this was really cute!! super fun!! and a great, quick romcom!! the plot was really unique! the characters were really unique (both with careers i haven’t read a lot of in books!! and in situations that i don’t really a lot of in books!!) and entertaining.
i loved the various explorations of grief and how it impacts and sticks with us!! and i also really adored the brief explorations of sexuality. both callum and lark were so gentle with eachother the whole story and it was so beautiful seeing how they interacted.
unfortunately i just never really connected with the story that much? i can’t quite place my finger on exactly what it was but it felt like it was really surface level with a lot of little things. i felt both overwhelmed and frustrated toward the end dealing with the mutual pining, callum’s deadline, lark’s temporary career, grief, family issues, more grief, job issues, misscommunications, etc etc and i couldn’t wait to just get passed it all.
in the end i did really love this story and the ending was beautiful!! the film festival stitched my heart up so nicely!!! and the growth that literally ever character showed was so special. overall a pretty great debut by ivy i will def be reading whatever comes next!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lassen Press and Ivy Fairbanks for this ARC!

Wow. I am so impressed by this book. Hearing the synopsis intrigued me enough to read but I really did not think I would be so connected to the story! Imagine my surprise when I saw that this was a DEBUT novel. I am sat to see what Ivy Fairbanks writes next.

The plot of this story was unique to anything I’ve read before. A cartoon creator and an undertaker fall in love??? And then the undertaker is the sweetest acts of service king ever. Callum tugged on my heart strings. He defended Lark even when his speech impediment put him at risk for bullying. He did things that went way out of his comfort zone because he knew it would make her happy. HE SAID BEAUTIFUL THINGS TO HER IN IRISH even when she didn’t know. He was a literal dream. His job is death but he gave us all life

Lark was a flawed character but I understood every part of why she was the way she was. The author gives us enough back story to understand why she is so hesitant to love someone. The way she acted in some scenes was frustrating but she also was such a ray of sunshine that I could look past it.

what to expect:
💕neighbors
💕friends to lovers
💕he falls first
💕boy obsessed
💕 nickname in a different language

👉🏼grief

Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Morbidly Yours - Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
.
FEATURES:
-Love after Loss
-Opposites Attract
-Social Anxiety Rep
-American Moves to Ireland
-Dual POV
-Neighbors to Friends to Lovers
-Dark Humor and Sarcasm
-A Mortician and An Animation Director Fall in Love
.
SYNOPSIS:
After the death of her husband, Lark moves to Ireland for a fresh start and new job. Her new apartment just happens to be right next to a local, Irish funeral home.
.
Callum has been around death and grief his entire life. He grew up learning to care for the families that came through his family’s funeral home. But, when it comes to making friends or dating, his social anxiety is a barrier. But his new neighbor might be just the perfect warm, extrovert to help him out.
.
WHY 5/5:
While this is an adult contemporary romance and there are plenty of swoony moments, the greater story here is really about grieving, healing, and opening back up to love after loss. Callum and Lark may be opposites in many ways, but they have both recently lost people close to them. In their grief and loneliness, they befriend each other and help one another feel a little less alone.
.
Readers will also learn about the unique life of a mortician, spend time in a lovely Irish town, be treated to dark, witty humor, lots of endearing moments, grand gestures, and a bit of spice.
.
This is truly a rare and beautiful book. I wanted to hug these characters from start to finish and I was so sad when the book was over!

LOVED this book. What a great pair of characters who felt so real and so incredibly genuine. Absolutely adored Callum and his quirkiness. Who knew being an undertaker was hot? The banter was great, the character development was great. I'd 100% recommend this book to anyone. What a lovely surprise this was!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam, NetGalley, and Ivy Fairbanks for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so fun to read. I loved that both characters had unique jobs, this made for a fun setting. The development of the characters and relationship was done well. Overall Loved this book!

This was such a cute read. If you're looking for a heartwarming friends-to-lovers slow burn (emphasis on the slow), this is the perfect book for you!

Thank you netgalley for providing this free e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

Morbidly Yours is a tender and sweet friends to lovers romance between a grieving animator and a mortician. Following her husband's death, FMC (Lark) moves to Ireland for a fresh start. Despite her grieving and general discomfort with cemeteries, she makes an unlikely friend in the mortician next door (MMC, Callum). Their personalities couldn’t be more different but complement each other so well. Callum must be protected at all costs - he talks dirty in Irish, has a stutter (which is treated with sensitivity and care), is demisexual (again, treated with sensitivity and care), punches Lark’s workplace bully in defense of Lark’s character and honor, and while his circle is small he loves so deeply. Both the dialogue and inner thoughts of the MMC and FMC are humorous, truly a cozy romcom. Friends to lovers is typically isn’t my jam, but the author tackled the trope so well and I loved it. Even if friends to lovers isn’t a favorite trope, give this one a try.

I really loved Lark and Callum's story. It was sad, funny, complex, and beautiful. I will definitely be on the lookout for more Ivy Fairbanks' novels and will be recommeding Morbidly Yours to all of my friends!

I loved this and can't wait for it to come out to share with my patrons. It was a true case of opposites attract with a pesky will and running from the past. So many books set in Ireland become about the country and less about the characters. No so in this case. It added just the right amount of charm without overwhelming the story. I loved seeing the growth of both characters and the supporting cast leaves room for sequels! A great weekend read...

I wasn't quite sure going into it, what this book was about. I always love an Irish romance and this book certainly delivers! We follow Lark as she travels to Ireland to escape her grief. She moves in next door to the handsome undertaker, Callum. Callum is instantly attracted, but understands that there is something she's not telling him about her previous marriage. They try to maintain a friendship, but the attraction turns out to be a little to strong and find themselves in a friends with benefits situation. Unfortunately, Callum needs a wife like YESTERDAY in order to keep his family mortuary business, but can't help spending most of his time with Lark. It's frustrating to see Callum still going on other dates when we all know he's in love with Lark, but Lark takes some more time to come around. Luckily, she does right before Callum has to file to marry his older secretary!

What a funny, cute, refreshing, and a touch spicy love story. I loved the Irish language. The story follows an animator who is devastated after losing her husband and vows to never have a relationship again. She moves across the world for a new job and gets more than she bargained for when a package is wrongly delivered to her home. This book made me laugh out loud at times. It was a very nice break from serious books and it was cute.

I’m in AWE! First of all, thank you NetGalley & Putnam Books for the ARC. Release date: Aug 20.

The story follows Lark, an animator from Austin TX who moved to Galway Ireland for a fresh start after the loss of her husband. She is a sunshine FMC who is battling grief & attempting a fresh start.

Our MMC, Callum is a mortician who at the start is looking for a marriage of convenience in order to save his family business but ends up falling head over heels for our sunshine FMC.

This is such a beautiful written second chance romance with demi sexual representation and a non traditionally masculine MMC who has a stutter.

Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC, provided in exchange for an honest review.

And honestly: I loved this book. It was so easy to care about Lark and Callum and their beautifully weird little journey. I adored the representation of something less straightforward than a slow burn or insta-lust — and it was not one bit less compelling.

This book is sad and sweet and hopeful and funny … all the puns made me laugh out loud. I thought Lark and Callum balanced each other beautifully — and I’m going to think about spandex differently going forward.

Since this is a debut novel, I’m now compelled to add Ivy Fairbanks to my “authors to watch” list. I can’t wait to make everyone I know read this book.

Lark, a social Texan and widow, moves to Galway, Ireland on a work visa to work for an animation. She develops an unexpected relationship with her neighbor who she finds out is an undertaker. Lark is not looking for love or a relationship despite losing her husband unexpectedly two years prior.
Callum runs Willow Haven, the family funeral home and cemetery that has been passed down through the generations. Callum's was raised by his grandparents as his father was estranged from the family. While Callum was set to take over the funeral home following his granda's death, he found that his granda added a stipulation in his will that in order to take over the business, Callum must be married by the time he is 35 otherwise the home will go to his estranged father. Callum is 8 months shy of being 35 and has no prospective wife and his father already has a prospective deal with another, larger funeral home company to purchase the home should he take over the business.
Lark and Callum become unexpected friends quickly. Lark helps Callum come out of his shell and she encourages him to go on as many dates as possible to successfully take over the family business under his granda's stipulation. Lark and Callum's friendship blossoms into more but Lark is only on a work visa and she is not interested in a relationship, or is she and she just doesn't know it yet.
This book was incredibly amazing and was a hands down five star read for me! I fell in love with the characters and their comical banter. The story is truly and opposites attract trope. Lark's character was fun, outgoing, and talkative, whereas, Callum was quiet, awkward, and lacking of self-confidence. I fell in love with Callum and he kept surprising me because he wasn't what he seemed initially. I really enjoyed the use of the Gaelic language throughout the story and I really appreciated the language pronunciation and translation guide. The story was told in different perspectives, Lark and Callum. I found myself with all kinds of feels throughout this book. There are parts that I laughed at, cried at, and parts that just made me want to smack Lark aside the head because she was being ridiculous in her thought process. This story filled my heart with so much joy and love and then in one chapter, shattered my heart in a million pieces, but the author mended my heart in the best of ways making me wish I could read this story over and over as if it's the first time.
Thank you NetGalley, Ivy Fairbanks, and Penguin Group Putnam for allowing me the opportunity to read this advanced copy and provide my honest feedback.

I can’t believe this is a debut novel. It is so wonderfully written and heartwarming (and spicy).I loved how sweet and gentle Callum the mmc was. While he can be a bit of a recluse he never comes off as rude or arrogant like many other mmc with similar demeanors. Lark the fmc could not be more different if she tried. She is super bubbly and outgoing and I loved seeing her bring Callum out of his shell. I absolutely adored seeing the main characters happy at the end after all they both had been through. If you are a fan of friends to lovers and slow burn this is the perfect book for you.

Let me just start this review by saying this book is not usually what I read but oh my god I’m so glad I did! I loved this book I literally could not put it down. Seriously from the first page I was hooked. Did I ever think I would say an undertaker would be hot…no, do I take that back? Absolutely!! Ugh I will not stop thinking about this book. Lark and Callum were the book couple I didn’t know I needed in my life and the spice *chef’s kiss*

"Morbidly yours" is a grumpy/sunshine slow burn that negates all of the stages of grief and loss and somehow still has you laughing throughout the story. So good.

[2.5 Stars]

I'm honestly not sure what happened here. The first 70% was 4 or 4.5 star material for me, and then somehow this just absolutely tanked. All the conflict felt manufactured for page count, the characters were all over the place from what we knew them to be, the resolution of certain plot lines was unsatisfying, and TWO epilogues.....unnecessary.

I'm so disappointed. If only the last chunk had had a little more editing.

This book was unique slow burn romance with good banter and writing that handled the topic of grief really well. Set in Galway, Ireland, I really enjoyed the development of Callum and Lark’s friendship.

I hope the author continues with books on the side characters since I loved them throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this free ARC.

For me, this book had a strong start to it, but the relationship between the characters started to feel underwhelming the further the book progressed.

The first two chapters were interesting and I liked the detail relating to Callum's job as a mortician. Lark was cute and I liked that there was depth and something deeper to her character, but some aspects were a bit... cringe. For example, she wore a purple coat, a rainbow dress, and pink cowboy boots. I get she's an animator and she's a very vibrant, bubbly person, but that outfit sounds horrendous. She also said, "I'm the human equivalent of loose glitter."

The desk replacing scene at Lark's job was stupid to me and I understand that it was meant to show how Lark is settling into her role in the job and making valuable connections to her coworkers, but it was stupid and unnecessary.

Personally, I would have liked to see more development of Callum and Lark's relationship and feelings for each other before there was any actual progression because it left a lot of the book as a "will-they-won't-they" type of deal. Chapter 29 was SO underwhelming. I thought that the scene where the two kissed for the first time was well done and the tension was built up well, but chapter 29 fell flat for me. After that, I was racing to finish the book because I wanted to be done with it already.

I did like that there was the representation of grief, stutters, and the asexual spectrum, but I can't say how accurate any of the representations were.

In the end, the book was fine. I didn't hate it, but it fell short in different aspects for me.