A Novel Love Story Review

by Ashley Poston

Rating: 4/5

A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction… literally.

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 to 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.

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After finishing this, I just want to open my own bookstore and plan my own little reading getaway!

The premise for this one is just adorably adorable! We follow Eileen, who’s been depressed after her fiancé left her. She found solace in romance books because at least they always have a happily ever after. And every year, Eileen goes on a getaway with friends to a cabin in the woods just to read. But this year, everyone else couldn’t go. Eileen is desperate to go, even by herself. So she packs her bags. Except she finds herself lost in the middle of a storm, and her car is struggling to stay alive when she comes across a small town. Now her car is dead, and she’s stranded there until it's fixed. At least everyone is friendly, mostly. Then she realizes the town and its residents are the same from her favorite book series. And no one knows they’re fictional except for the strange man she met the first night.  Who’s also insistent she stay out of it and leave quickly. Eileen is too ecstatic to leave, wanting to meet all her favorite characters and visit all her favorite places. Besides, she’s stuck there anyway!

This whole fictional town was incredibly cute! Watching Eileen realize this was the town from her books was funny and entertaining. Especially when she started to fan girl. Eileen loves romance novels and now she was in one! 

And what better love interest than a grump! The grumpy sunshine trope is very apparent in this one. And it was extremely cute! Watching Eileen fall in love was amusing because she felt bad believing she was stealing this guy away from his real love interest. This sense of denial just made the slow burn even better and sweeter.

This fictional town setting was clever and unique. Eileen comes into the town meeting her characters in a sort of standstill from where their stories ended in Eileen’s books. It was interesting to watch them interact. I genuinely didn’t know how things were going to play out. But how it did was bittersweet.

The only thing I didn’t quite love was our stranger lover interest really felt like a stranger until the very end for me. He just seemed elusive and mysterious. I didn’t enjoy learning the details of his story basically at the end of the book.

Despite that, I found this to be an adorable read! If you enjoy books about books and small town settings, I would definitely suggest picking this one up!