Ashley Poston continues to deliver entertaining contemporary romances in A Novel Love Story, but this time, gives readers exactly what they love - stories within stories. While I admit, I did find this book to be predictable in its twist and largely uneventful in its plot, it still was a heartwarming read of self-discovery and exploration that I think will really appeal to readers of the genre or to fans of Once Upon a Time.

fans of gilmore girls or virgin river will love this one – it's perfect for anyone who wishes they could somehow live inside the fictional towns they love! it took me a bit to connect with the magic of this one, but it grew on me as things settled into place. i had guesses about what twists this plot would deliver, and they didn't end up being right (but honestly, they might have made it better if they had been?). having LOVED poston's first book, and really liking her second, i was a bit disappointed that this one didn't have QUITE the same sparkle, but i liked it, and if you like her vibe, i think you'll enjoy it.

"A Novel Love Story” by Ashley Poston is a delightful blend of romance, magical realism, and contemporary fantasy. Eileen Merriweather, a literature professor, finds herself inexplicably trapped in the late author’s unfinished story. She lands in Eloraton, a town straight out of her favorite romance series, where honey taffy is always sweet, burgers are a little burnt, and rain falls predictably in the afternoon. It’s a place that feels like home, yet it can’t be real.

Enter Anders, the grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes and an irritatingly sexy mouth. He’s a character who doesn’t want Eileen to finish the book, and their dynamic adds depth and authenticity to the story. As Eileen navigates the town’s whimsical elements, she begins to wonder if its happily-ever-after is intertwined with her own.

Ashley Poston’s inventive premise and heartfelt execution piqued my interest here. I can appreciate her ability to create a world that feels both familiar and fantastical. The character development, especially the relationship between Eileen and Anders, resonates emotionally. This is a great little book that sweeps readers away into its magical pages.

I was instantly intrigued about a story about a woman who ends up in the fictional town if her favorite book series! It was such a charming and fun read! Ashley nailed it right on the head as to why some of us love to get lost in stories.

Overall this book had a very lovely concept. I just felt like having a main character go into their own favorite romance, which the reader isn’t familiar with, is hard to do well. Especially since we don’t have any familiarity with the characters, it’s hard to make an emotional connection. That being said, I still think it was sweet, and I really appreciated the main character’s growth throughout the novel! Gave me a lot of warm fuzzy feelings :) Great audiobook too!

🌈Queer rep: Secondary FF couple, secondary nonbinary character.

Ashley Poston is unmatched in writing magical realism romances. Her unique ideas are paired with such heartfelt writing.

"Novel Love Story" lacks on the romance side, but excels as a love letter to the comfort of romance novels. Elsy's feelings and experiences feel completely realistic. Unfortunately, I don't even the love interest's name - his character was very flat. There wasn't much chemistry or romantic connection, and I didn't get a feeling for his attraction to Elsy at all. But I do know he has minty eyes.

The storyline of grief and heartbreak and escaping reality is good, I wish the romance was there too! Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to Ashley Poston's next great idea.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

I think I am a bit disappointed because I was ready to love this book, but I didn’t really. The first half put me in such a slump I basically had to move on to other things.

I love her ideas, the way she uses magical realism in her books and always finds a way to tie everything up in a nice tidy way but sadly it didn’t happen with this one. I am still confused by some stuff she did not explain properly.

This book in order to work had to be done in double pov because Anders’ (mmc) was just as important as Elsy (if not even more tbh). I feel like it would have benefitted the story better.

I'm a huge fan of Ashley Poston and I thought this book sounded adorable and fun. Unfortunately, this is the first Ashley Poston book that I haven't enjoyed at all. In fact, it's a DNF at 40% for me.
There is nothing going on in this story. The FMC goes on a long road trip alone because all her friends backed out on her, but along the way she ends up in the fictional town of her favorite book series. And that's the end of the plot. She's just wandering around the town interacting with characters she knows and loves, but as the reader, I don't know an love them so I don't share her excitement over it.
Then there's an info dump chapter on the FMC, Elsy's backstory wound that also didn't manage to pull any emotional strings. I can tell who is supposed to become her love interest, but they haven't had a single decent interaction to the 40% mark and there's just nothing between them. I don't know what the point of the story is. Is Elsa just supposed to fall in love with her fictional man and live happily ever after in a fictional world? Is her love going to make him real and they'll both step out into her world?
I don't know what it is, but there's just no magic to this story like there has been in Poston's other books. Sadly, this is a huge disappointment and I'm going for a DNF and moving on to another book that will grab me.

A book within a book, one of my favorite things! And a book town come to life, who wouldn't want to meet their favorite characters? I really enjoyed this slice of life romance where it rains every day and the burgers are always burnt. And honey taffy? Yes please!

It’s been too long since I’ve had a five star read, so thank goodness to Elsy, Anders, and Ashley Poston for breaking my four star slump!

Read if you 🩷:
• ✨ Magical Realism Romances
• 🌤️ Grumpy x Sunshine
• 📚 All of the Literature References
• 🚽 Haunted Bathrooms

Eileen Merriweather’s car breaks down in Eloraton, the charming town from her favorite romance series. Stuck in the late author’s unfinished story, she sets out to finish it but clashes with a grumpy, irresistible bookstore owner. As Eloraton’s happy ending intertwines with her own, Eileen discovers real-life romance might be better than fiction. 📚

🌼 “A Novel Love Story” may be a niche plot for some, but it was everything I wanted in a summer read! I always wonder what happens in a romance after the Happily Ever After, so watching the town go lopsided as Elsy brought an outsider’s view is what makes this one a real page turner. It had me guessing the entire time, which is rare for me, as I can usually smell a plot twist a mile away.

Not to mention Anders is the book boyfriend of the YEAR! (Even if he doesn’t want to be, oh well! 😉) I love a GrumpyxSunshine moment, so this tea-drinking, no nonsense bookseller was perfectly swoon worthy. I will stare into his minty during any afternoon rainstorm! 💚

Before you crack open this one expecting some steamy moments, I do feel the need to note that this is a partially closed door romance. 🚪If you’re all about that and you love when romance novels get super meta, pick up A Novel Love Story now!

Ashley Poston is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors. A book for book lovers touching on themes of loneliness, feeling stuck, and feeling like you're not enough. I really enjoyed the magical realism aspect of being transported into your favorite fictional novel & interacting with some of your favorite characters. The slow burn romance was done so well.

I absolutely adore Ashley Poston! This book felt like a letter to book lovers, especially romance book lovers. "A Novel Love Story" follows romance lover Eileen whose car breaks down in the middle of her favorite fictional world, Eloraten.

Ashley Poston concocts surreal situations that leave me on the edge of my seat asking, how can this possibly work out? It makes me antsy for a resolution, and she hasn't let me down yet. Through the romance framework, Poston manages to flesh out the characters separately before tying them together and giving them their happily ever after. Poston explores grief in all her contemporary novels so far, and "A Novel Love Story" does so by the importance of books and stories. Books are there for us when we need them. *Channeling English Professor Eileen*: That Eloraten exists outside the pages of the books is probably due to Anders' perpetuating grief--and that Eileen probably stumbled into it because of how depressed she had been lately. The town disappears from the physical world once they both move on, though, we can assume it will be there for someone else to find (or in the pages of the books--because books always live on!)

Anyway, the book was very comforting as a reader, and I will continue reading from Ashley Poston!

Elsy has had the worst year(s) of her life and when her book club backs out on their yearly trip to a cabin the in the wood she decides she will just go alone. When she gets lost and ends up in the town of her favorite book series she can’t believe this is real life. Or is it?

This is my first book by Poston and I enjoyed her style. This was a meet-cute take I hadn’t read before and I quite enjoyed it!

Contemporary Romance • Magical Realism
Small Town • Grumpy Stoic MMC • Books about Books
Published • 25 June 2024

Thanks @berkleypub and @prhaudio for the free digital & audio review copies.

I will describe this as a small town romance written for contemporary romance enthusiasts. I enjoyed it although it took me over half of the novel to be invested in any of the characters, or their various love stories. The ending made up for the beginning, leaving in the solid “like it” category for me.

Elsy is escaping life after her fiancé decides to break up with her right before their wedding. While heading to a B&B, she takes a wrong turn in a storm, disabling her vehicle and almost killing her brooding, sour, pale blond love interest who is standing in the middle of the road. Turns out she’s driven to Eloraton, the cozy small town setting of her favorite romance series, where she’s treated to the delight of meeting all her favorite characters in the flesh and visiting landmarks she’s only seen in her imagination.

Things I appreciated - lots of puns, even the title of the book is a pun, many references to other books both fictional and real (Bilbo Baggins from the Hobbit, Mr. Darcy, etc.), highlights non traditional paths love stories can take (e.g. “Happy for Now”), lots of bookstore references.

I wanted more in the way of magic, laughter, building of a relationship between the main characters. Their attraction centers on Anders’ pale blond-almost-white hair, black tea and cedar scent, and minty-eyes (which also shift between peridot, emerald, and forest green). With only one POV, he’s so stoic we don’t really know what he’s thinking until the very end.

“Maybe in some stories, the ending didn’t matter as much as the journey.”

Went back and forth on 3 or 4 stars so we will do 3.5. The premise of this book is super cute. Girl who loves a romance series ends up in that small town and gets to meet all her favorite characters. And that part is fun. But it drags on for a bit. And the romance we are supposed to have her lacks chemistry until it doesn’t. There’s moments where sparks are flying and the banter is so good. And then it’s gone, just like that. Also “his eyes are so minty green” being said every 5 pages gets old VERY fast. But the ending brought this book back for me. It has a very sweet ending to the story and message. It’s definitely not my favorite of her books, but I’m still glad I finished it.

This was my first book by Poston and definitely won’t be my last! I really loved this book for about the first 40%, but then it did sadly fall a little flat for me. The ending picked up, so overall I landed at a 3.5⭐️. I loved the premise of this- ending up in the town from your favorite series, how fun is that?! I enjoyed reading how Zelda navigated this world and forged relationships even though she knew they were stuck and that she would eventually have to go. And Anders. A broody bookstore owner who we know has a heart of gold— love characters like these! I didn’t feel connected to any of the other characters which also plays into my rating. Overall I would still recommend this one, but I have A feeling I’m going to enjoy her other ones more.

I had to take a few days to collect my thoughts about this one but the bottom line is that I loved it!!! I love how Ashley Poston weaves that lovely bit of whimsy into her books through magical realism. My bookish heart loved how books had such a prominent and powerful place in this story. Another top read from her! I will definitely be recommending this one this summer!

I’m so emotional. I don’t know how I’m supposed to formulate a single thought to encapsulate my feelings towards this book.

As someone who used reading as a tool to help escape a reality I wanted no parts of (COVID/Quarantine), this book made me feel SO SEEN!

A Novel Love Story gave me the meanest case of FOMO. What do you mean she gets to travel to her favorite fictional town and meet all of her favorite fictional characters and I’m supposed to just RAW DOG REALITY!?

Anders and Eileen are SO FUCKING CUTE and I was screaming at nearly all of their interactions. I’m so mad i didn’t read this sooner because I’M OBSESSED!!!!

Thank you so much Berkley & NetGalley for the arc.

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston made me smile. The whimsy doesn’t detract from the depth of the story and Poston deftly balances both. The quick wit and magical creativeness make this an easy 5 stars for me.

“A Novel Love Story” follows Elsy, a professor who magically enters the world of her favorite book. There, she meets a grumpy but intriguing bookstore owner named Anders, who she doesn't recognize and has a distaste for changes to the story he’s a part of. As Elsy navigates this storybook world, she realizes the town is stuck in the late author’s last unfinished novel. Determined to help the characters reach their happily-ever-afters, Elsy embarks on a journey that intertwines the town’s fate with her own, challenging her beliefs about love, fate, and the power of stories.

I have loved every Ashley Poston book I have read and when I heard the plot for this one I was so excited. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. I did appreciate how cozy this book felt and I loved the idea of being a part of your favorite book series which is why it's still getting 3 stars. I think the book characters were fun and I did fall in love with them I wish I could say the same for our main characters.

I couldn't become invested in our main characters because there was so much focus on the book characters and solving their problems. I cared about them but I didn't end up caring for the people we should have been caring about the most which is frustrating.

The biggest downfall of this book for me was the romance. I just didn't feel the chemistry at all. I felt like build up was so lacking and then all of a sudden they were infatuated with each other. It went from 0 to 100. Where was the burn??? Also, I felt like Anders had no personality? Why should we as readers be rooting for him when we know nothing about him other than he owns a bookshop.

Furthermore I was disappointed in the reveal of all of the secrecy and the ending. In fact when I read the ending I almost gave this book two stars, that's how much I hated it.

Despite this not being my favorite book I will still be eagerly waiting for Ashley's next book.