I liked the ending of this book. The meeting between Lark and Rachel tied things up nicely.
Lark and Callum’s chemistry was really written well. The friendship they developed was sweet to read.
The book was slow to start and really took a long time to get going. The work drama with Lark and Sean annoyed me. At the end, Lark stands up for herself. I don’t think how Lark was handling the work issues with Sean did her character justice. She was so strong in other aspects of the book that it was painful to see her not stand up for herself until the end.

I love this book. I loved it when it was published independently. And I am so excited about the tweaks and that more people are likely to read it. It’s the story of a widow who ran away to Galway to heal and the demisexual funeral director who is awkward but it also the perfect person for her. Seriously the two main characters are great and well written. The secondary characters are interesting and funny. The thing keeping them a part makes sense. So heartfelt. Also super sexy. Like yea steam! This book is quirky and delightful. I can’t wait for Ivy Fairbanks next one.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I adored this! Lark is trying to start anew. In the last few years, she lost her husband, best friend, and her dream job. She finds a job in Galway at an animation studio and is looking forward to starting fresh where no one knows her backstory. She ends up renting next door to a funeral home with it's very own shy/grumpy/socially awkward mortician, Callum. He needs to be married before his birthday in order to inherit the funeral home. They strike up a friendship and Lark tries to help him find a wife. Even though it's been two years, Lark has a lot of guilt associated with her husband's death. Their chemistry takes Lark and Callum both by surprise. I found this book to be sweet, spicy, and poignant. It does deal with some heavy topics like grief; both current and past. I'm looking forward to reading more books from Ivy in the future.

Tropes included: grumpy/sunshine, widowed heroine, marriage of convenience, friends to lovers, demisexual hero, hero with a stutter, heroine helps hero find a wife, American heroine escapes to Ireland, Irish dirty talk, friends with benefits, workplace conflict (not involving hero)

Thank you to NetGalley, Ivy Fairbanks, and Penguin Group Putnam for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. #netgalley #morbidlyyours #ivyfairbanks #penguingroup

I thought this story was going to have such potential. I loved the premise of the FMC losing her husband and then falling in love with an undertaker. The story just fell flat with me. I roll my eyes when the main characters go on and on about their best friend but don't tell them a major issue in their lives. If everything can be resolved if the main characters would just talk, it is a major turn off to me. I also did not like the FMC not wanting a relationship, but she is okay having sex with him. No thanks. Now you are just messing with people and it really turned me off. I got 75% through the book but I just couldn't bring myself to finish. This was not my cup of tea, but hopefully others will love it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinons are my own.

Morbidly Yours provided all of the satisfying elements of a romance novel, with new concepts that made the book fresh, fun, and laugh out loud funny. The novel goes so much deeper than just a friends to lovers concept and deals with grief and self confidence in an appropriate way. I highly recommend this book for library romance book clubs and romance collections.

I loved the two main characters. They were the perfect grumpy/sunshine trope. The grumpy undertaker and the sunshiny animator. The Irish setting was fun. I hope the audiobook does the accents justice! I haven’t read a book with demisexual rep before. That made it a very slow burn; but once it got going there was definitely some good spice. I appreciated the various locations and positions for the spicy scenes. That kept it from getting boring and repetitive. I would have appreciated a better fleshing out of some of the side characters. They were all very two dimensional. And I felt like the conclusion of the plot wasn’t well explained. I’m still not sure how it all got wrapped up. But overall I enjoyed this friends with benefits story.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This book really intrigued me straight off the bat because I see myself as a morbid person. Mix in some romance and I'm sold. Lark and Callum's story was told in such a way that had me tearing through the book. What I really enjoyed was both main characters were flawed, but they saw past each other's flaws and connected to each other on a deep level. Grief was a large part of this story, but it didn't overwhelm it, and there were still tons of light and funny moments. I loved Callum and Lark as characters, but I especially loved that Callum was so down bad for Lark from the start! That had me giggling and kicking my feet!

If you're looking for a rom-com that deals with grief definitely give Morbidly Yours a try!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Morbidly Yours follows our FMC, Lark, who has moved to Ireland to run away from the grief of losing her husband and is thrust right into the world of death--she is neighbors with a funeral home! Callum has taken over the family undertaking business after the death of his Grandfather but there's a catch: he must be married by the time he turns 35 to inherit the business, or it'll turn over to his father, who wants to sell it. Will Lark and Callums budding friendship blossom into something more?

I enjoyed this! I'd give it 3.5 stars. I probably wouldn't re-read it, but I'd recommend it if you like marriages of convenience, dreaming of moving out of the USA, and navigating difficult topics (death, grief, stutter, social anxiety, etc). I also appreciated the exploration of the MMC's sexuality on the ace/aro spectrum

A mortician is definitely something that I haven’t read about in a rom-com. However, it did make me think of the movie My Girl, which is a definite plus!

This is a forced proximity, fake marriage, grumpy sunshine trope. What’s not to love? I appreciated a different take on a typical story.

"lonely as I was, dating was still a nightmare"
morbidly yours follows lark and callum through their friendship to love story. callum is an interesting main male love interest and refreshing compared to other male love interest, he is different with his nontoxic masculinity, his actual liking to the lark, him speaking his native language, and him having a impediment that doesn't get cured or forgetten through out the story.

"I trust you"
while callum is amazing, lark started off really strong for me but fell flat by the end. i felt like she regressed from an older adult main character to an older teen to young adult and I felt myself losing hope in her. she did have a redemption by the end of the book but not enough for me to fully like her again.

"rule four: we stay friends. no matter what."
lark and callums friendship was so pure and i loved reading it, once they became fwb, their story felt not as much fun. i personally liked them more as friends and i do wonder how their relationship will go on as a married couple.

"gra mo chroi. mo chuisle mo chroi."
the sex scenes in this book were curated with love and respect. the pleasure of both characters was a focus and the sex was normal, nothing too out of the place for the story.

thank you net galley and author ivy fairbanks for letting me read for a honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for the copy of Morbidly Yours!

This book was sweet, sexy and so fun. FMC Lark takes a temporary job in Ireland to escape from the memories of her dead husband and the guilt she feels over their relationship and his death. Moving in to a quaint apartment, she meets her new neighbor Callum.... an undertaker who needs to marry in the next 8 months to keep his family funeral home. Although very different, the two of them strike up a friendship that eventually turns into more. The tension was so high through this slow burn that half way in I was literally screaming at them to just HAVE A CONVERSATION AND KISS. Cal was such a fresh take on the sterotypical rom com MMC-- he is very reserved, anxious, has a stutter, is demisexual, and despite his time constraints and financial concerns, only wants to marry for love. He also has muscles on muscles and talks dirty in Irish, so he's pretty much the whole package. Lark was a bit bubbly and too much of a pushover for my taste, but the author does a fantastic job of fitting them together believably and romantically.

If you're looking for a cozy, romantic read this is definitely a good one to pick up.

I wouldn't have guessed this was Fairbanks's debut novel at all. The story is well-written, sweet, and while I wish it focused more on their romance itself, I really did enjoy it. We will be purchasing this for the collection and I already know several patrons that will really enjoy it.

This book scratched an itch inside me I didn't know I had. The combination of part travel romance part grief narrative really worked well for me. And when our main male lead, Collum, speaks Irish to our protagonist in bed? Swoon worthy. This book is a combination of sweet and wholesome. Recommend for fans of Kilt Trip, The Dead Romantics & The Undertaking of Heart and Mercy.

This was a super fun and cozy one! Callum is a mortician, and Lark is a widow. Set in Ireland (love that!). Please make sure to read the trigger warnings! They're there for a reason.

This one had one of my favorite tropes (Grumpy x Sunshine - if you've met my husband, this checks, lol). Also, slow burn and friends to lovers.

This romance is fun for anyone who wants a quick read with well-developed characters.

ALSO HOW IS THIS A DEBUT NOVEL!? It's so good!

Shout out to NetGalley for the early copy <3

I enjoyed this adorable love story. For a debut novel, I thought the book was really good with a unique plot. I liked how it was a true friends to lovers story and I appreciated the dark, morbid feel where Lark was a grieving widow and Callum was a mortician. However, I wish the story had focused more on the romance between the main characters rather than dragging out the process of them getting together. It was clear that they had feelings for each other, so it was frustrating to see one of them pushing the other to date someone else. Despite this, I felt that the book did a good job exploring dealing with grief and finding love again. This book should have an audiobook for the Irish dialogue because it had me swooning while reading it!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Penguin Group Putnam for giving me a copy.

This was such a fun book! It had a perfect balance of spice and sweet charming moments. I really liked the Ireland setting and the characters were great! Will be adding to our library!

I will admit I am not a typical romance reader and this was only my fourth romance book ever. But I throughly enjoyed this book. I feel like the spice was just the right amount! Loved the story and the characters too.

The setup: Lark takes an animation job in Ireland because she is running away from the loss of her husband and her associated guilt. Unbeknownst to her, she moves in next to a demisexual mortician and we are off to the romance races.

What I liked: the characters, generally. The setting. The writing style.

This is one of those reviews that is hard to write because I wanted so much to like the book and I think I might like books Ivy Fairbanks writes in the future as her writing style is really appealing. But I had a lot of problems. Callum’s stutter seemed unnecessary and his demisexuality fades into the background—I’m curious if Fairbanks was writing from her own experience or not. There wasn’t so much miscommunication as a lack of honesty and directness, which is just as irritating, especially when it goes on for as long as it did here. There’s a lot of mushy middle that could have been condensed or cut.

As a reader I didn’t like how long we had to wait for the details of Reese’s death because I wanted to know what exactly Lark felt guilty about. When it was finally revealed it felt kind of like a let down. I was surprised to have so much intensely detailed mortuary information. 😬 And finally, I was shocked that in the year of our Lord 2024, a creative Zennial didn’t immediately go to therapy after her husband’s death.

TLDR: this didn’t work for me, but Fairbanks writes interesting characters in an interesting way and I’d read more from her in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

"Grief had been my stowaway across the pond."

Lark reminds me of so many people I know - bubbly on the outside, dealing with things on the inside - must be a side effect of living in the South.

Callum is possibly one of my favorite characters I've read this year so far. He's self-conscious, intelligent, caring, but also guarded (for good reason). "Grief, rebellion, and faith all stemmed from love."

The mortuary and funeral home business can be a lonely one. My daughter's dance teacher grew up in the funeral business. Dark and light, sadness and hope.

I especially appreciated the portrayal of a believable demisexual character. The ace umbrella is used for so many, and it's so refreshing to find an author who allows characters to be themselves.

And despite the grief and spooky undertones, this book is easy to read. Just be prepared to laugh and cry, and maybe need to deal with your own issues after. "You can't keep.letting the past hasn't the present."

Lark just moved from Texas to Ireland for a short term job. She become friends with Callum who lives next door in a funeral home. Lark and Callum are totally different, she's outgoing and care free and he is introverted and a homebody. When Lark learns Callum will not inherit his family's funeral home unless he is married by the time he turns 35 (in just a few months), Lark is determined to help him find a partner. Of course the two find themselves falling for each other but Lark is running away from her past in Texas and Callum doesn't want a marriage of convenience. Callum's job as a mortician and running a funeral home is a unique topic. He really cares for the families he takes care of and this is what persuades Lark to help him. The Ireland setting is different and their trip to the Cliffs of Moher makes me want to visit.