Sweet, surprising and utterly enjoyable. A recommended purchase for collections where romantic fiction is popular.

This book surprised me in all the best ways. I adored The Dead Romantics, released last year, but I think I might just love this book a little bit more.

As with the Dead Romantics, this is another grief book, set in a magical apartment in the modern day, with seven-year slips in time. This is also a romance, with a lovely developing relationship between a grieving book publicist and a charming, ambitious chef. Clementine works for a small but mighty publisher and loves her job. She’s also very good at it. She works with her two closest friends, and they are great at keeping her social life full and her mind off of the death of her beloved aunt. But she is still grieving and misses the vibrant, outgoing woman who was also her travel partner and best friend.

Aunt Analea had always told her stories of her magical apartment, which often slips seven years back and forth in time to bring people together. But it’s not until Clementine comes home from work to the apartment her aunt left her after her death and finds a handsome stranger casually hanging out that she realizes the magic is real. Iwan is staying for the summer at her aunt’s invitation and is looking for a job in the city. It doesn’t take long for Clementine to realize she has slipped seven years into the past.

This is such an intricate, complex story. Time slips back and forth, meeting a soulmate in his past life, and then finding him in present-day only to realize that he has lived seven years of experiences and is a different person. Clementine, or Lemon, falls in love with Iwan between getting-to-know-you conversations, intimate dinners, and sensual kisses. But she never knows what time period she’ll be in when she enters her front door. Then she meets a chef with who her publishing company desperately wants to sign to a deal, and she discovers that the Iwan from her seven-year slip in time has accomplished all his dreams in the years since, and she doesn’t know what to do with that.

I absolutely adored the romance in this story, but what I truly loved is the relationship between Clementine and her aunt. Clem’s memories of her aunt and their time together lend sweetness and a sense of enchantment to the story, and her journey through the stages of grief as she reconciles those memories and feelings with the way her aunt died were both heartwarming and sad. But I loved that she embraced such pure love and acceptance from someone so important to her, and was able to see that in the end her aunt, even with all of her boldness and daring, was still just a woman who experienced love and loss, ups and downs.

I think the ending and HEA were just about perfect, and I enjoyed the little surprise at the identity of a certain character who was important to Analea. I gobbled this book up in one day and have not one single regret at all the things I set aside to make that happen. The Seven Year Slip was a lovely surprise and I read the last word with a smile on my face.

Highly recommend.

This book is instantly a favorite. 🥹

I loved The Dead Romantics so I was thrilled to read this ARC.

Ashley Poston is definitely an auto-buy author for me now. The way she balances deep topics with a feel-good, witty romance is incredible. Her characters are so loveable but I think what makes them for me is how real they feel. They're swoon worthy but also messy and just trying to find their way through life.

The Seven Year Slip focuses on a "magical apartment" that can randomly slip through time. As the two love interests find their way to and from each other, you are instantly hooked. I found myself laughing at their dry humor and then tearing up a few pages later.

This book is so special in regards to the way grief and finding your passion in life plays a role in this plot. It's fast paced, heart warming, and just overall enjoyable!

Also the cutest tidbit if you read Dead Romantics 🤫

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. Immediately going to preorder this now!

This one started a little slow, but once you got about midway I could not put it down. I love the premise and the characters. I could tell all of the "twists" from the beginning, but it was still an enjoyable ride. I liked the author's first, "The Dead Romantics" better, but this was good, too. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

This premise is so clever -- an apartment that time travels in 7 year increments, allowing the Clementine of now to meet and fall for the Iwan of 7 years ago. But when now-Clementine meets now-Iwan, and finds him drastically changed, she has to do some soul searching.

I didn't like this as well as the Dead Romantics, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit!

Seven year slip by Ashley Poston

This was a much anticipated read for me after enjoying The Dead Romantics last year. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an ARC in return for an honest review. This title will be released June 27th, 2023

I liked the first half of this book and loved the second half!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
🌶1/5

What I liked about this book:

-I love the idea of time bending to bring two soul mates together during crossroads in their life when they needed each other.
-Life lessons from important people in their life who past away and learning how to say goodbye
-I always enjoy when the main character has a career related to books, in this case book publishing and publicity
-Foodies will enjoy this one, there is a lot of beautifully written words about food and cooking
-Quirky and very likable main characters and secondary characters
-I always enjoy a NYC setting
-The relationship between Clementine and her aunt was really beautiful

What didn’t work for me:
-The book didn’t capture me right away but I’m glad I continued
-The concept of a time traveling apartment took me a little while to get used to. I found it to be a bit confusing at times.

TW: Suicide and loss but handled very well

Overall, a really great contemporary romance with a hint of magic and well written characters

Ashley Poston has rapidly climbed to the top of my YA and adult romance purchase list. The Seven Year Slip continues the strength of her writing found in The Dead Romantics, where two people find each other through an impossible situation. Watching the two characters fall in love, but also watching their own personal growth arcs throughout the narrative was a joy. Poston manages to provide realistic HEA, despite the supernatural overlays to her books, and I cannot recommend it enough.

What happens if you meet the love of your life in a magical apartment your aunt left you...except he lives seven years in the past. Clementine adores her aunt, she had a close relationship with her and growing up her aunt had two rules: never wear shoes in the house and don’t fall in love with anyone in the apartment.. because it is bound to not work out. Clementine never realized that when her aunt told her that her apartment was magical... she actually meant it. After Clementine’s aunt dies and Clementine currently visits the apartment, one day she suddenly awakes to a strange man, a strange gorgeous man who apparently is her roommate in her aunt’s apartment and lives seven years in her past. Every time she enters or leaves the apartment she doesn’t know if she’s returning to seven years in the past to meet him or returning back to her present, seven years in his future. She promised not to fall in love with him but the more time she spends with the charming chef the more she falls for him... but can you have a relationship with someone who lives seven years in your past? And if she can find him in her present... would he still want to be with her? This one was definitely an interesting story and premise, it just fell a bit flat for me sadly. I think it might have just been a case of “its me not you” because somehow I just felt like the execution was lacking and that the actual romance and relationship repair was okay but not all that great. Clementine is struggling with her life, she likes her job but she doesn’t love it, she doesn’t have a love life, and she just isn’t really going anywhere with her life. Then she meets a magical stranger who she just happens to fall for and then in present time her company is pursuing a chief/author for his book.... and you guessed it, who could it be??? Clementine then has to work out her feelings that are growing for Iwan while also dealing with the fact that they haven’t met each other for seven years in the present and how their relationship ended. Overall, I definitely think the premise has potential and that its a great read for fans of time travel-esque love stories.

*Thanks Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

TW: Suicide. Ashley Poston has been great about alerting her readers, but I wanted to warn potential readers that this book contains the suicide of a character.

This was an amazing and magical book that I had a hard time putting down. This book made me laugh and cry. I felt a whole range of emotions as Clementine went through her journey to find happiness after loss. Poston did an amazing job at capturing what life is like after a massive loss and navigating grief while still trying to live your own life.

The characters by far were the best part of this book. They were all very well written and unique. I felt myself rooting for all of them throughout the book. If any other books were written in this universe, I'd gladly read it just for a chance to see where the story goes for those characters!

What didn't work as well for me was the magic part of the book. I felt confused about how the time-travel worked and confused about the timelines. The characters also treated the magic in this book without as much awe and wonder as I thought they would. I was waiting for a big reveal when one character realized what was happening and it was instead almost glossed over. That being said, the magic in the book did make for an interesting twist.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend for someone looking for a heartwarming contemporary romance.

'The Dead Romantics' author Ashley Poston proves she's not just a one hit wonder, with this follow up, which combines some of that same magical realism with contemporary romance, quirky but still intelligent/reasonable main characters, and her fun, propulsive writing style. While I found the timelines occasionally confusing, and the concept a bit more ambitious than the execution could support, the story is really fun and the relationship between the two main characters is compelling and emotionally resonant.
Will definitely be adding Poston to my 'must read' list of writers.

Can you imagine falling for a man who lives seven years in the past? How does it feel to find the right person at the wrongest time? What if the universe has other plans, adding more obstacles to prevent your happy ending? What if you find the same man in the present, but he's not the same person you fell for and you're not the same woman, even though you only just met?

This is a mind-blowing, complex, and smart book with many puzzle pieces that you need to put in the right places to fully enjoy the experience! Ashley Poston has created another intelligent, heartwarming, and epic paranormal romance with endearing characters. The quirky, artistic, lost, workaholic heroine is grieving and losing her happiness after the loss of her aunt and best friend. Meet Clementine, a.k.a Lemon, an aspiring publisher, problem solver, and efficient worker who traveled the world with her eccentric, peculiar, and joyful aunt Analea and learned that magic is real.

Clementine spent a lot of time at her aunt's magical apartment since she was a child. The place could move in time, seven years ahead or backwards, to bring back different people at different time zones. As Clementine grew older, she became more skeptical of her aunt's stories, until she lost her forever and inherited the apartment, becoming a front-row witness to its magic.

When she returns to her aunt's place, she meets a charming stranger with a delightful Southern accent. Her first reaction is to scream at him and kick him out, but then she realizes that he's not the one in the wrong place at the wrong time; she is the one who has returned seven years into the past.

That handsome, red-headed stranger's name is Iwan. He's an aspiring chef, determined to make his grandpa proud, who is ready to start over as a dishwasher at a fancy restaurant. He cooks her the best fajitas she's ever eaten, dances with her, gives her the best kiss, and then disappears the next day.

Clementine does everything in her power to find the man she barely knows, but quickly realizes that the present-day version of Iwan is closer than she expected. What if she lost her chance to find her soulmate forever, or if she never finds the right time for them?

I loved this complex, enigmatic, and witty story! But what I loved most was the unique relationship between the aunt and niece. It's a heartwarming story about timing, second chances, self-growth, and adapting to change in pursuit of love. The epilogue made me cry and sigh for a few minutes! If you enjoyed "Dead Romantics," you'll love this poignant fantasy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing me with a digital copy of this wonderful book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Really enjoyed The Dead Romantics but felt the magical realism just didn't connect in the same way with The Seven Year Slip. I like time travel and time jump stories but I feel like the magic was just treated as common place instead of exciting. The reveals in The Dead Romantics really made the story feel propulsive but The Seven Year Slip didn't hit the same way. I found the characters in the two novels very similar as well. Still a fun and light read but the lack of magic was a bit of a let down.

Ashley Poston created another contemporary story filled with magic. Her work is a blend of magical realism and romance. I can't get enough!!

After not loving The Dead Romantics (I think romances with ghosts are just not for me,) I was greatly surprised by how much I enjoyed The Seven Year Slip.

Told through a single POV, I really enjoyed Clementine’s story and watching her grow as a character. Learning about her relationship with her late aunt and their bond over traveling and their memories at the UES apartment was special and easy to connect with. Poston did a great job handling this theme of grief, which I think a lot of readers will relate to. The supernatural piece, which I was most nervous about, was done very well and didn’t overpower the plot. There were definitely more scenes in the present day than when she was “time traveling,” but the alternating time periods connected perfectly. With regards to the second chance romance, I loved seeing how Clementine and Iwan’s journey began and how they reconnected seven years later. Plus, Iwan was a chef and Clementine was a publicist, so both books and food played a role in the story. I couldn’t pick up the story without wanting to go to the closet food truck.

Read if you like:
-Magic realism
-Second chance romance
-NYC setting
-Book publishing
-Food trucks and trendy restaurants
-Stories that handle grief well

Thank you Berkley for the ARC! Pub date: 6/27

What a delightful book. I found myself thinking about reading this book when I wasn't, and I had a hard time putting it down. The characters were all relatable, and the love story was sweet and believable. There was no explanation of how the time travel worked in the apartment, and while a few times I had a hard time suspending belief that it could happen, I also found that I didn't need an explanation. It existed, it happened, and that was enough.

I loved the characters. From the main characters Clementine and Iwan to her best friends Drew and Fiona - the diversity and unique personalities of the characters kept me invested in the story and to their lives.

Clementine's grief was beautifully portrayed, as was the way in which her aunt died. Mental health was interwoven into the plot but not made the entire underlying theme, which I appreciated, as I read to escape my own mental health struggles.

This has definitely encouraged me to add more books by Ashley Poston to my reading list.

Thank you to Netgalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

I was obsessed with Dead Romantics - passing copies out to our libraries, recommending it for our romance book club, giving it to friends, and even adding it to my permanent collection.

I couldn't make it past 8% of this one. The premise sounded great, but the opening is just so slow. I felt like I must have been reading the incorrect book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.