ARC Book Review: A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

📝 What is A NOVEL LOVE STORY about?:

Eileen Merriweather, a lover of happily-ever-afters, finds herself stranded in Eloraton, the setting of her favorite romance series, when her car breaks down on the way to her annual book club retreat. As she navigates this seemingly fictional town, she meets a grumpy bookstore owner who challenges her mission to help the town achieve its storybook ending. Amidst sweet taffy, burnt burgers, and unexpected romance, Eileen realizes that Eloraton’s happily-ever-after might be intertwined with her own.

📚 Genre: romance

🎧 Format: ARC E-Book

💞 Feels: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Loved the magical realism. This was my first time reading Ashley Poston, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Once Eileen (Elsy) was in the town and meeting her favorite book characters I knew I would be adding Ms. Poston’s other books to my TBR! A book about books is always going to get my interest. A book with the main character magically ending up in a book, I will love this book forever. And the book doesn’t stop at that, adding in a grumpy bookshop owner, come on now. Is it possibly too perfect? I don’t think so. I say, give me more books on books on books.

In terms of what I was less enthusiastic about in the book, there wasn’t much. The cast of characters were endearing because Elsy loved them so much. When she got involved with their problems and started changing plot points, it felt a bit like Lost in Austen (if you haven’t seen this mini series, I highly recommend). I wish we’d been able to know more about her book club friends – but I don’t know how to incorporate them more beyond another book. Also, what was the significance of the birds singing “Come On Eileen” other than to aggravate her whenever she heard the tune?

Getting technical

I liked that the town was used as a resting stop for Elsy and Anders to reflect and grow out of their pasts. Anders taking his time to come back into Elsy’s life was so sweet – I wish he’d hurried up about it, though, I was getting worried.

The magical elements were of a “suspend your disbelief” sort of realm. I tried not to think too hard about how they both got to the town. We’re having fun, so we don’t need to know how the magic works. This is a romance with some fantastical elements…not a Romantasy or Fantasy.

You’ll like this book, if…

You’ll like this book if you like reading about characters growing together, while falling in love. Character development that you can see and celebrate along with their fictional found family.

✅ Spinoff novella nomination:

Any of the Quixotic Falls romances, so we can see why Elsy loved Rachel Flowers’ books so much. That or a continuation of the story for the little town…has anyone else stumbled into that town?

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments.

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