A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston was what I’ve come to expect, magical realism and a sweet romance with angsty vibes. This one is the story of Eileen, or Elsy, a literature professor who has a broken heart and a book club friends trip that all of her book club friends have had to bail on. Along the way to the trip, she breaks down in the fictional town where her favorite book series takes place. She knows the world can’t be real, but she starts to fall for the grumpy bookstore owner anyway.

Even though this had the same vibes as most of Poston’s other books, and she is absolutely one of my favorite authors, this was my least favorite of her books so far. I didn’t love Elsy or connect with her the way I have with her other heroines. I found her a bit irritating to be honest, and I felt like the story subverted itself in the 3rd act. If you like Ashley’s other books, I definitely recommend diving in, but I wouldn’t totally decide your feelings about her writing or books in general on this experience. Ashley Poston wrote two of my favorite 5-star romances, so if this doesn’t hit super hard for you but you like the idea of magical realism, try out Seven Year Slip or The Dead Romantics. You won’t be sorry.

Oh, Buddy. We need to talk about Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle, a new book coming out July 7th, 2026. I received this as an audiobook ARC through NetGalley from Macmillan Audio. This book was narrated by THE Mara Wilson, who did a really wonderful job. I enjoyed the audiobook a lot.

The premise of this book is a little crazy. Our main girl, Poppy is a fashion influencer with a super secret, super gross night job: grave robbing. One night, Poppy gets THE JOB. The one that will make it so she can stop doing her super gross corpse wheeling and dealing. Someone is mysteriously offering her a bunch of monies to pick up the body of recently and publicly killed Eddie Michaels, a huge rockstar and Poppy’s hero. Poppy knows it sounds pretty sus, but she takes the risk and things seem to be going okay, until very dead Eddie wakes up, and starts to very much ruin Poppy’s night.

What did I think of it? I loved it. Poppy was honestly annoying and highly unlikeable in the beginning of this book, and I wasn’t sure this was for me, but the moment Eddie woke up, I was invested. I had never read a Chuck Tingle book, but this one was so good that I will be diving back in for sure. I felt so many emotions. Annoyance. Mom Rage. Empathy. Sadness. Joy. Disgusted. A little afraid. All the things.

I definitely recommend picking this one up when it comes out in a few weeks!