Stunning book cover debut from Reese’s Book Club fellow Ashley Jordan (exclusive)

You’ve heard of getting lost in a good book, but what happens when you can’t take your eyes off the cover?

That’s certainly the case for the cover of Ashley Jordan’s debut novel, Once Upon a Time in Dollywood, which Entertainment Weekly can exclusively share.

The novel follows rising-star playwright Eve Ambroise, who is desperate for a fresh start. In pursuit of that end, she breaks up with her fiancé, cuts off her parents, and heads to the Tennessee mountains. She lies to those around her, explaining that she’s just there on a writing retreat. The lie becomes increasingly difficult to maintain as she befriends the well-meaning townspeople and her neighbor, who has as much baggage as she does.

Said neighbor is Jamie Gallagher, a single dad fresh off a contentious custody battle, who is currently trying to figure out what his life looks like. Mostly, it’s spending more days at his cabin to make his “free time” a little less empty — a fact that’s amplified when he meets Eve, the beautiful but prickly new woman next door.

The two start a fling, but it quickly becomes something more serious, which immediately sends Eve running scared. Burned by how much she’s loved and lost, Eve fears another loss would finally break her. But their lives just keep falling into sync, and happily-ever-after feels just out of reach if they could only get our of their heads.

Jordan was part of the second cycle of Reese’s Book Club LitUp fellows from Oscar-winning actress and producer Reese Witherspoon. The fellowship is for unpublished diverse women and non-binary individuals, seeking to provide a launchpad for more diverse stories in publishing.

The program provides five emerging writers with an all-expenses-paid retreat, a three-month mentorship with a published author, and marketing support from Reese’s Book Club. Applications for the fourth cycle will open soon.

Once Upon a Time in Dollywood hits shelves on Aug. 5.