I really enjoyed the premise of this book with a women who took over a casket business and an employee of Death it has a cozy small town vibe and a spooky feeling.

The writing seemed a bit mixed, at some points I didn’t understand who the perspective was written through, one sentence seemed to be the thoughts of a side character while the next sentence was of the main character.

The chemistry between the two main characters felt like it needed more.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I respectfully am not sure what I just read. I think that the idea of Casket Case has a lot of potential, but overall the execution didn’t hit so well.

When reading the blurb for this, the charming scenario of a man who works for Death itself & the owner of a small town, family owned casket company sounds delightfully camp. & some parts were! But I was super confused on the true plot line, as most of the story centered on Nora & Garrett’s quickly formed relationship. To me, this would’ve benefited from making the relationship a slower burn instead of VERY quick insta love. Because of the quickness, chemistry felt very lacking & their conflict felt almost toxic to me? I personally thought that she had more chemistry with Johnny for those few chapters than she did with Garrett. The writing itself was good, I did find myself teary at some of the themes brought up, but to me felt like the meat of it needed to be fleshed out more.

Thanks so much to NetGalley & Random House Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

So I liked the premise of this book but it never felt fully flushed out for me. Nora and Garrett are interesting characters and I feel like Evans has a lot of great ideas for their story, but I never felt like I could connect them as a couple. I liked Garrett a lot and his explanation of his job was strangely heartwarming. As a character he feels fully realized, well-rounded and weirdly relatable. Nora has some flashes of the same but mostly she feels a bit like a petulant child. But having said all that, I think Evans has something here and in fact, I wouldn’t mind a series about these two, like Nora can join Garrett and they can bring Death together? I don’t know, but after I finished reading the book, I didn’t feel done with the story and wanted more of them growing together.

This might not have been everything I wanted, but it was a fascinating premise and I look forward to reading what else Evans dreams up.

"Casket Case" by Lauren Evans is a book that contains an interesting premise.

The story centers around a woman, Nora, who inherits her family's casket business and Garrett, a man who secretly works for Death. This sounds like quite a pair and almost made me believe there would be chaos. This book didn't have that much really and I felt like the chemistry was just okay between the characters.

I loved the concept but I just wasn't totally sold on the execution unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley and Dell for selecting me for this ARC.

DNF at 15%

This started off fine but then took a weird turn and got very, aggressive in tone? I did not enjoy the main character after a bit and the insta love was hard to believe.

Lauren Evans’ Casket Case is an absolute gem. As someone familiar with grief, this story struck a deep chord, offering a fresh and poignant perspective on love, loss, and the unexpected ways they intertwine. Nora’s journey is both heartfelt and inspiring, a powerful reminder that how we view life’s challenges shapes our experience and how we flourish in those moments. This story truly delves into grief and the strength it takes to face loss. twist in the end was just what the recipe of this book needed.

Casket Case is a light-hearted romance with a twist. Nora returns to her hometown of Rabbittown, Alabama to run her family’s casket business. Unfortunately, her romantic prospects in this small town were definitely not looking good. That is, until the day a handsome stranger wandered into her shop asking for directions. Their romance develops swiftly, but he is hiding the true nature of his job: Garrett is a Logistics Coordinator for Death. How will Nora react when she finds out?

Casket Case is a quick, enjoyable read. The characters are engaging and the storyline is clever. It is certainly a nice way to spend an afternoon.

I was able to binge read this on a flight, but damn, it was really sad and melancholic? I think I was expecting a murder mystery rom-com-esque book based on the promotion of the book (it wasn't really clear what "Death" was from the book summary, lol), but it was a plot of the MCs dealing with the death of their family members in a stages of grief way.

TWs - death in general of known people and peers, death of parents due to a car accident, death of sibling due to cancer, death of a grandparent

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

2/5 ⋆｡°✩

I wanted to like this book but it unfortunately fell flat for me. The premise is so unique but felt halfway incorporated which was a bummer because that's what pulled me towards the book in the first place.
I loved that it took place in Alabama and all the side characters (the old folks anyway) were great! That's about all I can say that I enjoyed. I found the fmc annoying and the mmc boring as all get out. I don't particularly enjoy insta-romance (specifically when it isn't believable) and this fell into that HARD. I think if Evans had leaned into the supernatural aspect a little more, I would have had a better time reading this but without switching to the audiobook towards the end, I would not have been able to finish this.

Thank you to the author, Lauren Evans, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

*no playlist for you>:|

This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! Definitely worth the read!

Interesting concept with having someone who sells caskets and the other works for death. Some parts just felt slow and the relationship between the main characters felt rushed

This book was not what I expected. It was marketed as a rom-com, but it was NOT that. Instead, it was filled with tragic loss after tragic loss. It had a very dark heavy feeling from start to finish. It had a great message on how to cope with loss and grief in life, but failed as a rom-com.

For the first half we are sitting back waiting and waiting for Nora to figure out that Garrett worked for death. We already knew. We are told in the book description and it confuses me why the author would do that. It gave away the best part.

The second half Nora, a grown adult, makes poor decisions with zero common sense, which was frustrating. The Johnny portion disjointed the story while we sat back, yet again, waiting for Nora to figure out he was a red flag which she already knew, but chose to ignore.

The book ends with more sadness and grief which overshadows the romance. The book had a great concept, but it just fell short for me as the rom-com I was expecting. Thank for the Arc for my honest review.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Looking for contemporary paranormal romance!? This book was just what I needed to get me ready for spooky season!

okay this was actually so fun and I loved the vibes 🤪🤪 I really enjoyed the romance that grew between these characters and they didn’t get on my nerves!

2.5 - A really creative idea that just wasn't executed in the right way for me! For something marketed as a rom-com, I wasn't expecting so many heavy topics (obviously, grief), and thought there would be a bit more levity to it all. A bit hard to overcome my expectations going into it, and the characters were lacking for me, too.

This was an interesting novel. A girl moves home and takes over the family business. She feels like she is in a rut and doesn’t go out. A handsome man walks into the casket shop and they start dating. She falls for him but realizes she doesn’t really understand what he does for her work.

I loved the concept of Casket Case by Lauren Evans and thought it was such a fresh idea for a rom-com! Nora takes over her family’s casket business in small town Alabama after they unexpectedly pass away, and she doesn’t necessarily want to be there. I loved seeing how her feelings changed throughout the book and there is a large emphasis on grief and how we handle it. Also, Garrett’s job! I have no idea how Evans thought up making the MMC a logistics coordinator for death, but it was such an interesting element and one that I basically found out along with Nora since I couldn’t remember the synopsis. 😂

I ended up listening to Casket Case on audio, and I really enjoyed Sean Patrick Hopkins & Bailey Carr’s narration for Garrett and Nora. HOWEVER, I think it ended up confusing me because I could never understand why the timelines jumped around so much. Looking at the book, it makes sense now, so I might recommend reading with the eyes for this one. For as unique as this book was, I don’t think the execution was there for me. I didn’t find myself falling in love with the characters, and I didn’t find anything funny in what is being marketed as a rom-com. I would have loved some humor mixed in to make it a little less heavy and to better suit the romance itself. All in all, a bit of a meh debut for me, but I would definitely recommend it to the right person!

Tried to stretch myself out of my norm of reading straight up romance to add in a little bit of paranormal or science fiction and darn it, it didn't work. I thought the concept of the storyline being that she was going to work for a casket company and he was working for well... death... and she essentially did, too, that this would be a cutesy story. But man if they didn't strike what I was hoping for - instead, it was just another "love" story where it flew by and there was no build up between their characters. On the other hand, though, I would totally give Lauren Evans another try for other stories because her writing style is what kept me going - unique and flowed well! Just wasn't chemistry laden. Thanks for the opportunity to read!