A Novel Love Story

Heartbroken after a failed engagement, Elsy Merriweather is further disheartened when her book group flakes on their annual cabin weekend. Elsy decides to take a solo vacation, but a storm pushes her off course. She is shocked to realize that she’s landed in Eloraton, the fictional town featured in her favorite romance novels. Everything is in place except for the grumpy, swoon-worthy bookstore owner, Anderson. The longer Elsy stays, the more she changes the story, and the more it changes her. As she tries to avoid falling for Anderson, who seems like he was written just for her, she must also find a way home. In this love letter to romance readers, Poston (The Seven Year Slip) sidesteps tropes to pen a novel story with great depth. Narrator Dorothy Dillingham Blue gives life to the characters, making each distinct. Her portrayal of Elsy brims with emotion and feeling, and Elsy’s Georgia accent never veers into hokeyness. Author Poston reads the acknowledgments in a conversational tone that borders on overacting, but she reins it in for a touching testament about the lives readers give stories after they’re written.