I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston Narrator: Dorothy Dillingham Blue, Ashley Poston
Published by Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Random House Audio on June 25, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Paranormal / General
Length: 10 hours 56 minutes
Pages: 384
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction…literally, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics.
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 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.
This was a fun romance! I was incredibly excited to pick up this book after falling in love with Ashley Poston’s writing while reading The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. This book didn’t grab me quite like those books but I found it to be a solid romance built on a fun concept. As a long-time romance reader, I love that Eileen/Elsy is somehow able to visit the town that serves as the setting of her favorite romance series. I can’t tell you how many times I have wished I could step into the pages of a book so I found this premise fascinating.
Elsy looks forward to the annual trip to the cabin to meet her book club friends and lose herself in a pile of books. This year everyone, even her best friend, has canceled so she decides to take the trip alone. Her car only makes it as far as Eloraton where everyone seems familiar since they are the characters from the books she loves. Anders is the single exception. Elsy knows that he is not from the books and isn’t sure of his story. They don’t start off on the right foot but they warm up to each other before long.
While this is a romance, I felt like it was Elsy’s story more than anything. I found the flashbacks to her past to be very eye-opening, and I appreciated the growth her character experiences throughout the story. There was one scene at the start of the romance that bothered me. It still does. I decided to just move on with the story as if that scene didn’t happen and not let it affect my rating.
This was my first experience with Dorothy Dillingham Blue’s narration and I am pleased to report that she did an excellent job with this story. I liked the voices that she used for the various characters in this story and thought that she was able to add just the right amount of emotion to her reading. I found her voice to be very pleasant and am certain that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of this story. I hope to listen to more of her narration work in the future.
I do recommend this book to others. I found this to be an imaginative romance filled with incredibly likable characters. I hope to read more of this author’s work very soon.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group and Penguin Random House Audio.
Ah nice, a glitch just erased my previous comment! What did I say now…ooh nice! This doesn’t sound quite like my usual read but the idea of visiting a book world sounded like fun so I added it to my pile! Glad to see you enjoyed it for the most part! Nice review!
This does sound like a fun one! I really enjoyed her book Seven Year Slip. 😀
I love the sweater and its color but it is waaaaay too hot to wear that yet. I’ve seen lots of good reviews for this author but haven’t managed to read her yet.
But how? How?! I must know
This sounds like a good one.
I haven’t read any of Ashley Poston’s adult books yet, but I loved Geekerella and the other YA books in that series. Thanks for the review! This sounds like a fun read.
You know I am over here trying to figure out the scene that is bothering you. Hmmm. I remember this book fondly. I love the idea of going into your favorite fictional world and loved the reflection on how stories change readers and readers can change stories.
It was the slap. I think that if the roles had been reversed and he had slapped her, readers would have been outraged. I would have liked this book so much more if that scene wasn’t in the book.
I’ve heard good things about other books by this author and this one looks really fun. I’ll have to look for the audio of this one.