There is an absolute magic in reading a contemporary romance that manages to feel like a cozy, warm blanket while simultaneously breaking and mending your heart. Ashley Poston is a master of this delicate balance. Whether she is writing nerdy, fandom-centric young adult fairy tale retellings or adult novels where time travel, ghosts, and fate intertwine, her signature voice is filled with sharp pop-culture wit and deep emotional truth.
Her library transitions beautifully from Young Adult fiction into speculative adult romance. Below is the definitive, up-to-date roadmap to navigating her books in order.
1. Adult Standalone Novels (Magical Realism & Rom-Coms)
These widely beloved, New York Times bestselling novels are self-contained contemporary adult romances that blend everyday life with whimsical elements of magical realism, time-slips, or the supernatural.
The Dead Romantics (2022)
Florence Day is a disillusioned ghostwriter for a famous romance author who no longer believes in love after a devastating breakup. Her life changes completely when she returns to her small Southern hometown for her father’s funeral and finds herself face-to-face with a literal ghost—her devastatingly handsome new book editor, Benji, who has unfinished business of his own.
The Seven Year Slip (2023)
Clementine is a hard-working book publicist who inherits her late aunt’s magical apartment in New York City—a place where the rules of time don’t quite apply. When she steps inside one evening, she discovers a charming, aspiring chef named Iwan living in her kitchen. The catch? The apartment has slipped back in time, and Iwan is living seven years in her past.
A Novel Love Story (2024)
Eileen Merriweather is a literature professor obsessed with a beloved, unfinished cozy romance book series. While driving to a book convention, her car breaks down, and she stumbles straight into Eloraton—the fictional, idyllic small town from her favorite novels. Stranded among the story’s quirky characters, she must help a grumpy local bookshop owner find the town’s missing “happily ever after” before she can return home.
Sounds Like Love (2025)
This effervescent installment plays beautifully with the emotional power of music. The narrative follows a protagonist who finds her life completely disrupted when a specific melody acts as a portal, forcing her to confront a past heartbreak and rewrite the soundtrack of her own romantic future.
The Someday Garden (2026)
Sophie takes a job as the new head gardener at Lilymoor House, a historic estate in Maine. Her peaceful routine vanishes when she discovers a hidden, magical garden whose entrance never appears in the same place twice—and a mysterious, charming man who seems trapped within its whimsical boundaries.
2. Once Upon a Con Series (Young Adult)
This delightfully nerdy, fan-favorite YA contemporary series is a love letter to geek culture, fan fiction, and comic conventions. Each book takes a classic fairy tale and completely spins it into a fun, modern-day fandom landscape centered around “ExcelsiCon.”
1. Geekerella (2017)
A modern-day, convention-centric Cinderella retelling. Elle Wittimer is a die-hard fan of the classic sci-fi show Starfield who enters a cosplay contest to escape her toxic stepfamily. Meanwhile, teen heartthrob Darien Freeman has landed the lead role in the upcoming movie reboot but fears he’s losing touch with his own inner nerd. When a text conversation sparks between them anonymously, convention magic takes over.
2. The Princess and the Fangirl (2019)
A sharp The Prince and the Pauper twist set at a major convention. Imogen Lovelace is an intense fangirl on a relentless mission to save her favorite fictional character, Princess Amara, from being killed off in the next Starfield movie. Jessica Stone is the actual Hollywood starlet playing the princess who desperately wants out of the fandom spotlight. When the two look-alikes cross paths, they decide to secretly swap places.
3. Bookish and the Beast (2020)
A heartwarming Beauty and the Beast reimagining. Rosie Thorne is a book-loving teen grieving the loss of her mother, who accidentally damages a priceless, rare book belonging to the town’s resident “beast”—Vance Reigns, a brilliant but deeply troubled, famous young actor exiled to a small town after a major Hollywood scandal. Rosie is forced to work off her debt by sorting through his library.
3. Heart of Iron Duology (Young Adult Sci-Fi)
For readers looking for epic space-operas, this thrilling, action-packed YA science fiction duology acts as a clever Anastasia reimagining set among the stars.
1. Heart of Iron (2018)
Ana is a fierce scavenger girl surviving on the fringes of space alongside her best friend, an iron-willed android named D09. When D09 experiences a catastrophic system glitch that threatens to permanently erase his memory, Ana embarks on a high-stakes heist across the galaxy to find a legendary, lost spaceship that holds the coordinates to her own forgotten royal past.
2. Soul of Stars (2019)
The explosive conclusion to the duology. With the galaxy on the absolute brink of an all-out intergalactic war and old alliances thoroughly shattered, Ana must step fully into her identity, navigate dangerous court politics, and rally a ragtag crew to save D09 and secure a future for the stars.
4. Notable YA Standalones & Media Tie-Ins
Ashley Poston has also lent her distinct storytelling magic to a handful of standalone novels, standalone novellas, and official media franchises:
- The Sound of Us (2013) – Her indie debut contemporary YA novel, following a small-town girl navigating love, music, and loss on the shores of Myrtle Beach.
- Among the Beasts and Briars (2020) – A lush, standalone YA fantasy novel about a gardener’s daughter who must journey into a dark, magical forest to save her kingdom from a terrifying curse.
- The Bewitching Hour (2023) – An official, spooky young-adult prequel novel set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, focusing on the magical origin stories of a young Giles.
- With Any Luck (2024) – A delightful, quick-read contemporary romance novella published as an exclusive entry within The Improbable Meet-Cute collection.
- Eyes Like Stars (2026) – A thrilling young-adult Star Wars novel centered around a resilient young woman and a mysterious spacer who must outrun the First Order to protect a sacred artifact.
About the Author: Ashley Poston
Ashley Poston is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who grew up under the starry skies of rural South Carolina. After earning her BA in English from the University of South Carolina, she worked for several years in the traditional publishing industry in New York City as a book designer and marketer.
Her genuine, self-proclaimed love for fandom culture—fueled by video games, fan fiction, Doctor Who, and Dungeons & Dragons—heavily informs her writing. Whether she is building a bustling comic-con floor or a magical apartment in Manhattan, Poston’s books are highly celebrated for treating the passions of fans with intense respect, dignity, and heartwarming joy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ashley Poston’s latest book?
Her most recent standalone adult romance is The Someday Garden. Additionally, her highly anticipated young adult Star Wars novel, Eyes Like Stars, releases later this summer.
Do you need to read her adult novels in order?
No! Books like The Dead Romantics, The Seven Year Slip, and A Novel Love Story are completely standalone stories with entirely different characters, worlds, and magical rules. You can dive into whichever premise excites you the most without worrying about missing past context.
Is there a crossover between the Once Upon a Con books?
Yes. While each book in the Once Upon a Con trilogy focuses on a completely different romantic pairing, the characters all live in the same universe and frequently make cameo appearances in each other’s stories. For example, you will appreciate The Princess and the Fangirl much more if you already know the background of the Starfield fandom introduced in Geekerella.
What exactly is “Speculative Romance”?
Speculative romance (or magical realism romance) is a contemporary fiction genre where a completely normal, modern-day love story is injected with a single, unexplainable element of the supernatural or sci-fi—such as a time-looping room or a friendly ghost. It allows the story to explore themes of grief, timing, and healing in unique, profound ways without becoming a full-scale fantasy epic.
What authors write similarly to Ashley Poston?
If you have read her entire catalog and are craving a similar vibe, you should immediately pick up the works of Emily Henry (Book Lovers), Rebecca Serle (One Italian Summer), and Abby Jimenez (The Friend Zone).
Verdicts and Recommendations
The Final Verdict: If you want a hilarious, unapologetically nerdy YA romance, start with Geekerella. If you want a beautifully moving, deeply cozy adult romance that will make you cry happy tears, start immediately with The Dead Romantics.
This catalog is a perfect match for: Readers who love pop-culture references, cozy small towns, a touch of whimsical magic, and stories that prove that love can find you even across space, time, or the afterlife.
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