A beautiful, real, raw, emotional romance! What an amazing debut novel!! I went in a little blind so was surprised by the initial author's note / trigger warnings but I buckled up for an emotional read. I love that the issues were real and unfiltered. Eve's growth through grief and mental health were so well done. Highly recommend!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ My review: I think the best part of this book was that Eve and Jamie are both flawed. They seem so real. On the surface, Eve's hesitance and boundaries seem selfish and mean. But they aren't. They are her way of saving herself. When Eve finally is away from her NYC life she starts to learn to do what she wants to do and how she is in charge of her life.

Jamie is hurt and used to being walked upon by his ex. (I really did not like her). His boundaries seem less visible, he just wants to be in a mutually respectful relationship and be a good father.

This love story is lovely. While both Jamie and Eve sometimes made choices that had me saying, "oh gosh, don't!", they also grew together. Jamie's brother was fun and said what the reader was always thinking, and Eve's mother super frustrated me. Both great secondary characters.

This is a real grown up love story. Plus, I really like Dollywood.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advance digital copy in exchange for my review.

What a debut! Absolutely loved this. It was a romance with so much more. The character development in both characters was such a joy to watch. The NYC versus small town Gatlinburg set-up was also so cute! I loved Jamie, loved the side characters too, Casey, Maya and his mom. Overall just such a good book and can’t wait to read more by this author!

I went into this novel blind, I wanted to read it solely off the beautiful cover. 😍 I obviously didn’t know what to expect. The setting of this story being in Tennessee, specifically in Memphis (Collierville), Nashville(Franklin), and Gatlinburg (The Smokey Mountains) made my reading experience so much better. Idk… reading a book set in the city at which you live in just hits different! 

This was the perfect story to display how grief and childhood trauma can heavily impact the relationships you develop in your adult life. Both Jamie and Eve had experienced so much trauma before connecting and it impacted the decisions they had to make in order to move forward. 

I love how seeking therapy was one of the ways used in the novel to help get through some dark times. I also loved how taking the time to pour out exactly how you feel about certain situations to those that made the biggest impact in your life was also encouraged and done. 

I’ve never been to the Smokey Mountains and Baby Girl always teases us about it, because she’s been a few times without us. But now, I definitely want to plan a family trip to visit Dollywood. 

One of many Fave Quote’s 

“Forgiveness really is for the forgiver.” 

I highly recommend this novel if you are into interracial romance stories and suggest making it priority because it was so amazing 🤩 

But also, please read the authors note and check the triggers.

4.5 stars.

I loved Ashley Jordan's "Once Upon a Time in Dollywood." I found this story to be an emotionally cathartic exploration of grief, loss, love, trauma, coming to terms with life, and finding yourself. This book does not sugarcoat heartache and loss, which I totally appreciate. I loved the characters, Eve and Jamie. They are both flawed, honest characters who feel lived-in and grounded in reality. Their traumas are real. Their pain is real. Their emotions are real. Their connection is real. The way the interact with one another feels real. The complications feel real. I could see their small mountain town in my eyes as I read the book with great detail. The scene where Eve, Jamie, and his son go to Dollywood will certainly be in the top 5 scenes I have read this year come December. It played out like a fairytale. Jamie and Eve might seem like an odd pairing that would not work on paper, but the more they get to know one another, the more they let their walls down and start to share real, true bits of themselves without all of the noise. They help each other heal, they help each other grow, and they help each other become better people with one another. I truly loved reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Jordan, and Berkley Publishing Group for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

This is so much more than a romance novel. It is also determination and not losing yourself in this crazy world. It is about a woman climbing out of the ashes and finding love, acceptance, and peace.

Eve is a hot mess. There is no other way to say this, but she has also had a rough life that started with losing her child because of the interference of her parents. This impacted her life in the future, and I can't blame her. Decisions were made, and she had no say in the end. She was grieving and didn't know how to come to terms with that loss. She also finds herself in a loveless relationship and several miscarriages. That pain on top of her past is too much, and she runs off to Gatlinburg to her Grandmother's home. What she never expected to find was love and herself.

Jamie is one of those "good guys." He doesn't want to see anyone suffer if he can help it. Was it because his mom cheated on his dad and left them all those years ago? Was it giving up his dreams to make sure the family survived with her disappearance? No matter what caused this, his kind heart and loving nature are a blessing and a curse.

This novel was amazing, and I found myself rooting for Eve and Jamie. They both had baggage that needed to be addressed, and it took time, but their love for each other was undeniable. It wasn't quick; it took time to get to that point. It took communication and several moments of miscommunication to realize their feelings for one another.

There are many light-hearted moments from Maya, Casey, and Jack. This humor brightens the heavier aspects.

I appreciated the respect shown for therapy. Eve needed that more than she knew, and trying to keep everything bottled up was not helping her. And while I did not like her parents, time and therapy allowed her to reach a position of understanding on both sides. This was a significant breakthrough for both mother and daughter.

Take a chance on this book, and lose yourself in the Tennessee hills with Eve and Jamie.

For this to be the authors debut novel. It was a heartfelt and genuince good story. Eve is suffers many miscarriages and on a journey to realize what she needs and wants in her life. While she seeks a fresh outlook on what she wants in her life and deal with the This book explores themes of healing, complicate family issues, and finding a new love interest of admist find themselves. Evie meets Jaime a single dad that awakens her in ways she hasn't felt in a long time but also struggles with im being a father due to her own past. While they use each other to navigate and overcome from their past struggles there are many bumps in the road but at then end will it be worth it. You will enjoy this book if you like depth to your characters and finding ways to navigate through hard decisions and self reflections. A well written contemporary romance and thougroughly enojyed. Thank you NetGalley

good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book. good book.

I appreciated the connection between these characters, but felt their chemistry could have been stronger. It seemed they primarily bonded over their traumas, which made them come across as somewhat one-dimensional. The topics addressed in the book are significant and have the potential to resonate deeply with readers.

Overall, this is a decent read. However, enhancing the romantic development and providing a more cohesive ending would have elevated the story and made the characters feel more engaging.

*Thank you to the publisher, Berkeley Romance for the opportunity to read and review.

Once Upon a Time in Dollywood, Ashley Jordan’s debut romance, is a tour de force: with beautiful, insightful prose, one of my favorite couples in recent contemporary romance memory, AND the loveliest HEA that they both deserve so much.

Synopsis: An NYC playwright retreats to the mountains of Tennessee when her life falls apart, and inadvertently falls for the single dad in the cabin next door. CW: This will be a hard book for some, as it deals with religious trauma and pregnancy loss. But I also think it could be healing for many. 

I have too much to say about this romance!  Jamie is so gentle and tender with Eve, but he doesn’t pacify or appease her when she’s prickly. His brother Casey describes them both, perfectly, as intentional and introspective, but there’s some satisfying sass and sarcasm in there as well. They each see how special the other is and quickly understand how rare and valuable their connection is. Their magnetism is delicious, their joy and comfort in each other is swoony. I love the push-pull as they navigate the boundaries of their evolving relationship, some healthy and some rooted in old patterns or in fear. I was also deeply moved by their complex negotiation of sexual intimacy. Jordan is really out here leaving romance tropes in the dust. I don’t say this to diss our beloved fixtures of the genre, my love for them is eternal. But I think the emotional heft of the subject matter deserves the room to breathe, to be the center.

From the first pages of this book, I experienced a catharsis that I want to focus on here - namely, that in the character of Eve, Jordan has achieved that phenomenon of characterization that is so specific as to be universal. While mental health rep is becoming more common in romance, I've found it rare that an author fully takes on the ruthless realities of depression— understandably, as this is in many ways a genre of fantasy and we read to escape. But we also read to see ourselves, and, hopefully, to see beyond ourselves. That’s when a reading experience can be transcendent and transformative. I will never forget reading Talia Hibbert’s Ravenswood series and seeing my experience of depression reflected in romance for the 1st time. Also in Work For It, we see the raw emotion, the moment by moment struggle for survival and meaning; she honors Olu’s pain without eclipsing the warmth of the love story. I am here to tell you that Ashley Jordan is absolutely writing at that level.

From my 1st glimpse into Eve’s head as she’s drowning in couples therapy with her then-fiancee, I was mesmerized. Jordan captures the inertia and avoidance, the cognitive dissonance of pushing people away and then feeling lonely, the overwhelming desire to escape yourself that inevitably comes up against the truth of the adage, “wherever you go, there you are.” (Or as Jordan puts it, “Running from the rain, falling in the river.”) It’s a nuanced, empathetic portrayal that only deepens our vicarious experience of the love that grows between her and Jamie. 

Also featured—Beautiful depiction of fatherhood; comfort in ambivalence, not neatly wrapping up every conflict; an evocative description of fireflies that made me want to head for the mountains immediately; a romance hero who is refreshingly allowed to just want a hug; one of the only examples I can think of where the lack of a grovel was PERFECT as was the mutual apology; the tangible and intangible support of neighbors in a small town

This was a heartfelt, emotional debut that handled some tough themes with care. I appreciated the honest look at grief, loss, and healing, and loved that the main Eve’s growth included therapy before diving too deep into a situation that could have ended badly due to timing. It made her journey feel grounded and real, even if the love story moved a bit fast in the beginning.

Jamie as a single dad was perfectly written. He was selfless, always putting his child first, but I also appreciated how the story showed him realizing that his needs mattered too, especially when the advice came from the most unexpected character. That moment really hit. I also appreciated the co-parenting arc. It was thoughtful and hopeful, and showed how it can be rocky at times, but also a healthy relationship.

The narration brought by Adenrele Ojo and Matt Haynes gave both main characters life beautifully. They both evoked the emotions needed in a way to feel the love and pain.

This book was beautifully written but I did have to DNF, though it was no fault of the author. I am grieving the loss of my youngest and any book handling pregnancy loss or child loss is super hard at the time. I was very excited because I am an East Tennessee resident and spent my childhood in the Smokies and at Dollywood. I will be coming back to this when I'm a little more healed ❤️

This book exceeded ALL of my expectations. It was so good. I've never had such a visceral connection with a book like this before. It takes a lot of skill to tackle heavy topics and grief in romance books and Ashley knocked it out of the park.

I really loved how she handled the impact of religion in the black nuclear family. She did so in a really tasteful way. Speaking of that, I think this book is a love letter to black women, but she also wrote this so it's easily digestible for other races as well.

This book is raw and it real. I feel like there is an Eve or a Jaime that everyone knows in their life or maybe they even are one. This book has heavy undertones of grief, but also shows you that there's light at the end of the tunnel. It's filled with so much hope and just longing to be happy,

The romance in this one had me sobbing. It was so tender and sweet. I always praise authors when they have emotionally intelligent MMC. It just makes the stories so much better because it's rare. Jaime really loved Eve the way that she deserved.

This is for sure a Top 5 fav of mine. The storytelling was excellent, it was emotional, character development was phenomenal, and the romance made me believe in love.

Thanks so much to Berkley Publishing Group for the free book! #BerkleyPartner

Once Upon a Time in Dollywood is an ambitiously deep and compelling debut.

Eve and Jamie are two people drawn to each other in extremely challenging times in their lives and they're able to plant the seeds for a beautiful relationship that is not without its challenges. With that said, this is genuinely one of the most romantic books I've ever read simply for the fact that it is so incredibly romantic to be scared and fight to do the hard thing anyway, especially when it comes to learning to be loved for the first time in the way you know you deserve. Jamie is a single father learning boundaries with his ex and the mother of his child while he comes into his own, and Eve is grieving multiple losses while birthing the career she wants to have doing the work she wants to do.

I will say that this book contains multitudes in terms of the spectrum of how Jamie and Eve relate to one another. In the same way they are both capable of loving one another in the way they need, they are also capable of hurting each other deeply. I actually really enjoyed the messiness of this; the necessity of sitting in your wrongness and correcting harm done in order to heal and move on.

I loved Eve's journey with therapy. I loved the way Eve got to be messy and imperfect and unlikable and then claw her way out of that while someone gave her the space and grace to grow. I loved the way Jamie was a solid, good man, and that he didn't pretend to fully understand Eve's plight as a Black woman, but remained committed to being there by her side to support her.

I laughed, I cried. I held my heart and ached for Black womanhood, Black motherhood, and the secrets family forces you to keep. I loved Eve being in her mid-thirties and still figuring it out.

Ashley Jordan's writing is beautiful, engaging, and breathtakingly bold. This is a story that needed telling.

5 ⭐️s
1.5 🌶️

ONCE UPON A TIME IN DOLLYWOOD by Ashley Jordan was absolutely incredible. It was raw and beautifully written story.

Ashley’s writing was captivating, the way that she incorporated and discuss sensitive topics such as mental health, anxiety, depression, religion, infertility, and miscarriages was done really well.

I felt every word and emotions embedded in each page. It was incredibly profound, emotive, and insightful.

This was more than just a romance story.

The way that Ashley showed how religion can be weaponized against a person for the best interest of others was thought provoking and incredibly done.

The characters were complexed, flawed, and displayed various levels of vulnerability. They felt real and I couldn’t help but connect with them.

I connected so much with Eve, her journey in this book was absolutely beautiful. I felt like we were similar in the way that she copes by shutting down and closing in herself.

The dynamic between Eve and Jaime was everything. I loved them together. They were so different yet similar in some ways. They had a beautiful connection and their banter was so good. The back and forth of their relationship displayed a realistic depiction of the trials. I loved how they kept each other accountable. Pushing each other and were honest with each others needs and boundaries no matter how challenging those conversations were.

The growth of the characters especially Eve was beautiful to witness

They reminded me that healing is never linear. It’s rugged and painful at time but even through it pain of it it allows you too find yourself, see your worth and reshape your life potentially for the better.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishing company for this copy.

I’m excited to read more of the authors work in the future.

I was halfway through this book when I discovered it was Reese’s Book of the Month pick! What an excellent choice! This story explores how two damaged individuals attempt to build a relationship without causing further harm.

Eve is a struggling playwright with a deadline. Her personal life is in shambles. Her infertility has broken her and her long-term relationship has ended. She has headed to Tennessee to focus on her writing and to get over her pain. Meanwhile, she meets a her neighbor Jamie. Inexplicably, she is drawn to him, yet she can’t shake the feeling that he’s too good to be true.

This is a multilayered story with characters that feel real. Their pain and drama are relatable, and there is much more to discover within the pages of this incredible debut novel.

This is a multilayered story with characters that feel real. Their pain and drama are relatable, and there is much more to discover within the pages of this well-written book.

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Berkley, this was a beautiful surprise, and I jumped at the opportunity to support a talented new Black voice in the romance space. Many thanks for the e-arc.

"Wounds heal; they don't disappear" - (Quote from the book)
*
This was an emotional debut filled with so many notes on life, grief, love, parenting, relationships, and loss. It also spoke to community, family, culture, and faith. 

Growing is changing, and part of accepting that change is leaning into the discomfort. A major part of Eve and Jamie's relationship was connected to leaning into some hard truths about who they were before they could become what they were meant to be. The idea and place of Dollywood for me was about escape and discovery all in one. It was about a place where Jamie and Eve could be and become. However, the reality of an escape is that sooner or later real life outside the bubble is revealed. 

We meet two people at pivotal points in their lives whose future and healing, unknown to them, were wrapped up in each other. Different pasts, friendships, families, and career circles, but a shared future that was only revealed when they were ready to face their individual pasts head-on. Jamie and Eve were deserving, and Ashley allowed us to see that unpacking and growth off the pages through the multiple POVs.
There was a tangible and intense vulnerability to the way in which Eve's character fought to be unstuck, along with the understated confidence it took for Jaime to come into his own while embracing despair. It was heartbreaking and equally frustrating as they discovered what it really took for them to be together, but so worth the ride. Yes, at times I wanted to shake them both, but Ashley, through her writing, infused patience and empathy as I reflected on these characters on the pages. Loved that!

This was a type of unexpected love story that will pull you in from the beginning. You want to see them win, you want to see them heal, and most definitely you want to see them grow together!

Happy reading!

Rising star playwright Eve is navigating a year filled with emotional challenges and writer's block. Just when she’s trying to find her footing, she unexpectedly falls for Jaime, the single dad living next door.

Both Eve and Jaime carry significant emotional baggage. It’s clear that their hearts are well guarded when fate intertwines their lives. Eve has a lot of unresolved issues and past trauma to confront. On the other hand, Jaime is the quintessential nice guy, supportive but a bit too accommodating. Their relationship unfolds in a nonlinear manner, marked by ups and downs. By the end, both characters exhibit remarkable growth as they strive to leave their painful pasts behind.

Despite tackling some heavy themes, Once Upon a Time in Dollywood maintains a lighthearted and uplifting tone. Eve and Jaime are flawed, relatable characters, and I found myself deeply invested in their journey toward finding solace and love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5 stars)
Once Upon a Time in Dollywood is a fresh and heartfelt take on romance that instantly drew me in. Ashley Jordan delivers a story where love doesn’t come easy—and that’s exactly what makes it so beautiful.
The female lead is strong, flawed, and refreshingly real. She’s not written to be perfect, and that authenticity made her journey so compelling. Both the FMC and MMC are navigating their own paths to healing, and watching them come together felt honest and well-earned.

This isn’t a cookie-cutter romance—it’s layered, emotional, and full of heart. A standout for readers who love emotional depth, and characters who feel like people you’ve known in real life.

Highly recommend for romance lovers looking for something a little different.

This book is so much more than a romance. It's delves deep into trauma, trust, depression, and faith in yourself. It's hard hitting, and so, so beautiful.

The way Eve's trauma, mental health issues, and lack of trust are touched on is heart breaking and beautiful. She really is the main character of this book. I'm honoured as a reader to see her grow into herself, learn from her past, and love again. Even though she isn't a real person, her story is so realistic, and jumps off the page. I related to her in more ways than one, and her story truly broke my heart and put it back together. I also appreciated the scenes where Eve struggles to have sex due to her trauma. I've never read a romance in which this happens, and it was represented in a great way.

I love that this book does not necessarily depict a healthy romance in the beginning. Instead we see two people grappling with where their lives have ended up simply hold onto each other. Their love in the beginning was selfish, and wounded, and that makes these characters so much more beautiful. They make big mistakes, and hurt each other, and have to learn from their choices. They read like real people.

The only thing I would change are the transitions in the book. Some are clunky and not very smooth. At times, I was confused by the writing as the transitions were unclear, and the change from one scene or setting to another wasn't clear either.

I would absolutely recommend this book, not even as a romance, but as a book with flawed, frustrating characters that learn how to heal with time for themselves, and for each other.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.