The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

Paperback, 352 pages

Published June 27, 2023 

by Berkley

4.5/5 stars

Ashley Poston is a recently discovered author, Among the Beast & Briars along with The Dead Romantics are my previous reads which I enjoyed very much.  Released back in June The Seven Year Slip did not disappoint.

Told from the POV of Clementine, a bookish/traveling publicist, she gets more than she bargained for when she inherits her aunt's apartment.  It's through this magical apartment that her friendship with Iwan begins. Iwan is the younger handsome dishwasher with his love for cooking, he has sights on becoming a chef.

I'm a hard sell when it comes to time travel stories, with some intricate plotting and attention to detail the author has crafted a wonderful story with many relatable themes - grief, friendship, food and more.  Clementine's job makes this a fit for those that love bookish books and chef Iwan...well...what can I say?

A unique plot, fun banter, authentic life problems along with a well written story made this an entertaining read and one I highly recommended.

This book was part of my 2023 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge (#63).

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.

When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.

For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.

Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.

Romance is most certainly dead... but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

A disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.

Paperback, 368 pages

Published June 28th 2022

 by Berkley

4.5/5 stars

Ashley Posten is not a new author to me. I have previously read her YA book, Among the Beasts & Briars, and loved it and honestly it wasn’t till I was partway through this book that I made the connection.

The Dead Romantics is a story about Florence Day, told from her POV. A ghost writer for a famous author she doesn’t just have writers block, she has romance block after a terrible break up. What follows is her return to the home she left, well, not exactly left, but was practically driven out of 10 years previous as word of her ability to converse with ghosts, was met with mockery, amongst other things.

The Dead Romantics is a book about relationships, about grief and healing past hurts. And there are ghosts which just blends in perfectly with the family business of a funeral home. What transpires is a heartwarming ghosty romance that was entertaining and fun to read. It was unique and I’m so happy I went into this story blind.

A big shout out to the IG reading community for highly recommending this one which had me grabbing it. My only beef is why I waited so long to crack it open.

This book was part of my 2022 Reading off my Shelf Challenge

Review: Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.

Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.

As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive. 

Hardcover, OwlCrate, 338 pages

Published October 20th 2020 

by Balzer + Bray

5/5 stars

This book was part of my November Owlcrate box.  I love the cover, this photo doesn't do it justice, its bright, shiny and glittery.  What endeared me to this book was the author note that came with it.  I could feel her emotions as I read which just made me love this book all the more.

"Just because you are born a gardener's daughter doesn't make you any less worthy than someone born into royalty."

I loved the characters - Cerys, Fox and the bear.  The back and forth bantering eased the tension as danger surrounds this trio.  The scenery was vivid and the woods filled with danger.  The story was unique and not too predictable. It's magical and thought provoking.

You aren't alone, fox.  Burdens are meant to be shared.

This is YA and even though this adult reader loved it, I think it's geared for the younger end of the YA genre.  It would make a great Disney movie and will appeal to those that love fairy tales.

This book was part of my 2021 Reading of My Shelf Challenge.