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A Novel Love Story Paperback – June 25, 2024

by Ashley Poston (Author)

4.2 660 ratings

in Feel-Good Fiction

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THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Most Anticipated by Parade · Buzzfeed · Harper’s Bazaar · Elle · She Reads · The Seattle Times · BookRiot and more!

A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction…literally, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics.

Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don’t leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she’s so set on going her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures—no matter what.

But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel…

Because it is.

This place can’t be real, and yet… she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story.

Elsy is sure that’s why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending.

Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can’t place—a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book.

Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town’s happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Berkley
Publication date

June 25, 2024
Dimensions

5.46 x 0.8 x 8.17 inches
ISBN-10

0593640977
ISBN-13

978-0593640975
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

“She's making all our biggest book dreams come true…yes, you're totally going to wish that this plot was happening to you!”
—Cosmopolitan

"Ashley Poston has written another clever, emotional love story part fantasy, part romcom—perfect for passing a day or three by the pool."
—Harper's Bazaar

"I love a romance with a touch of magical realism, and Ashley Poston’s latest fulfills everyreader’s dream: actually getting to live in the world of a book...This is a grumpy-meets-sunshinetale with plenty of book-lover tropes sure to delight."
—ELLE

“If you’re looking for a read filled with heart, humor, and love galore, A Novel Love Story may be your perfect pairing!”
—Buzzfeed

“This one goes out to all of the magical realism lovers out there. If you aren’t familiar with Ashley Poston, you should be.”
—theSkimm

“A romance lovers dream of a book. Whimsical, romantic and packed with charm, Ashley Poston is the queen of high concept love stories.”
—Sophie Cousens, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Part

“Ashley Poston has done it again. I fell into these pages just as effortlessly as Eileen tumbles into Eloraton. Whimsical, emotional, and tender, A Novel Love Story is another enchanting romance from Poston."
—B.K. Borison, author of Business Casual

“Stranger Than Fiction meets Virgin River in this incandescently clever meta rom-com from Poston. Poston gracefully walks the line between women’s fiction and romance—with just a hint of magic—providing an inspirational story of personal growth and second-chance romance alongside a fascinating exploration of transformative fiction, how readers and writers cocreate and share stories, and the value and purpose of escaping into one’s favorite novels. Readers will want to escape into this one again and again.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This slow-burn love story from Poston is as much an ode to romance novels and friendship as it is about romantic relationships. Fans of small-town contemporary romance will sink easily into quaint Eloraton.”
—Library Journal

About the Author

Ashley Poston is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. She writes stories about love and friendship and ever afters. A native to South Carolina, she now lives in a small grey house with her sassy cat and too many books. You can find her on the internet, somewhere, watching cat videos and reading fan-fiction.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

Country Roads

Iwas lost.

Not metaphorically-at least, I didn't think so-but physically lost, hundreds of miles from home, in the middle of nowhere.

No cell service. An outdated map. A gas tank running on empty.

Oh, and I was alone.

When I started this road trip yesterday, before eight hours on the interstate and a pit stop at a dinosaur-themed hotel, and eight more hours today, I didn't think I'd lose my way on the last leg of the journey. I was so close-the cabin where I'd be staying for the next week was within reach-but Google Maps kept glitching as I drove my way through Rip Van Winkle country, until my phone screen was nothing more than beige land and my little blue dot roamed, without a road, in the middle of nowhere.

I'd taken the same road trip with my best friend for the last two years to the same cabin in Rhinebeck, New York, to meet the same people in our Super Smutty Book Club. I shouldn't have gotten lost.

But this was a year of firsts.

Over head, angry-looking clouds rumbled with thunder, dark purple with the coming night and heavy with rain. I hoped the weather held up until I found the cabin, unearthed a bottle of wine from my back seat, and settled down in one of the rocking chairs on the front porch with a romance book in my hands.

The promise of a week of wine and happily ever afters had kept me sane all year, through boring English 101 classes with half-asleep students and AI-generated papers on Chaucer and colleagues who swore that War and Peace was a riveting read. The English department was rife with people who would love to talk to you for hours about Beowulf or modern literary theory or the intersectionality of postmodern texts. But for one week out of the year, I looked forward to shucking off my professorial robes and disappearing into the twisting roads that hugged the soft hills of the Catskills, and reading about impossible meet-cutes and grand romantic gestures, and no one would judge me for it.

And when everyone else pulled out because life got in the way, it was just going to be my best friend, Pru, and me-and that was perfect, too. I needed this. Pru didn't understand how much. No one did. So when she told me last week that she couldn't go, either, it surprised me. No, that was the wrong word-it disappointed me-but I didn't want it to show. I sat on the couch opposite her, The Great British Baking Show in the background, digging my fingers into the comforter I'd pulled over my legs because she always kept her and Jasper's apartment freezing.

"I'm sorry," she'd said, twisting the rings on her fingers nervously. Her dirty blond hair was done up in a sloppy ponytail, and she was already in her pajamas and fuzzy slippers. She was petite and perpetually sunburnt in the summers, with wide brown eyes and a scar on her chin where my teeth went into her face when we were twelve and trying to do backflips on a trampoline. Through the crack in her open bedroom door, I could see her suitcase half-packed already with warm sweaters and cute knit hats. Definitely not summer apparel. "Jasper surprised me with a trip to Iceland, and this is the only time we can go because of, you know, his job," she gushed quickly, like saying it faster would make it hurt less-ripping a proverbial Band-Aid off a very hairy leg. "I know it's not ideal but he just told me. We just found out. And . . . we can all go to the cabin again next year?" The question dipped up, hopeful.

No, I wanted to tell her, but I couldn't quite muster up the word. No, we can't. I needed this. I still need this.

But if I said that, then what would happen? Nothing good. She would still go off to Iceland, and I'd be stuck exactly where I was. Besides, we both knew what Iceland meant: a proposal. Finally.

It was something she'd been waiting for for years.

So, what did it matter if she couldn't come to the cabin this year? It was nothing, really, in the face of what she had to look forward to. So I put on a smile and said, "Obviously. Next year we'll be back to normal."

"Absolutely," she promised, and she didn't suspect a thing. "Oh, and maybe this year we can all get on a video call together instead?"

"C'mon, Pru. You know if Jasper's taking you to Iceland, you won't have time to video call with anyone

Then I held up my hand and wiggled my bare wedding ring finger. "You know what he's gonna do."

My best friend quirmed anxiously. "He might not, and I know how much this trip means to you . . ."

"Go, have fun, don't think twice about it," I urged, draining my glass of wine as I stood to leave, because I didn't want her to see how upset I really was. Jasper was a pretty low-level attorney at his law firm, so he only had certain days off once in a blue moon, and this was a last-minute trip that he'd managed to snatch up for them. I would be a monster to be mad at that.

Prudence might've been able to sacrifice this trip, but I certainly couldn't. I was desperate for it-I needed to get drunk on cheap wine and cry over happily ever afters, even if I'd be the only one in the cabin this year.

So, in the summer of my thirty-second year, with no money and no prospects and one too many AI-generated papers waiting for me to grade for my college English 101 class, I set off on a sixteen-hour road trip alone.

I needed to get lost in a book.

More than I needed anything else.

Besides, it was the ten-year anniversary of the publication of Daffodil Daydreams by Rachel Flowers, and that was something that I wanted to celebrate. The author had passed away a few years ago, and her books had brought the book club together.

And, I think, deep down I just wanted to get away-no matter what.

On the sixteen-hour drive, I listened to Daffodil Daydreams. The audiobook narrator was in the middle of my favorite scene. I fished out a stale fry from the fast-food bag in the seat beside me and turned up the volume.

"Junie crossed the rickety bridge to the waterfall, searching the plush greenery for any sign of Will, but she felt her heart beginning to break a little with each beat. He wasn't here."

"Just wait," I told her. "Love is neither late nor early, you know." Then I frowned at my half-eaten fry, and dropped it back in the bag. I was so sick of fast food and gas station bathrooms. Almost twenty-four hours of it could do that to a person.

My puke-green hatchback, lovingly nicknamed Sweetpea, had started making this sort of high-pitched whining noise somewhere back in DC, but I'd elected to ignore it. After all, Sweetpea was a 1979 Ford Pinto, the kind that had a penchant for exploding gas tanks. So I was just betting that it'd want to go out in style rather than by a faulty gasket or an oil leak.

probably should have turned around, because I couldn't imagine anything worse than being stranded in a no-name town, but I was a part-time English professor who filed her own taxes and knew how to change her own tires, goddamn it.

Nothing would stop me. Well. Almost nothing.

A fat rain droplet splatted on my windshield. Then another as, in the audiobook, Junie worked up the courage to leave the waterfall, succumbing to the awful nightmare she'd been afraid of all along-that Will didn't love her. Not in the way she did him.

I knew these words like Holy Scriptures. I could recite them, I'd read them so many times.

In just a few paragraphs, Will would come running up the trail to the waterfall, out of breath and exhausted. He'd pull her into his arms and propose that they fix up the Daffodil Inn together-make it their home. Their happy ending.

I knew what she'd say, but my heart fluttered anxiously anyway.

I knew her voice would be soft, and it would be sure as she took him by the hands, and squeezed them tightly, under the glittering spray of the waterfall. And there would be magic there, in that moment. The heart-squeezing, tongue-tying, breathless, edge-of-your-seat magic of Quixotic Falls. Of true love.

What did it feel like to love someone so much you ached?

I thought I'd known once.

If life were like a storybook, I would be a premier scholar on the material. Most of the year, I taught English classes at my local university. I waxed poetic about history's greatest romantics. I taught at length about Mary Shelley's devotion to her husband, and Lord Byron's . . . promiscuity. I handed out the letters Keats wrote, and challenged students to see the world through rose-tinted glasses.

I graded papers on The Vampyre and Lord Byron, and I taught that Mary Shelley kept Percy's calcified heart in her desk drawer because that was the closest thing to romance as real life could get.

I didn't need love. I didn't need to fall into it. I didn't need to find it at all. Not again. Never again.

Because love stories were enough. They were safe. They would never fail me.

The rain came down harder, and my hands grew clammy with nerves. I hated driving in the rain. Pru always drove whenever we went anywhere. I rubbed my hands on my jean shorts, muttering to myself that I should've planned out another day and booked a hotel for the night. Maybe I still could, because I didn't know where the hell I was.

Shit.

I gave up on trying to fix Google Maps and returned my eyes to the road.

Somehow, the rainstorm seemed to get comically worse, until I found myself driving through a complete washout. I think I passed a town sign, but I couldn't make out what it read. The rain on the roof of my car was so loud, I couldn't hear the audiobook anymore.

"Will pressed . . . kiss . . . whispered . . . 'It sounds . . . lo . . . dream . . . forever?'"

"Damn, that's my favorite part," I muttered, turning up the volume, but it was already as loud as it could go.

Then-the road seemed to veer off ahead. Thank god, maybe I could find some civilization and wait out the storm.

Putting my blinker on, I turned off onto the exit. There was an old barnlike covered bridge ahead, crossing a small river that overflowed and frothed with white water. I slowed down to putter over it. I was sure in the sunlight this drive was gorgeous, but right now I felt like I could go hydroplaning off into the wilderness at any moment and never return. The road beyond the bridge turned around a steep embankment of pines and wound down between more tall firs, plush and verdant with summer. I thought I'd made a mistake, because the road didn't seem to end, until through the haze of gray rain a tall clock tower appeared, and with it came the soft lines of buildings and light posts and cars-a small town.

Night was coming fast. I tapped my phone one last time to see if I could refresh the map-there had to be cell service in the town, right?-but I must've tapped it too hard, because my phone came dislodged from its magnet holder and fell down onto the floorboards, ripping out the cassette converter with it.

Almost immediately, Junie's quiet musings about walled gardens and true love turned into a blaring pop song, so loud it startled me straight in my seat.

"Come on, Eileen," the eighties song sang.

A blur of something caught in the headlights. I saw it out of the corner of my eye a moment before I looked up to the road again-

A man. There was a man standing in the-

"Shit!" I cut the steering wheel to the left. Sweetpea's tires squealed. My car swerved into a parking spot, tires slamming against the curb. My car gave a clunk (a disastrous clunk, actually), and came to an abrupt and final stop. The pop song died with it.

2

Meet-Cute

My heart hammered in my chest. Oh my god-oh my god, did I hit him? Did I kill him? Oh god, I still had student loans to pay off. I couldn't go to jail yet.

Clawing my seat belt off, I gulped in a breath and took in my surroundings. There wasn't blood on the windshield, so I hadn't hit him, right? Where was he? I'd come to a stop in front of a bar. The red lights on the sign flickered as the rain came down harder.

I shoved open my door and forced myself to my feet. "Hello?" I called, whirling back toward the road, the rain drenching me almost instantly. I pulled my fingers through my matted copper hair. "Hello?"

The man was sitting on the ground, his oval glasses lopsided and foggy. He slowly turned to face me, dazed.

Oh no.

Oh no no no n-

"Oh, sir-sir, are you okay?" I asked, hurrying over to help him to his feet.

He was tall and wiry, soaked to the bone, his white button-down clinging to his muscular torso, looking like the brooding, blond-haired pale ghost of Darcy, his angles all sharp and solid. An electrified zing tingled down my spine. In the pinkish-gray light of evening rain, he was very handsome . . . and very much glowering at me like I'd just tried to murder him.

Which, to be fair, I hadn't. On purpose.

"Are you okay? How many fingers do you see?" I held up four fingers, but really three because I angled down my fourth one-

He grabbed my hand and lowered it. "Three, trick question-you almost ran me over," he accused, his words clipped. The warm streetlights made his eyes glitter like peridots.

I yanked my hand away. "Well, why were you in the middle of the road?"

His mouth twisted into a scowl. "I was crossing it."

"No, you were just standing there."

"You almost hit me."

"You were standing in the middle of the road!"

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (June 25, 2024)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593640977
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593640975
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.46 x 0.8 x 8.17 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Feel-Good Fiction
- #75 in Contemporary Women Fiction
- #155 in Romantic Comedy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 660 ratings

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Ashley Poston

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Ashley Poston writes stories about love and friendship and ever afters. A native to South Carolina, she now lives in a small grey house with her sassy cat and too many books. You can find her on the internet, somewhere, watching cat videos and reading fan-fiction.

Tweet her at @ashposton and find out more about her at www.ashposton.com.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

660 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the premise and last 20% of the book amazing. They also find the characters heartwarming and real. Readers describe the writing style as fantastic, imaginative, fun, romantic, and immersive.

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Writing style Enjoyability Characters

7 customers mention "Writing style"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style fantastic, imaginative, and beautifully developed. They also say the story is beautiful, fun, romantic, and immersive.

"...of Ashley Poston’s books are unique and while they all bring fantastic writing and beautifully developed characters, they are all very different..." Read more

"...The writing was great and I loved what the entire story revolved around (more on that later), but I found myself a bit bored until we finally get to..." Read more

"I loved this book! Ashley Poston knows how to write a magical story!..." Read more

"...Bottom line: the story is beautiful, imaginative, fun, romantic and immersive...." Read more

6 customers mention "Enjoyability"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the premise fantastical yet believable. They also say the book is worth every minute spent, beautiful, imaginative, fun, romantic, and immersive. Customers also mention that the last 20% was absolutely amazing.

"...But once I started reading, I had a lot of fun with it, and it was amazing...." Read more

"...However, the last 20% was absolutely amazing and what bumped it up!..." Read more

"...I read The Seven Year Slip and had a few qualms but overall loved the plot, characters, and the pace. With this book— I LOVED It...." Read more

"...Bottom line: the story is beautiful, imaginative, fun, romantic and immersive...." Read more

3 customers mention "Characters"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the characters in the book heartwarming and real.

"...are unique and while they all bring fantastic writing and beautifully developed characters, they are all very different concepts...." Read more

"...The Seven Year Slip and had a few qualms but overall loved the plot, characters, and the pace. With this book— I LOVED It...." Read more

"I loved this book. I loved the characters and I especially appreciated how Ashley Poston described why Elsy loved books because it's exactly why I..." Read more

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Keila

This book is sure to please, its wonderful and I didn't want to put it down

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2024

Verified Purchase

Elsy loves to get lost in romance books because they all have happily-ever-after’s and the men don’t leave you at the altar. She looks forward to her annual book retreat, she needs the getaway and the cheap wine and grand romantic gestures.

When her car unexpectedly breaks down on the highway, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels a little familiar, and like it’s straight out of novel…because it is.

Eloraton isn’t real, it’s the town of her all-time favorite romance series, where the taffy is always honey sweet, and the local bars burgers are always a little burnt. It’s perfect, and it’s perfectly frozen in time, trapped in the late author’s unfinished story.

Elsy feels like she knows everyone in town, everyone except the grumpy bookstore owner. As Elsy tries to get the town their storybook ending, she starts to wonder if the towns happily-ever-after might be intertwined with her own.

I always get a little nervous when my highly anticipated books come out, because I’m worried I’ve built them up too much in my head and they won’t live up to my internal hype. But I am excited to say that did not happen here, this book lived up to my hype and exceeded my expectations. I have loved every book I’ve read by Ashley Poston. Her writing is just so heartwarming, and her characters are just so real.

Reading the synopsis, I wasn’t sure I fully understood exactly what was going to happen and I admit that I was a bit perplexed. But once I started reading, I had a lot of fun with it, and it was amazing. The concept of being transported to your favorite novel was new to me and I don’t think that I’ve read a story where this has happened very often. There have been many times that I wish I could transport myself into the pages of a book, immerse myself in the characters’ world, and that is exactly what happened here.

It was a nice change of pace for me to get to read something out of the ordinary and have it be done so well. Magical realism is one of my favorite subgenres, so I am always elated to read it and enjoy doing so. I wouldn’t say that the magical realism is super heavy in this book, it’s more of a sprinkling, so even if it isn’t your favorite, you would still be able to enjoy this book.

The characters were all wonderfully done. Elsy was the main character and there were plenty of supporting characters. They all brought a nice addition to the story, and they were all important, even those that played a minor role. I just love that all the characters feel like real people and like they could just walk right off the page into the world.

I’ve enjoyed that each of Ashley Poston’s books are unique and while they all bring fantastic writing and beautifully developed characters, they are all very different concepts. But one thing they all have in common is they are all magical. I will continue to seek out and look forward to each new release from Ashley Poston.

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Celene

Not my favorite by the author, but still good!

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2024

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I am shocked and relieved this ended up being a 4 star read for me! The beginning was a bit rocky for me, which is extremely disappointing to say, because I LOVE this author and her previous books. However, the last 20% was absolutely amazing and what bumped it up! That last 20% reminded me of her other two books and why I love this author and her writing so much.

I'm not really sure why the first half or so of the book wasn't working for me as much except that this romance was a slow burn and I'm not a huge fan of those. The writing was great and I loved what the entire story revolved around (more on that later), but I found myself a bit bored until we finally get to the good parts and my favorite parts of the romance, which was so good! We may have had to wait but once we got there it gave me all the butterflies, chills, and giddy feelings! 🥰

I hate this book wasn't amazing for me from the jump though and it's definitely my least favorite by this author (first and favorite being The Seven Year Slip and second being Dead Romantics), because this book is an ode to all of us, who are book lovers. And I loved the entire premise. What reader doesn't dream of entering their favorite book, living in the fictional town it takes place in, and meeting all the characters they love? It was such a novel idea and for this author to always give us unique plots, her creativity did not waiver in this book either! As I mentioned previously, I sincerely think if this book wasn't such a slow burn, I would have loved it just as much as her other two. So I say if you enjoy and have the patience for those, love magical realism, enemies to lovers, and have enjoyed this author's previous books (and if you don't know, please run and read Seven Year Slip ASAP!), check this one out! All I know is I can't wait to see what this author gives us next!

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2024

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I loved the idea of this story. I just finished the Seven Year Slip, and I ADORED it. So I was excited to read this. But, honestly, it was just so slow. I didn’t feel connected to the main characters and really wasn’t rooting for them to end up together. I almost DNF but I wanted to find out why this fictional town existed. And I’m not really sure if I got my answer or not. It wasn’t terrible, but it’s nowhere near the level of her previous novels.

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2024

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I love Ashley Poston. And I had anticipated this book coming out as one anticipates Christmas Morning full of gifts you can't wait to open. Ashley has become part of my Summer now for three years - typically, her latest release is enjoyed during the 4th holiday, however, I was greedy, and couldn't wait this year. And now it is over. And I am sad that it is gone because I loved every second inside of this book.

This book reads like your favorite novel, with well worn pages and imagery that transplants you into the scenes discussed. I loved (loved) the relationships built, the anticipation and magical elements, and the way that this book (fully) sucked me in. I found myself wondering what the characters were doing in the (few, sparse) moments that the book wasn't actively in my hands being read.

And, like all good Ashley Poston books, my heart was taken out of my body, smashed, and then reassembled in some new (better? different?) form of itself.

The only thing I need Ashley to do differently is publish a new masterful book like this every month (week?) so that I never have to be without.

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Megan Lord

Living out your fav book

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2024

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After reading “The Dead Romantics” and “The Seven Year Slip”, I knew I had to read this book the moment it came out! I do have to admit, I loved the other books better but this story was such a fun read and the premise was so great about being able to live in your favorite books world! The first half was a bit meh for me but the second half is was really kept me going and give it a higher rating! I already am looking forward to this authors next book! I definitely recommend this book if you have enjoyed her previous books as well!

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✨ Small town romance
✨ Slow burn
✨ LGBTQ+
✨ Magic realism
✨ Grief/Healing

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Top reviews from other countries

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Szpera florian

Small Town romance, grumpy sunshine, ennemies to lovers perfectly done !

Reviewed in France on July 5, 2024

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Imagine if you could live in one of your favorite book universe for a few days... This is what happens to Eileen : she is transported in Eloraton where her favorite romance serie takes place !

The small town romance vibe, the ennemies to lovers and grumpy sushine = I immediately knew I was going to love it ! But it was so much more than that.

As Eileen met the characters of her favorite book and tried to help them finish their stories, she found a way to heal and grow up from her heartbreak. Anders was stuck in an universe where he felt safe and where the remnants of his past life stayed with him, haunting him but at the same time, making him feel safe. What a beautiful way to tell a story about being stuck in the past, being in a stagnancy state in your life by living in a book where nothing changes !
As usual, Ashley Poston’s writing is so poetic. The way she describes Eloraton made me feel like the city was a character in the story. I had the same feeling about New-York, while reading “The Seven Year Slip”. I’m going to be honest, there were some lenghts in the middle and sometimes I got lost between all the characters of the book but the end... OMG the end. It was perfect. I couldn’t stop crying because it was sad and beautiful at the same time. Healing brings a lot of grief and Ashley Poston does that perfectly !

Once again, a perfect book by this author who made me fall in love with magical realism !

BarbarinaS

A favourite for years to come

Reviewed in Australia on June 28, 2024

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I love a lot of books but this is going down as a favourite for a long, long time. The book is magical and manages to incorporate many genres so cleverly that the reader ceases to think about it.
There is a fantasy element, a supernatural feel and it is a rom com. However, at the very heart of it, the novel is a love story but not one necessarily just between two people but one where you find and come to understand the self. This is something both leads do and it was beautifully done by the author.
Loved the humour, the cleverness of the plot, the wonderful use of language and the human reality of both leads, the latter the hook that drags you in and keeps you there. You just fall into believing what the author has created because those same characters drag you into suspending disbelief and entering a very real if ‘quaint, slightly odd town’.
Loved it enough to finish in one sitting and to regret it because then I had to close the last page. It may be or may be not the best book I have ever read but what does that mean anyway? The individual reader decides this for themselves. It is however, one that will remain with me and continue to resonate for a long, long time. Highly recommend.

Jules Melka

Imprimé par Amazon fr

Reviewed in France on July 3, 2024

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J’ai reçu le livre dans un bon état. En revanche, les couleurs sur la couverture ont l’air beaucoup plus fade que celle sur l’annonce. Je pense que c’est un lien avec l’impression qui apparemment a été effectué par Amazon.fr

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Kindle Customer

Conflicted feelings

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 30, 2024

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This is the third book by Ashley Poston that I've read, and the first one I won't reread.

As usual, the idea for the book is amazing - all AP's idea are. The actual book, however, lacks the charm its predecessors definitely had.

Firstly, the main protagonist lacks character and is kinda... bland. Her voice is not as distinct as the other heroines' by AP - no wit or cheekiness. Shame, really.

Secondly, the same cannl be said of the MMC. We barely get to known him at all. In general, there isn't much talking between the main characters, and when they do talk, it seems not very substantial. And so, the chemistry between them is not apparent, but bordering on forced, to be honest.

I think a few things are to blame for that. The author spent a lot of time discussing fictional book characters, which definitely stole away form the main protagonists. The storyline is also set within extremely short time frame, leaving the story no chance but to become a very much unlikely insta love.

I've been waiting for this book for months and somehow I feel let down as, with all the gaps I've described above, I've missed the author's distinctive voice that is present in her earlier books.

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