Are you kidding me, the way I devoured this book! What a pleasant surprise! The writing had me hooked from the very first chapter, I couldn’t physically put it down. Lots and lots of tears were shed, it’s like I could physically feel their grief. I loved Lark’s witty personality and Callum’s mysterious yet sweet self.
Thank you so much NetGalley & publisher for the digital copy, all opinions are mine & mine only ✨

I should NOT have waited to read this. I was like oh I have time to read. Present me is very upset at past me.

This story of grief, healing, and finding yourself is just what I needed I love the dual POV and tore through this in a day. I highly recommend this read.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher, and author for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

🦇 Morbidly Yours Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD What do you want people to remember you for? ❓

⚠ Trigger Warnings: Grief, Death, Car Accident, Ableism, Bullying, Body Horror, Child Death

🦇 Painfully shy Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. Texan animator Lark Thompson moved to Galway, Ireland, to restart her life and career, not be reminded of losing her husband by moving in next to a funeral home. Can Lark help Callum find The One, or has she been standing right in front of him all along?

💜 Ivy Fairbanks has done a wonderful job at developing vibrant, realistic characters who will, no doubt, steal your heart. Despite the grief and guilt weighing on her, Lark is a ray of sunshine, and there's no discounting the charm Callum is hiding behind his seemingly dark exterior. Initially, I worried they were TOO different for chemistry to spark between them, but the progression is easy and natural, the two of them bringing light to one another despite coming from very different, dark places. The little moments between them truly build into romance, making their friends-to-lovers progression both realistic and raw. You'll fall in love as they fall in love, feel your heart ache as their hearts ache, and watch both characters grow with every page. Beyond that, Fairbanks directs readers directly into Ireland, the setting's natural beauty and rich history seeping out of the page until you can't help but breathe in the scent of flowers blooming after a heavy rain. This book is a journey, both through Galway and its intense character growth. Callum's stutter is well-represented, as is his ace/demisexual orientation. As someone who is in love with a demi-goddess (hehe), I was glad to see it depicted so richly and honestly. Lark researching to understand Callum better was all too sweet.

💙 Normally, I have limited interest in a marriage of convenience plot, but it really works well here. You feel the pressure Callum is experiencing without it seeming like a hokey plot device. I also appreciate that both characters have both internal and external conflicts they need to resolve. That being said, I do think Lark's enemy comes off as a one-dimensional villain, when so many other characters live off the page. I've encountered coworkers who are willing to take credit for another person's work, throw someone under the bus, and bully to feel powerful, but honestly, there's usually a deeper reason motivating them. I also think we should have experienced more panic from Lark when she realized how Callum planned to fix the marriage problem. Instead we skip that scene and go straight into her finding a solution.

🦇 Recommended for fans of Tessa Bailey, Hanna Bonam-Young, and Tara DeWitt.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🪦 Dual POV
🌻 Contemporary Romance/Romantic Dramedy
🪦 Marriage of Convenience
🌻 Set in Ireland
🪦 Opposites Attract
🌻 Ace/Demisexual MMC (w/ a Stutter)
🪦 Forced Proximity/Neighbors
🌻 Friends-to-Lovers
🪦 Open Door Spice
🌻 First in a Series
🪦 Debut Novel

🦇 Major thanks to the author @IvyFairbanksBooks and publisher @putnambooks for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #MorbidlyYours

💬 Quotes
❝ Lark’s vibrance made me fall for her. Stifling it would be akin to plucking a wild, rare bloom, only to watch it wither under a bell jar. ❞
❝ To love was to accept risk. In all honesty, the half-century old scooter was a thousand times safer than giving anyone my heart—and I’d done that months ago. ❞
❝ My heart thumps like a drum, with the taste of your lips, the sweet breath in your lungs. I tried not to fall, but I had to succumb. ❞
❝ Swear on this life, beside you I’ll stand. ❞
❝ “Mo chuisle? It means ‘my pulse.’ I never quite understood it before, what it meant to have another person be the d-driving force behind the pump of your blood, but it’s true. Lark, your smile saved me like an emergency transfusion. Your laugh is the song my every blood cell dances to. Your touch revived me from darkness. You are my pulse. You make me feel alive even when I’m surrounded by death.” ❞
❝ “I can’t b-b-believe you named my character Plague Rat.” “What can I say? You inspire me.” She shrugged. ❞
❝ “Illusions aren’t lies. They’re gifts. They give the audience something to believe in,” she replied. “Help me put a little magic in the world.” ❞
❝ “You’re absolutely gorgeous,” he murmured. “You say that after I take your glasses off?” I smiled. “I don’t need them to see you.” My heart swelled. He did see me, and it felt so right. ❞
❝ In an interview, my animation hero Hayao Miyazaki once said that he strived to portray love as a relationship where two people mutually inspire each other to live. ❞
❝ We would cherish the light and honor the darkness, together. ❞

Morbidly Yours is an extremely touching and emotional love story. Callum and Lark seem to be complete opposites when we first meet them, but they are both coming dark places, and they fill in those spaces for each other with light, love, affection, and understanding. Their journey is not easy, but it is so worth going with them to see how it all ends. They were both very complicated characters, sometimes a bit obtuse (times when I wanted to yell at them to snap out if it!), and at times I loved the depth of their friendship as much as their romance. I loved the Irish-ness of the book, from its setting to its language. I also appreciated that Lark had moved there from Austin, TX, and enjoyed reading about Whataburger and the HEB grocery store! I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

First I would like to say Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital review copy. This book was definitely a cute and cozy read. Some parts did have me kicking my feet and gigging while others felt not needed. Other than the 3rd act break up I really enjoyed this.

Truly such an incredible book! I adore these characters to pieces and love their dynamic. Callum is so sweet and he made my heart melt. I appreciate how carefully grief was covered and felt for Lark so much. One of my favorite books ever!

Thank you NetGalley!

I enjoyed reading this book And thought it was really cute overall. The setting was great and the character dynamic was fun. However, the general premise just got a little tedious and the “third act break up“ left me so frustrated with how Lark treated Callum. I did enjoy a lot of the side characters. Especially Houdini!

Pros: stutter and demisexual representation in Callum - Callum in general was a pro, he was so sweet. I like the becoming friends first into romance (a slower burn). I bet if they got the right narrators this would be good on audio (to hear Callum's accent).

Cons: My biggest issue with this book was Lark's coworker enemy who is quite possibly one of my most hated book characters ever (so I guess props for writing a villain so well?). I just don't really feel the need for a villain in a romance (unless they turn into the romantic interest!). Maybe it's just my past experiences with shitty men at work that it really just made me mad and even tho I suppose he gets what he deserves in the end (kinda he's still an ass), it just really took away overall enjoyment of this book.
This has the beginnings of marriage of convenience trope, but ended up being a slow burn so the 'reasons' Callum has to get married ultimately become a barrier to their romance (perhaps maybe that just wasn't what I expected from the first few chapters).
While I understand Lark's qualms with moving on after the death of her husband, it did feel a bit repetitive to continue hearing about it without much development (until the end).
Something about the writing style and pacing also felt a bit awkward at parts.

Thank you Netgalley for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Content Warnings:
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Car accident, Ableism, Bullying, Body horror, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death
There are some descriptions of what Callum does as a mortician, so if you're not into that prob not the book for you.

Thank you to Penguin Group/Putnam/ G. P. Putnam’s Sons for my e-arc of this title.
I thoroughly enjoyed the friends turned lovers story of Callum and Lark. This trope is difficult to do and I feel that Ivy Fairbanks did a great job of managing suspense as well as telling multiple intriguing side stories of the funeral home business, previous losses of both Callum and Lark, and making an animation short film. There was not only romance but also plenty of other action to keep readers entertained and invested in reading. Additionally, the story takes place in Galway, Ireland, and there are beautiful descriptions of multiple sites in the area-making Ireland another stop on my travel bucket list. There is some spiciness in the love scenes, but not horrid-so if you don’t like that, you might want to skip ahead.

This was pretty adorable for a book with morbid in the title.

There is a great sense of balance between the characters and their traits/ personalities, without the author constantly prodding the reader to remind them.

The pacing was a lot slower than I'm used to. That's not a flaw but definitely something to be aware of in the case of being a reader who prefers a quick pacing to their romance.

Overall I really enjoyed this books positivity and messages about living after meaningful people die. It's real and not like the usual lighthearted and easily solvable problems most romances have.

I'll be honest. I didn't even read the blurb for this book when I requested it on Netgalley. I saw the cover and name and knew it was meant to be. I mean, I wore a pair of pink Twisted X boots daily pretty much from the time I was 13 until I was 26. So, yeah. Lark called to me.

Anyways, Lark is very much an Austinite from the pink boots down to the sweet Texas twang. She's every bit WWDD (What Would Dolly Do?) in her upbeat, outgoing personality. She's a little ray of sunshine with a storm cloud in her past. Why else would she move from Austin to Galway at the drop of a cowboy hat, so fast that she doesn't realize she's moved next door to a funeral home?

Poor, quiet Callum really doesn't know what to do when Lark bounces into the funeral home with a misdelivered box of body bags and rapid fires questions at him.

I loveeeeee the way Lark developed as a character. She goes from this bright on the outside, stormy on the inside character who shies away from conflict to bold and vibrant and stands up for herself, along with the person she cares most about.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Putnam for the ARC!

Morbidly Yours portrays a beautiful love story where two opposites truly make each other better. It explores demisexuality and grief in a very thoughtful way and gave us unique and lovable characters. I loved Lark & Callum's relationship but I did not always love the plot lines and how some of the story unfolded. It felt like there were a lot of tropes at work but there was not full commitment to any of them. As a debut, I enjoyed it and would consider reading more from this author in the future! Thank you GP Putnam and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

4.75 stars. I laughed, I cried, I cringed, I loved Morbidly Yours. I loved Callum and Lark. Every part of their story drew me in and kept me interested. From the moment Callum and Lark met, I knew I was going to be hooked until the last page. The way that Ivy Fairbanks wrote these two characters and developed them not only as the love interests/couple, but as individuals throughout the story was beautiful. Her portrayal of Callum coming out of his shell and showing his vulnerabilities as well as Lark's ongoing grief and self-sabotage was so well done. It was easy rooting for them to get together but also for each of them to grow and better themselves.

While I loved our two main characters, I also loved each and every background character that was introduced (not you Sean, never you). Each of them were more than just a side character thrown in to move the story along but felt like well thought out individuals. The plot was great and pacing was perfect for the story (even if I'm not a fan of third act breakups).

I would highly recommend Morbidly Yours for any fans of a good rom-com with some heartfelt moments of self-reflection thrown in. Definitely a fan of Ivy Fairbanks' writing and I can't wait to read what she puts out next.

Absolutely lovely. Sweet romance novel with well developed characters and a unique storyline. I felt the portrayal of grief was well done and appreciated the author’s thoughtfulness.

OK I am officially an Ivy Fairbanks stan. What a great romance! What a unique story! What a beautiful setting! Lark is grieving the loss of her husband, as well as the heartbreak of her marriage, and Callum is the undertaker next-door, who helps her love again, and feel secure again. This debut is absolutely delightful. As an Irish girl, I loved all of the references and emphasis on the beautiful Irish language and culture. I can’t wait to read what else Ivy Fairbanks has in store for us.

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Ivy Fairbanks' "Morbidly Yours" is a delightful blend of humor, heart, and unexpected warmth. The story follows Lark, a grieving widow, and Callum, a reserved undertaker, as they navigate grief, friendship, and a blossoming romance. Fairbanks deftly balances the somber themes with witty banter and endearing characters, creating a truly captivating read. The author's portrayal of grief and loss is both honest and comforting, while the budding relationship between Lark and Callum is both sweet and spicy. A charming debut that will leave readers smiling and satisfied. Thank you to NetGalley and Ivy Fairbanks for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks is Love in Galway #1, and I'm certainly eagerly awaiting #2. This was a great cozy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital review copy.

Rating: 3.5/5

This was an enjoyable read! I found the relationship to have a cute progression through lots of little adventures and interactions Lark and Callum had. Pacing sometimes feels a little rushed in romance books but that wasn't the case in this one in my opinion. I also found the premise to be unique and fun, and the mood was developed well through the setting.

I did appreciate that the author included a character with a stutter and who is demisexual. Those are two bits of representation I don't see often! However, it does feel a bit like Callum was stereotyped a little too much as someone who is demisexual - that he is just shy, social anxious, introverted, and a little awkward. I think that there could have been more care taken in this demisexual representation to avoid playing into harmful stereotypes.

The other critique I have is that the timeline felt a little wonky, and sometimes at the start of the chapter I was confused if it was the same day as the previous chapter, a week later, or something else entirely. I was kind of surprised that this took place over less than a year because I thought there were a lot of time skips.

Overall I'd say this is a great read for someone who likes something lighthearted with a small touch on serious issues like grief. I was disappointed that the serious topics were glossed over and not touched on in depth, which would have made for a better book in my opinion. It has it's flaws but is still overall a nice read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC!

As a demi person myself it’s nice to see positive portrayals of ace/demi people esp a male in a romance book setting. Plus it was just exceptionally sweet and enjoyable overall. There needs to be more of this so people get a better picture of the ace spectrum and that it’s not all sex repulsed or avoidant. (Just like the myth that bisexual and pan people just want to bang everybody all the time.)

This was a fun take on the grumpy-sunshine trope with a good balance of spice and depth. I enjoyed the Galway setting and the unique careers of both main characters.