A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
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Book Overview:
In A Novel Love Story, Ashley Poston we see a love story based on healing and moving forward from the past so you can create a beautiful future. In this novel, we meet Eileen Merriweather a literature professor heading to a cabin in upstate New York for her annual book club retreat to enjoy a few days getting lost in the pages of her favorite romance books. But after an unexpected accident, she finds herself stranded in Eloraton, a town that shouldn’t be real but it is.
That’s because Eloraton is the small town featured in her favorite romance series. But the characters in Eloraton are stuck in the late author’s unfinished story. Eileen makes it her mission to finish what the author started and find the town’s happy ending.
But there’s one character she can’t place: the mysterious and grumpy bookstore owner with dazzling mint green eyes, sharp wit, and excellent taste in books. She does know that he doesn’t want her to finish the story. But how can she make him understand that not finishing the story could lead to disaster when the town’s happy ending is linked with hers?
My Review:
A Novel Love Story is my first experience with Ashley Poston’s writing. And it has been a delightful one. This romance is packed with heartfelt emotion, electric chemistry, and magical realism. All of which make up the perfect romance.
Something that I enjoyed about this romance is that it didn’t primarily focus on physical attraction and sexual chemistry. There was depth to this story with complex characters facing real issues.
Eileen was struggling to find her identity after an all-consuming relationship that left her shell-shocked and heartbroken. So, she used romance to escape the reality that sometimes in life happily ever after isn’t so easy to obtain. She’d put up walls to keep herself safe from heartbreak and had become stuck in the past.
Similarly, Anders was hiding behind his grumpy persona and successfully pushing everyone away because living in the past was safe. While facing a future in the wild unknown was too much of a risk.
Their fear of love created wonderful tension between the pair. You could see their growing feelings for each other but they continued to dance around them because the threat of heartbreak was too much to handle.
When it comes to the setting, what could be more exciting than to somehow slip into your favorite fictional world? What a fun aspect to include in a story. And Poston did an excellent job of making the town feel so real creating a truly immersive experience.
Additionally, the setting perfectly mirrored how Eileen and Anders had become as frozen and stagnant as Eloraton. This led both characters to a crossroads where they needed to decide whether it was more important to cling to the past or step forward into the future.
As far as the spice it wasn’t just sex for the sake of it. Care was taken to ensure emotional intimacy was established and played a large role in their coupling.
Additionally, the pacing was well handled. Poston focused on developing Eileen’s and Ander’s friendship slowly intensifying the chemistry and establishing their romance. While it was a short period to develop such strong feelings I still found it believable. Maybe that’s just the hopeless romantic in me.
There’s also a brief exploration of grief showing how difficult the grieving process can be especially when it comes to accepting the loss of a loved one and the guilt associated with moving on without them.
The third-act breakup was wonderfully handled and necessary for the story’s conclusion. We get to appreciate Eileen’s character arc as she finds herself pursuing her passions and creating her own happily ever after.
I highly recommend this slow-burn romance if you enjoy magical realism, heartfelt emotion, and complex characters with themes about grief, and identity you’ll enjoy this one. I’m looking forward to reading more of Ashley Poston’s work.