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A Novel Love Story
by Ashley PostonPublished by Berkley on June 25, 2024
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance
Format: AudioBook
Pages: 368
Narrator: Dorothy Dillingham Blue
Length: 10 Hours And 56 Minutes
Source: Library - Libby
Audience: 18+/Adult
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A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction… literally.
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 to 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.
A Novel Love Story is the first book I’ve read by Ashley Poston. I’ve had it on my shelves since its release, and I made time to read it thanks to the Romanceopoly Challenge. I borrowed the audiobook via Libby so I could listen when I couldn’t sit down to read. I enjoyed the premise, where FMC Eileen is traveling to her annual book club retreat but gets stuck in a small town after her car breaks down.
What she doesn’t expect is that the small town she ends up in is the very fictional town she’s been reading about in her favorite books, with all her favorite characters except one she can’t place. The grumpy man she almost ran over with her car in the rain, who she finds out owns a bookstore and has a cat, but he also reminds her of someone, though she’s not sure who. She ends up in her favorite fictional town for a while until her car is fixed, and the whole time she’s there, she’s walking among all her favorite characters and reliving moments from the very books her best friend and the book club have spent talking about. It’s a dream come true, but she knows it can’t be real.
I found this story cute, and I enjoyed getting to know the FMC, Eileen. She’s a romance reader and loves her happily ever afters, so she was relatable. I also loved the idea of the book being about her being in one of her favorite book series and finding love there. Heck, doesn’t every book reader want to go into the pages of one of their favorite books or series and live there? I know I would, depending on the book or series. (There are some books I would not want to come to life that I’ve read.)
I loved the MMC, Anders, and wished I had gotten his POV, since the book is told solely via the FMC. It kept the mystery of how he felt, though. I was curious who he was in the series since Eileen didn’t recognize him, but he had a familiarity about him. There is a twist to who he is, which I won’t spoil.
I loved all the secondary characters and how Eileen got to see their HEA come to life and feel like she belonged there. I also loved Eileen’s best friend, who seemed to help Eileen when she needed her the most, hence getting her into the book club, finding new friends, and sharing her love of reading with others.
The issue I had came toward the end of the book, and with how things ended for Eileen and Anders. I won’t spoil it, but it felt more like an HFN than an HEA, which is okay. I just expected a lot more emotion, and I just didn’t feel like they were going to be forever, especially with how things came to be. Eileen deserved an HEA after what happened with her past relationship.
A Novel Love Story was a magical book, and it was an enjoyable read, but it won’t be a favorite. I give it 3.5 stars. I do plan on checking out other books Ashley Poston has written. I liked her writing style for this book, and it was easy to follow along. I also loved the narrator chosen for the audiobook, so if you enjoy listening to your books, I would recommend the audiobook.
I know one thing: this book would make a great movie. Hint, hint, Hollywood.
What to Expect:
💙Magic Realism
💙Grumpy/Sunshine
💙Forced Proximity
💙Found Family
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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