Provide only a novel (3,2)
I believe the answer is:
lay on
'provide' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'only a novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates an anagram (letters in a new or novel order).
'only'+'a'='onlya'
'onlya' anagrammed gives 'LAY ON'.
(Other definitions for lay on that I've seen before include "instruction for Macduff" , "Provide (food, etc)" , "Provide (something)" .)