review will be posted on 6/27/23

Clementine inherits a gorgeous apartment on the Upper East Side from her kooky aunt, whom she loved to travel the world with. Clementine is dealing with some major grief after the death of her aunt, not to mention remembering all the strange stories she told about her "magical" apartment that bends time. She used to think it was all her aunt's strange stories, but when she wakes up to find aspiring chef, Iwan, in her apartment she is starting to realize her aunt was right. Iwan is living seven years in Clementine's past and she is living seven years in his future. In the same apartment! Clementine is also dealing with some bumps in the road regarding her life as well as her job, and Iwan is the greatest escape. His lemon dies, his southern accent, and his warm heart all make her gravitate toward him. The more time she spends with him, the more she starts to see things differently about her life and question what she really wants. How could they actually have a real relationship though? Her aunt warned her to never fall in love within the walls of her apartment and that is exactly what is happening. Ashley Poston's The Seven Year Slip is a delightful romance filled with magical realism.

Clementine is a wonderful character in The Seven Year Slip. She works as a book publicist for a small publisher in New York City, so that aspect of the story was interesting. She is at a crossroads at work though, not to mention dealing with the death of her beloved aunt. Then throw in Iwan, you have a lot of drama that Clementine must face. Clementine and Iwan's love story, due to the magical elements, is very unpredictable and in that case, I enjoyed that aspect of the story as I wasn't sure what would happen. How could they make this work in real life?

The threads of magic in The Seven Year Slip are perfect. Even though it seems really far-fetched, Poston made it believable for me. While it didn't pack the emotional punch of her previous novel, The Dead Romantics, I still enjoyed the ride and was rooting for Clementine. If you love a romance with a strong side of magical realism, look no further. This book will transport you and that makes it the perfect beach read for the summer.

Are you a fan of Ashley Poston? Do you plan to read The Seven Year Slip this summer? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston is a love story that stands the test of time in more ways than one and will inspire you to chase the moon.

My Reading Experience:
What I loved most about this story is how much there is to talk about after you read it. It could be a book club choice or just an informal group of friends. I know I had some thoughts I'd love to explore with others.

I also appreciated the poignant moments. That's where this story stands out among stories that utilize the time slip technique. As I processed Clementine's grief with her, I felt the emotional ramifications as the complete picture emerged. I loved that this very emotional plotline is balanced by the lighter plotline of magical realism and how the apartment would choose to be in the current time or seven years in the past or future. Without it, this would be a difficult read, but with it, the reader gets to experience lighter moments and hope for the future.

The writing flows so beautifully, and the world-building feels so authentic. While reading the story, I never once doubted that this apartment slips in time as directed by who knows what (this is one of those aspects that would make a good discussion). I loved the dialogue, which is witty and natural, the relationships that I could easily root for, and the love that is felt through the pages.

Characters:
The characters are all incredibly well-developed, with layers and layers of defining moments to explore and relate to. Clementine is terribly driven, as are her parents. Her aunt makes her breakaway from that part of herself each year as they travel wherever the wind directs. Clementine loves her free-spirit aunt, and I couldn't help but be drawn to her too.

Iwan is determined to make his grandfather proud by becoming a chef of note. Even after his grandfather's death, that desire to please his grandfather drives him. Somewhere along the way, both Iwan and Clementine lose themselves, and that spark reflects their true selves.

Narration & Pacing:
The narration is third-person focused and is told from Clementine's point of view. She directs the story in a way that is very true to her feelings and being. And that narration helps keep the pace quick enough to maintain a consistent medium pace throughout the story.

Setting:
The setting is in NYC, and it's almost a love letter to certain aspects of the city – like the old buildings, foodie mecca, and the publishing world. The city is part of the story and is utilized perfectly to make it feel intentional.

Read if you're in the mood for:
A reflectively hopeful story that will take you through the whole gamut of emotions
A medium-paced love story
A story with strong character development

I was excited to read The Seven Year Slip. The premise was giving About Time vibes so I figured I’d really like it.

Honestly I just found myself struggling to connect to the story and the characters.

The plot was predictable, and the chemistry just wasn’t there. I kept waiting to get more out of both, but sadly it just never got there.

This story is about a magical apartment that can transport you seven years into the past. It’s random, and you can’t control it, and there’s no explanation for this. Why seven years? Maybe because seven is a lucky number? Who knows.

Clementine grew up hearing magical stories about this apartment from her aunt who meant the world to her, but she was always skeptical. Present day Clementine is grieving over the loss of her aunt, and now living in said apartment that was left to her. She believed the tales were all make believe until one day she wakes up to a strange man in her apartment saying her aunt gave him permission to crash there, seven years in the past.

This love story was so unique! It had such wonderful themes of grief, loss, moving on, and growing as a person. Time changes everyone, but how it changes you can never be anticipated. This was heartwarming, comforting, and such a dreamy love story. This was also such a love letter to foodies!

This was such an escape and absolutely enchanted me. I loved every moment of it and I was captivated from the first chapter. Ashley Poston is officially an autobuy author for me. She writes such charming love stories with a touch of magic that’ll truly stay with you. For the second time I am left in awe by her writing and her storytelling.

✨ Read this if ✨
- you want a truly magical love story
- you enjoy split timelines
- you’re a foodie + have a comfort food you always turn to
- you already loved The Dead Romantics
- you like when your romance novels include everyday real life issues like grief + change
- you like mostly closed door + mild spicy scenes
- you want to absolutely swoon + be enchanted

🤫 and btw the characters from The Dead Romantics make a cameo in this one!

Thank you NetGalley, Berkley publishing group, and Ashley Poston for this ARC in exchange for my honest review! 🥹🫶🏻

I have literally no words for how I’m feeling after this book.

It’s magic and melancholy and I feel like I just want to lay here at CRY ABOUT IT.

Ashley Poston has cemented herself as one of my favorite authors after The Dead Romantics and now The Deven Year Slip.

My goodness GRACIOUS am I emosh. Loved it. Loved it loved it loved it.

After reading The Dead Romantics last year, I knew I had to keep an eye on Ashley Poston. The second I saw this book available to request on NetGalley, I sent in a request and crossed all my fingers that I would be approved.

As a big-time lover of the romance genre and a huge sucker for the 'we both love each other but outside forces are keeping us apart' trope, I figured I would adore this book based on the synopsis alone. However, while The Seven-Year Slip may be labeled as a romance, there is so much more to this book than the love story.

Just to be clear, the love story in Seven Year Slip was absolute perfection. Ashley Poston has a wonderful ability to write endearing characters that you cannot help but root for. Clementine and Iwan were two wonderfully imperfect people who very sweetly fall in love despite many obstacles. The weaving of their love was sweet, full of yearning, and just the right amount of angst.

As fantastic as the romance was, this book, to me, is primarily a book about grief. Clementine's struggle with her aunt's passing read so raw, authentic, and vulnerable that I was not at all surprised to read the author's note at the end of the book, in which Poston talks about how she wrote this book as she was coming to terms with her grandfather's passing. There were so many different moments where I was certain I was reading and experiencing the author's grief as well as Clementine's. In my opinion, The Seven-Year Slip felt like a beautifully heartbreaking therapy session transformed into a novel. I smiled, I cried, I laughed through the tears.

While Dead Romantics put Ashley on my 'to watch' list, Seven Year Slip has permanently cemented her on top. If you're looking for a beautiful love story mixed with a touching exploration of grief and a dash of magical realism, please go pick this up immediately!

Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before.

I adored this book from start to finish. I cried, I laughed, I fell in love with everything about this book.

What a treasure!

The Seven Year Slip is a perfect romance for fans of a little time jumping and unique concepts. The intrigue and tension between these two timelines was amazing. You keep wondering, how can they work out? And then it turns into how can they broach this distance? Additionally The Seven Year Slip is a story about grief, our passion for life and being true to ourselves, and love. I could identify with Clementine and how she's using work as a shield to her grief, to her sense of listlessness, and fears.

A magical relationship in an apartment brings together, Clementine and Iwan, seven years ago to build a future in the present. Their love story is romantic, heartbreaking and intentional with its emotions.

Poston brand of romance is a wonderful combination of tenderness and magical realism. The Seven Year Slip is a contemporary romance that will soothe the soul. Its gentle nature will make you believe in love.

Thank you Berkley for the complimentary copy.

Short synopsis: Clementine inherits an apartment from her aunt after she passes, that somehow slips through time by seven years.

My thoughts: I really loved The Dead Romantics last year, and this one was also especially sweet. I really enjoyed the time warp apartment, Lemon’s aunts two rules 1. Always take off your shoes 2. Never fall in love in the apartment.

Ashley has such a fun one of creating magical stories with amazingly lovable but broken characters. We watch Lemon heal through her loss of her Grandma, and find her true passion through Iwan.

“For everything that changed, something stayed the same.”

Read if you love:
- Multiple Love stories
- Magical realism
- Foodie and books about publishing
- Second chance romance
- Amazing side characters

Thank you so much to Berkley Pub and PRH Audio for a copy of this book! Publication date is June 27, 2023.

This was a happy, sad, wonderful love story! It was whimsical, and ethereal, and I could just feel myself right there.

I liked Dead Romantics but I might be obsessed with The Seven Year Slip. It was such a devourable, must-keep-reading romance. I loved the entire reading experience. The way Ashley developed the story on top of the banter was perfection. The reader has the perfect view through Clementine's POV, discovering the wonder and ache of magic alongside the MC.
Clementine's aunt passes away and bequeaths her beloved apartment with a previous warning to never fall in love within its walls. She knows of the apartment's history of time lapsing but when it happens to her, Clementine is left floundering and curious as to why the one who seems to have gotten away never reached out to her in the interim. Seven years of no contact is a curiosity and wonder when their connection is so great.
Time loops and sliding doors - I want them all! The magical aspect provides such a delightful escape through a little bit of fantasy in a contemporary setting. I adored both main characters and the supporting cast and setting provides the perfect backdrop for this enchanting romance.
As per my usual lately, I read and listened to this book simultaneously. The narrator, Brittany Pressley, is perfectly casted and suited for Clementine's voice. I'd recommend either format.
Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the advanced copy and PRHA for the alc. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Clementine is feeling a bit lost and out of sorts in her life at the moment. She just lost her aunt, who she was tremendously close to and decides that work work work is her mantra right now. She's good at what she does - she works in publicity for a publisher. Her coworkers are all wonderful and she's aiming to move up in publicity. She's definitely not looking for a relationship. Relationships require time, effort and vulnerability that Clementine isn't up for at the moment.

So then...what happens next is truly bizarre, but entirely a shock to Clementine. She discovers a man in her apartment. Except that he's living 7 years in the past and she's 7 years in the future. Clementine's aunt had always told Clementine that her apartment had *magical* elements. Clementine and Iwan form a special sort of bond together. They're both at a crossroads in their life and bring out the best in one another. But what happens when Clementine finds Iwan in the future (or her present) - is he still the same man as her apartment Iwan?

I admit, it took a bit to get into The Seven Year Slip, but once I got about a quarter of the way in, I couldn't stop reading. Books with time jumps in them don't always work for me, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I really enjoyed The Seven Year Slip. Iwan and Clementine were so funny and goofy together. Their relationship was a slow progression and I really enjoyed how much they got to know one another.

While I did enjoy The Seven Year Slip, it didn't have the same hold on me like The Dead Romantics. Maybe because the fantastical elements were more time travel in this book and sometimes the logistics of time travel gets lost on me in books.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Seven Year Slip and look forward to reading more by Ashley Poston!

CW: grief, suicide (off page), depression

Ashley Poston has done it again! I’m always cautiously optimistic when a beloved author transitions to a new genre but after loving both The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip, it’s safe to say that Ashley has cemented herself as a favorite adult romance author for me. In The Seven Year Slip, we’re faced with another impossible romance story, due to a magical obstacle. We’re following Clementine who’s inherited her deceased aunt’s very special apartment on the Upper West Side of New York City. This apartment pushes its inhabitants together when they come to a crossroads in their lives, and in this instance, Clementine becomes roommates with a man who lived there for a summer seven years before the timeline she’s currently living in. As I continued to read and develop stronger and stronger feelings for Iwan and Clementine, my major concern was how Ashley could possibly pull off a satisfying ending for this pair but believe me when I tell you that she completely knocked it out of the park. Aside from the page-turning romance and the whimsical setting, Clementine’s best friends (side characters Fiona and Drew), the irresistible way food is discussed, and the fact that Clementine and her buds work in the publishing industry all kept me completely hooked. While at its core The Seven Year Slip is a light hearted romance, Ashley also weaves in the uncomfortable feelings of the grieving process that come with losing a loved one and she never fails to make me cry. Seriously, I need to stop reading her novels on public transit. Clementine was such a delightful character to read from. She’s incredibly hard working and successful in her position, but she’s beginning to reexamine her priorities and try to determine just what makes her happy. It’s relatable to read about a character going through something that so many of us experience as we get older and become comfortable in our careers. I won’t speak too much about Iwan because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that I adored this young, enthusiastic, motivated man and his dreamy culinary skills. If you’ve read The Dead Romantics, you’re also in for a treat because we get the most perfect character cameo. It makes me beyond happy to know that these characters all exist in the same universe. So in case you can’t tell, I definitely recommend adding The Seven Year Slip to the top of your TBR pile!

Ashley Poston has done it again! Like with her debut, THE DEAD ROMANTICS, I went into this book without a whole lot of background or expectations and I came out totally loving it! This sophomore book was utterly sweet and full of heart and character.

Clementine is struggling with the recent loss of her Aunt— the woman who very much acted like a mother figure and was her globetrotting partner ever since she was young. She’s been at the same overworked publishing job for the last seven years and overall is just sort of going through the motions of life. Clementine has also inherited her aunt’s apartment— a place that supposedly has a little magic to it. One day after entering, Clementine meets a man, Iwan, in the apartment and realizes that she has slipped back in time to seven years ago. What comes next is a story of timing and love and chances.

I’m a sucker for books with time travel, so go figure I really enjoyed the premise of this story! It felt original in its own way and I loved how the author structured these slips in time. Because even though technically, Clementine is meeting Iwan seven years in the past, it still felt like the present in some ways.

While parts of the romance plot felt fairly predictable, I still enjoyed following along and seeing how everything played out. I particularly loved the themes it brought up of chasing your dreams (or in the case of this story, the moon) and how those dreams and the person itself can change over time. It makes you want to reflect on self-growth and taking chances.

This was an overall clever and witty story with some scenes that will make your mouth water because of the delicious foods. It had its tender moments that were very heartwarming and I just loved its approach to the different relationships between the various characters.

Great follow up to Dead Romantics! Loved the brief Benji and Florence cameo. Overall fun and enjoyable, but I would have liked a deeper dive into the magic of the magical apartment.

As a fan of The Dead Romantics, I was super excited to see that Ashley Poston was coming out with another book. The Seven Year Slip did not disappoint! I loved the premise of this book and the idea of Iwan and Clementine meeting in different years. The chemistry between those two was chef’s kiss (do you get the pun?). I also liked that this book was more than just Iwan and Clementine’s relationship. It was refreshing to read a fleshed-out character development arc. I am eager to see what Poston comes out with next!

4.5/5

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group for the advanced reading copy!

TW: death, suicide

When Clementine loses her aunt and inherits her apartment, she isn't expecting the magic there to be so literal. Her aunt always said the place was special, but when Clementine finds a random man standing in the kitchen one day, she's surprised by the true meaning of her aunt's words. With Clementine firmly rooted seven years in this man's future and uncertainty rooted in hers, she forces herself to adhere to her aunt's two main rules: take your shoes off at the door, and don't fall in love. As Clementine connects more and more with this mysterious man and as her present becomes more and more complicated, one of those rules is going to be much harder to stick to than she thinks...

This was such a fun romance/magical realism story! I haven't read a lot of magical realism and I loved it! I think I might have a new fixation?!?! It was so fun to experience this romantic connection in such an unusual way, and I feel like Ashley Poston did such a great job of mixing the past with the present and connecting the characters with a lot of depth. Clementine and Iwan's banter and overall relationship was really fun and pleasant to read. Any book is made better by supporting characters with personality and humor, and both characters' friends were joyous on the page. This was a great representation of the complexity of grief, especially when suicide is involved, and how this can change throughout our lives. Overall, I really enjoyed this one! It was a quick and lovely read. I want more like this!!

Thank you PRHaudio and Netgalley for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!!

I loved The Dead Romantics and loved this one just as much!! Time jump romances can be tricky, but this was executed perfectly. You will fall in love with all of the characters, and I wanted more from both timelines because I never wanted it to end!! Of course I also would have loved a chapter or two from Iwan’s pov!

This was amazing on audio and easy to listen to! It was also easy to tell the different timelines apart. I always think chapter titles are a lot of fun. This is such a fun summer read, and I know everyone will love it! I can’t wait to read more by Ashley!

I was so excited for this book because I absolutely loved The Dead Romantics. But I think I may have loved this one just a little bit more. Ashley Poston writes magical realism so well. She writes grief so well—in all of it’s mess and heartbreak, loss and love everlasting. She writes characters you can’t help but fall in love with. As someone who has experienced a similar loss, this book made me feel so seen, like she wrote her book specifically for me.

Clementine is a burnt out book publicist who grew up following her aunt on adventures and hearing stories about her magical apartment. But when the worst day of her life happens and she loses her aunt, she forms a plan to keep herself safe from heartbreak. But a boy she meets in her inherited apartment leaves her questioning her rules and her life. The only problem is he exists in the past and her aunt warned her to never fall in love in the apartment.

This story is such an emotional and heartwarming account of love and life, grief and death, and how we change as life happens. I loved Iwan and Clementine. Their relationship was so sweet. I loved Clementine’s journey of chasing the moon and finding happiness. I loved the strong friendships. I loved every little bit of this book.

“Because the things that mattered most never really left. The love stays. The love always stays, and so do we.”

Thank you so much to Berkley for the ARC through netgalley in exchange for my honest review!