Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for supplying me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Eileen Merriweather is an avid book reader turned professor of English. Her greatest love is meeting with her bookclub yearly in person to sit back, relax, and read some good books. When none of the members can make their yearly retreat, she decides to go alone. But on her way there she finds herself stranded in a small town with a broken down car. As she gets to know the town residents, she begins to realize she's stuck in the setting of her favorite author's love stories: Eloraton. She knows most of the characters but then finds there is one she cannot place. She's determined to figure out why this character was never on her radar and what her favorite author was planning to do with his love story.
I've recently discovered Poston's books and have really enjoyed the ones I've read. I was truly looking forward to this one. Who doesn't want to get stuck in the setting of their favorite love story from their favorite author? It sounded like a fun read, one I would enjoy and zip through in no time. And, while I did enjoy it for the most part, it was lacking what Poston's other stories have given me: hope and a feeling of magic.
Elsy is kind of a boring character. She is very self-deprecatory which just didn't hit me the right way. Even as she learns about herself throughout the book:,what she truly wants to do with her life, what kind of love she wants to find, and where she wants to be, I honestly didn't feel her growth. I wanted to love her but I just kind of liked her. She didn't present as anything truly interesting to me. She doesn't come across as strong or a woman who is willing to take control of her life, though she does talk about it. Her back story did help to solidify whey she thought the way she did about love. I did get a hint of her growth in the last few chapters, but not enough throughout the book to make me care.
Anders is a flat character, as well. The most I know about him are that he has "minty green eyes" and that he is grumpy and tight lipped. I wanted to swoon over the MMC but he didn't really give me that feeling. I felt like I was missing something from him. I get that his presence is supposed to be a bit mysterious, but there was nothing there to connect me to him and care about his story line. 
The romance was just ok. I didn't really feel the connection between Elsy and Anders. I needed more tension, more angst, more connection. Where was the chemistry? It felt a bit superficial and forced. How about some real banter, which the author tried but really didn't succeed to do in my opinion. And how many times can Elsy tell us she's not who he's meant to be with? There goes that self-deprecatory look at herself again. Nothing could convince me that these two were fated for each other.
I love the idea of a book within a book. But the magical realism did not come across in this one as it did in others I've read from her. I felt like it was really lacking that world building that helps you believe in the magic that's happening. It was slow and nothing truly gripped me.
My biggest complaint with this book is the repetitive descriptions How many times can Elsy tell us about Anders "minty green eyes." It was non-stop in ever chapter. Or how he smelled like black tea. And how golden his hair was. I get it, you like his eyes and hair and his smell is pleasant but it was no-stop. I felt like the editor truly missed this. It took me out of the story as it kept happening. It made me not care about Elsy or Anders. And it didn't help me to see any connection forming between the two main characters. 
I do realize this book was more about the journey rather than the destination but it really fell flat of endearing me to the characters and making me care about what would happen in the end. This was one of my most highly anticipated release of 2024 and I was more disappointed than not with this one.  I'm not giving up on this author, though, and will absolutely read books from her in the future.
2.5 stars rounded to 3