Unconventionally, Elle is a dual timeline romance following Elle as she navigates and balances work and romance while also dealing with her mental health and a constant internal battle to settle for what she has or choose herself and follow her dreams.

The books covers topics including anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts which can be triggering to readers/listeners.

In the current timeline, Elle feels burnt out at her corporate job located in New Orleans. Working through anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts with therapy, medication, and support from her friends, Elle upends her life and moves to Boston to pursue a career in writing. With the move, she meets new friends and gains connections that eventually bring her to Barrett Henry, a generational Bostonian that is set to inherit his family's massive real estate business and one of the primary love interests of the story.

In the "before" timeline, the story follows Elle from her time in college to the moment she feels overcome by loneliness and grief. In this timeline, Elle meets New Orleans native, Jude Ashford, while spending time in Nashville. The two have an on again-off again relationship throughout the years, creating an emotional love triangle for Elle.

The narrator, Stella Bloom, captures Elle's emotions perfectly. She delivers wittiness while staying articulate. As a Louisiana native, I truly appreciate the correct pronunciations for names, locations, and andouille sausage.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Jourdana Webber for the opportunity to listen to Unconventionally, Elle

Unconventionally, Elle is an adorable, heartwarming story that strikes a great balance between charm and character depth. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life-adding emotional nuance and personality to every scene without ever overdoing it.

One of the standout strengths of this audiobook is its character development. Elle felt authentic and relatable, and the supporting characters were just as thoughtfully crafted. I found myself genuinely invested in their journeys and interactions.

That said, one personal gripe: the frequent use of flashbacks. Much like in Emily Henry's novels, nearly every other chapter revisits the past, and while I understand their purpose, l've personally grown a bit tired of that narrative structure. After a while, I found myself tempted to skip them to get back to the present storyline.

Despite that, this was an overall delightful listen-sweet, engaging, and emotionally satisfying.

Definitely recommend if you're in the mood for a feel-good romance with substance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5

Elle and Jude or Elle and Barrett or Elle and Louie? I loved them all. Elle is a strong woman who isn’t going to let anyone tell her how to feel and what she needs to do with herself. My favorite part of this book was her longtime besties (who show up whenever she needs them) and her new bestie, Finn.

Read this book if you like:
- dual timelines
- love triangles
- strong friendships

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Select, and Jourdana Webber for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Select for this early listen! Stella Bloom is one of my Favorite Female narrators in a short list of Female Narrators. And while I love that she narrated the whole book, I would have loved a male narrator. Yes, Stella does a great male Voice but for some audiobooks, I still sometimes prefer a male voice to voice the character. For a Debut, this audiobook was wonderful, Jourdana is a first-time author to me and I can honestly say I need more books from her!

The Story of Elle and Jude is one I will love for some time, the way they are, we're, and are again. Some stories are just made to lose oneself and this one was that. Lose yourself to find yourself is what I sometimes say, and well that is what Elle did and I loved it!

This one is a tad unconventional as far as romances go. I’m a HEA girl through-and-through, and part-way through I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into.

It’s a story about choosing yourself, choosing your health and sanity over important relationships, even deep love.

I liked a lot about the book - even its “unconventional” romance focus. Is it enough to be 4-stars? It might have been except for a few that really irritated me. 1) I could not get over the random references to enjoying life on former plantations in Louisiana. Gross. Set the party somewhere else. Plantations were mentioned not once, but twice. Nope.

On the other hand, I’m a sucker for an aspiring-writer storyline. I might have given this 4*s because of this if it weren’t for the plantation stuff….

Writing was fine and the storyline was decently creative as far as contemporary romances go. I liked the narrator for the audiobook.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for this review.

Elle meets Jude during a college internship — a whirlwind, passionate romance that burns fast and strong. But when the internship ends, she’s determined to keep chasing her own dreams, and Jude does the same.

Over the years, they keep finding their way back to each other, but never at the “right” time. She’s always moving on to the next big phase in her life, with stretches of radio silence in between. Still, they reach out during life’s major moments — the good and the bad — like they can’t quite let go.

It’s a story about ambition, timing, and the people who stick in your heart no matter how much time passes. Her motto sums it up perfectly: “To the dreamers who dream, and the ones that never give up.”

If you like love stories where the journey is as important as the ending, this one will hit you right in the feels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for this free advanced copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Unconventionally, Elle follows Elle as she walks away from her successful corporate job to chase her dream of writing a book. It is meant to be a story about finding yourself and taking risks to live a more meaningful life. While the idea is inspiring, the story did not quite land for me.

The book jumps between Elle’s current struggles and memories of a past relationship, but the dual timeline felt more confusing than emotional. Instead of feeling moved by her heartbreak, I mostly found myself frustrated. Elle spends a lot of time stuck in the past, still caught up in her feelings for her ex, which made it hard to care about her present journey.

What really took away from my enjoyment was the main character herself. Elle comes across as immature, and her choices, especially around emotional cheating, left a bad taste. Add to that some heavy themes like death showing up more than expected, and the story started to feel weighed down.

That said, I do appreciate the message behind it. Taking a leap for your happiness is a powerful idea. I just wish it had been told through a more grounded character and a story that did not feel so scattered. This had potential to be uplifting and relatable, but it missed the mark for me.

This is my first Jourdana Weber book; I will definitely read this author again. While classified as romance, this is so much more; it is about a woman coming to define herself first, defining success for herself second, and romance third. Elle is a strong character, initially successful in her corporate role, though that wouldn’t have been her chosen path. She is supported by two strong female friends throughout. Adversity in the corporate world leads Elle to make a drastic life change, helping her to further claim her true self. She has two different love interests, and each time chooses to pursue, or not, the relationships on her terms, even when it requires making difficult choices. The story is told in the past and present, which I normally don’t like, but it worked here to explain the characters. The author’s narration was excellent. Thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to listen.

Unconventionally, Elle. Oh how I loved the message this book portrayed.

This book covers a lot of deep subjects, including grief, loss, suicidal thoughts, and choosing between two different paths. And throughout all of the themes, I feel like it mimicked real life the most. You don’t always get your happy ending, you don’t always get first place, and you don’t always end up with what you thought you wanted. I appreciate this story and felt I really connected with the main character based on the writing style alone.

I highly recommend this read. Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exhange for an honest review!

I was excited for this - I've been following the author on Instagram for a while and was enjoying watching her publishing journey. Unfortunately the book wasn't for me. The story felt underdeveloped and like it hadn't been through a good developmental edit. The story is told in both the present and through flashbacks - I generally enjoy dual timelines, but it was unclear what the purpose of the dual timelines was. Generally in a contemporary romance there aren't two competing love interests unless it's been established as a why choose or a love triangle; the author didn't present it as a love triangle, so it was very odd to be reading chapters about her past lover while she's supposed to be building a relationship with her current partner. The writing felt like the FMC was the problem; she acknowledged that she'd gone to therapy for her depression and other issues but then engaged in other behaviors like cheating (almost) and acting like a child when confronted with needing to make mature, adult decisions. Basically I wasn't sure where the story was going or who I was supposed to be rooting for the whole time; it felt like the book needed more direction. (and why did the FMC think that her ex's mom would talk him out of making a decision the FMC didn't agree with? Very odd to expect a grown man to be controlled by his mother).

I really liked this audiobook! It was perfect to put on while I got ready or did some chores. At first it wasn't clear (for me) that we were in two different time periods (now and ... years ago), I came to the realisation around 1/4th in. So the first part was a bit confusing for me :)

I do recommend this book very much!

Cute title? Check. Pretty cover? Check. Love triangle? Check. Unfortunately, the dual timeline never lets me stay anywhere long enough to care. Just as I start warming up to Elle/Jude or Elle/Barrett—flip, we’re gone again. The result is lots of motion, not much emotional momentum.

Audio note: Stella Bloom is easy on the ears, but even a solid performance can’t fix pacing that keeps yanking you between timelines before the chemistry can simmer.

What did work: Webber writes the South with texture and restraint—authentic without tipping into parody. That alone might tempt me to try this again later when I’m in a more patient mood.

Beautiful meshing of mental health struggles meets 30-something internal dilemma of having too many uncertainties while floating along trying to achieve your dreams. Elle is every millennial single female these days, which i love the relatability. The first love vs. new chapter love is great! although I did want to punch the momentary anti-feminist character responses when children were discussed. My fave characters were Finn and Louie! It's Louie's world and we just live in it. My one wish is that there were more imagery of the locations or scenes outside of imagery for the characters. I would have loved to imagine exactly the layout of her Boston condo. i would very much life to exploration of Jourdana's other Elle-verse characters and her other books.

3.5🌟 rounded

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Jourdana Webber for the opportunity to listen to Unconventionally, Elle in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Unconventionally, Elle more than I expected, especially from the my first impression. I found it to be slow and a bit confusing at the beginning, however, I was able to pick up pretty quickly and enjoyed the rest.

The audiobook format worked well with a single narrator. She was able to capture Elle's personality and slowly pull me in to the story. The story had a great tone that kept me engaged throughout.

Elle was a character I found easy to relate to, as I too am at a crossroads in my corporate career. Her journey was about learning to choose taking a leap of faith and believein yourself. Many women struggle in the same way that Elle was in determining what defines success. I think that the themes of this bookherself, even when that choice meant letting go of stability and will resonate with many young, working women.

The book deals with memental health, second chance romance, friendship, family and so much more. It deals with some of the push back women get about being a mother, a female in the workplace, and the expecations of what is a successful life.

Unconventionally, Elle took me by surprise in the best possible way. I went in expecting a love triangle, maybe some career drama, but what I got was so much more layered, more raw, more real. This is a story about reinvention but not the glossy kind you see in movies. It’s about what it actually means to break down your entire life and build something new from the ruins. And it’s messy. It’s hard. It’s hopeful.

Elle Watson is one of the most relatable FMCs I’ve read in a long time. She’s brilliant, accomplished, and drowning. Burned out from a high powered corporate career and reeling from betrayal, she makes the terrifying leap to leave it all behind and start over in Boston and to finally chase the dream she abandoned long ago: becoming a writer.

What makes Elle’s journey so compelling is that it’s not linear. Jourdana Webber writes with nuance and empathy, showing us the highs and lows of trying to rebuild your life while battling anxiety, grief, and self-doubt. There’s no magical solution, no one moment where everything clicks. It’s a slow, healing burn. One that feels incredibly earned.

The dual timelines (past and present) add so much emotional weight to Elle’s choices. Seeing her as the corporate powerhouse and then as the uncertain writer in progress created this rich portrait of a woman learning to rewrite her narrative, literally and figuratively. Every therapy session, every panic attack, every hard conversation felt purposeful and grounded.

Now let’s talk about the romance(s). Because… whew. Barrett and Jude. Two men, both wildly different, both connected to key moments in Elle’s life. I won’t spoil where her heart ultimately lands, but I will say: it never felt like a simple “pick one” situation. Jourdana Webber writes them both with tenderness and depth, which made the emotional stakes so much higher. You feel how much these men care for her, and how much she has to reckon with what she truly wants, not what looks good on paper.

The writing is heartfelt, intimate, and occasionally sharp in its emotional observations. There are no grand twists or bombshell reveals, just the quiet unraveling of a woman who realizes that success, love, and happiness don’t have to look conventional to be real.

Yes, the pacing lags a little in the middle, and yes, there were a couple plot threads I wish had been tighter (Barrett’s father’s illness, for one), but honestly? That’s life. Messy. Complicated. Beautiful in its imperfections. This book leans into that. And it worked for me.

If you’ve ever questioned whether it’s too late to start over, or felt like your ambition was at war with your happiness, or wrestled with choosing you over what others expect from you, this book is for you.

Unconventionally, Elle is more than a romance. It’s a tender meditation on mental health, grief, self-discovery, and the bittersweet beauty of second chances.

I cannot wait to see what Jourdana Webber writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jourdana Webber, and Dreamscape Select/Everwild Publishing for the eARC of this book.

Unconventionally, Elle is a heartfelt debut that delves into the complexities of ambition, identity, and the pursuit of happiness. Elle Watson's transition from a high-powered corporate career to chasing her dream of becoming a writer in Boston is both inspiring and relatable. Webber masterfully intertwines themes of mental health, personal growth, and the challenges of starting anew.

The dual timelines enrich the narrative, offering readers a glimpse into Elle's past and present, making her journey all the more compelling. The romantic dynamics between Elle and the two leading men, Barrett and Jude, add depth and intrigue, keeping readers invested in her choices.

While the pacing occasionally slows, the emotional depth and character development more than compensate. Unconventionally, Elle is a poignant reminder that it's never too late to redefine one's path and embrace the unconventional.

The print book of this book is likely superior as the narrator was absolutely awful and took away from what is likely a solid story.

4⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to listen to Unconventionally, Elle by Jourdana Webber in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed Unconventionally, Elle more than I expected. The audiobook format worked well with a single narrator, who captured Elle's personality in a way that felt authentic and personal.

Elle was a character I found easy to relate to. Her journey was about learning to choose herself, even when the world seemed determined to label her as "other." That message really stuck with me—choosing yourself, trusting that what’s meant for you will find its way to you, and recognizing that happiness starts with embracing your own path.

The story had a warm, introspective tone that kept me engaged. It didn't rely on high drama or flashy moments, but instead unfolded with a quiet confidence that made it feel real and meaningful. I appreciated the emotional honesty, and even if the pacing dragged in spots, I never wanted to stop listening.

Would I recommend it?
Yes. This is a cozy, empowering listen for anyone who's ever felt out of step with convention and needed a gentle reminder that they are enough just as they are.

#UnconventionallyElle #NetGalley

Thank you to Dreamscape Select and Everwild Publishing for the ALC of this audiobook!

I went into this one completely blind, thinking I had a good idea of what to expect—and I was so wrong, in the best way. This book is absolutely Gilmore Girls-coded: Barrett is totally giving Logan, Elle is Rory to a T, and while Jude might seem like he’d be Jess, that comparison doesn't quite land for me.

At first, I didn’t want to like Barrett…but he grew on me. Just as I was making peace with Elle not ending up with Jude (even though he was her rock and literal savior), the story took a major turn—at Barrett’s father’s funeral, no less (side eye to the ex-girlfriend for that scene).

On the topic of the funeral…why was Barrett’s father’s illness and death so drawn out? One minute he’s in the hospital, the next he’s at work, and then suddenly he’s gone? It felt unnecessarily prolonged and a little confusing structurally—I would’ve preferred it happen all at once for better emotional payoff.

Now…let’s talk about the breakup. I was so frustrated when we found out why Elle and Jude ended things. He gets a dream job in New York (a city she loves), and she refuses to go—claiming she couldn’t find a similar job in corporate America…in New York?! And it’s not like they had to leave immediately—it was months away! If this man is truly the love of your life, you can job hunt between December and June, girl. Elle came off as really self-focused here. I understood that she felt like she had something to prove, but sometimes you need to live your life instead of letting a job define it. I did support her decision to quit—I just wish she had done it sooner.

Jude was so good to her. And the scene on the balcony? Pure magic. It felt like divine intervention—like her grandmother sent him in that exact moment. He was her person…it was just bad timing.

I really enjoyed the ending. I genuinely thought she was going to choose herself and end up alone, which would’ve been a fine arc—but the twist was satisfying and hopeful. I’d absolutely read more from this author, and the narrator did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life.

Listened @ 1.5X
Dual Timeline
Narrated by Stella Bloom

I requested this audio book from NetGalley based on the description and because Stella Bloom narrated. I'm so glad I did! As a debut novel, it's top tier.

Told in dual timeline this story touches on mental health, romance, second chance romance, friendship, family and so much more. It deals HONESTLY with some of the push back women get about being a parent, a female in the workplace, and the expecations of what a "grown up" looks like.

I listened to this over 12 hours and was invested the entire time. Thank you NetGalley for the ALC