All the members of Eileen’s book club back out of their yearly retreat, but she needs this trip, she’s had a tough few years, and decides to go alone. However, on the way she gets lost, and somehow ends up in the fictional town of her favorite romance series; a series that’s carried her through her darkest times. She knows the characters inside and out, except for one: a grumpy book store owner.

What a fun premise! A Novel Love Story was also completely charming, a journey of healing for Eileen and one that helps her sort out her path to happiness. There’s also a romance of course!

Elsy heads to the cabin in the Catskills that her book club always meets up in each summer... by herself. The rest of the book club has other life-related obligations that keep them from attending the week-long trip. When Elsy runs into a rain storm, and turns up in a small town, she learns that the town is none other than the hometown her favorite book series is set in, and all of the characters are there, living their lives in a perpetual loop. There's a new man in the town, though, and Elsy thinks that perhaps Anders is the hero of the last book in the series, that the author was in the middle of when she died suddenly. The trouble is that she starts falling for him, instead of trying to help him find the heroine that the author wrote for him...

I. Loved. This. Book.

The romance is absolutely perfect. The idea of stepping into the world of some favorite book characters is so delightful, and I absolutely would explore certain book towns if I could. I love the way Poston lets Elsy delight in the discovery of the town as she finds familiar landmarks all around her.

I LOVED one of the descriptions of Anders early on in the book. I'm hoping the quote is accurate, but I absolutely will fix it as soon as I get my hands on the physical release. In Chapter 3, Elsy describes Anders like this:

"This man was made with tweed and argyle, and sewn together with an Oxford comma."

Love.

This was such a fun read. I didn't want to stop reading it because I loved watching the pages unfold in front of Elsy, making her feel like she was home on a place she had never been. I'm going to recommend this to all my romance novel friends.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

I think that Ashley Poston has a fairly consistent signature "style", and if you don't get it/aren't into it, then her books are just not going to be for you. Fortunately for me, I find her to be fun and charming and an all-around good read, so I enjoyed A Novel Love Story quite a bit. It's certainly got tonal similarities to The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip, so if you liked those, chances are this one will also be a hit for you. There was definitely a point at the end where I felt like things could go either way, and that's sort of unusual for a romance. All in all, an enjoyable read, and definitely one to recommend to all the book loving romance readers in your orbit.

This is my third book by this author. While I enjoyed Dead Romantics, the Seven Year Slip was a top read of the year. I definitely had high expectations going into this novel. While the idea is interesting I had a hard time truly connecting with the trope and characters. The main characters fell too hard for each other within the timeframe and their chemistry didn’t seem dynamic. — While this story wasn’t my personal favorite from this author, I’m looking forward to reading more from them in the future.

This was a sweet and fairly quick read. I absolutely loved the concept of winding up in the fictional town of your favorite series. It was so cozy and magical. It wasn’t my favorite of Ashley Poston’s books though. The characters were a bit underdeveloped in comparison to her previous works and I found it difficult to get invested in the couple until the very end of the book. I’m used to being deeply moved by the stories Ashley Poston writes and this one felt like something was missing.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC of A Novel Love Story in exchange for an honest review!

Review to be posted on instagram during the week of 7/8/24
Review live on Goodreads

I liked The Dead Romantics enough, but I am really impressed by A Novel Love Story! I found Eileen to be so relatable and engaging, and I liked that we had to work for the romance a bit as it built! Overall, this is a perfect cute romance if you're looking for something light. Perfect for a beach read, though the ending will have you feeling some things!

In many ways, this felt like a love letter to readers, and I'm so grateful to the folks at NetGalley and Berkley who gave me access to an ARC!

2.5. I’ve read many positive reviews for Ashley Poston’s other books, so I was excited to read this one. Ultimately, while the premise is intriguing, the writing is poor—it was tough to keep track of the rules of the world Poston created, and I didn’t connect to the characters. There are a few tender moments, but the pacing and motivations feel off.

Thirty-two-year-old English professor Elsy Merriweather’s life hasn’t exactly been going to plan lately. She was jilted by her fiance, her best friend Pru is going to Iceland with her boyfriend rather than on their annual Super Smutty Book Club trip to New York, and none of their other friends can make it this year either. It’s the 10-year anniversary of her late favorite author Rachel Flowers’ book Daffodil Dreams, though, and she really wants to commemorate it.

Her solution? Go alone, of course! Elsy packs up her green Ford Pinto ‘Sweetpea’ and hits the road. Unfortunately, her car has other ideas and she finds herself lost and stranded one rainy night in a little town off the beaten path. Where is this place?

To quote the opening line of Flowers’ first book:

There was only one road in and one road out of Eloraton, New York, and most people never took it.

Well … Elsy isn’t most people.

In a twist of fate and circumstance, she now finds herself IN the story of her favorite characters and series - people and places she knows almost as well as if she’d written the books herself! One character she doesn’t recognize, though, is the guy she almost ran over in the rain her first night in town: Anders, the grumpy bookstore owner. Where was he in the series?

Elsy finds out that just because a story has been written, doesn’t mean it can’t change, and her presence in Eloraton has more effect on the characters’ lives than she OR they bargained for. The author may be gone now, but THE END hasn’t been written yet!

First, let me say that every time I see a new book by Ashley Poston, I get so excited because I know she’s going to bring her own unique magic to it. She’s a master at blending romance and magical realism - two of my favorite genres - and once again her vivid imagination has taken me someplace truly special. Eloraton is a charming place with diverse and entertaining characters … and even a haunted toilet. You’ll have to discover THAT one for yourself!

With so much going for it, I had high hopes that it would be a 5-star read, but some things did miss the mark for me this time around.

The biggest issue is that I wanted more page time with the characters and story OUTSIDE of Eloraton. There was so much potential for fun with the members of the Super Smutty Book Club and with Elsy and Pru’s friendship, and I was bummed not to get to know them as well. While I was charmed by Eloraton and its characters, I found myself MORE interested in her real-life friends.

A minor but very noticeable issue was the REPETITION. There was an irritating overuse of “minty-green eyes” in describing Anders, as well as abundant references to his “white-blonde hair” and him smelling of “cedarwood and black tea” or “old books”. No reader needs that many reminders! (Around thirty for his minty eyes alone, in case you’re wondering.)

The PACING within the Eloraton part of the story, which was the majority of the book, was a little slower than I prefer. It’s a small town, so the opportunities of interest were limited and had shades of Groundhog Day in the sense of certain things in the town always being the same.

Those aspects aside, I DID enjoy the book and really liked the relationship arc with Elsy and Anders. There was a surprising sweetness and melancholy to the story, which are qualities I always enjoy. I’m hoping a future book revisits some of these characters - especially the Super Smutty Book Club friends (which includes Benji from Poston’s The Dead Romantics). They’re a hoot!

Ashley Poston will continue to be an auto-request author for me. Her mind is a fun place!

Classic Ashley Poston - I do find that I connected with her YA characters a lot more than I do with her adult romances (but maybe this is just the reality of growing pains). A Novel Love Story was an enjoyable read though. The blend of fantasy and romance, coupled with delightful characters and a whimsical setting, made this book a captivating read. It’s a heartwarming tale of love, second chances, and the magic of stories which, as a girl who wishes she could get sucked into her favourite book (funny enough, Poston's own Geekerella) I loved this.

Keep your warm and fuzzies to yourself, sir!

I’m rough and tough and full of the wham-a-roonies! You can’t bring heat to this cold cold heart.

Aright, I can’t keep lying to myself

I’m currently a puddle of mush and wagging my non existent tail.

A Novel Love Story

Gosh dang it, hold my book, I need a tissue .

This book is filled to the brim with love, giggles, tears, and a little more love .

You got me, Ashley Poston, as you always do .

This book is exceeds all expectations and I’m literally left with the biggest book hangover .

Kudos to the team at Berkley and Ashley Poston for bringing us yet again, a bestseller .

Check out this teaser :

Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don’t leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she’s so set on going her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures—no matter what.

But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel…

Because it is.

This place can’t be real, and yet… she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story.

Elsy is sure that’s why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending.

Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can’t place—a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book.

Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town’s happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.

Short synopsis: Eileen’s (Elsy) car breaks down on the way to a retreat, leaving her stranded. She finds herself in the imaginary town of her favorite romance series.

My thoughts: The premise of this one was really fun, but I had such a hard time connecting with the characters. I don’t know if it’s because I did most of it on audio (which usually isn’t the problem), or if it was wrong book wrong time for me. I do think I would have enjoyed reading it more with my eyes so I got distracted less.

This book was really a story for a hopeless romantic. Someone who wishes to really escape into the pages of their favorite series.

Read if you love:
- Romance books about books
- Bookstores
- Great side characters
- Fun meet cutes
- Small towns

Ashley Poston you have destroyed me again. The way you weave stories together and the bit of magic that's added.. as you said it's like a tattoo on the heart.

Anyways y'all if you like romance and magical realism, if you are a book lover, this story is for you. This is the romance book that is an ode to readers. This is for us and my heart hurts and I don't know what to do with myself now.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one but I ended up absolutely loving it! I didn't love it as much as I loved The Seven Year Slip but I continue to be blown away by the way Ashley Poston beautifully weaves themes of grief into all of her books in a way that so poetic and powerful. This one made me more emotional than I was expecting but you can't help but root so fiercely for these two.

While driving to the woods for a vacation Eileen’s car breaks down in a small town. She soon realizes this town is straight out of her favorite book series down to the buildings and characters. However there is one exception. A grumpy book store owner. Ashley Posten does it again with another great romance with a slightly magical element.

Overall I really enjoyed it! Itsqfun concept, but it didn't feel as full as I would have liked until the end. It was th ending that really brought everything together and made this a lovely read

“There were still happy endings to be found…even if they weren’t my own.”

Although Eileen Merriweather often feels stuck in her own life, she can be found happily stuck between the pages of a good book-namely her favorite series that ended far too soon when the author died suddenly. Still, books have long been her forever friends, there when she needs them, providing a much needed escape from the real world.

That’s why, every year, Eileen relishes an actual escape with her book club friends to rehash their favorite stories. Only this year her friends all back out, each with a story of their own as to why they have to bail. Refusing to give up on the getaway, Eileen decides to take the trip solo.

On the way, Eileen’s car breaks down in the charming, yet remote town of Eloraton offering everything the perfect small town of her books only offers. The only problem is this is the ACTUAL town of Eileen’s favorite book series, inexplicably come to life.

Once Eileen realizes she is indeed living out her storybook dreams she immerses herself in all of the town’s quirkiness, quickly matching key characters and locations with moments in the series. But there is one brooding local whom she just can’t seem to place from her beloved pages. Could it be his story was the one left unwritten and if so, can Eileen be the one to help write it?

A Novel Love Story is the latest love story from a favorite author of mine, Ashley Poston. Everyone loves the escape the perfect novel, show, or movie provides and the notion of living inside that world is pure bliss. As with most of Poston’s work, there is a magical undercurrent that takes the typical love story and adds a twist. While the third act left me scratching my head for a bit, Poston’s A Novel Love Story is a cute approach and a novel concept.

i absolutely loved the seven year slip by ashley poston so i had high hopes for this one! overall, i really liked it and thought it was super cute. it didn't absolutely blow me away but it def is a fun summer read!

I really enjoy Ashley Poston’s writing and I think A Novel Love Story will be a huge hit! I definitely recommend it to hopeless romantics and those who crave a good HEA.

I’m kind of thinking that maybe The Dead Romantics was a bit of a fluke for me and it somehow wormed its way through my tough exterior and made me laugh and cry. I enjoyed The Seven Year Slip and A Novel Love Story, but neither of them have hit me quite the same and I feel the way I usually do reading romcoms: slightly annoyed at the FMC and yet still invested in what will happen next.

I think people will love this, so I definitely recommend it, but I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped to personally and I think that’s largely because I’m not a hopeless romantic.

This is my first book by Ashley & will not be my last!

The story was so unique & a love letter to all readers. I loved how different this story was and loved every single character. Each page just warmed my heart and I could not stop listening / reading. I did listen to the audiobook while reading and I enjoyed both so much. The narrator was amazing and the writing style just made it so easy to follow the story.

I would definitely recommend this book. 10/10 😍

Thank you Berkley Pub & Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I'm sad to say this is not Poston's finest.

The idea for this book was cool, and it was interesting to see this fictional book world brought to life. I mean, what die-hard reader wouldn't love to explore the world of their favorite series? Elsy's fangirling was so familiar because it was exactly what I would have been doing.

Poston's last two adult novels have been full of emotion and humor and passion and surprises. This one just fell flat on all those accounts. The two main characters didn't have the chemistry I was seeking. And honestly, as individuals, I wasn't drawn to them. They didn't have motivations that I liked and their dimensions felt one-sided. I wanted so much more from them than what I was offered.

The side characters were interesting though. I wanted to spend more books with them and their town, getting to know things and explore a bit more. I guess that's probably how Elsy felt when she had to leave.

Overall, this book was fine. I read it, I smiled at parts, and I survived to tell the tale. That being said, I won't be recommending it to friends.