About the Book
-
Author:
- Ashley Poston
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- Straight
- White (Non-Specified)
First Impressions: Hidden Agenda
What’s Your Type? Missed Connections, Cute Nicknames, Overworked Introvert Isn’t Looking for Love, The Lake House
Meet Cute: I Let Myself In
The Lean: Hello, Lemon
Dirty Talk: Slow Burn Simmer
We Need to Talk:Here for a Good Time
Was it Good For You? I’ll Have What She’s Having
Content Warning: The Seven Year Slip includes mention of a family member who committed suicide and frequent mentions of grief over the death of a loved one.
First Impressions: Hidden Agenda
I’m never embarrassed for people to see the covers of books I’m reading, but if you’re not comfortable with folks knowing—this is the book for you. If you didn’t know this was a rom-com, you wouldn’t know this is a rom-com.
The lemon branches and pigeons are a sweet nod to the story, too. The lack of hyphenation of the title kind of kills me, though.
What’s Your Type?
- Missed Connections
- Cute Nicknames
- Overworked Introvert Isn’t Looking for Love
- The Lake House
Dating Profile
Six months ago, Clementine West’s aunt died, and Clementine’s life became divided into the before and after. Before, they used to go on adventures all around the world, reveling in the rush of spontaneity. After, Clementine feels like a ghost in her aunt’s old apartment, with nothing but her work as a book publicist to and well-meaning, if a little overbearing, friends trying to coax her out of her grief to fill her days. But then one morning she wakes to find a man in her aunt’s old apartment—a man from seven years in the past.
Her aunt had two rules: Take off your shoes in the apartment and never fall in love there. Clementine tries hard not to break either, but sometimes you can’t help but forget the rules.
Meet Cute: I Let Myself In
After a particularly grief-filled evening, Clementine wakes to the sounds of someone puttering in the kitchen. But it’s not her aunt—though she believes that for a split second—it’s a strange man with a story about her aunt letting him stay there for the summer while she’s traveling.
Clementine never really believed the stories her aunt told her about the apartment being magical, and connecting folks across a seven-year span, but Iwan definitely isn’t from Clementine’s time. Not that he knows that.
The Lean: Hello, Lemon
Iwan’s young and hungry, looking to make his name in the New York City food scene. He’s got a plan, which involves him working his way through the ranks, and isn’t looking for love. But then Clementine shows up in the apartment he’s staying at and neither of them is immune to each other’s charms, especially when Iwan decides to give her a nickname and cook her dinner.
Dirty Talk: Slow Burn Simmer
Clementine holds herself back from anything serious with Iwan, in part because he lives in her past and in part because—SPOILER ALERT—she meets him in her present through work, and he’s a very different person. But the chemistry is undeniable, and even their kisses are swoony.
He leaned over the table and pressed his lips to mine. Then we broke away—just for a moment, a sharp intake of breath—and crushed our mouths together again. I curled my fingers around the front of his dress short and tugged at his already loose tie. He cupped my face with his hands, and drank me in. I melted into his faster than ice cream on a hot sidewalk. He kissed like he wanted to savor me.
“I fear I have, indeed, gotten the wrong idea,” he murmured when we finally broke away, his words hot against my lips, voice deep and hoarse. “Despite my best efforts.”
Ms. Perky’s Prize for Purplest Prose
The Seven Year Slip isn’t super spicy (i.e., graphic) and the sexy times in the book are a bit fade-to-black. But this line, about a condom, made me chuckle (with the book, not at it):
He tore it open with his teeth—which was so much sexier than I thought it could be …
I’m sure, like Clementine, I’d get caught up in the moment and give this a pass, but as a reader, I couldn’t help but picture this in an unexpectedly comedic way.
Ed. note: I pulled quotes from an advanced review copy; the final text might be different.
We Need to Talk: Here for a Good Time
Frequently, books that involve timey-wimey elements like the one in The Seven Year Slip keep the suspense by dragging out the “present day” meet cute until the end of the book. While I dig that when it’s done well, Poston shakes up the trope by having Clementine and Iwan run into each other concurrently in the present as they’re meeting in the past. I really felt for Clementine, attempting to keep things straight (and professional) without knowing all of the details. And I applaud Poston for giving her characters a chance to get to know each other and experience their chemistry in two ways, because seven years sometimes makes someone a very different person.
Was it Good For You? I’ll Have What She’s Having
This book made me hungry in more ways than one *wink wink nudge nudge*. It’s a sweet story that isn’t just fluff—Clementine is dealing with some very real grief over the loss of her aunt and struggling with a two-thirds life crisis, neither of which having a man come into her life fixes, as great as Iwan is. Poston does a really great job of mixing uncomfortable aspects of life, like grief (see also The Dead Romantics), with a romance that will have you cheering.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Berkely, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. The Seven Year Slip is available now.
i love this goofy review as much as i love this book!
Ha! Thank you, Komal!