A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

I’ve been following Ashley Poston’s work for a while. At first it was the comic con series back in 2020 when she first became known to me during COVID. After I read the series I forgot about her for a while. It was only when I went into my local Waterstones to pick up The Dead Romantics she came back under my radar. She is now one of my must buys if a new book comes out. Her take of the romantic genre has always been fresh and interesting with some form of magical realism.

A Novel Love Story follows our heroine Elsy, otherwise referred to as Eileen. Unlucky in love she struggles to try new things. Instead, she is comforted by her favourite book series by her favourite author, Rachel Flowers. On her way to a cabin retreat by herself, she finds her car broken down in a town that is somewhat familiar to her favourite book series.

I’m not going to lie, compared to Poston’s earlier novels this book took some time for me to get into. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve had to pick it up and put it down. It’s only when I’ve had a free day to myself I’ve really put the energy into reading this book. Elsy seems like an ok character but I really wished that she stood up for herself and for what she wanted more. There were times where she did but it was quite a while before we see any progress.

I did quite like the idea of the novel itself. It definitely has that feeling that we all have as readers who have connected to material in which we wished we lived in. That feeling of home. However, I wasn’t particularly attached to the love interest. Especially towards the latter half of the book. I think Elsy could have done a lot better and certainly deserved a lot better.

As much as this book was an easy comforting read, Poston certainly has better works. But if you like a quick easy form of escapism this might be a novel for you.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

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