a fun sapphic romance perfect for fans of a Knight's Tale and cottage core.

Lily and Jo's story is a friends to lovers romance that delivers plenty of fun along the way. The initial part gave me strong Knight's Tale vibes, with Lily assuming the identity of a country knight in a bid to free Jo from being given away in marriage as a tournament prize. It was highly entertaining to follow Lily's exploits as she became the 'Knight of Stars' and as Jo worked out who she was.

‘And if I cannot win the tourney for you, I am sure I can embarrass a few men in your name, if it pleases you.’

The plot then shifted to the two friends having to go on the run and hiding out, helping with the running of a brewery. There was mention of embroidery of varying degrees of proficiency, countryside picnic, and appearances from other Barden siblings, which I enjoyed.
This second book felt lighter in mood and more irreverent than One Night In Hartswood. I preferred the first half with the tournament setting, but enjoyed how Lily and Jo's romance developed. Pick this up if you're looking for an entertaining and light-hearted historical sapphic romance with a sprinkle of social commentary.

I was tentative to read this after really hating One Night in Hartswood, but I wanted to give it a go because it sounded really sweet and I’m really glad I did. Where One Night in Hartswood had pacing issues and really lagged in the middle, All the Painted Stars had a lot more going on. When it got to the stuff at the Brewery, which is where it could have lagged, I found that I really enjoyed the cosy romantic scenes.

I liked that it was following other characters form One Night in Hartswood too. It’s always nice when a book series picks up some side characters and makes the next book about them and I really liked Lily and Jo so much. I liked how their relationship had already been built up a bit so we were going in to characters who were familiar with each other even if they didn’t know that they were in love yet.

Also what I really like about this series is that so many characters are queer. I love how even in a society where being queer not acknowledged or accepted, these characters are meeting people like them all over. It makes me feel happy, being queer myself.

If you’re looking for sweet, cosy vibes with a side order of tournament danger, this book could be for you!

Totally with the people saying this is like a sapphic take on A Knight's Tale, especially with the hidden identity of our knight. I really enjoy Emma Denny's style of writing, having loved Hartswood. This was a sweet, vibrant medieval romance. It's definitely taking on a lot of elements - artistocracy, jousting tournaments, brewing, secret romance, family dynamics. It just about works, I was nervous for sections of the book but it comes together well. Overall I enjoyed getting to know Jo and Lily. Will definitely be picking up the author's future books.

Official rating ~ 3.75 ⭐️ I absolutely adored how the story began and instantly gave me A Knight’s Tale vibes and I was here for it.
William aka Lily is my favourite of the two main characters, I love her spirit, personality, humour and especially her half-cocked plan to save Johanna from being some prize in a tournament. Brilliant! lol
Johanna isn’t as reckless as Lily but has a quiet strength about her and I love how she develops throughout the tale.

There’s a lot of excitement when the tourney begins and I enjoyed all that transpires (sorry, not saying anything as it will spoil it) but then we hit a point where the pace slows down a bit and I found myself not enjoying it as much. It’s still good and I love the characters we meet at this point but I just think I was hoping for more jousting/sword fights.

Chapter 20 was perfect. The little surprise was brilliant and reignited the story.
I loved most of the ending but it felt a little anticlimactic.

There is a little spice and I found it beautiful, tender and true.

Overall this is a fantastic queer friends to lovers historical romance and I’d say perfect for fans of Bookshops and Bonedust.

Thank you, HQ (HarperCollins UK), for inviting to read this sweet historical queer romance.
And thank you, NetGalley.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins UK for the arc offered to me of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a sweet, sapphic friends-to-lovers, slow-burn historical romance. While I did find One Night in Hartswood by the author a more engaging read, this one was still enjoyable. I think that it just made for slower reading. The story, overall, was cute and a fun read. Jo and Lily are likeable, and their relationship well-developed. Throw in some sword-fighting and a good dash of pining and this was a cosy medieval romp.

This is a sweet friends to lovers historical romance and I really enjoyed Jo and Lily’s story. It was definitely a slow burn, with lots of confusion and pining, and the character dynamics and friendships were really well written. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me, I did enjoy it but I found it very slow-going in a way that just didn’t make me want to continue, but I’m glad I did, it’s just not the read for me!
Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for the ARC!

This is a really sweet friends to lovers historical romance and I thoroughly enjoyed Jo and Lily’s adventures and the trouble they got themselves into. With Lily’s passion for fighting and determination to help Jo, and Jo’s discovery of the world beyond the keep and everyone’s expectations, it made for a wild ride. This was definitely a slow burn, with all of the pining and confused feelings, but the friendship at the heart of it was cute and it’s clear Jo and Lily care deeply for each other. There were some surprises along the way, some I saw coming and some that totally shocked me (in a good way) and so it kept me on my toes. I think I was perhaps more invested in Penn and Raff’s story in One Night in Hartswood as this one’s a little slower paced, a lot of time spent in one place without much action through the middle parts of the book. I did like getting to see a little more of Jo (and Penn’s) family and the references to characters we’d met in Denny’s first book. There are really warm moments in this book, and inspiring ones, so overall it’s a good story and I look forward to whatever Emma Denny brings us next!

This story had a lot of promise. I loved the concept and was super excited to read this. Unfortunately for me this didn't fit my reading style however, that is not to take anything away from this book. The characters had depth and drew you in and the plot line is a very promising one. I just found that around the 40% mark it became a little stale and didn't feel that much happened. I am sure others will love this book but I'm afraid it wasn't for me

All The Painted Stars is a really lovely, soft and sweet sapphic romance. It follows on from One Night in Hartswood, but stands alone well with some minor references.

I found this very reminiscent of Gwen and Art are not in love, by virtue of being a medieval inspired setting rather than tried and true historical fiction.

A lovely cosy slice of historical romance, with no major angst and a wonderful family vibe!

Cute, heartwarming, and cosy with a dash of sapphic swordfighter. This is simply a lovely read! I read this without reading the first book and it made plenty of sense as a stand-alone, though I will go back and read the other book at some point. The 1300s setting is more of a general medieval-ish vibe or atmosphere than aiding a tight, historical narrative, but that is not to its detriment. This is simply sweet and relatively low-stakes.

Continuing my streak of medieval literature - today I offer you medieval lesbians, knights in dramatic jousting tournaments, and running away with the love of your life to live in a brewery. All in all, I'm quite jealous of Lily and Jo and loved following them on their adventure.

If you've read Gwen and Art are not in Love or you've ever watched BBC Merlin, then you'll already understand the kind of lighthearted historical tone that this book has - everyone is drinking ale or feasting or competing for ladies' favours. And then within this immersive environment, we have yearning, we have daring feats of bravery, and all sorts of dramatic antics.

This was just such a lovely story - and I got all the way to the end before I realised that the brothers who kept being mentioned in this book (who I ironically was thinking should get a spin off) were actually from a first book, and that All the Painted Stars is a sequel - so rest assured there's no need to read one before the other.

This makes such a brilliant addition to the repertoire of books I've been enjoying recently, that lean towards the medieval era/ myth and legend themes!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the chance to read this ARC, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I love All the Painted Stars, it is a breathtaking romance, the letters between Lily and Jo are wonderful and are woven in seamlessly throughout the plot.
I am a huge fan of One Night in Hartswood, so i was thrilled to read this. It has everything, forbidden romance, turmoil, bravery, stunning LGBTQIA+ leads. I couldn’t ask for more, except, maybe a sequel in the future..

This was just impossible to read on a Kindle. I don't know if it was a watermark or a header, but every page had "copyright", "HarperCollins" etc thrown in random places. It's a shame as I was looking forward to it but it was just unreadable.

After thoroughly enjoying Emma Denny’s debut, I was certainly eager to get stuck into her next instalment following the budding romance of Penn & Raff’s siblings - Lily & Jo. When Jo faces an arranged marriage, Lily enters a knight’s tournament posing as a man in the hopes of winning Jo’s favour. Like One Night in Hartswood, All the Painted Stars is full of tender pining, stunning English countryside and an adventures plot full jousting and undercover shenanigans. I really enjoyed both girl’s personal growth, especially Jo’s, and enjoyed how focused on their relationship the story was. Like its predecessor, Denny has a particular talent for very realistic and unsuspecting twists, and I found myself seriously rooting for Jo & Lily by the end! Overall, All the Painted Stars is a wonderful sapphic historical romp I seriously enjoyed, and can’t wait to read anything else she might write!