Absolutely amazing! The perfect book for a romance reader and anyone who is recovering from a broken heart and needs to reminded to believe in love again! Ashley Poston can do no wrong! She just keeps getting better and better, I also need her to write the Rachel Flowers books! I need them to exist! Highly recommend 4.75 stars!

A Novel Love Story is the brand new book by Ashley Poston (aka one of my favorite romcom authors) and is coming out on June 25th!!!
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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 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 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.
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When I tell you I love Ashley Poston’s novels I’m NOT kidding! Each of his books is heartwarming and perfect. Even A Novel Love Story didn’t disappoint me and that’s all I was looking for! A super cute small town romance enemies to lovers and grumpy x sunshine, a charming and hot bookstore owner, a story about books and lots of laughter!
The author has managed to write a real ode to romance readers and for all those who get lost between the pages of the books and seek comfort in their favorite stories and series!
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Thanks to the author, Netgalley and HQstories for providing me with this ARC!

Three stars for this unusual and unique romance read.
Eileen has been standing still in her life since her heart was broken, years ago. Everyone she loves is moving on to bigger and better things and her only comfort is her favourite series of romance novels. Determined to escape, she heads out on a solo road trip only for her car to break down somewhere so familiar that it’s almost as if she has stumbled into the setting for her favourite books….but surely that can’t happen can it?

What this book does really well is the bookish escapism - what bookworm hasn’t imagined what it would be like to wander round the setting of their favourite book? (If you need me, I will be in Velaris. Please don’t need me 🤣). I loved geeking out along side Elsy as she meets her favourite characters and hangs out in the diner she has read about so often.

For me to be blown away by a romance novel, I have to be so emotionally invested in the novel that I live it along side the main characters. Much as I enjoyed the book, I didn’t get that experience.

I also liked trying to solve the mystery of how Elsy came to be in this alternate universe. I had a theory and I was so far off the mark. It was good to be wrong and to have that surprise.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Magical, beautiful - I absolutely loved it. I’ve enjoyed all of Ashley Poston’s books - she really is the queen of high-concept romance.

I loved the sound of this book because who wouldn’t want to get lost in their favourite bookish town?
I think Ashley Poston is a great writer but I didn’t love this book. Maybe I expected something different and that’s ok. It just felt very slow and I personally found it a little dragged out and didn’t enjoy the plot twists.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Romance with a dash of magical realism, A Novel Love Story follows Eileen Merriweather who unexpectedly finds herself in Eloraton, the fictonal town of her favourite romance series; frozen in time from the late author’s last novel. Alongside grumpy bookstore owner Anderson, Eileen starts to untangle the painful emotional mess that brought her to town in the first place and come to realise that the end to her own story is more linked to Eloraton’s than she expected…

I loved reading this; the setting and the premise felt so real, like I could truly drive into Eloraton myself. This is definitely a romance for the bookish girls who fall so deeply love with the worlds we read about. It’s also a love letter to the author-reader relationship; Eileen is our narrator but the fictional author of Eloraton’s many live stories still bears on the story. I think it was a nice look into how a story can change when it leaves the cradle of its author and steps out into the world; how each if us mould the world we discover slightly differently.

Eileen and Anderson’s dynamic throughout the book was so cute and also — most importantly— believable. They had just the right amount if grumpy and sunshine that made their falling in live so sweet but also realistic.

Also I NEED the Quixotic Falls series to be real!

This was cute and fun and I LOVED feeling like had been transported into a romance novel. Yet another great read from Ashley Poston and I’d recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this arc in exhange for an honest review
*spoilers ahead*

A novel love story follows an English professor who gets lost in a rainstorm, and accidentally ends up in the fictional town of her favourite novel series. Eileen discovers that the town in frozen in time, thanks to the author never finishing the story. However there is one character she doesn’t remember, the bookshop owner, who doesn’t want her help to finish the book and unfreeze the town.


It took me a little bit to get into this book and once I did I didn’t put it down! I loved the way she described his eyes as mint green, I’ve never heard that before and I love it so much!

This book was just wholesome and all around cute! I felt that the plot was well thoughout out and paced really nicely. I didn’t find any flaws or holes - all in all, it was a top read for me. This might be my new favourite Ashley book, I’m definitely buying the paperback when it releases!

It was my first time reading an Ashley Poston and, honestly, it was a beautiful surprise! My expectations were high but fortunately they were met. I found this story to be so dreamy, cute and intense at the same time. What I liked most were definitely the main characters, especially Eileen. Her journey was incredible and I really appreciate all the development we got to see, I think she's a very relatable character.
The premise just draws you in right away because it's basically a book about books and who doesn't love that? I was afraid it wasn't gonna be done well, but it really was. Even though it's not a realistic situation, the feelings felt absolutely real.
I'm making a mess of explaining my thoughts and feelings, but overall, just read this book! so so good. I didn't even get to talk about the romance because I think it's best to go in blind but just know that I was, in fact, giggling and kicking my feet.
Not a five stars just because I felt like I wanted a little bit more of the story itself, but I can't really pinpoint what was missing.

*Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publishers for the ARC*

Ashley Poston is one of my all-time favourite authors, and I squealed when I got accepted for this ARC; I absolutely adored both The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip; the latter having become one of my favourite books ever.

I can't lie, though, I wasn't wholly sold on this one at first. The first 40% I was just waiting for it to hit - IT being the unequivocal love that comes with reading Poston's writing. I didn't feel as instantly drawn in by the characters; the plotline was nice, but I thought I could already see where it was going (spoiler alert: I was wrong).

But then, as I got further into the world of Eloraton, I just fell in love. Everyone started coming together, the romance started romancing, and it was utter bliss.

AND THEN, the twist happened, and I was like, "Oh my God, how could I have been so stupid to not think this was going to be AMAZING," at which point I flew through the last 100 pages in an hour.

Elsy wasn't my favourite FMC I've ever read, but she had incredible character development, and I'm also really jealous of her (yes, of a fictional character), because she got to live in her favourite fictional town. That'd be like me taking a wrong turn and ending up in Chestnut Springs, I'd literally die dead.

Anders, though - book boyfriend written as the ultimate cliche book boyfriend, and I love love loved him. The right amount of grumpy but secretly a sweetheart for someone he cares about. Gorgeous, brooding, and he owned a bookshop. Perfect. I eventually adored his entire character arc, but he was absolutely full of surprises.

There's also just something so incredible about books about books and book lovers - they're my absolute favourite.

I was really excited to read this book, the premise of the story is unique- and I know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but can we take a moment to appreciate the cover design!!!

However, sadly this book fell kind of flat for me. The idea of being transported to the setting of your favourite books is amazing in theory but I felt no interest for the secondary characters in the book and couldn’t connect with their stories. I felt there was zero chemistry between the main characters so it actually felt pretty random when they got together? I recently read The Seven Year Slip and had the same issue. There was no pining, no build up, just you’ve met this guy and are in love with him within the space of a couple days??? The love interest was supposed to be stoic but instead I found him stale. Also the repetitive descriptions of his ‘minty eyes’ were driving me insane.

I am sad to give this book three stars- despite the repetition, the writing was enjoyable and Ashley Poston has some intriguing and unique ideas but the execution just wasn’t there for me. If you’ve enjoyed her other work and enjoy magical realism, I do think you should give it a go!

I was so excited to read this book and rightly so. I could not put it down! I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed this and even my husband knew it was going to be a 5 star read before I finished it just from my reactions and the way I spoke about the story as I went along. I hadn’t read any of Ashley’s books prior to this (even though I have The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip both sat on my tbr shelf, oops) but definitely will be devouring them next. This book had everything for me and more and the twists and turns and ‘a-ha!’ moments just made me want to keep going but also stop because I didn’t want to finish it! I am so so grateful for the opportunity to read this early, thank you so much Ashley, HQ Stories and NetGalley for access to the eARC! 💜✨

DNF at 31%. I really tried but this was so boring my brain felt numb every time was reading it.

I was looking forward to this so so much, I adore the concept but not the execution. From the blurb I was hoping it would be like the song Fictional by Khloe Rose and the introduction was off to a great start, it was very nice and atmospheric but the rest fell flat. I didn't think about the book once when I wasn't reading it and even that was just trying not to skim because I was so bored. The entire thing just felt very surface level especially the characters.

I love the idea of escaping from reality and being transported to your favourite book and the atmosphere that brought to the story was gorgeous but that just wasn't enough for me. The magical element, the transportation, didn't make much sense and it was really weird how it wasn't questioned at all by the main character.

There was absolutely no chemistry between the main characters and, look, for me to say that is truly saying something. Eileen's inner monologue was honestly painful and Anders was completely uninteresting. I was promised Darcy and it was not delivered.
I did not care about any of the side characters one bit. I get that Eileen knows about them but there was no meaningful connection made between the reader and the characters it was like she was handing out flashcards about each of them. A lot of telling and not showing so I just had no interest in them.
And Prudence (Eileens "friend") sucks? And at one point I half expected her to end up being the former love interest the way Eileen droned on about her.

This also seriously needed an editor if it didn't have one or at least a word count. There are apps out there for word counting please use them and that is coming from someone who doesn't usually notice repetition.

Overall this was just a huge let down, I was so looking forward to it and I really really tried to enjoy it but just no it didn't deliver at all.

This is a lovely, fantastical twist on getting lost in a good book (literally). Elsy takes refuge in romance novels as an escape from her own life, so finding herself in the town from her favourite, unfinished series is a dream… and also raises a number of questions. What happens to characters after the happy ever after; are they left there in stasis or does their story live on in the imagination of the reader? What does it take to move on? I developed a theory quite early about Anders (and his minty eyes, emphasised a little too much) which turned out to be mostly correct, but working that out didn’t spoil my enjoyment of Elsy’s discoveries about the town and about herself. The side characters are well drawn, with clever distinctions between Eloraton and the real world, and I liked the nod back to The Dead Romantics. Definitely one for lovers of romance novels.

Loved the escapism and the premise, but the romance was a little too instant for me. It felt very similar to one of my favourite TV shows, Once Upon A Time

WOW! I have loved Ashley's other books and she's done it once again with A Novel Love Story. This book felt like a love letter to romance readers, and it was just such a clever take on magical realism combining real life with the world inside Elsy's favourite book series.

I absolutely loved both Elsy and Anders as characters, as well as the other characters from the town and seeing how their characters started to develop more as Elsy interacted with them. I guessed early on who Anders was, and although it didn't then come as a surprise, the way the ending played out was just so perfect - I cried!

This is going on my re-read pile as soon as I get my hands on a physical copy.

3.5 rounded up!

*thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review*

The premise of this one had me instantly intrigued- imagine waking up in your favourite book!!

Like with the Dead Romantics, one of the main things I loved about this was Ashley’s writing, it just feels like a warm blanket on a rainy day! The plot was very Hallmark movie and full of cliches but that’s one of the reasons I loved it.

The reason this wasn’t 5 star for me was the pacing was a little off, we jump between book life and normal life , past and present and for me it just felt a little clunky at times, with the pace being quite slow at the 50% mark.

I also didn’t really feel the chemistry in the romance as much as I would have liked but did enjoy the MMC as a character.

I loved the friendship aspect in this one, and feel like it carried the narrative for me.

All in all this was a fun fluffy romance read, and if you like a hallmark movie and the series once upon a time, I think you’ll like this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝟰 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀!

Ashley Poston does it again with this book, a love letter to every bookworm, no matter the genre - imagine falling in to your favourite romance novel, meeting the characters you love, and being in the familiar surroundings that make up those tear soaked pages of your favourite book! Magical realism, at its finest!

I fell in love with Poston’s writing in The Dead Romantics, and A Novel Love Story did not dissapoint - I also LAPPED UP all the subtle little links to TDR. You have to go in to these books and enjoy them for what they are, suspend all disbelief, and just sink in to these magical stories.

I was absolutely ready to launch this book through the window toward the end - but Poston pulled through, as she always does. The repetitiveness of some descriptions would be my only criticism, but overall I had such a fun time and was tearing up by the end - and that authors note!!

"𝗜 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱, 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝘁｡ 𝗜𝘁 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲｡ 𝗜𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆｡" ~ 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯

This is such a unique book! The premise was so intriguing and it kept me questioning what is happening! Ashley Poston is literally the queen of writing books with fantasy realism!

What a dreamy story to fall in to. I think we as readers, would love nothing more than to stumble in to our favourite fictional world, right? And what's better than a small town with the strangest quirks, the sweetest romances and an unwritten ending?
The Seven Year Slip still remains my favourite but this one felt like a yummy, summer treat. Rolling down car windows, sweat drying on your skin, Stevie Nicks' voice hollering in the background
I thought the plot was simple and enjoyable- incredibly relatable - if you've ever felt lost or stuck in life, like everyone is moving forward and you're trying to just stay afloat, this is a book for you.
Themes of grief, healing, self love and self doubt were prevalent throughout and always make Ashley's books so special.
I desperately want to read the series mentioned in this book because it sounds hella cute.
I had a great time and hope other readers find what they need in Eloraton, in the same way that I did