Star Shipped (publication day March 3, 2026) is Cat Sebastian’s first foray into contemporary queer romance, and it is like immersing yourself in the big warm hug that is two hot-mess actors doing the best they can and realizing that they fell in love despite themselves.
Simon and Charlie are co-stars on a popular science fiction show called Out There, which has a bit of a cult following and has been going for seven seasons. Simon plays the ship’s doctor, and Charlie plays a former juvenile delinquent sent on parole to colonize a new planet. The plot leans heavily into shirtless scenes for Charlie, and off-screen, they have been bickering with each other for the entire time they’ve worked together.
Told from Simon’s perspective, we find out that he’s got severe anxiety and migraines, and life is just a lot for him to deal with. He doesn’t have to worry about money, but he keeps everyone except for a very few people at arms-length. He has his mini dachshund, Edie, and his former boyfriend-turned-best friend, Jamie, who has just broken up with his last guy and is staying with him again. Simon has been a bit bored with Out There, as his previous work garnered him an award and he doesn’t want to be typecast as a mid-budget sci-fi actor. And Charlie’s expansive extroversion and friendliness towards everyone involved in the show annoys him. Simon’s decided to leave, but hasn’t made it public yet–he’s not ready to see how happy he thinks everyone will be to see him go. As they wrap the last scene for the season, Simon isn’t quite sure what he’s feeling thinking that this will be the last time he works so closely with Charlie.
In between the chapters are excerpts from fan chats about the show, characters, and actors, fan-fiction style.
Simon realizes that it makes sense for he and Charlie to seem like they are friends or at least tolerate each other in public so word doesn’t get around that he’s difficult to work with since he’s planning to leave, so they hang out a bit, for the socials only, of course. Jamie is planning to house and dog-sit while Simon is in New York for a few weeks in the summer, doing an off-Broadway show, but then Charlie has a family emergency, and Simon agrees to accompany him to Phoenix because they otherwise won’t have time to stage their “friendship.”
During the road trip, Simon learns that there’s more to Charlie than he realized, and maybe they have more in common than he ever thought. How these two grow to care for each other and navigate their individual past traumas in their burgeoning relationship is so sweet! No doubt Simon is high maintenance, but he deserves care, too, and Charlie gives it to him. And Simon learns that he can give care, too, and tempers his bitchiness when he needs to.
I loved it! Cat Sebastian is one of my must-read authors whenever she publishes a new novel, and I am grateful to NetGalley and Avon for the electronic ARC. If you want more, see my reviews for A Delicate Deception and We Could Be So Good/You Should Be So Lucky, but she has written many more that I haven’t reviewed. As usual for Cat Sebastian, Star Shipped was free from anti-fat bias, although there was plenty of description of biceps and chests, so I consider it weight-neutral.
Reading While Fat 