Good book. Nothing spectacular but a solid story. A good read if you just needed to kill some time. Not a catch on fire story but good character development and theme.

Well, that was an enlightening read, I must admit it took a while to gel with the characters but when I did there was no stopping me. I was a bit dubious about the funeral aspect of it but the writer showed her talent in bringing together a fabulous story of friendship, business, love and happiness.

Thank you Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the review copy!

I DNFed FIVE WAKES AND A WEDDING at 20%. Sadly wasn't for as I found Nina the main character grating and the story slow.

After getting fired from a corporatized funeral home for sticking to her ethics, Nina takes a leap of faith and starts her own funeral parlor to modernize the way people view death. None of the other businesspeople on the posh boutique-lined street of London are happy to have her tainting the neighborhood, and they work together to ensure Nina doesn’t have any business. Then, the handsome and wealthy Barclay enters Nina’s life and offers both romance and free business advice, and Nina is left contemplating his motivations..⁣
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Nina is such a delightful, zany, and inspiring protagonist. I was truly rooting for her from the very first chapter, and I loved that Nina and the story itself focused in on her entrepreneurship and not just her love interest. ⁣
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I would like to thank @netgalley and @avon_books for allowing me the opportunity to read this Advanced Reader’s Copy. This book will be published on July 22, 2019. ⁣

3 sweet, soft, joyful, funny, romantic, entertaining stars!
 
I mostly enjoyed this absolutely hilarious book and loved Nina's characterization. .
 
All the happy ending parts and strong bonded friendship made me sigh too many times, warmed my heart, put a real smile of my face!
 
Only problem is everything was a little predictable and it was too light reading for me! Some parts are slow paced and made me lose my interest.
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Maybe as soon as I read the blurb, I was thinking to read more different, distinguished story but it is still well crafted and romance parts are so genuine,, enjoyable. 

So I enjoyed it. It was not one of the best reads I've done but still it has great potential!

Special thanks to the publishing company and NetGalley to send me ARC COPY as an exchange with my honest review!

This book needs to be made into a movie!

I didn't expect to laugh out loud so much when reading about an undertaker and funerals. I loved this book by an author who is new to me and I look forward to reading more by Karen Ross.

This book follows Nina as she opens 'Happy Endings'. It covers life, death, family issues and relationships but still leaves you feeling happy. Loved the twists in the story and demolished this book in 2 days.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a review copy - I can honestly say I love the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-arc copy of #FiveWakesandaWedding.
A cute, fun, and sweet read about love when we least expect it.

Cute but not perfect. Nina was a bit too whiny for my tastes and I couldn't understand what she saw in Barclay. Especially after figuring out what he was up to. Nina has terrible taste in men.

Expected more about the funerals and planning to be honest, it is called Five Wakes and a Wedding... but not much is included about each of those items. 

Quick read and not too bad.

An easy , feel good read that I really enjoyed. 
We are introduced to Nina who branches out in her own business as an undertaker in an area where she is definetly not welcome and where initially work is not forthcoming. We meet her flat mate Gloria and Barclay, the Adonis of the village.
This story beautifully describes how Nina fights to become accepted within the village, her loves and passion for her job. Laced with humour a book I was sad to finish.

Five Wakes and the Wedding by Karen Ross is a charming love story about a young female undertaker.

Classic love story placed in unusual romantic setting of undertaker world where Nina Sherwood mourns a loss of both her husband and her job. Being left without means to live she gathers up her courage and her father's savings to open up her own funeral parlor. 
With help of her two friends and roommates Gloria and Edo. However, things don't go smoothly as other residents of the affluent suburb abhor the idea of funerals and death, as it doesn't fit into their perfect world and will stop at nothing to have her close her shop.
For the first time after her husband's death Nina starts to have feeling for a man. Yes, he quite often behaves like an idiot and says wrong things at the wrong time, but underneath it all he seems like a decent sort.

Full of twists and turns, and so many unexpected things thrown reader's way this book will delight and empower you.  
It is a book about love between two people, about love between friends and about love for your pet.
Beautiful and lovable characters, so full of joy and life, so well portrayed you will wish to become part of their circle.
You will root for them, you will cry and laugh with them, and you will be so sorry when the end comes.

Highly recommended not just for romance reader but for everyone who enjoys well told story.

READ FOR: feel-good writing, something to make you smile

OVERALL: 3.5/5

Adorable light and fun read. I really liked Karen Ross’ writing style in this book. It was engaging and it was intriguing to read about Nina.

There was nothing too heavy and the characters were very easy to relate to. They were very easy to care for and are the kind that I look for in a contemporary. I really liked that the plot is centered around wakes and a wedding, it made it very intriguing for me since these events are opposites of each other in terms of how people react to them.

It was honestly a real fun read and I would recommend this to anyone who just wants something light-hearted. I read this book to break up a fantasy streak of mine and it worked really well for me… so if you want to do that I really recommend you try this out.

PLOT: ★★★★☆
WRITING STYLE: ★★★★★
CHARACTERS: ★★★★☆
THEMES: ★★★☆☆
PACING: ★★★☆☆ 
PAGE TURNER: ★★★☆☆

Thank you to Avon Books UK for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this novel! Excellent character development, and totally keeps you wanting to find out what happens next. Highly recommended!

Aww that's a shame but sadly I wasn't too keen on this book.  There was nothing wrong with the writing.  Easy to read, kept a fairly steady flow of different things happening but generally I found it slow and it didn't really capture my interest.  I expected more funerals and the stories behind them.  Instead the book seemed to reach half way, with Nina drumming her fingers on the counter top before eventually finding someone willing to seek out her undertaker services.  Of the funerals she did organise, of which I think there were four including one for a dog, they were rather bizarre even for Happy Endings whose mission was to make funerals very personal to the deceased and their families.

The premise of the story was OK I just thought it all went a little over the top even for a fictional undertakers.  I didn't personally like the fact that it was a book that seemed to lean towards the rich and famous, even if they were fictional characters, but that's just me.  I'm not a great follower of celebrities and tended to agree with one of the journalists attending one particular funeral when he muttered something about them having more money than sense.

I much preferred the story that surrounded the death of Nina's husband and the story behind it, which was revealed just over half way through the book.  I would have liked to have heard more about this.   I also thought Barclay was an interesting character, although there again it went way over the top when it came to living a somewhat privileged life.  You know, lets just whisk someone away for a day trip to Paris in their private helicopter, as one does! However that's fiction, it isn't meant to be real.  I think looking back, its the fact that it really was about the affluent of London that irritated me somewhat which is why I didn't really take to it.

Having said that, it did have a lot of light moments and things that did make me laugh.  There was Barclay's surname for a start but I don't want to spoil the bit where its revealed in the book.  Then there was early on in the book, two of Nina's observations made me smile.  Referring to a woman and her hair dye, she described it as Menopause Red which I thought was funny.  I know exactly the red she means and I always wonder why women of a certain age go for that colour, is it the new purple rinse of old?  Then there was Zoe Banks with her collagen enhanced lips which Nina described as looking like a pair of scarlet bananas.  It did have its funny moments.

Many reviewers did enjoy the book so don't just take my word for it, it just wasn't one for me.

Five Wakes and a Wedding by Karen Ross a five-star read that will open many eyes. This was such a good novel, I am so glad I picked it up, it reiterates what I keep telling everyone, how we shouldn’t fear death and have bland funerals but have an event for people to celebrate. People thought I was crazy planning what I wanted at 25, but after being like Nina and losing a friend you and seeing them looking like an old woman and not the person I knew, I knew I never wanted to be seen like that. This was so heart warming and honest, it won’t be everyone’s taste, much like a certain window display in Primrose Hill. But everyone should read it just to understand. I cant wait to see what else Karen Ross has written as this was a masterpiece of art in the written word form.

A fun read with some hilarious laugh out loud moments.  Maybe slightly slow at times but I thoroughly enjoyed it & would recommend it to anyone.

This was very cute, but a little slow to get into. I love all of the friendships in this book and Happy Endings should absolutely be a real business.

Five Wakes and a Wedding puts a unique spin on the traditional rom com. Instead of owning a flower shop or a book store, Nina moves to Primrose Hill and experiences unexpected challenges opening up a funeral parlor. Life as an undertaker is much more joyous than one might initially think, and Ross' dealings with death and the afterlife are thoughtful and comedic. This book carves out its own niche in the genre and is a good read. 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Karen Ross, and Avon Books for providing me with a copy of this book to review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

What an absolute delight of a book! It has the most wonderful cast of characters set in Primrose Hill. It's the first book I've read by Karen Ross and it certainly won't be the last. Who would have thought a book set round an undertakers would have you laughing out loud one minute and crying the next! This is a story of friendship, love, loss, determination, humanity and hope. The funeral business is called Happy Endings and is very appropriate,dispelling a lot of the fears and misconceptions surrounding death. I really enjoyed this book and its eclectic mix of characters and can thoroughly recommend it -don't be surprised to find yourself devouring it in one session ! 5 stars from me!

I really enjoyed this. Some moments of absolute hilarity, really likeable characters and very profound in places. Made me think about how death is viewed. 

Recommended read.

"I listened carefully. It's so important not to interrupt. Being there for someone at the worst time in their life, letting them tell their own story in their own way, can make it just a tiny bit better."

Nina Sherwood is an up and coming undertaker setting up in the glamorous business area of Primrose Hill. However, the nearby retailers and neighbours are determined that death does not have a place on their high street, and a power struggle ensues, with more than one person trying to undermine Nina and her business. Will Nina succumb to the pressure or does she need the help of a handsome stranger more than she realised? 

I am so disappointed with my feelings for this book. Not to be overly generic but I feel like this is one of those situations where it's not you, it's me. I have read previous reviews (literally all positive!) to try to grasp why I couldn't connect with the main character or story line and I have come up with zilch. 

My previous read was pretty heavy, so I wanted something light hearted to take the edge off, when I got accepted to review this I lit up and thought, wow, perfect! Five Wakes and a Wedding definitely delivered on the light hearted front. However, I think that it was a bit too cheesy for my taste.

I thought that the interesting perspectives on death and the 'final celebration' were enjoyable and thought provoking - in fact, the funerals are actually what I enjoyed most in the entire book. I think that my main let down, which was a huge aspect in the story, was the romance.

That's right, I didn't like Barclay Banks, and I especially didn't like the relationship struck up between main character Nina and Barclay. It didn't feel organic, felt far too convenient, and I really don't see what they had in common or why they liked each other. 

Barclay Banks is essentially a man child who also happens to be extremely rich and influential. There is one moment in the book where he actually whisks Nina away for a date to France on his helicopter, which of course he could pilot himself. I don't like to be harsh, and I know this is fiction, but does it have to be so... fictional? 

I also didn't understand the need of the backstory of Nina and her ex-husband Ryan, who remained entirely irrelevant throughout the book. Even after Nina revealed their past, nothing actually happened. There were no repercussions whatsoever and the entire story seemed to get swept under the carpet.

I did love the little side story of Lin, who is the reason that Nina is in the undertaker business. I haven't been to many funerals in my time, but when my time comes I would want my funeral to be a celebration of myself, my life and my loved ones, rather than a religious ceremony. Lin's story rationalizes the need for modern funerals with entertaining ease, her story was a great addition.

Five Wakes and a Wedding has had great reviews so far, so please don't let my review put you off. This book is one of those blips in life where I should have enjoyed it - quirky, romantic, funny - but I simply didn't due to the reasons outlined above.

Thank you to Net Galley and Avon Books UK for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.