This was one of those books that I absolutely adored, from start to finish. It was the timing of the read along with the quirkiness of Florence and her budding relationship with Ben that drew me in.

These two had a rough introduction, with Ben taking a hard stance on Florence's deadline (she's a ghostwriter for a beloved romance writer) on her latest manuscript, but their "relationship" really grew when she was back home for her father's funeral. I enjoyed Florence learning to let go of everything that has weighed down on her and realize that no matter what happened when she was younger or with her ex...her family and true friends are always there for her. But most importantly, it was the way Florence and Ben learned from each other and grew as people. Both of them had a lot of baggage that needed to be unpacked and dealt with and it was the easiness of their interactions with one another that helped both of them figure out just what they wanted out of life.

The perfect weekend/beach read. If you're looking for something that has a little bit of everything...this is the read for you.

Huge thanks to @berkleyromance for this gifted ARC copy of The Dead Romantics!

I so look forward to when Berkley romances arrive in my inbox each month and I immediately chose this one to read based on the beautifully vibrant cover, the intriguing title and the ghostly, yet romantic premise! This was such a fun, refreshing, and unique romance and I devoured every single page.

We follow our MC, Florence, as she struggles to finish a highly anticipated romance novel that she ghostwrites for- all under her new editor, Benji’s, looming deadline. Scarred by a streak of terrible luck at love, Florence is at a standstill in her career. Then suddenly she’s called home from New York, to be with her family as they mourn her father’s death. It’s when she’s freshly arrived back at her family’s funeral parlor business that Benji shows up on her doorstep-as a ghost. What follows is a journey in love while bridging the past with the present to make way for a hopeful new future.

This book had it all. Emotional and deeply moving moments, lyrical and poetic prose, humor and wonderful characters both main and supporting. I can’t recommend this story enough!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I feel bad saying this but it was a torture finishing this book. I was so bored out of my mind from all the repetitiveness. It started off interesting but once she went back to her home town, I just lost interest.
I had high hopes for this book, I mean look at the cover and the title, so gorgeous, but I didn’t like the story. It just wasn’t my jam. I couldn’t connect to the story nor to the characters.

A cute supernatural romance novel about a struggling ghostwriter returning home for her father's funeral and finding that her new (all too handsome) editor has come to her as a ghost. It dragged on a bit at times, particularly the beginning and ending, but once I got into the story I really enjoyed it.

First off, a huge thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group, for letting me read an advanced copy of one my most anticipated reads!

To put it quite bluntly, this is a book about endings. The end of a love story. The end of a loved-one's life. The end of keeping secrets. And as Ashley Poston once said in a TikTok, "endings are hard." But the good thing about endings is that they allow room for new beginnings. Even if it takes multiple rewrites and edits to get it right. (Even though it's totally unfair how life doesn't have a backspace key)

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston is an adult romance novel that follows the sudden upheaval that is Florence Day's life after her father's sudden passing. One might expect Poston's book to be nothing short of a Hallmark classic story of love and tragedy. But there is one thing that sets Florence apart from the rest of love-struck city slicker girls getting trapped in small towns. She doesn't believe in love. At least, not anymore.
Which is quite the problem when she is the ghostwriter to one of the most famous romance authors and her deadline is too soon and she has yet to nail down the ending. (See what I mean about this book being all about endings).

Prepare for this book to make you scream, cry, and laugh (sometimes all at the same time). Because Poston doesn't hold any punches. (And Florence certainly doesn't either).

I thought The Dead Romantics was a fun, unique read and I know it'll find itself with a list of patrons on the waitlist. I've gone ahead and preordered a few copies for my library. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and characters, so this will definitely not be the last Poston novel for me.

The Dead Romantics gives a new definition to love is dead!

I had an absolute blast reading this book! It’s a heartwarming story about love and grief but with a sprinkle of paranormal to it. It’s beautifully weird and I loved it so much!

This story heavily deals with death but oh my gosh it was hilarious! The humor had me laughing out loud quite a bit. I couldn’t get enough of the death puns!

The main characters were quirky and so much fun to follow. I could really relate to Florence and Ben was a total sweetheart. I do wish we could have learned a little more about him though. Their romance was adorable and it felt real.

I cannot wait for this book to be out in the world and for everyone to fall in love with it as much as I did! I’m crossing my fingers that Ashley Poston writes more adult romcoms in the future!

Also, I have to say that I loved the little reference to the Once Upon a Con series!

Florence Day is a ghost writer for a well known romance writer. But, following a break up she no longer believes in romance, in fact she says romance is dead. Now faced with a deadline ,that her new boss will not extend, Florence is ready to stop writing completely. Then life pulls her back home. A place she has not returned to since she fled town along with her haunted past.

When I saw this book I was intrigued. Books with ghosts are usually hit or miss for me. I am happy that I took a chance on The Dead Romantics because it is cute, funny, quirky, and maybe a little strange. Overall I thought this book was a delightful read. There were quite a few moments to pull on your heart then have you laughing minutes later. If you are interested in a rom com with a twist, this book is for you

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for my eARC!

I am DYING. I read this book at a wine bar in Buenos Aires in one sitting. I started with very few expectations - I had never read anything from the author before - but the combination of romance, supernatural elements and family discovery was truly incredible.

Everything was handled so well and I think a lot of people will find this book extremely relatable - I also think it's the PERFECT Halloween read.

This book was perfect.

Dead Romantics opens on Florence Day, a ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, meeting her new editor the dashingly handsome Ben. After proclaiming LOVE IS DEAD, Florence’s extension is denied. The same day she gets a call that turns her life upside down and forces her to return home after ten years away. To make things worse… a brooding tall handsome ghost shows up on her doorsteps to complicated things. Will she be able to lay her ghost to rest and believe in love again?

I didn’t know what to expect reading a romance where the protagonist maybe falls for a ghost, but it was perfect! At times it could be predictable, but Poston’s humor makes up for it. Contemporary romance readers will love the fun references and be hooked early on. The book deals with themes of grief, family, love, facing your past, and self-discovery. It’s the perfect read for someone who wants to ugly cry and full-face smile due to an overload of cuteness.

So good. I Couldn’t put it down. Such a heartwarming story. The characters were great and the story was so much fun. Just when you think you’re not going to get a happy ending, it goes in the opposite direction.

The Dead Romantics ends exactly how I expected (and wanted), but the path it takes to get to that ending is twisty, sad, and absolutely wonderful.

This is a book about love. It’s also a book about death. And a book about authors, betrayal, ghosts, family, forgiveness, coming home, self-confidence, small towns, and celebrations. For many authors, covering so many topics would mean sacrificing quality, but Poston brilliantly manages to infuse her story with all these things and more. She also manages to create realistic, funny, and relatable main characters and an I-wish-I-could-meet-them supporting cast. Every person in this story plays a role, and it’s a joy to meet them and see how they change as the story progresses.

I have to admit that I didn’t begin reading at the beginning of this book; the first thing I read was the author’s list of comfort reads, which is included after the story itself. Not only did I find some new titles to check out, but I noted some of my favorites and was then pleased to find references to those books sprinkled throughout this story. I love when authors include references to their favorite books, and in a book about books, it totally works.

The Dead Romantics is a romance for people who don’t like romances. It’s also a romance for those of us who do, but there’s so much more than just a sappy love story. I mean, that’s sort of the entire point, and the result is something touching, sweet, sad, and absolutely unforgettable. Here’s to happy endings, no matter how we get there.

A very charming and heartfelt novel, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was a very quick read, and exceptionally well written. I was drawn in right away, and found this story to be almost unputdownable.

I would have liked to have gotten to know Ben even better, though, and I personally would have enjoyed a little more angst surrounding the romance with a ghost and how it would resolve in a HEA.

The Dead Romantics was such a cool, unique premise. I wasn’t sure how it would play out but it was such a fun read. The characters and Florence’s family were so eccentric and cool.. i really loved the vibes.

Sweet romance, quirky characters and setting - bit predictable but still thoroughly enjoyable. Will be putting out for sale in our store!

Oh my god I loved this book. The ending literally had me sobbing. I saw the twist coming a mile away, but I really enjoyed the journey to get there and am excited for more from this author.

3.5! This was overall very cute and enjoyable! Both Florence and Ben were lots of fun to read about, and their romance was cute. The family storyline was nice but Florence’s siblings annoyed me at times. The ending, however, was a bit disappointing. I wanted more from it, and felt like it was a lot more anticlimactic that it should’ve been. Still, a pretty cute book and I would check out more of Poston’s romances!

This is the weirdest, cutest, most fun book I've read in a long time. Also, it made me cry.

The Dead Romantics in some ways reminds me of The Haunting of Hill House, but replace the horror with comedy. Hear me out:
- Ghosts
- returning to a home/home town you fled from
- Family dynamics
- a family holding the funeral for their own family member
- Themes of grief
The key difference is that The Haunting of Hill House would follow a tear-jerking scene with a jump scare, and The Dead Romantics follows it with the most bizarre and hilarious situations.

But let's talk about the sense of humor this book has. I don't see it being perfect for everyone, but damn was it perfect for me. I was laughing out loud constantly while reading this. I have a collection of highlighted quotes that, out of context, make no sense, and barely even make sense in context. It's amazing.

The romance in this book is also absolutely incredible. I loved our two main characters, and I love how they interact together. Plus, throw in the angst with him being a ghost? Perfection.

But beyond the comedy and romance needed in a romcom, this book delves into family and grief. I didn't expect to cry when I picked this up, but I found myself fighting tears on multiple occassions. It's truly a beautiful meditation on loss that I know will stick with me.

I will be forcing everyone I know to read this book.

This book really took me by surprise in the best way. It was an unexpected love story that not only paid homage to romantic love, but also to the love between friends, the love between family, and the reluctant love you have for your hometown. The prose was beautiful and the characters were flawed and utterly lovable. It was funny and sweet, and as someone who saw a lot - A LOT - of myself in Florence, it gave me comfort and a glimmer of hope.

This is kind of book you want to reread when you feel sad, hopeless, overwhelmed, looking for a sign to promise you things will get better!
I love everything about this book! The smart, sarcastic tone of the author, the development of most adorable and awkward and so much lovable family members and execution of paranormal love story! Everything was amazing!
Let’s discuss the plot by starting Florence’s ultra eccentric family:
Florence Day’s family is not Six Feet Under’s Fisher Family or Adams Family with weird sense of fashion! They’re living in the small town of South, conducting funeral services at their parlor house as family business. They have a special way to accept the death and honor it with their respectful, professional way. They’re not the weird, haunted family living in a haunted mansion you get to beware of. They’re peculiar, entertaining, vivid and lively people who truly know the thin line between life and death!

Florence and her dad share special gift. Both of them can see death people and help them fulfill their unfinished business. But when thirteen years old Florence helped to solve a murder case by talking with the victim also the ghost, she turned into town’s weird kid, bullied by her own piers which forced to leave the town as soon as she’s applied for college!

She started to live in the Big Apple and never got a step into her hometown for years!

But now things get escalated in one day:
Firstly she couldn’t get extension for deadline of the book she’s ghostwriting because her new/ extra tall/ extra broad shouldered- ultra charming new editor Benji Andor she desires to climb on like a tree resists to give her another day and warns her if she/ the author she’s assisting doesn’t deliver the manuscript on time, he’ll start legal actions!

The guy doesn’t even know she’s the real writer of the book and she only has one night to finish the last chapter! But even though how hard she tries she cannot write it because she lost her belief in HEAs after the worst breakup changed her look at the entire love stories!

And before absorbing the news, she finds herself at a bohemian bar at her bestie, seeing her ex, bumping into Benji at the same time she finds out her dad is dead!

You think this book is about Felicia’s returning to hometown and confront with her past, rekindling her relationship with her family! Nope! Not at all! Because somebody knocks at their funeral parlor’s door and when Felicia opens it: she not only sees a ghost but she also sees the ghost of Benji standing in front of her, needing her help! What the hell!

Get ready to read a book about meet-cutes, high jinks, grave misunderstandings and conciliatory kisses about a boy who is a little ghostly and a girl who lives with the ghosts!

I think I don’t have enough vocabulary to express how much I loved this book! But I think it’s guaranteed its place at my most favorite top 5 romance reads of the year!

This is entertaining, emotional, spiritual, ghostly, lovely, addictive and I truly fell for it hard!

Millions of thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts. And thanks to Ashley Poston for writing this marvelous book!