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Eileen Merriweather has read her favorite romance series over and over. She knows the characters as well as if they were friends and knows all the little details about the quaint little town where it is set. It is the ultimate comfort in her life to escape to Eloraton.
She and her best friend are members of a book club that reads steamy romance novels and discusses them online. Everyone in the group knows Eloraton, too. And once a year, they gather in a big house in the mountains of New York to savor time together as romance readers.
This year, Eileen is in dire need of the support of the club. But every single member ends up having to back out, leaving her alone. Undeterred, she makes the long drive to the mountains so she can at least enjoy a getaway with a trunk full of romance novels.
On the way, she ends up taking a turn into a little town that looks like just the kind of place she’d like to visit. Little details feel really familiar. And then even its residents seem familiar. Soon enough she’s figured out that somehow she’s ended up in the fictional Eloraton! And because her old car breaks down, she’s stuck there for days.
She enjoys trying the local honey and taffy, the hot sauce one character is known for, the pancakes at a diner she’s read all about. And meeting the characters she loves — it’s weird but a delight.
What’s not a delight is one man she keeps getting thrown together with: a grumpy but handsome guy who owns the bookstore. Anderson is driving her crazy. And what’s particularly odd is that she doesn’t know who he is: he’s not in any of the books. How does he fit in here?
Since the author of the series died before being able to finish it, Eileen thinks that maybe she’s there to help bring the characters and the town their storybook ending. As she starts to fall for Anders, she shakes it off because surely someone in the fictional town is waiting for their HEA with him. She can’t mess it all up.
A Novel Love Story has a cool premise, which I couldn’t resist. Who hasn’t wanted to enter the world of one of their favorite books? Ashley Poston makes it happen right here. Her heroine is stuck in her life in many ways, just like the town of Eloraton, and her experience helps nudge her along in real life. It’s interesting to see where Poston takes the premise, and I was intrigued about who Anders could be. I had read Poston’s YA book Geekerella and thought it was just so fun and adorable, so I was expecting perhaps some more of those characteristics this time around, but they didn’t show up. Even so, a pretty good book with a neat premise but not maybe Poston’s best.
Rated: High. Profanity includes 15 uses of strong language, around 30 instances of moderate profanity, about 20 uses of mild language, and 30 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes some talk about sex, innuendos, kissing, undressing, some “off-screen” occurrences, and a couple of “spicy,” “open-door” detailed scenes.
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