A Novel Love Story
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ 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.
- Pages
- 368
- First published
- June 25, 2024
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Reviews
Finished December 20, 2024
“SOMETIMES, A BOOK CAN change your life. It’s hard to explain that to someone who doesn’t read, or who has never felt their heart bend so strongly toward a story that it might just snap in two. Some books are a comfort, some a reprieve, others a vacation, a lesson, a heartbreak.” I have a lot of different feelings about this book. A book about going into the world of your favourite series and getting to meet everyone you think you know so well. I love the magical worlds that Poston creates in her stories, she adds a little extra magic to her books. The small town vibes in this book were really cute, and of course I always love a cuddly bookstore cat. I didn’t love the way the end went but at the same time it felt pretty real, it just made me sad for a little while which is definitely a theme in Postons books but probably a reason why I love them so much. I was hoping for more spice it was pretty closed door, but that being said I loved the interactions between the MC’s.
Started December 14, 2024 · Finished December 22, 2024
Something I love about Poston is her ability to mesh contemporary with uncomplicated cozy paranormal circumstances. There is a magical element to her stories I normally struggle to put down, and they will forever be auto reads for me. Her first two I read were amazing, unputdownable, and The Seven Year Slip was easily a top three read for me this year. I think about it every day. With this one, however; there was something missing… Maybe it was the fact that our FMC was the one who “knew” all these characters from her fav books, and I was not as attached to them or to her attachment to them… I’m not sure exactly what it was, but i put this book down - a lot. This would normally be a 2 day (max) read for me and it took me over a week to finish… When I read a typical romcom story, theres a sort of unspoken natural flow I expect, a pacing and tension that make me want more… they are all a little different - sure, but most of the time the characters go thru their ups and downs to get to that inevitable happy ending. This goes a little deeper in that as it poses the question of what happens after the epilogue for our favorite characters, those side characters in their story and even further than that is: when there is no one left to write their story, do they begin to write themselves in a sense? Or do they stand still in that magical town they were left in…? Which is an interesting parallel as our FMC is also stuck standing still in her own life... In real life things never quite end up how we expect. I love this author but I’m going to be honest and say i loved the concept of this, but i did not love this book - at first. The LAST 20% was what really got me. That twist, broke my heart and honestly I would have been fine with our FMC not getting her HEA in a romantic sense because she really accomplished so much within herself professionally and emotionally, which was really satisfactory - but I am also happy with the ending as it is. 🌶️ 1.5/5 - This was seriously lacking smut… everyone was talking about it, romanticizing it even - but no one was on page fuckin’ and i felt it needed a little bit more of that, even if its not the MCs… there were so many side characters… missed opportunities if you ask me.
Started March 25, 2025 · Finished March 26, 2025
SPOILERS AHEAD!! FAIR WARNING: I did get bored of this book after the 50% mark, and I did skim through some paragraphs now and then. I don't usually do this, I'm not a "dialogue only" type of reader. I was just checking to see if I wanted to DNF and then I ended up finishing it. So keep that in mind when reading my review if you don't feel like I gave it a fair chance. Just wanted to disclose that lol I had mixed feelings throughout most of this book. The romance felt very jarring and sudden, and I didn't believe that these two characters fell in love. I was much more intrigued by the town and the other characters than anything else, and I feel like the author spent a bit too much time with them and the main couple didnt get the time to bond or flourish. The timeline was so fast, and I see no reason for Anders or Eileen to have fallen as hard or as quickly, they barely knew each other. Some quotes of this book I found to be phenomenal, but half of the time i was just wishing something awful would happen to give me a reason to dnf. The plot twist was eh? The worldbuilding was nonexistent. The ending was rushed and way too quick. And the way Eileen thought about Prudence felt so unhealthy. But to give some praise, the book was very easy to read and the writing style was quite nice. It was easy to get sucked in to the story and stay intrigued despite the downsides. One thing i wished had been thought about more was the potential guilt that Anders would have felt. He's inside the world and imagination of his dead fiancee, with her characters and her last tidbit of creativity. Imagine how guilty he would feel, falling in love with another person in the same spot his wife not only created, but the spot that was implied to be where her car crashed. Missed opportunity to explore and represent the guilt that comes from grief of moving on from your previous relationship with a passed loved one.
Finished December 17, 2024
▸ Did not finish (1)
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