3.5 stars!
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Sometimes I do have a tough time rating a book. I can see both sides of what the author was trying to do and in this instance, I’m not sure I liked it as much as I wanted to.

I absolutely fell in love with her The Dead Romantics book and I try not to compare books. But this one did not hit me in the same manner as her other work did.

Becoming completely engrossed in a book where you become a part of it was a tough concept for me. The first part of the book was trying to comprehend the main character's development while telling us a story that she already knew, but we didn’t know the story at all.

While she knew she was in a “book“, it took me a bit to move past that. The second half of the book was really what I was looking for in terms of developing a relationship with her love interest which led to an amazing ending. That really saved the book for me.

Poston is a creative and inspiring writer and for those of you that love a slight fantasy concept, this is a wonderful Romance story for you.

A Novel Love Story is intriguing and beautifully developed with interesting characters. It’s unlike any other story you’ve read before.

I was very excited to read a novel by Ashley Poston after reading her Valentine's Day novella, which I really enjoyed. I loved the premise of A Novel Love Story: woman's car breaks down in a strange and perfect little town that turns out to be the storybook universe town of her favorite romance series. Sounds great, but I didn't ever really feel a connection to her or the main love interest and felt a little dropped into the town myself (except I hadn't read the books and didn't care about the characters). And I didn't really care for the ending AT ALL. I felt like the MMC settled for the FMC. I was sadly disappointed

a novel love story is a book lover's dream, a love letter to the connection shared between story and reader. sidetracked on a road trip, elsy merriweather winds up in the fictional town of her favorite unfinished series, one filled with lovable characters, even the grumpy bookshop owner, and cozy days.

once elsy moves past the shock of where she's ended up, her integration into the community is pretty seamless — she is welcomed by those who live there and explores eloraton with a childlike wonder, discovering the locations and plot points of the series she has held close to her heart for many years. at its core, a novel love story is a hopeful story, centered around a character that has lost her way and finds new meaning in the most unlikely place.

while the inclusion of flashbacks messed with the pacing a bit at the start, the quirky plot was engaging, each chapter presenting a new question for the audience — why can't elsy remember anders from pages of the books? where does he sneak off to each night? will the people of eloraton stories remain unfinished?

there's no denying ashley poston delivers some of the most unique plots in the romance genre. following the success of her previous two books, a novel love story truly felt like the story she's dreamed of telling since the beginning, the premise being a lovely crossroad between author and reader. the beauty of happily ever afters and friendship, the comfort a favorite read can provide are at the forefront. the picturesque setting soothed elsy as she worked to make sense of anders, her prickly landlord and quite the mysterious figure. though there is great push and pull between the two, the connection they ultimately form is both heartwarming and bittersweet. their relationship faced unique obstacles that resulted in the sweetest love declarations you've maybe ever heard.

while this isn't my favorite title from ashley, there was real magic weaved through the pages, making for a unique reading experience. at some point, we have all been elsy, adoring a story that felt anything but fictional to our souls.

thanks to berkley and ashley poston for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

alas, my five star streak with Ashley Poston has come to an end. this one has a fun, fantasy-lite premise as always - what happens when our main character ends up Brigadooned in the world of her favorite romance series and falls for a guy there? - but failed to deliver on the deeper emotional aspect that I've come to expect from her books. the town and ensemble cast of characters are just the right amount of quirky and fun but I felt like the development of the world was done much better than the development of the relationship between Elsy and Anders, which made it hard to get invested in them as a couple.

This book is a little too kitschy cute sickly sweet at times but it's a very heartwarming story, a true love letter to books and book clubs.

A Novel Love Story is a love letter to readers and how books can help us cope and heal. It's about being attached to fictional characters when you feel lonely and finding comfort in words. It's also about personal growth and finding love. It's about feeling stuck in life and like everybody else is moving on without you. It's about being a hole and learning how to grow vines to climb out.

Ashley Poston is just so talented at writing whimsical romances with magical elements. This book was so emotional and I didn't want it to end. I cannot wait to have a physical copy in my hands. I absolutely loved the fictional town being located in the Hudson Valley as I have a huge place in my heart for New York and this made me so homesick. A Novel Love Story absolutely felt like being wrapped in a warm, soft blanket.

This book felt so magical. It is very cute, but has a lot of depth to it as well. I loved the self journey the FMC got to take, and how she was living to be the main character in this story, which she definitely deserves after what she has been through. The MMC was very thoughtful and charming, absolutely loved him. The love story in this book is beautiful as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Well I was not expecting this book to get to me as much as it did. This was my first Ashley Posten book and it was adorable and sad and so intriguing.

I loved the character of Elyse and all of her personal growth and how much she truly found herself. The romance was top notch and I actually swooned, which I never do. The ending did confused me at first but once I understood it I loved this book even more. There were a couple of slow spots for me which is why it wasn't a 5 star but I'm very excited to read some of her other books now.

Postons work is always so creative and fun to experience. Found it hard to get into because we’re jumping into a world the fmc already knows without much background knowledge but I understand why it was done like that. Will definitely be recommending in store!

UGH ashley poston has done it again. such a fun giggling and kicking my feet book that makes me cry at the same time. the perfect amount of contemporary romance with magical realism I literally stayed up until 4am finishing this in one sitting

Woof! This book was not for me. Loved Ashely Poston's "Seven Year Slip" but this book lacked the same "oomfp" of SYS. It also felt like her writing regressed? Many repeated words and surface level prose.

Long distance I could travel, language barriers I could learn, but fictional?


This was a love letter to readers. It wasn’t really a love story between two main characters, but more of a love story between the heroine and fictional characters, books, and reading romance.

It was about the heroine’s obsession with that series and those characters that took up a huge part of her life. Those characters she loved so much and was so attached to in an unexplainable way. Relatable much??

I loved hearing her talk about romances, books, grand gestures, book tropes, and book boyfriends. It was truly heartwarming and so relatable. Like talking to someone who truly understands you. The amount of relatable quotes I highlighted was too many!

At first I picked this book up because ever since I watched the show; W Two Worlds long time ago and I’ve been obsessed with that kind of story line. And the idea of the heroine getting to live in her favorite romance series?? What a magical feeling!

The story was so magical and bittersweet and I loved it so much. It made me feel so cozy and warm inside. Ashley Poston’s books really do have some kind of charm.

Huge Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing this copy.

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.