Once Upon a Time in Dollywood

A playwright must grapple with her difficult year and writer’s block while falling for the single dad living next door in this emotional debut novel from Ashley Jordan.

Eve Ambroise may be a rising star playwright, but her personal life is falling part. Desperate for a fresh start, she breaks up with her fianc, cuts off her parents, and heads to the Tennessee mountains. But keeping up the lie that shes just on a writing retreat becomes near impossible when faced with the well-meaning townspeople and a neighbor who has just as much baggage as she has.

Coming off a contentious custody battle, Jamie Gallagher is restructuring what his life looks like as a single dad, and spending more days at his cabin makes his new free time a little less empty. Especially when he meets the beautifuland pricklywoman next door. The last thing he needs is a new romance to shake up his family dynamics even more, but theres something about Eve.

What starts out as a fling quickly becomes more serious, and its not long before Eve is running scared once again. Shes loved and lost in every possible way, and risking it one more time could finally break her. But like the fireflies that fill the mountains around them, Jamie’s and Eves lives keep falling into sync. A fairy-tale ending could be in the cards, but only if the new couple can get out of their heads and put their hearts first.

Ashley Jordan(she/her) is a millennial from Atlanta by way of Brooklyn. She attended Spelman College, obtaining a degree in Psychology and a lifelong love and appreciation for womens stories. While she currently works in public health, she has embraced writing as a hobby since penning her first short story in second grade. When Ashley isn’t at the day job or writing, she is either at a Beyonc concert, rewatching Mad Men, or arguing about basketball with anyone who will listen. In 2023, she became a Reese’s Book Club LitUp Fellow.

• Publisher: Berkley
• Language: English
• Paperback: 448pages
• ISBN-13: 9780593819128
• Item Weight: .7 lbs
• Dimensions: 5.2 x .9 x 8.0 inches
• BISAC Categories: Romance – Contemporary, Romance – Workplace, African American – General