I liked the premise of this book and enjoyed the unpredictability of the plot. I'd honestly not guessed where this was going on the basis of the synopsis. A fun and unique read about the meaning and joys of life.

I received this book for free from netgalley for my honest review. Starting off the book with the lead dying was a surprise, but it sets up for the perfect and unique love story that follows. Delphie lives alone and enjoys her solitude. Dying changes all of that. We follow her as she tries to save her own life, and the journey is so fun. I can't wait to share this with others.

I loved everything about this book! It was simply perfect, and Kirsty Greenwood's writing was delightful and engaging. The Love of My Afterlife is such a creative and fun take on a romance novel. It explores feelings of grief and is so very funny in parts despite its focus on death and the afterlife.

The storyline was wonderfully clever! It's absolutely one of my favorite reads of this year.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you for the free book Berkley Romance and the free audiobook PRH Audio!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Delphie dies unexpectedly but gets the chance to save herself—if she can find and kiss her soulmate before time runs out.

I absolutely loved the concept of this one, and the message is a really great one as well. The plot is fun, if sometimes silly, and while I figured out most of the direction it was heading, it still managed to surprise me in a few points.

I did, however, want a bit more romance and found this a bit slow moving at times. Overall, I’m glad I read it and it was an enjoyable time, though it probably won’t be a massive standout. That said, I know a lot of people really adored this one, and I do highly recommend checking it out if it sounds good to you!

CW: Death; grief; bullying

The story follows Delphie, a recently deceased woman who meets her potential soulmate in the afterlife waiting room. However, a mix-up sends him back to Earth, and Delphie is given a chance to return and find him within ten days
This is both humorous and heartfelt, which also covers loneliness, grief, and self-discovery
This ended up being a charming and entertaining story that takes a look at second chances and the magic of love.
If your a fan of Rom-Com you’ll like this book

I wanted to smack Delphie in the head! I think she is her own worst enemy. That being said, I did enjoy the magic realism that Greenwood utilized and found the premise quite unique and heartfelt. Delphie ends up growing significantly, and the ending is really sweet. While this is a romcom in many ways, it is very much a coming of age novel that I think many folks feeling stuck in their 20s will appreciate.

Oh my heart. I absolutely adored this book.

Delphine dies after choking on a microwaveable hamburger (new fear unlocked), and is sent to the afterlife. There she meets her Afterlife Therapist who tries to help her come to terms with the fact that she’s dead; Delphie freaks, runs out the office and smack into the most handsome man she has ever seen. They talk for a moment and it’s instant connection. Then…he’s gone. Turns out he was an “unconscious visitor” and not actually dead. But due to a Clause, Merritt (the therapist) can send her back to earth under contract. The contract— she must find Jonah (the handsome dude) and get him to kiss her in 10 days or not she really dies again.

Back on earth, we see how sad Delphie’s life was, and how vibrant she makes it in 10 days. She had the tools and people this whole time, she just had to let them in. We get the handsome Cooper from downstairs, which gives us the enemies-to-lovers, misunderstood, and fake dating trope; and with the people in the community she lets into her life, we get the found family trope.
I loved Merritt’s pop in’s, though as the feelings between Cooper and Delphie grew, I was like let’s forget Jonah!!! But it was the contract.
This book is FUNNY, it’s well-written, it will make you cry happy tears and laugh out loud. You’ll fall in love with everyone, even the surly Cooper, who is actually the sweetest, and very much in love with our Delphie. I adored Mr. Yoon, the mute next door neighbor. Very much reminded me of the guy on the bench that Nick is always talking to in New Girl LOL

This was so fucking cringe cute. I had the best case of second hand embarrassment!!!! I wouldn't have picked this up at a store on my own but def glad I read it

Are you kidding me with how much I adored this book?! I laughed so much and it's so deep and I cried too. It's one of those books you want to give a giant hug to when you're done. It's a fun romance, sure, but it's a book about the meaning of life. I just loved everything about it. Perfection.

The description of this book had me intrigued. Someone had compared it to The Good Place and I was immediately into that idea. I enjoyed the concept of this book, but did not love it as much as I thought I would. I am a huge fan of the book Dead Romantics so this seemed similar. I enjoyed aspects, but did not enjoy the whole.

What a gem! This book takes a whole bunch of romance tropes, shakes them up, and makes them into a beautifully life-affirming love story.

4.5 stars. A delightful mix of The Little Mermaid, While You Were Sleeping, and a lot of classic romcoms. Londoner Delphie gets a (literal) second shot at life, but only if she can get a kiss from her soulmate in the next 10 days. Meanwhile she finally starts experiencing her life, just in time to lose it again. Very sweet and funny.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Huge thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Delphie finally meets the love of her life except there’s one problem. She’s dead. Just her luck. Even more so the handsome man gets sent back to earth. She can’t even find love in the afterlife. When she gets the chance to return and find this handsome man she jumps at the chance. This was a fun magical read!

Thank you very much to @prhaudio for the #ALC of this book. The book is published by @berkleypub @berkleyromance #berkleypartner #berkleyromance #berkleybookstagram and is releasing TOMORROW in the USA. UK friends - it was released on June 20th! 🩷

I was super excited to get approved for this audiobook because it has been on my list of upcoming reads this summer and I was looking forward to it. This book defied my expectations and as much as I thought I was going to enjoy this book, I actually enjoyed it even moreso! Compared to some romances, I didn’t think that this book was predictable either, and the ending kind of left me speechless! I thought that Sofia Oxenham had a bright and cheerful (and soothing!) voice and was a wonderful choice to narrate this book. I am definitely going to look for more books narrated by her in the future!

I am also definitely going to look out for more books by Kirsty Greenwood in the future!

Thank you again to #PRHAudio for the ALC! 🩷 I hope to work with you again in the future! #PRHAudioInfluencer #partner

This book kept a smile on my face. I thought it was so unique and fun.
I found all of the characters charming and fun.
I can't express how much fun I had reading this.
I just loved it!

The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood is a whimsical and heartwarming story that combines romance with elements of magical realism. The plot follows Delphie, who finds herself in the afterlife after an unexpected accident and is given a chance to return to earth to find her soulmate, a journey that leads her to confront her past and open herself up to new experiences. The novel is rich with quirky side characters that contribute to a delightful found-family dynamic, while Delphie's growth from isolation to connection offers both humor and depth. Greenwood’s engaging prose makes this a charming read that resonates with themes of love and self-discovery.

Magical romance is such a fun sub genre that I have really come to enjoy, especially when it is done well! Love of My Afterlife is unique spin on magical romance that is full of humor and heart. It is one of those books that really gets you thinking about life in general and how you might do things differently if you were given a fresh start. I really loved the FMC Delphie. She is full of quickwit and has a huge heart, but it takes her getting a second chance to realize that she hasn't really been LIVING her life and that she has so much more to offer the world than she ever thought. Getting to follow along as she is basically sent on a quest to find her soulmate that she mistakenly met in the afterlife was such a way to tell this story.

TROPES
Magical Romance
Fake Dating
Enemies to Lovers
London
One Bed
Funny
Endearing Characters

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY
After dying in an embarrassing accident, Delphie gets a second chance at life and love when she's offered a deal to return to Earth and find the mysterious man she met in the afterlife, all while learning to embrace the magic she left behind.

Review will post on Forever Young Adult's blog on 10/22/24:

First Impressions: Lazy

This cover is kind of twee and bland. I guess the clouds are supposed to represent that she goes to Heaven for her afterlife, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, but honestly, it feel so lazy. The book deserves a better cover (maybe Merritt’s brightly-colored laundromat). Luckily I already knew this author, because nothing about this cover made me want to pick up this book. (ALSO I just realized after grabbing a larger image of the cover that COLLEEN HOOVER has a quote on there praising the book and I have never read a word CoHo has written AND I NEVER WILL, and if I hadn’t known this author and saw that quote I really may have steered clear because I am a petty bitch. But I guess a broken clock is right twice a day. /endhaterade)

What’s Your Type?

Second Chance at Life
Misunderstandings
Chasing The Wrong One
Cozy Vibes
Found Family
Dating Profile

Delphie has a case of arrested development. She was bullied by her former friend in high school, and, coupled with a narcissistic mother, she let these setbacks control her life to the point where she closed herself off to all new or uncomfortable experiences. She’s a little prickly and goofy, but she secretly craves human connection even if she will tell you she doesn’t.

Meet Cute: Match Made In Heaven

After Delphie chokes to death on a microwave burger, she ends up in the afterlife—and she cannot accept it. As she tries to “escape”, she runs into the most charming, recently deceased man she’s ever met, and the chemistry is off the charts. Except there’s one little snag: he’s not actually dead, it was just a mix-up with some anesthesia. Before they can really explore this thing any further, he gets whisked back to the real world.

The Lean: Something Familiar

There’s banter and hijinks and moments that made me laugh. The chemistry reminded me of something you’d see in an early-2000s rom-com.

Dirty Talk

This book is fairly light on the spice—you wouldn’t get a hardcore graphic sex scene in said rom-com above—but that doesn’t mean nothing happens!

Ms. Perky’s Prize for Purplest Prose

Greenwood’s writing is conversational and casual, and I don’t think it’ll work for everyone. Delphie can be a bit immature and over-the-top and things sometimes just fell into place in a way you just kind of have to shrug about and move on. But it toed the line the right amount between silly and still entertaining, at least for me. I think my favorite parts were the side characters and found family that Delphie either meets or realizes she’s always had and how they all pull together for her.

We Need To Talk: Whimsical

I’ve read two other books by Kirsty Greenwood, and the first book was HILARIOUS (for some reason they changed the name of this book, The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance, to Jessica Beam Is a Hot Mess, which seems like a downgrade). Like, I remember reading it in the middle of the night on vacation and trying desperately to stifle my giggle-tears so I didn’t wake up my husband kinda funny. This book wasn’t quite as funny as that one was, but Greenwood has such a classic-rom-com, breezy but heartfelt writing style and a Bridget-Jones-esque dry British humor, that I couldn’t help but be charmed by the whimsy of the story. I think I actually did shed a few tears near the end, but more-so because I was just so in love with the characters and rooting for their happy endings.

Was It Good For You? Yes

This won’t be a book I’ll probably think about long-term, but it was fun to read while we were together!

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Berkley Books. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. The Love of My Afterlife is available now.

I’m definitely going to seek out more of this author’s works after reading this book. I loved this! It was hilarious from the outset and then surprisingly, also got a bit emotional without losing the wit it started with. The cast of characters were so lovable minus the ones who were there to cause conflict, and even though I’m a frequent reader of romance novels and can see what’s coming a mile away, the twist of this one was a shocker to me. Fans of rom-coms pick this book up now!!!

A witty paranormal romcom. I have been needing more books to make me feel hopeful and this one hit the spot.