Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this eArc.

Ashley Poston is a lovely writer, and I've really liked some of her other books, but this one just didn't work for me in execution of the premise. I'm sure it will for others though, and the writing is still very lovely!

The premise of this book was really neat and I am a fan of her other two books. This one felt much slower and I honestly struggled to finish it. I think there are elements that make a great book discussion choice but overall I wouldn’t recommend.

A Novel Love Story handled grief so well, just like The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. In this story, Elsy accidentally ends up in her favorite unfinished small town romance. It’s heartwarming, it’s sweet, it’s a reader’s dream.

I loved it so much.

This was such a fun and easy read! I don’t personally think it lived up to her other books which are some of my favorites, so perhaps I had too high of expectations. Such a unique and fun plot though

Could this be the first Ashley Poston novel I've read that I didn't immediately fall in love with the main couple? Don't get me wrong, this was still very much a four star read for me, but I just didn't get any connection between Elsy and Anders until the very end. I know part of that boils down to the fact that the life Elsy was living in her fictional town was just that - fictional. It truly took Elsy living in a fictional world, straight out of her favorite novels, to wake up and face the reality of her actual life. There is great commentary in here about living and moving on from heartbreak, both from Elsy and Anders's backstories, but the romance in this book did not do it for me.

Finding your way back to yourself has been a consistent theme for at least one main character in Poston's most recent novels. In A Novel Love Story, we see both Anders and Elsy stall out after heartbreak and escape to a place where time stands still and broken hearts have time to heal. However, while this escape gives Eileen a purpose, it only gives Anders a place to hide from the world.

Fiction means different things to different people; no two readers read the same book, and a book can easily change meaning for a person depending on where they're at in their life. I appreciated that those thoughts held true for our main characters, bringing a bit of real-life book magic into this fictional world. I think, though, this book was missing the extra surrealism of both The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip.

I love the idea of escaping into a book - quite literally in Elsy's case - and this plot sounded so magical to me when I first read it. However, the actual action of the plot fell a bit short for me, and I would've loved to see more character development outside of describing Anders's minty green eyes or Elsy being a hypocrite on more than one occasion.

A Novel Love Story remains a solid four stars for me. I love the premise and how it was developed, but I couldn't bring myself to love the main characters like I have in previous Poston stories.

Oh my gosh this book is like being wrapped in a warm, cozy hug!!! The story follows Elsy who loves romance novels and turns to books when she wants to escape reality. While en route on a solo road trip, her car breaks down leaving her stranded in a small town that seems familiar. The plot is very unique, for book lovers everywhere, and a bit magical. Ashley’s writing is so beautiful, vivid, captivating, and I felt some many emotions reading this book. Elsy is such a fantastic MC and I enjoyed her journey of self-discovery. The side characters were charming and so likeable. I wouldn’t say this is a typical romance book, but there’s definitely some sweet, swoon worthy moments throughout the story.

Read if you like:
✨Female friendships
✨Magical realism
✨Small town vibes
✨Plot twists

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted (free) ARC

A love story about a character who is obsessed with a particular book series so much she somehow…ends up in the story? This one is for all the reader girlies out there!

Elsy was so lovely to read about, and watching her experience her own favorite fictional world was so much fun. My only complaint is that I was far less interested in her backstory than the current events, and I kept getting brought out of the book world and into her real world. I would’ve liked less backstory, I have to admit.

Overall, one I would recommend!!

I’m probably not the best reader for this book. I went in blind and didn’t know it’s tagged as magical realism. This is why I felt confused 50% of the time. Is Eloraton real or not? Are those people actual human beings or they’re all in her head?

One thing’s for sure, though; the leads have good chemistry. It’s not the best but I’ll take it! This is my first Ashley Poston (yay!). But it’s definitely not my last. Will read her backlist and hope that I get to love them more than this.

ashley poston writes such beautifully complex love stories that always have me teetering on the line of giddiness and brokenness (in the best of ways). her characters feel like long-lost friends, returning home after a long trip away. they rip my heart out and stitch it back together, and I think this one ruined me the most.

the premise of this book was so unique, and I loved every second of it. all readers think of living in their favorite book, but what happens when you get the chance to do just that? what happens when you finally find a home with a person you cannot keep and a place you cannot stay? can you find a way to make it work? will falling in love be enough, or will you have to set your love free to live the life you both deserve? ashley poston explores this in such a beautifully heartbreaking way, and I think it has forever changed me.

anders and elsy are such a lovely couple. their banter was fun. their tension was palpable. their love was complex, complicated, and comforting all at the same time. they existed together in such a confusing yet albeit perfect way, and I couldn’t get enough. they are everything.

I utterly loved reading this book! I love her writing so much, and this idea of being in the town of your favourite book series? Sounds like every book lovers dream! But it was such a great story about love and loss and grief, and I loved it! Because after loss, there is that fear of trying again, of future loss. I really enjoyed watching this book explore that!

Two years ago, Elsy went through the worst year of her life, and this series, which she loved previously, helped her get through it, bringing together this book club. That when she really needed it, she ended in this town that was made up for the series? So glad that it worked out that way!

Oh, and that cameo of Benji, and then Clem as well? That was just so sweet and so perfect, and totally made sense, for him to be a part of a book club! And in this book where she goes to the made up town from the series that brought the book club together? Yeah, I loved that! That was just a perfect addition to this story!

Her relationships with the people who were the main couples in the books was really interesting, she knows them so well, but it's one sided, as well as-they were left mid-way through the 5th and final book. So that was interesting to read. On top of that, was her relationship with Anders, the grump that he is that hides such a great interior, and a few secrets as well. It was all just so great to read, and I loved it all!

This was such a fantastic read and I can't wait to read more by Ashley Poston!

Thanks again to NetGalley for this ARC! Another great love story from Ashley Poston! What I love most about Ashley Poston's rom-coms are the supernatural/magical twists that she throws in. Elsy ends up in the fictional town from her favorite book series, this should be unbelievable and ridiculous, but it works!! I fell in love with the whole cast of characters and I was both excited and sad to come to the end of their story. Ashley Poston has become an author that automatically gets added to my TBR list!

This was just such a cozy read. I loved the premise. I immediately fell in love with the charming, imaginary town. I felt like Anders lacked some depth, but overall did enjoy this.

Many thanks to Berkley Romance, NetGalley, and Ashley Poston for a gifted digital copy of this wildly entertaining book that is both a romance and a love letter to romance novels.

Eileen Meriweather and her friends do an annual romance book reading getaway, but she is going alone this year. Bummed that all of her friends bailed, she is making the long drive alone, but when her car breaks down, she finds herself in a town that feels both odd and oddly familiar because it is Eloraton, the quirky small town that exists in her favorite romance novel series. The series was left unfinished when the author passed away, and the town is also unfinished, frozen in the author's unfinished manuscript. While waiting for her car to be fixed, she does what any fan would do - visit all the places and talk to all the characters she loved in the stories. But there is one character she can't place, Anderson, the handsome & grumpy bookstore owner, who seems to be the only character that knows they are in a story, and he doesn't want Eileen messing with the plot. The longer she spends in the town, puzzling out the people, the bookstore owner, and the mysteries of the plot, the less she wants to leave.

Like in The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip, our main character has a magical intervention that helps her find love and discover something important about herself. It took me a little time to connect with the story because many of the characters aren't developed in the same way they would have been if you were reading the series in which the magical town exists. You are dropped into a town Eileen is already familiar with from reading the series, and we are told the characters' backstory rather than experiencing it - because they aren't the story; Eileen is. Once I readjusted my thinking, I enjoyed the book and related to the desire to experience the worlds that incredible authors create. I loved Eileen and Anders's journeys, the meta-like storytelling of writing a romance novel about being inside a romance novel, and the idea of what happens after the happily ever after. Overall, it was an incredibly thoughtful book!

I had high hopes for this book, as I’ve loved Ashley Poston in the past, but it ended up being a pretty big let down. Poston’s prior books have done such a wonderful job weaving together the main character’s personal journey, a compelling romance, and elements of magic. In this book, however, these pieces felt confused and unbalanced. The pacing was inconsistent and often jarring. There were so many side characters that most of them ended up feeling underdeveloped. Elsy made references to charming, witty banter that fell pretty flat for me on the page, and I didn’t feel like the romance developed in a way that was natural or satisfying.

Before I started reading I saw another review mention that the whole book could be boiled down to a few repeated descriptions and thought to myself “it can’t possibly be that bad” … but turns out that it kind of is. I read the phrases “minty green eyes” and “smelled/tasted like black tea” so many times that it was distracting, and it highlighted for me how I didn’t ever get a grasp on Anders as a character beyond the repetitive descriptors.

This does have moments and even full chapters of loveliness, and I was surprised to find myself tearing up near the end (though not at all for the reasons I would have expected). I think there’s a great book in this concept, but it was muddied and ultimately disappointing in its execution.

This book was so close to perfection! The setting was immersive, the banter engaging and witty, and each character had charm, humor, and depth. Elsy's arc to minimizing her own wants less and finding who she wants to be is beautiful and real and an important story to tell.

I have only read Ashley Poston's YA stuff prior to this, and I was a fan of those books so I knew I'd probably enjoy this one going into it. I did enjoy it! It has a really interesting premise of a small town straight out of a romance series that the main characters find themselves in. It's like if I went on a road trip and drove right into the town the Winston Brothers series is set in. However, I'm was really hoping that I would fall in love with the characters in this town just like Elsy does, but I didn't feel a connection with them. They felt almost like set dressing. Still, the book is charming and a fun read.

Are you truly a reader if you’ve never dreamed of visiting in your favorite fictional town?

Ashley Poston takes that dream and paints a wonderful story around it like only she can. This is a book you’ll want to read again and again and again. It feels like coming home.

After reading and LOVING the seven year slip last year, I screamed when I saw this available to request on netgalley! And although I didn’t love it as much as her others, it was still so good!!

Such a cozy and unique story line! I dream of what happened to the FMC, Elsy, to happen to me! Can you imagine ending up in the town of your fav series?? A DREAM! And it also made the romance in this story even more special and sweet feeling to me, the reader. I am already looking forward to Poston’s next book! She’s def one of my fav romance authors.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley for the early digital arc in exchange for my honest feedback.

I feel like I went into this book expecting a classic Poston love-story, and instead I found a beautiful ode to the contemporary romance novel. Poston reminded me of exactly why I love this genre so much, and expertly crafted a world that put all of that love on true display.

The townspeople of Eloraton grab at your heart, and the way Elsy moves through their world brings to mind all of our most secret desires to escape into the world of a book. I believe that one of Ashley Poston's greatest strengths as an author is in how she makes her main characters so real, and thus makes her readers feel seen. I felt myself in Elsy, and in her desire for escape. Not to be too emotional on main, but I've had a really rough time over the past several weeks with some personal news and was definitely reading this to find an escape: and seeing that same desire reflected in Elsy was so validating for me.

The fact that Poston was able to craft that emotion within this book, while still making it a fun read that I'd reach for even when my emotions were in tip-top shape is just stunning. I can't wait for this book to be published.

If you’re a lover of contemporary romance, I highly recommend picking this one up in June. I adored it, and it’s definitely one of my new favorite Poston novels!

Look, I will always read anything that Ashley Piston writes because she is the queen of heart-wrenching romance stories with magical elements in the mix. Anything she writes automatically becomes a five-star read for me. And A Novel Love Story isn’t any different. 
A Novel Love Story will bring the readers to their knees when they find out that the main character ends up in their favorite series universe. Like, that’s a dream come true. Do you know how many books in the in the universe I want to be?! So many without a thought. And the main character ends up in her favorite novel universe.
Eileen definitely thought she was on something or was dreaming when she ended up in her favorite series universe. It wasn’t a dream; it’s actually all real. She is just stuck with the characters, who are currently stuck in their lives since the author of the series died and the series isn’t finished yet. 
Eileen didn’t expect to spend her vacation with her favorite series characters on her annual book club retreat. She thought she would be alone on the retreat since everyone backed out, including her best friend. She desperately needed her time off to think about her life. Something isn’t quite as right as she thought it would be. And she hadn’t realized it until she started helping these fictional characters get unstuck in their universe.
It’s pretty tippy how eye-opening it is when Eileen realizes how stuck she is in her profession and personal life as she helps her fiction characters grow in their lives. It gives her a new perspective on letting go of her past experiences and growing into her own life. Stop living someone else’s story and become her own main character in life.