After the loss of her husband, Lark moves to Galloway Ireland for a job and finds herself living next door to a mortician named Callum. The two strike up an unusual friendship which eventually turns into something more. Lark and Callum were complex but lovable characters. I fell in love with both of them as they were falling in love with each other. The beautiful Ireland setting made for a great backdrop and as a SLP, the stuttering representation was great. I will admit the book started off a bit slow for me, but by the end I really enjoyed all the pieces.

Read for:
-Grumpy hero/ sunshine heroine
-MC with a stutter
-Grief/ loss of loved one
-Friends with benefits
-Irish dirty talk
-Ireland setting

Thank you Putnam for the ARC!

A great fun and cozy read tackling grief and how it can bring people together in unexpected ways. There is so much tension between the main characters as they learn to lean on each other, develop friendship, and become lovers.

So. At 40% of a romance novel, they should not be dating other people. We should have something to believe in at this point. I also need more romance and less descriptions of actual dead bodies and the embalming process. Thanks for the shot at this one but it just isn’t for me.

Unlike the title, it was a really really light read! It's obviously a challenge to write a story that relies so heavily upon the black cat/golden retriever dynamic to the point where it feels like the contrast is mentioned every other page, so I give the story credit for not making me instantly sick of it. Even though the characters are adults and the story revolves around heavy things like learning to live after the death of a spouse, I feel like the writing style was definitely more in the realm of young-adult.
Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this eARC!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

This was a good debut! Callum was an absolute sweetie but Lark did get on my nerves a little bit. In the beginning she was fun, but when she got upset at Cal for defending her I got annoyed with her. I just felt like he deserved better. On the plus side, this book was spicier than I thought it would be! Also the first chapter where we met Cal and he’s working made me feel a little sick, but the author does include a warning at the beginning so that was very much appreciated!

Would recommend.

I wanted to love this book because I really loved the concept but the execution just fell short for me. I should have DNFd this book half way through but just wanted to stick with it. The last third of the book was so hard to slog through. I didn’t really like any of the characters and the romance felt forced.

Absolutely loved! The concept is so different from what I usually read but I really enjoyed it. Morbidly Your is about a mortician and an animator falling in love. It was a light, cozy read that entertained me until the end. Lark is quirky and accepts Callum even though she is a little wary of him in the beginning because of his profession. I especially loved that Ivy Fairbanks wrote a male character, Callum, who stutters because there are not many romance books that have that. Overall, I loved it!

Morbidly Yours is the PERFECT cozy fall read! I wish I had read it for the first time in the fall. This story is a SLOWWWWW BURNNNNNN! Lark moves into an apartment in Ireland not knowing she's moved next to a funeral home and its cute but grumpy care taker Callum. She wants to live anywhere but there because she's trying to escape anything that reminds her of her husbands death. Meanwhile Callum would wants nothing to do with dating a stranger but in order to to take over his family's mortuary he must be married by his 35th birthday. Lark decides to help her neighbor out with his dating issues but as she helps him out their friendship grows. This books was so so good. I love loved it! Steamy Irish boy with some spooky settings and a few Damien Rice references.

This book really took me by surprise. I am not the best when it comes to funerals and talking about death, but this was really done well in that aspect. This is a SLOW BURN !!!!!! IT HURTS and I also loved every second of it at the same time.

Morbidly Yours follows Lark who just moved to Ireland from Texas for a job in animation. When she is unboxing her belongings she opens a box of body bags. Realizing the package was addressed to her neighbor, she goes over there to discover that its not a B & B she's living next to, but a funeral home. Callum has been running his families funeral home, at first he seems like a recluse of a man. Lark immediately starts a friendship with him. With her bubbly sunshine personality and his shy and reserved personality, these two share a relationship that feels so real. Navigating grief and past traumas, this was hard hitting at times. I love the mutual understanding that unfolds so naturally between Cal and Lark, in a lot of ways they remind me of my own relationship. The feeling of being comfortable with someone in a way that you can feel it in your body is so real. It made me love them so much my heart was FEELING!!!!!!

I really truly loved the relationships in this book. Between Lark and Maeve, Anvi, Lo, and Callum. They all feel so precious. Sean got what he deserved!!! And I appreciated the wrap up with the Rachel situation as well.

Thank you so much Netgalley for the free ARC!!!!!! I am so grateful I read this.

I mean this with every ounce of my being, this book is my new favorite contemporary romance. I consume Contemporary Romance books as though they are the air I breathe, so I feel safe saying that I am well versed in the world of Rom-Coms.

This story is perfect, it reflects the insecure and messiness of being human while maintaining the hope and longing for love that we all hold onto. This story handles grief with such beauty and grace, you can genuinely feel the guilt and sadness that radiates off Lark. The grief is there, but so is the hope, the longing to be loved again even though she is terrified to let herself give in. Callum is the perfect MMC, he is gentle, awkward, and a little timid at first, but he would do anything for Lark.

I cannot recommend this book enough, I read this story as an Ebook but you best believe I will be purchasing a physical copy immediately.

Please refer to the trigger warnings within this book before reading, if you are sensitive with topics of grief pertaining to spouse lost, or the loss of a friend, this story may not be fore you.

For a book in which death plays such a big role it is a lot funnier then expected. It was lovely reading about these two growing and falling for each other. The setting is so beautiful and I love that I have actually been to some of the places described. A very strong debut!

This book was SO CUTE. The characters, the setting, the pacing… just everything was executed wonderfully. Callum and Lark had really good chemistry and I love how they really got to know each other as friends first (no insta love here!!).

This story also featured some much deeper themes. While there is romance and pining, there’s also deep themes of grief, loss, starting over and finding/being true to oneself.

The spicy scenes weren’t awkward and meshed nicely with the plot. I also really enjoyed the side characters and heard there will be more books featuring them!

Read this if you:
🪦 have ever been serenaded or wanted someone to serenade you with a song
🪦 have dipped your toes in the online dating scene - fun fact: I met Mr. Big on Match! 😘
🪦 love a story that features romance, but also has a much deeper meaning

Absolutely adorable story about a woman who comes to Ireland to escape the death of her husband and start fresh. She meets her mortician next door neighbor when she receives a delivery of body bags clearly meant for him. He's very anxious around people and she's a talker who is determined to befriend him.

I liked this the second time around as much as I liked it the first, but it looks like they cut the cute later epilogue that was in the indie version, which made me sad. Overall, a solid read!

Morbidly Yours was a wonderfully put together debut novel. I was honestly shook by how engaging this book became for me (until the end but we’ll get to that). Some of the best parts of this book included:

💀 friends to lovers, with an EXTREMELY slow burn
💀 a male lead who not only stutters but is demisexual, both were represented with a lot of respect
💀 navigated emotions through death anxiety, grief, self-advocacy, and many others in such a thoughtful way.

AND IF YOU NEED AN EXTRA BEST REASON:
💀 you’ll learn some amazing Irish dirty talk 😉

Surprisingly, I actually really liked this book. It wasn’t perfect, but it was perfectly cute and cozy. I say “surprisingly” because the first couple chapters had me questioning the level of detail we were going to go into with Callum’s job. Yes, I knew signing up for this book that he was a mortician, but I wasn’t expecting the detail of his work like the sewing of the mouth. It would just throw me off but still I really enjoyed this read.

The slow burn for this one absolutely wrecked me. Like I was just begging for them to get together already. It was really well done, and the tension was built taller than the great wall of china. My only complaint was that when they did finally get together, the end seemed to drag out. The characters knew the other liked each other, but still fought it, and fought it, and fought it. It was exhausting and started getting repetitive.

I honestly can look past the repetitive nature though and still give this 4 stars! I really did give me a lot of emotions I wasn’t prepared for. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

4.25 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this romance between Callum and Lark. It’s a great grumpy/sunshine trope with forced proximity. Lark moved to Ireland for a job after leaving Texas behind due to wanting to escape everything making her remember and mourn her husband’s death 2 years prior. Callum is her next door neighbor, who happens to also run a funeral home. In a weird twist of fate, they become quick friends and Callum lets Lark know he must get married within the next 6-8 months, so that he will be able to keep the funeral home due to a clause in his grandfather’s will. Lark makes quick work of helping him download apps to search for that special someone. As they slowly spend more time together, they both realize dating or being with anyone else isn’t the same as being with each other. Lark struggles with not knowing how long she will be in Ireland due to her work visa ending once the project she’s been assigned will end as well, and she feels as if she will be dragging Callum down. Her belief that she cannot be what Callum needs continues to push him away.

I think there was a true believability to Lark and Cal’s hesitance to get together and the back and forth they both struggled with. They had clear chemistry, which was confusing and exhilarating for them. I love the demisexual and stutter representation we get from Cal and how Lark works to understand and really know Cal in a way that makes him feel seen. I loved the small moments between the two of them and getting both of their POVs. There was so much longing and tension that when they finally do get together—I literally let out a sigh of relief.

I really enjoyed the ending of the book and how everything came together for the two of them. I can’t wait to see what else Ivy Fairbanks will come out with in the future.

CW: grief, death, sexism, misogyny, sexual content, ableism, bullying

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cute friends to lovers & opposites attract rom coms. There were moments I truly laughed out loud. Callum’s banter reminded me so much of Charlie from Emily Henry’s Book Lovers. I would really like to see this book become a movie. For a debut novel, Ivy Fairbanks does a great job! I’ll be looking out for her future books. With a few exceptions, most corny romantic novels are cringy, uninspiring, or dull. This is the opposite. I was engaged from beginning to end, the conflict between all of the characters was perfectly timed. Without giving too much away, Lark has to overcome obstacles with people in her life and the resolutions happen at natural times throughout the book. The only feedback I would give is I wish Lark’s late husband was explained more. He didn’t have a fully formed backstory so I couldn’t emotionally connect with his death.

Jaysus, this book is amazing!

Morbidly Yours is the story of Lark, a widowed Texan and Callum, a mortician who will lose his home/business if he doesn't get married by his 35th birthday. I don't even know where to start with how wonderful this book is, but it's probably one of the best friends to lovers books I've ever read. I was sucked in right away with their body bag meet cute and the witty banter/dry sarcasm is literally my own personal brand of heroin.

Lark moves to Ireland to take an animation job in Galway, and moves in next door to Callum who is trying to find a wife to save his family business. Determined to help Callum find THE ONE through dating apps and set ups, their friendship deepens and turns to love.

Callum is the cinnamon roll MMC of my dreams, and the skating scene will live forever in my head rent free. Plus, how can you say no to Irish dirty talk?

Bravo, Ivy Fairbank on your debut novel. You hit it out of the park!

5 stars/2 spice

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group for the chance to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

“Who knew the reaper had such a pretty scythe?”

<i>”Oh Jaysus!”</i>, this one was cute. As a Texas girlie with a love for Dolly Parton and a fascination with anything morbid, I was very satisfied. I love a socially awkward sweetheart of a man (that’s also a freak in the sheets/castle ruins) and Callum delivered. AND he talks dirty in Irish, swoon. I would have rated it soo much higher if Lark didn't kill the vibe toward the end. Still worth the read, I did not expect to enjoy the mortician/widow dynamic as much as I did!


Friends to lovers 💕
Irish MMC ☘️
Texan FMC ⭐️
Grumpy x sunshine ☀️
Slow burn 🔥
Dual POV ✌🏼
Rom com 🎭

This one is definitely not a favorite of mine, but it was an OK read. I think it could be a good fit for some other people.

What was the friendship building between Callum and Lark. Of course, I enjoyed the dirty talk in Irish. The third break up was complete garbage and Callum deserved better.

This book surprised me! I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it because it's a quirky concept, but I loved it! It was a cozy, slow-burn romance that was surprisingly fun and quick to read. I thought I wouldn't enjoy it because the MMC's profession of choice is so different than the usual occupations we see in rom-coms, but I think that's what made it enjoyable! It was a new perspective that I wouldn't have otherwise engaged with. I'm so glad it treated the concept of grief respectfully because even as the characters fall in love, the FMC still has a chance to grieve and process her loss without feeling like she was skipping over that part because of her growing romantic feelings for someone else. It's definitely a different book than what I usually read, but it's worth a read! Thank you #NetGalley for my ARC of #MorbidlyYours