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Ashley Poston rarely gets inspiration for her TBR list from her For You page.

Indeed, while the novelist’s work, including 2023’s The Seven Year Slip has made waves on BookTok and Bookstagram, she’s intentional about largely staying away from that community. And she has a thoughtful reason for it.

“It is a reader space,” Poston explained to E! News in an exclusive interview.  “It's not a writer space. I will absolutely interact if I am tagged or if I'm invited, but otherwise I'm like, 'That is reader space.'”

The way she sees it, it’s important for readers to be able talk about books without authors weighing in.

“I try to keep a separation there,” she continued, “just because I don't think that as a creative I should be in that space where they're talking and chatting about a book, and they're critiquing it, and they're doing what a reader community does. I want that to be like a safe haven for them.”

But that’s not to say Poston isn’t actively engaging with her fans every chance she gets.

In fact, from her YA hits like Geekerella to her romance novels like The Dead Romantics, she’s been able to have candid conversations with readers who felt seen through her words.

“It's really heartening for a reader to come up and say something very personal that they would not tell anyone else—and say that I helped them through a difficult time,” Poston explained. “I take all of those instances to heart. I love them so much because at the same time, those books also got me through those difficult times. So, I am very, very thankful when a reader feels comfortable enough to share that with me.”

It's no surprise that Poston’s work strikes a chord with fans. After all, her books, especially her romance novels, don’t shy away from difficult subjects like grief and loss. And for the A Novel Love Story author, doing so is only natural.

“I view life as like a pendulum swinging: you have really high moments of happiness, and then you have really high moments of sadness,” she noted. “The same thing can be said in a story, too. What makes the funny bits funnier is the fact that there is this deep sadness, and undercurrent of grief that also prevails, kind of like in real life too. Because we don't go through life just in a rom-com. We're also battling a lot of personal things, and we have our own kind of sad women's fiction story happening.”

“So, I feel like marrying the two is just very intrinsic to me,” she emphasized. “It's something that I have to do in order to balance out the highs and the lows of the book. I find that a book that just concentrates on the romance—which I love— my brain can't do that for some agonizing reason, so I have to make myself cry to refill the well.”

And that process shines through her newest novel Sounds Like Love (out June 17), which follows a stuck-in-a-rut songwriter who teams up with a musician to complete a song in order to shake their telepathic connection.

“I wanted to explore the idea of burnout and having to still work while you're trying to figure your way out of this hole,” she shared, “because it feels like you keep on trying to climb up out of this feeling and you are expected to turn over the next best thing. You're always expected to top the last thing that you created."She continued, "You're always expected to be better or to be more inventive and that's just not how art works. So, I wanted to take a character through that process and that journey, while also bringing her back to one of my favorite places: the beach.”

This summer, however, Poston isn’t just delivering another seasonal read with Sounds Like Love, as she's also partnering with Sonic on the release of the restaurant’s new Sweet Topped Lemonades that come with a side of generosity. In collaboration with First Books, Sonic is donating 100,000 books to low-income communities through its Limeades for Learning foundation.

“I was raised in a small southern town, and so my core memories, especially in high school, were going to Sonic with my friends at like midnight,” Poston recalled. “We would get out of marching band, and then we would go to Sonic for the limeades or for a milkshake. So, when Sonic reached out to me about this opportunity, it was kind of a no-brainer.”

Having family working in the education has also given her first-hand understanding about the importance of literacy and access to books.

“Any drink really goes towards Limeades for Learning,” she emphasized, “so why not have a cool sip and then also donate to a good cause? I don't see where you can go wrong there.”

For more new books to check out this summer, keep reading...

Release: May 27Monaghan always delivers engaging, breezy beach reads and her latest is no different. Budding movie exec Jane and cinematographer Dan have little in common—aside from their love of this really great script. But as the film can only get the made with a superstar attached, namely the pop sensation from Jane’s child star days, the duo follows him to the music festival in Dan’s hometown to convince him to say yes. Though, the more time Jane and Dan spend together, the more sparks begin to fly…

Release: June 3Reid is taking readers back to the ‘80s—although unlike the glamorous worlds of Malibu and sports, she’s turning her sights out of this world. After being selected to be among the first women to go to space, Jane Goodwin joins her cohort of six through the grueling astronaut training at NASA, where Jane finds herself opening up to new experiences like never before—until an accident changes everything.

Release: June 3At just 10 years old, Louisa is found on the beach, her father seemingly disappeared into the sea. With a nonlinear timeline spanning decades and told through the perspective of Louisa and her parents, this novel, expanded from the New Yorker story of the same name, is a captivating examination of family and belonging.

Release: June 10There’s a reason Cosby is a must-read for so many thriller fans: his southern noir novels suck you in from the first page. In his latest, the prodigal son returns home after his father’s car accident. Only he soon learns his brother’s involvement with local gangsters is what has left their dad’s life in the balance—and the danger is far from over.

Release: June 10Take another journey through time and immortality with the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue novelist with an epic story following a trio of women vampires unlocking their power, finding freedom and seeking revenge. 

Release: June 10A writer’s block-stricken songwriter finds her only burst of inspiration has come through a telepathic connection she has with a musician who is very much the opposite of everything she wants in her life. But in this magical rom-com, as they seek to break their connection by finishing the song they learn maybe there was a reason they were brought together.

Release: June 24How many red flags is too many? That is exactly the question in Jewell’s latest as it follows Ash, a 20-something mourning the shocking murder of her dad, only for Nick, a man seemingly from his past to enter their lives and start romancing her mom. Meanwhile, Martha is balancing life as a mom of three, her flower shop and a husband often away on business. However, both Ash and Martha have a nagging suspicion about the men in their lives and their connection leads to a twisted discovery. 

Release: June 24A hot new bombshell has entered the bookshelf. In Rawle’s gripping debut, Lily wakes up on a remote island as one of 20 contestants on a Love Island-like show, competing for amenities and special prizes. However, as the competition heats up, the stakes are raised and surviving may just be the ultimate prize.

Release: July 8Reeling from a family tragedy, newly-divorced Jess flees her New Jersey hometown to Italy to find herself—and the truth about her family. It’s a heartfelt family saga that’ll have you itching for an invite to the Barattas’ Sunday dinner.

Release: July 15The Mexican Gothic novelist is back with another spooky read as grad student Minerva digs into the life of a horror writer, learning that her most iconic work is based on a true story and involves being haunted by a force that not only still walks the halls of campus but is eerily reminiscent of the tales that shaped Minerva’s childhood.

Release: July 29Decades after a tragedy left two locals dead and her roommate on the run, Beckett Bowery returns to her college alma mater when her daughter enrolls. But now that she’s back, secrets from her past are coming back to haunt her—and as this is a Miranda book, it features plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Release: August 26Prepare to descend into the depths of Hell—as that’s exactly what two graduate students must do, at a possibly great cost, to save their recently-deceased mentor. The Yellowface author continues to prove her dark academia bona fides with this trip into the inferno.

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