I want to preface this review by saying that I really enjoyed Ashley Poston’s previous works. However, this one didn’t have the same emotional impact and in many parts felt unimaginative. The book follows Elsy as she stumbles upon a magical town from her favourite romance novel, where she encounters characters and places from the much adored books that got her through a hard time.

While the premise of the book sounds original and interesting, the flawed logic of the world building irritated me to no end. I guess this was one of those “shut off your brain and enjoy kind of book” as our protagonist does, just roaming through town, not interested in how or why things happen. Oh, the grumpy bookshop owner is self aware he is in a book? He must be the main character of the said fictional book, like there weren’t 4 previous installments and none of those main characters have any idea what’s happening. I mean imagine the existential dread of knowing you have no free will, but Elsy just rolls with it. At one point she says the bookshop floor plan is “tattooed on her lids” because she reread the book so much. I mean how detailed is this book? Every house has an extremely detailed floor plan but menus are a blur? I completely understand the feeling of wanting to immerse yourself in a fictional world as a form of escapism, and maybe I wouldn’t question the logic behind it if the fictional world is interesting. But that’s the thing - it wasn’t. I guess I just couldn’t connect with any of the main characters and that’s why I started nitpicking. Both the antagonism and love between the main characters felt like it came out of nowhere, the supporting characters were boring and the setting is your basic Hallmark small town.

Many thanks to publishers and NetGalley UK for this ARC.

I think I’ve read my favourite romance book of 2024, an irresistibly sweet homage to romance readers everywhere.
I adored every aspect of this book, the characters felt so real and I just fell in love with them. All the setting was perfect and so vivid, I felt I was a part of the story. The story was bitter sweet with the most raw and authentic portrayal of loss, grief and finding out who you are and how you want to exist in this world.
I’ve never felt more seen in a story. Ashley has created this magical story and I will be forever grateful for that.

“But sometimes people came into your life for brief moments, and changed you forever.”

“Because even after the people were gone, there were still stories.”

Ashley Poston is a gift to the romance genre. She breathes life into stories that have been becoming quite stale and manufactured over the past few years— she brings ingenuity, beauty and magic to her romance stories, and makes them so unique and memorable that you’re just left in awe when you finish.

I don’t know how to even articulate how much I adored this story! The story within a story format was so fabulously and effortlessly done alongside some really fun characters who actually did feel like romance couples I have encountered across my years of romance reading. It was super fun and meta honestly. Nothing about this was boring— it was just so unusual but delicately crafted.

I adored The Seven Year Slip and A Novel Love Story may be trying to vie for top spot!

"Because even after the people were gone, there were still stories. There were always stories."

Ashley Poston's niche in the romance genre is being able to make you sob uncontrollably about 80% of the way in. Always, without exception, her books have made me cry and because i'm a masochist, I love it.

'A Novel Love Story' was a love letter to the romance genre that I think will be a hit with readers. It was able to capture the very bittersweet feeling of happily getting lost in your books whilst simultaneously wishing for some of that magic in your own life as well - to be the main character in your story rather than just part of the cast in someone else's. Many readers will see themselves in Elsy. She was funny, sensitive and despite the heartbreak, an optimist at heart.

In particular, what made this feel like a full story was the focus on friendships both within the fictional town featured in the story and within Elsy's life as well. Even in the absence of a romantic partner, Elsy is loved and comes to learn this by the end. It makes the relationship between her and Anders just that more satisfying.

10 out of 10, would recommend. Can't wait for Ashley Poston to ruin my life again.

I did like this book but the plot really stagnates in the middle, and I got mightily fed up of reading “his minty green gaze”, I think this was mentioned about a hundred times…

This really felt like a romance for the book lovers and I fell in love with it myself and would 100% recommend it.

I think we’ve all wanted to enter our favourite story. To disappear within the pages and live the lives of our most beloved characters. It’s a dream for all us book worms but for Eileen Merriweather, it becomes a reality!

I’ve been a fan of Ashley Poston ever since I read Bishop Takes King which previously made me aware of this author and ever since then, I’ve been itching to read more of her work. I’m SO glad I followed up with this one because it was pure stunning. The writing was absolute chefs kiss.

And this book has such an intriguing aspect, coupled with the cover and the fact I know she’s an amazing writer made it a no brainer. And I LOVED IT. Like, 1000 stars love.

It was one of those books where you go down a whirlpool and emerge half way through feeling like no time has passed. I loved Eloration and following Eileen into this fictional town was so enjoyable. I loved her and wanted her to have her happily ever after (Under the waterfall of course…) also, I’d like to step into this town too because it was beautifully portrayed. The story itself was fantastically crafted and the ending was pure perfection.

Couldn’t give it less than 5 stars! Id give it more is that was an option!

Review
This book is every romance book lovers dream. I think the bookish community and anyone who reads romance will eat this up, as I did! I couldn’t put it down, read it in 2 sittings.

We follow Eileen who has been recently broken up with by her fiancée, and on her way to a trip she had planned, her car ends up breaking down in a small cozy town. As she discovers more about the town she realizes she is in the small town from her favorite romance novel series.

The story unravels from there. It’s magical and beautiful and romantic. It discusses romance book tropes, and book boyfriends, and the romance publishing industry, and has small town vibes, and your typical grumpy small town male love interest.

Aside from this book being a romance, it also touched on topics of friendship, heartbreak, new beginnings and fresh starts, moving on, finding yourself and what you want in life. It was perfect and I could relate so much to Eileen, which I think a lot of girls in their 20s/30s will.

I was enamored and enthralled while reading this, as an avid romance reader and bookish community member.

“Things weren’t perfect, and endings weren’t always happy, but it wasn’t always the destination that mattered.”

Honestly if you read romance books you need to read this. Possibly my favorite book of 2024 so far. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you HQ stories for this ARC! ✨

I read The Dead Romantics last year, and I forgot how much I love Ashley Poston’s writing until I picked up this book!!

The premise of this story is so fun, especially for any book lovers - just imagine stumbling upon the small town setting of your favourite series! I love romance novels, but what I really enjoyed about this book was that there was a nice focus on the other characters as well as the "book boyfriend" and of course that sprinkling of magic throughout was just delicious! ✨ It feels a bit like the TV series "Once Upon A Time" (a good thing!), so if you enjoyed that, you will probably really enjoy this book!

Overall, a really great and fun read for me and I will be picking up the Seven Year Slip just based on how I felt reading this one!

This was so beautiful and perfect, just what to be expected from Ashley Position. This one is for the book girlies who find comfort in their favourite stories and characters. It was all around wholesome and so magical with a sprinkle of romance.

Elsy, a woman who lost touch with herself and her life, just existing rather than living anymore after a broken engagement literally stumbled into the town of her favourite book series and learns what it feels like to live again. The premise of this book is so sweet and one most people who use stories for escapism in one way or another will be able to relate to Elsy. I certainly felt like like Elsy was a mirrorball character in so many ways. Always trying to fix everyone else, prioritising everyone else's problems over your own and thinking she's is not good enough and flawed. I really loved her charter and her growth in this book. Anders was an intriguing love interest who was also just trying to find his happiness again. I loved their slow connection from strangers to reluctant friends to lovers. Though, I have to say, I wish the romantic aspect was fleshed out more. Their change to lovers came sort of out of nowhere and I just wish we got more romance.

The writing and magic realism was truly spectacular, it felt like coming home. This book really just makes you feel warm and safe. It was very descriptive but I did not mind that at all personally. It literally was a book about being inside a book and I loved all the characters. The pace is definitely slow and I felt like it dragged at certain parts, especially during the first 20-40%. I also did not really know what this book was trying to achieve. On the one hand it focused on Elsy and her struggles but it also included romances aspects that then turned it more into a romantic novel. A clear direction was missing in my opinion.

I really enjoyed this book though, the last half really transported me to this magical town and I connected so much to Elsy and Anders. I recommend this book and if you love Ashley Poston you will not be disappointed!

Thank you HQ and Netgalley for the eARC.

Ashley Poston will forever be an auto buy author for me. And while this wasn’t as good as her previous stuff it was still very good.

As always she has an insanely unique and intricate fantastical premise and manages to rip your heart to shreds making you wonder if you’re reading a romance at all.

Where this one fell a little flat was that it didn’t seem like the FMC spent any time trying to figure out what was going on. How did she get to this town no one else does? Why does the MMC also know it’s a story? She just kind of moves past it all which was strange. The chemistry development was also lacking between the main characters, they essentially share zero moments to get to know each other in any meaningful way. There were also some weird errors in the book that made me think the draft wasn’t ready for the ARC stage. Some tense inconsistencies and sentences I had to re read several times to understand.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins publishers for the ARC of A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston.

I want to start off my saying that this book is super sweet and Ashley’s writing feels like a warm hug on a cold day. It’s a story about Elsy who gets trapped inside her favourite romance book series - who wouldn’t love that! However, it feels like 80% of the book is about her inside the book-town with the characters from the book and not with the main love interest (Anders, a grumpy bookshop owner who she doesn’t recognise from the series). I think this would’ve been cool if it was a series we, as the reader, knew from before, but there are so many characters to keep track of. I really liked Elsy and Anders, but I don’t think there were enough scenes where they were together so it doesn’t feel like a romance book.

The book could benefit from another edit where they remove some of Anders’ eye and hair description. His mint green eyes are mentioned 31 times!

I love every single one of Ashley’s novels and this one is no different. I like to try lots of different genres but I’ve always had romance close to my heart.
This book was very much a love letter to our favourite books. Ashley described how comforting these stories can be in such a beautiful way. Plus, who hasn’t read a book series and wished they could visit that town. It was a romance but it also talked about different types of love like between friends and between readers and books. If you want a comforting read that will make you fall in love with books all over again this is the one for you!

Unfortunately not for me. I think this might work for others but I did not connect with the story or characters. This was an intriguing premise but missed the mark.