Tag: apartments

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Seven Year Slip

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

First line: “This apartment is magical,” Aunt Analea once said, sitting in her wingback chair the color of a robin’s egg, her hair twisted up with a silver dagger hairpin.

Summary: Clementine has many fond memories of her aunt. She loved adventure and told the most fantastic stories including the one about her magical apartment. But after her aunt dies, Clementine inherits the apartment which she is unsure she can live in because of all the memories associated with it. Until one day she returns home from work to find a man in her apartment. He claims to have been allowed to stay for the summer but the summer in question is seven years in the past. It appears that her aunt’s stories were true. How will these temporary roommates coexist in different times and not fall for each other? Only time will tell.

My Thoughts: Another rom-com author has sucked me into their fandom. This was a cute magical romance. However, below the romance was a young woman struggling with her grief at the loss of her aunt. It gives extra depth to the story and character. The romance was sweet yet complicated. Each of the characters are trying to find themselves in bustling New York City but they magically stumble upon the person they were meant to be with but at the wrong time. Sounds like the perfect formula for romance!

Even though some aspects were rather predictable (which rom-coms aren’t) I found this enjoyable and worth the hype. For fans of Emily Henry this is a perfect read. I just purchased a copy of Poston’s other popular romance, The Dead Romantics, which I am very much looking forward to diving into.

What’s Ashley Reading?: The Lions of Fifth Avenue

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

First line: She had to tell Jack.

Summary: Laura Lyons and her family had recently moved into the superintendent’s apartment in the New York City Public Library. It seemed like a dream come true to be surrounded by so much history and knowledge. But even with everything seeming so perfect she knows something is missing. She takes a chance and applies to Columbia Journalism School. When she is accepted she doesn’t realize how much her life will now change.

Eighty years later, Sadie, Laura’s granddaughter is working in the same library. She has been preparing an exhibit when books, very valuable books, begin to disappear. As she helps search for them she worries that the blame may be put on her because of her family’s past. It seems that the past is repeating itself.

My Thoughts: I am so happy that Davis went back to her old style of writing. I love her stories that have intertwining stories from different time periods. She does them so well. I was really disappointed in the Chelsea Girls when she diverged from this format. It did not have the same magic as her other books have had.

The author does a wonderful job of bringing the landmarks she writes about to life. They almost become a character in the story as well. These buildings have so much history. I would love to one day be able to visit them. And the fact that there are all these secrets or unknown parts of each building are fascinating. Who knew that there were apartments in the New York library? I for sure didn’t. It would be a dream to live in such an iconic location.

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a gentle read with a little mystery thrown in. The history and story are easy to get lost in.

FYI: Perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Beatriz Williams.