Five, six, seven, eight, Hollywood.

Hi, y'all. Welcome or welcome back to Gilmore to read. I'm your host, Haley, and I am so glad

you're here today, here on this Wednesday. On Wednesday, we talk books. And what are we going to

talk about today? Books. Absolutely.

With today's guest, who is the author of Reese's Book Club pick for August, Once Upon a Time in

Dollywood. And that is Ashley Jordan. I absolutely adore Ashley. She is such a gem, so kind and

talented. And talking to her in this episode felt like reuniting with a friend.

And I don't even want to say like reuniting with a friend. It was me reuniting with a friend

because I had the honor of being Ashley's conversation partner for her release day event in

Atlanta where I fell in love with her and the community of women who supports her. I talked more

about the event on Patreon, but it was just

so fun and just such an honor to be a part of her first of her author event for her debut release.

And we talk more about the community around her in this episode because just being there in that

room was nothing but love, which of course leads me into her book once upon a time in

Hollywood because it is a romance. And I think

that you'll love it if you love the multifaceted nature of Lorelei, the surly daughter who resents

her parents and the cheerful neighbor, the witty woman and the single parent. We talk in this

episode how the love interest, Evie and Jamie, feel like taking apart Lorelei's character and making them fall in love with each other. Which sounds really weird, but like once you get into the book, I think you'll absolutely understand what I'm saying. It's also a little bit Lorelai and Luke, but with the leading lady being a black playwright and her love interest being a single father. And just trust me, when you get into it, you're going to be like, oh my gosh, yes, I see the vision, but it is completely and totally its own thing. It's always just the curse of me of going into a book being like, oh my gosh, how can I make my Gilmore Girls lovers and listeners find an entry point into this book that they're going to love? Because sometimes you just need to be convinced in the right way. And when you get into this one, you're going to realize, oh my gosh, I totally understand what Haley was saying. But with that concept comes this absolutely

beautiful. to be convinced in the right way. And when you get into this one, you're going to realize, oh my gosh, I totally understand what Haley was saying. But with that concept comes this absolutely

beautiful writing from Ashley. It is an emotional slowburn set between the mountains of Tennessee,

partly in Nashville, and of course, New York City, where Eve works as a playwright.

Ashley is also part of a very specific fandom, which I'm excited

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