Ashley Poston has a way of sucking you into her books & wanting to live in them. This is a novel for romance lovers as it's set in a fictional romance town.
I will admit I didn't love this one as much as her previous books. I think I just connected to the other ones more. The romance I also didn't love in this one but as always Poston's books are whimsical, adorable and oh so romantic.

2.5 rounded up bc I still love you, AP but this wasn’t it 💫🫠

✨a book within a book…kind of
✨magical realism
✨an ode to romance books
✨small town / he owns the local bookstore
✨personal growth after loss

I TRIED to love it because I’ve loooved her other books but I was honestly just bored, the romance was bleh, the tension or chemistry just didn’t exist. There was never an explanation for anything unless I missed it?? 😅 the third act conflict didn’t make much sense, I never felt connected to literally *any* of the characters?

The premise behind this was SO cool! And there WERE moments that were good but overall I feel let down 🙃

A Novel Love Story turned into a "novel un story" as I continued reading Ashley Poston's latest novel. As a huge fan of her other works, I was so excited to dive into this newest and discover the whimsical town she created. However; I ended up "not finishing" this book around the 62% mark as I was not getting any real romance/love vibes from either character. I do feel this may have been a "wrong time" sort of read for me however; and may pick it back up at a later time.

📖 Stuck in a Book: Coming June 25 📖

A whole book about a reader getting magically transported into the idyllic setting of her favorite romance series?! SIGN. ME. UP.

@heyashposton knows just want my magical-realism-loving heart wants every single time. Elsy’s book retreat turned real life romance novel (like- actually) was both a dream and a look at why so many of us turn to stories that end in Happily Ever After, as she has to ask herself if being lost in happy endings has kept her from reaching her own.

*Stefon voice* This book’s got everything. Grumpy handsome bookstore owner, small town shops that sound straight out of a Hallmark movie, unexplored storylines, snarky best friend. If you’re a rom com person, this is a love letter directly to you.

Quick summary:

After the WORST year, Elsy ends up going on her book club’s yearly retreat on her own. Getting dumped a week before her wedding, an unfulfilling job, and seeing your friends move on with their lives means she’s escaping to a cabin with snacks, wine, and her favorite book series set in the quaint fictional town of Eloraton. Well- until her car breaks down and she finds herself there with the whole cast of characters she’s grown to love.

Big thanks to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the chance to read this in advance in exchange for a review! Pre-order your copy from your favorite indie bookstore through @bookshop_org , snag the audio on @librofm , or request that your local library gets a copy!

#bookstagram #readersofinstagram #newreleasebooks #bookish #bookreview #romancereader #romancebooks

I loved the last few chapters of this so it feels weird to give it a 3 (a fairly low rating for me in general)! But I just couldn’t seem to connect with the story or really any of the characters. I didn’t even buy into the romance until the end. This took me two weeks to finish because I just wasn’t all that jazzed to pick it up. Which was a real bummer because I love Ashley’s writing, and the premise of this was incredible! This truly is a love letter to books - romance books specifically. And I love that! But we just didn’t real vibe. I think it’s a me issue and not anything “wrong” with the book. I would definitely still recommend to small town, romance lovers!

Ashley Poston is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. I wasn’t sure anything could top The Seven Year Slip; but this one is seriously close. Such a unique premise! Absolutely adored it.

Ashley Poston has quickly become one of my favorite romance authors. The way she weaves magical realism into her stories leaves you begging for more because they are so profoundly unique. I’d actually love to see all three of her books on the big screen. Hollywood is in need of some fresh ideas.

This might be Ashley’s most unique story yet. For me it was a love letter to small town romance books and the readers who get lost in them. 🥰 If you love small town romance books or the tv shows that bring us the quaint towns that you want transport yourself into (Gilmore Girls, Hart of Dixie, etc) then you are going to love this one!

Elsy literally one day stumbles into a small town on her way to a remote cabin. She quickly realizes this is no ordinary small town, however. It’s the fictional town of Eloraton, which is the setting of her favorite romance book series by Rachel Flowers who passed away two years prior before finishing the series. Is she here to help the characters find their happily ever after?

Ashley’s writing is just so whimsical, beautiful and deep. I don’t highlight much when reading books, but there were several lines that stood out to me. This book was not strictly a romance, so if you are looking for a heavy romance then you may be disappointed, but that’s one reason I loved it so much. My two reasons for knocking off half a star is that it did get a tad slow in the middle of the book, and there were a lot of characters to keep track of. It was a bit confusing at times.

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️-I loved it!

⚠️Content Warning:
🤬: some language
🔥: 🌶️🌶️-two mild open door scenes

In A Novel Love Story, Ashley Poston has written a cozy romance within a book about a cozy romance. I've never felt cozier. A Novel Love Story never quite gripped me the way her previous work has, but I still finished it all in one sitting.

“Sometimes, a book can change your life. It’s hard to explain that to someone who doesn’t read, or who has never felt their heart bend so strongly toward a story that it might just snap in two. ... The moment was so unassuming, so normal. Sometimes, that’s how it happens. Sometimes your favorite book just hits you out of the blue like a bolt of lightning.”

“Not all love happens at first glance - sometimes, it takes a reread at the exact right (or wrong) time in your life.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was an absolute delight. Tender, vulnerable, magical and both heartbreaking and heartwarming, A Novel Love Story was the ultimate summer comfort read. I laughed, I teared up, and I highlighted so many passages!! Finding myself in the setting of my favorite book series sounds like a dream, but I also appreciated how Poston acknowledged that simply living in the pages and keeping your heart guarded there, isn’t really living. As Elsy acknowledges, “But life moves on. Everything moves on. I want to move on. I’m tired of living the same page every day. I want something new.”

Books can be a comfort when you’re sad, lonely or brokenhearted, but I loved that both Elsy and Anders realized that true healing comes from opening yourself up to change, new beginnings, and potentially more loss.

“No, if you loved something - someone - sometimes you had to let them go. Love - true love - always came back.”

I not only loved Elsy and Anders, but also Pru, Jasper, and the characters of the Daffofil Dreams series that Elsy formed friendships with. I also loved how Eloraton functioned as a character in and of itself. Quaint and simple on the outside, it managed to house some important lessons within its slow summer days.

Most of all, though, I loved the pure magic embedded in this story and brought to life by @dorothydblue ‘s incredible narration!! It lit me up from the inside out, and I know I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

Grab this one June 25th!

3/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️

I’m so bummed. I loved The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip, and I had such high hopes for this one. Alas, this one wasn’t the same. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters and also didn’t feel the chemistry between the two MCs. Additionally, some of the descriptives were repeated over and over again (“minty gaze”) to the point of nuisance. I really loved the concept of this book - the idea of getting to live inside your favorite book is a dream but this just didn’t hit the marks for me. I was invested in the beginning, lost interest and skimmed quite a bit of the middle, and then got back invested towards the very end. Overall, unfortunately wasn’t a fav.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Romance for this free e-ARC in exhange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

What to expect:
✨grump vs. sunshine
✨small town romance
✨rom com

While I think this book will widely appeal to romance readers it was unfortunately a miss for me. I loved the premise and I really wanted to love this story, however, I never really connected with the characters. I also felt like I needed a guide to the book series and all the characters of this small town because it took far too long for me to finally understand who was with who. Lastly, I was slightly disappointed with the ending and how the MC finally left the town. I had made some predictions that I feel like would have made the story far more interesting if they came true.

I know some people will love this one, so I am still likely to recommend it. It just won't be a new favorite of mine.

Ashley has done it again! How amazing is it to feel like our favorite authors GET IT regarding the worlds they have invited us into? This book was a love story to stories, and I am just such a fan of how Ashley writes magical realism! It makes me wish I could run away into my favorite fake town! Thank you, Ashley, for another fantastic read! Friends, go grab your copy!!

I've loved the author's previous books (The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip) and couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. The set up was so unique and interesting. Haven't we all wished at some point that we could visit/live in a favorite fictional world?! I'm always a fan of books about books and this one leaned into it in such a fun and quirky way. The town of Eloraton and all of its inhabitants were wonderful and it was a great nod to the HEA's we often imagine after we turn the last page of our favorite books.

I will admit that I was a bit confused at first with how the magic worked in this one, which made the beginning challenging. The pacing overall was also inconsistent, and definitely slowed down a lot in the middle, making the book feel too long. I was rooting for Eileen to find her HEA, but her romance with Anders just didn't fully work for me. I didn't feel much chemistry between them and the progression from meet disaster to more didn't feel natural. In many ways, the book was about Anders growth and character arc as much as it was Eileen's, yet we only ever get Eileen's POV. I liked the twist/reveal about Anders and his connection to Eloraton, but I wanted more depth to their relationship. The conflict at the end was frustrating, but I can understand that both characters needed to stand on their own for a bit given their histories. The ending was very sweet though and I liked how the story came full circle.

I both read and listened to the audiobook of A Novel Love Story and the narration by Dorothy Dillingham Blue was fantastic! I really enjoyed the different voices and accents she used to bring this story to life. Overall, this was an entertaining read, but it isn't my favorite by the author.

Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 3-3.5 stars

CW: death of loved one (past), grief, cheating ex

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

When Eileen’s car breaks down she finds herself in a quaint and adorable town. She doesn’t understand how but the town is Eloraton, the town for her favorite fictional romance series.

This is such a unique story because it’s really a story within a book. The author has created a fictional world based on a fiction story that doesn’t really exist; but I wish it did. The fictional town is so realistic and well developed. I’m dying to read the book series, which again, doesn’t really exist. The touch of magic in this story is light, and while you don’t really find out they “why’s and how’s” of it, it doesn’t really matter because the end result was beautiful and heart warming!

“Sometimes, that’s how it happens. Sometimes your favorite book just hits you out of the blue like a bolt of lightening.”

A Novel Love Story comes out 6/25.

Big fan of this author and her writing but unfortunately this book mixed the mark in a few places for me. I won’t go into too much detail but the main character was a little annoying and there was way too many characters. It was like reading two books at once. I think we were suppose to know this book she stepped into but unfortunately I just felt lost most of the time. I think it was a great idea but lots of things missed the mark and characters I should have felt for or rooted for I didn’t have any connection to.
I liked her friendship but it is okay to do things by yourself. You can still have a BF and not do every little thing together. It’s called growing up,
The romance was a little odd, and it was said way too many times how good he smelled and the color of his eyes.
I still gave it 3⭐️ because this author can write but unfortunately some things were just too big of a miss.

A intriguing concept for this book. The FMC Elsy finds herself in the fictional town of her favourite romance series after getting lost on a road trip to a remote cabin in the Catskills of NY in this magical realism romance.
I liked the idea of the magical realism but can’t think too hard about it because it didn’t make sense and wasn’t explained well.
Ashley’s writing is easy to read and felt like a little love note to romance readers.
Although I figured out who Anders the MMC was pretty early in the book I enjoyed his story. The love story was a bit insta love for me.
The fictional town was the perfect Hallmark movie-esque setting and the secondary characters were fun and developed nicely.
I feel the book was a bit slow and meandered a bit through the middle.
Overall a solid magical realism romance. I would recommend for anyone who likes quirky Hallmark love stories with a bit of unexplained magic that happens.

As an adjunct English professor, Eileen “Elsy” Merriweather is all about books, most especially Romance series. Although she teaches classical literature works to her student, Eileen’s first love was, and still is, romances with a happily ever. This becomes even more true now since her fiancé called off their wedding a week before the ceremony. Eileen has been hiding out at home and in her beloved books, mostly in one special series by an author who did not finish the last in the book due to her early demise.

Elsy and her book club gather annually in the beautiful Hudson Valley to enjoy long talks, cheap wine, and all things Romance genre. When everyone else cancels on her, Elsy is determined to load up her pea green pinto and make the long trek anyway. On the way to the rural cabin, Elsy gets lost in a town that turns out to be Eloraton: the exact fantasy place where her favorite series is set. The town is sort of an ersatz Brigadoon, or a Camelot where it rains the same time every day. All the inhabitants whom Eileen knows very well go about the same jobs with the same personal relationships described in the books. She knows everyone except the bookstore owner, Anders, who seems to be the only other person clued into that this town is more fantasy than fact.

Elsy has been stuck in a deep depression since her heartbreak so finding this beloved town is like a gift from heaven. As Elsy begins to interact with everyone, living the story right along with them, subtle changes start to happen when she makes opinions known in the way readers have often wished to do with favorite characters. Anders warns Eileen, as he calls her, not to mess with the status quo; however, she just cannot resist trying to help everyone with their problems.

This story is an interesting concept for readers who have often wished they could inhabit their favorite stories particularly the books which have enriched their lives. Some parts of it are quite fun imaging living in the story since as a lover of literature, Elsy knows what a special gift she has been given. The story does drag at times and get repetitive especially in Elsy’s descriptions of Anders with his “mint-green eyes” and other attributes. This book defends the value of romance stories in general; however, the author is mostly preaching to choir since those fans are her most likely audience.

4.5⭐️

I’m a firm believer that every reader will one day come across a book that seems like it was written specifically for them. It’s a book that speaks to your soul and seems to tell you exactly what you need to hear at a specific time in your life.

A Novel Love Story was that for me. As someone who has grown up almost exclusively reading romance novels this book felt like a warm hug and like Ashley Poston looked me straight in the eyes and said “I see you.” While reading this beautiful story all I could think of is what it would be like to suddenly wake up in the small towns and worlds of my favorite stories and just how wonderful that would be.

It’s so hard for me to write a review without giving away something in the story. There are so many thoughts I have and favorite moments I want to discuss. But, I think this is one of those books where it’s best to go in blind. Just know if you’re ever looking for a low stakes and cozy read. This is the book for you.

This is for the romance lovers.

Thank you so much to Berkley, Ashley Poston, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This one was a little underwhelming for me. I thought it was cute and it had all of the magical realism touches that Ashley's other books have but it was all very predictable, in my opinion. I didn't feel any chemistry between the two main characters and I thought the progression of their relationship was very choppy. Again, it was still a cute story but it didn't pull me in like Ashley's two other books, which I love!

I enjoyed reading this book. I really liked the dynamic between Elsy and Anders. I wish Anders’s phone call was explained. I don’t think it ever was. Also it was kind of hard to keep up with all the characters/couples. But overall I found this book very charming and would recommend.