I’ve been a huge fan of Ashley Poston ever since the YA books. And these adult romances are always a bright spot in my day. And this just might be my favorite of the bunch! It’s easy to say when you’ve just finished A Novel Love Story last night though. Keep reading this book review of A Novel Love Story for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I finished A Novel Love Story last night and I still don’t know how to process how much I loved it. First of all, getting stuck in our favorite romance world sounds like every book worm’s dream right? But secondly, A Novel Love Story is about grief and loss. It’s about opening up our lives and choosing love. To know when to walk away, when to close the book. That sometimes we are forced to choose before we’re ready, but other times it’s hard to figure out when it’s time.
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For some of us, a book can be that safe haven, that spot to land. But even as we re-read it, spend more and more time dwelling in the pages, we have to realize that we can’t capture the same feeling from the first time. That every time we return, the world – we – are different. A Novel Love Story celebrates the joys and passions of reading. Nothing beats seeing someone adore something. In terms of characters, I adored Elsy. Her past decisions, when we give up our lives and dreams for someone because we don’t know if they’d follow ours? BIG OOF.
It takes time to bounce back. To realize that if we don’t know what we want how can anyone else? To feel like our friends have passed us by, that we’re standing still. A Novel Love Story is a testament to how imagine people change our lives forever. We can want things to stay the same, to dwell in a moment, but that’s not the nature of life. We have to know when it’s time to go. Find A Novel Love Story on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.