Morbidly Yours-Love in Galway Book #1

by Ivy Fairbanks-debut author

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publication 8-20-24, Read 8-19-24

Format: e-book, 351 pgs.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam| G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC💚! I voluntarily give an honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fic

Tropes:
✔️ marriage of convenience
✔️ friends to lovers
✔️ friends with benefits
✔️dating coach
✔️LGBTQ+ rep
✔️grumpy/sunshine
✔️open door sex

⚠️TW: H has a stutter, grief-death of a spouse and friend, bullying/misogyny in the workplace, caring for sick/elderly/deceased, terminal illness

Summary: Callum Flannelly 34 is a mortician looking to inherit the family business-Willow Haven Funeral Home. His grandfather put in a clause in his will that he must be married by age 35, or his estranged father Padraig will be able to sell it. Lark Thompson 30 moves from Texas to Ireland next door to Callum looking to start fresh after the death of her husband Reese. She is an animator with a new job KinetiColor Studios, and has to deal with a creepy, narcissistic workplace rival.

The plot was Callum and Lark getting to know each other while Callum joined dating apps to find a wife. They spend a lot of time together and eventually sleep together with no strings attached. Callum was shy, demisexual, and awkward with women. except Lark. She's still grieving her husband and blamed herself for his death. There were some cute side characters such as Maeve and Cielo. Even Rachel, Lark's sister-in-law who blamed Lark for Reese's death, reconciles with Lark. It had some tragedy but overall, this was a great romance between two unlikely people. I hope this becomes a series; I would definitely read it!

A few months ago Callum lost his grandfather, leaving him grieving and with a new problem. There’s a stipulation in the will that if he doesn’t marry by his next birthday he won’t inherit the funeral home and business he’d been groomed to take over. Time is running out, and the father who abandoned him to be raised by his grandparents is just waiting to sell the place out from under him if Callum fails.

Now I already have Feelings about stipulations that require a relationship to inherit. Factoring in that Callum is Demi?
Whatever the intentions were, it feels cruel.

Lark agrees with me this isn’t great, so I feel justified.
She’s Callum’s new neighbor, an American who has traveled all the way to live in Ireland for a year.
She’s there to help a new animation studio produce their first feature, but more importantly to get a fresh start after the loss of her husband. It’s been over a year, but largely misplaced guilt and the loss of friends and her old job has made moving on harder.

While not having any interest in a romantic relationship herself, the friendship Lark is building with Callum has her invested in helping *him* find one (and subsequently not lose everything he’s worked so hard for)

Problem is - the only one Callum is developing feelings for - and finding attraction to - is her. But not wanting to risk the new friendship he won’t tell her.
And she’s continuing to let him assume her marriage ended in divorce, and not telling him the truth about the loss that’s holding her back.
So messy!

If I wasn’t assured of an HEA I would have been very worried, and a touch frustrated about the lack of communication BUT I enjoyed how they danced around each other - sometimes literally.
It’s a slow burn, but things are steaming once they get going.
And the way things wrapped up was super satisfying.

The side characters were great, very easy to get attached to - and, in the case of one in particular, dislike immensely. But, again, such a good ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC!

This was a really cute debut and now I'm wishing the author had a backlist I could dive into! If you're a fan of marriage of convenience romances and characters who have unconventional jobs then this would be the perfect book for you!

Actual rating 4.25/5 stars

An amazing debut from Ivy Fairbanks! I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, but Morbidly Yours is the perfect cozy fall read. I especially loved Lark and Callum’s relationship. The character development and romance felt real and was written/treated with care.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Putnam Books/G. P. Putnam’s Sons for a chance to read and review an advanced copy of this book!

I loved this book. Loved it. I’m definitely going to get the audiobook when it comes out.
Cal and Lark were so much fun. It was precious to see Cal come out of his shell and to see Lark come to terms with her grief.
All the side characters were stellar. Maeve and Deirdre were my favorites. Love stubborn old Irish ladies.
I cannot wait to listen to this on audio.

I enjoyed this one so, so much.

After losing her husband, Lark Thompson decides to move across the world to Ireland for a fresh start. She's not looking for love, just concentrating on her new job and living in a new country.

Her next-door neighbor is Callum Flannelly. He's a mortician and the exact opposite of Lark. He's painfully shy, and she is super friendly. She definitely puts herself out there with him (friendship, they build the sweetest relationship.

Callum has a huge problem, though. He's about to lose the funeral home he's run since his grandfather died. His grandfather made a clause that Callum needs to be married by 35 or it's going to go to his father, who's ready to sell the business.

Lark is ready to help Callum find the one. But as their friendship grows, so does the attraction. But Lark is keeping a secret from him and isn't planning on staying. And she's got some major drama from a new coworker.

It's romantic, steamy, and has some majorly great characters. I can't wait to read her next book.

I'll come back and write a more thorough review I swear but life is wild and I have two seconds to get my thoughts down.
- Dirty talking MMC (in Irish)
- Widower who is given proper time and space for her growth and healing
- Grumpy/sunshine
-Friends with benefits
- So many important moments around grief
- Spice!
- Chemistry that makes you swooon

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an early copy. This was such a perfect fall read, best enjoyed under a warm blanket with tea and cozy socks, Damien Rice playing in the background (like omg Callum is described as being hot in a Damien Rice way and I think that is DELICIOUS.

I absolve loved this slow burn, demi sexual, opposites attract romance. The tension was absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to revisit reading this in the fall:)

Ivy created such an amazing story I was immediately swept up in this world, and these characters. Everyone please go check this book out!

I’m not sure I could fall harder for a mortician than I did for Callum Flannelly.

What I liked:

Lark: Her sunshiny attitude was so infectious, but I also loved when we got a little deeper with her and her grief. Her friendship with Maeve was so beautiful.

Callum: My sweet, sweet Callum. I adored his brusque earnestness, and watching him step out of his comfort zone throughout the book.

The chemistry: Callum & Lark had fantastic chemistry and the way their relationship grew from strangers to friends to lovers was so organic.

What didn’t work for me:

Nothing at all

This book is sweet and spicy. I really love this book for several reasons. This book deals with a widow main female character and it’s done so well with her finding love again. The main male character has a studder and it is treated respectfully. I really can’t say enough how much I loved this book.

I was always so hesitant with this book because a lot of people loved it. This was so great, I swear. Like I thought it was funny and it was cute. The main female character was kind of annoying but I was obsessed with Callum. Like so obsessed. Where can I find out? Like so much.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I actually ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would which is always a pleasant surprise.

Both Lark and Callum are going through major upheavals in their lives. For Lark, she moves to Galway, Ireland from Texas for a totally new start (and new job) following the death of her husband. She's dealing with grief, guilt and harassment at work as she works toward healing. Callum, as a Galway native, is the owner of a local funeral home which was bequeathed to him from his grandfather and has been in his family for generations. He loves his job and is good at it, especially when dealing with and consoling those loved ones left behind. But he finds himself suddenly dealing with anger, frustration and bewilderment as he discovers that his grandfather has stipulated in his will that Callum must marry by 35 (right away), or he will lose the business to his father who deserted the family when Callum was a young child.

While this story definitely had some heat, I liked that it was a slow build from friendship to romance. I also liked that it had some depth to it which I must say I was not expecting from the cover art (note: never judge a book by its cover). Callum was a sweet somewhat shy soul who was slow in trusting but when he did, he was totally in. I actually ended up more of a Team Callum because Lark, who was a vivacious extrovert, could be frustrating as she acted out of character at times, especially when dealing with a problem at her workplace.

Nicely done.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley and G. P. Putnam's Sons for providing the free early arc of Morbidly Yours for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I have not loved a book this much in so dang long. The chemistry in Morbidly Yours is off the charts and you can tell that Fairbanks really took her research seriously in writing this book! The Irish-isms are so strong!

There was so much fantastic representation in this book that was balanced with humor, spice, and incredible character building.

5 stars. No notes! Can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

Forever and always this will be one of my favorite books. Seeing Ivy get to be trad published was just the cherry on top. I absolutely adore these two, it’s the greatest friends to lovers with just so much care and adoration.
I will never stop pushing this book to people!

This is such a fun and cozy book. I found so many times where I was yelling at the book for them to just kiss already. The romance in this book was absolutely adorable.

This was a fast and easy read that was cute and funny and had me excited for more from this author.

I had not read this when it was indie published, and I am so happy it got trad published or I may not have had it on my radar. I really liked Lark and her character development and journey, but I LOVED Callum. He was exactly what I want in a book boyfriend and I couldn't get enough of him. Also the spice was perfect! It really flowed with the story and never felt out of place.

Go read this book and thank me later.

✨||“𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬.”||✨

[4.75 Stars🤩] I originally read Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks as an indie release last year and I loved it so much, so getting approved for the ARC of the trad pub release was a special treat for me! The updates from the indie version are subtle, but the storytelling and flow felt streamlined, and it allowed the true heart of the book to shine brighter.

Callum fits into the canon of Jane Austen’s dark-and-broody-with-a-heart-of-gold male characters, and when he delivered my favorite line of the book, I immediately thought of Captain Wentworth’s passionate plea to Anne (...”you pierce my soul...”) from Persuasion. I just could not get enough of the way he thought about Lark and the mutual pining between them! And when this sweet man speaks to her in Irish (Gaeilge)? SWOON. I thought my heart would melt into a puddle.

At first, I was a little unsure about reading a book about a mortician, but the care and respect that Ivy Fairbanks took with Callum’s point of view was so nuanced and reverent as well as the grace dealt to Lark’s character was so well done that I was mad at myself for not picking up Morbidly Yours sooner!

I loved getting to revisit Callum and Lark’s story, and I loved it even more with the second time around. I can’t wait to see how their relationship progresses as we get to know more of the Galway crew!

Oh, and when are we getting a screening of Harvarti and Plague Rat? 😉 @ivyfairbanksbooks How can I make this happen??

🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️

+A HUGE thank you to @ivyfairbanks, @netgalley, and @putnambooks for the ARC of Morbidly Yours! All thoughts in this review are my own.
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Details:
💘Contemporary romance
🎈Romantic (dra)medy
👀Dual, first-person POV
🌦Darker themes and elements
🏳️‍🌈LGBTQIA+ representation
🥀 3rd Act breakup
✈️Travel
🙌Would re-read
🌟Favorite

Characters and tropes:
🌪️Broody MMC
🍰Cinnamon roll MMC
📍Forced proximity (neighbors)
🤑Friends with benefits
🌤Grumpy/sunshine
🤐Secrets

Spice:
🧨Slow burn
🔥Explicit content (hot)
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Emoji Ranking System:
🤩Excellent to Fantastic (4.75-5.00)
😍Very Good to Great (4.25-4.50)
😊Good to Really Good (3.50-4.00)
😒Just OK to Decent (2.75-3.25)
😑It's A No (1.00-2.50)
🚫DNF

The perfect cozy book to kick off the upcoming Autumn season! I love a good friends to lovers storyline, and having the characters give off black cat and golden retriever energy was the highlight of Morbidly Yours for me. The storyline was quick and easy to follow, along with a few spicy scenes that do not leave anything to the reader's imagination. Can’t wait to see what else Ivy has up her sleeve!

This is a 5 star book. It's absolutely amazing, the characters are so well-written and have so much dimension, and all of the emotions feel real. I was lucky enough to read this as and indie pub, and again as a trad pub, and I know it's one I'll be re-reading over and over.

Lark, a vibrant animator from Texas, relocates to Galway on a work visa, hoping to heal from a recent loss. There, she meets her new neighbor, Callum—a mortician on a mission to marry before his 35th birthday to keep the family business. On the surface, they seem like polar opposites, but their connection runs far deeper than anyone could imagine.

As soon as I was approved for this ARC, it went straight to the top of my TBR. This story beautifully illustrates how opposites not only attract but also complement and uplift each other. Lark may have her stubborn moments, but the dynamic between her and Callum is captivating and wholesome. She helps lift his spirits, while he grounds her, making them seem like two perfect halves of a whole. I loved every moment of this story and couldn't put my kindle down until I finished. Fingers crossed the next book in the series is Cielo and Aidan!!

Thank you NetGalley, Ivy Fairbanks and Penguin Group PUTNAM for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.