I just loved this story. It's romcom, but also has sad bits that will pull at your heart.
After tragedy strikes Nora's family, she is left with her parents' casket business in the town of Rabbittown, AL. Uprooting her life, she takes on the business, while also trying to live life, grieve the death of her parents, and find love. She's surrounded by a very nosey community that reminds me of the show, Gilmore Girls. The town, and all its chaos is comical and adds to the story perfectly. Casket Case is definitely one of those odd reads that you'll remember. It's so different from the typical romcom. The main character owns a casket business, and the male main character works for death. It's got a cute romance, funny characters, and a splash of caskets and death. Thank you NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this book, and thank you to the author for writing such a beautiful debut story. This review will be posted to Goodreads.

I really enjoyed Casket Case! The premise is entirely unique, the characters feel true to life (as true to life as a corporate employee of Death cam feel!), and the small-town setting was picture perfect.

I can't believe this was Evans' debut! Really looking forward to reading whatever she writes next!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Casket Case had a promising premise. A seemingly normal guy who works for Death gets together with a girl who sells caskets sound like a match made in heaven. But I really struggled to finish this book, almost didn't get past 60% but decided to see how they ended.

A character I really like was her grandpa, he was supportive but at the same time talked to her like it is. The way grief is talked about was done very well since it's a prominent theme to the story. Also the sense of community that comes from living in a small town came through showing how everyone helps each other in times of need.

The relationship between Nora and Garret started right away it was very insta love, but I didn't feel like they had much chemistry. Their conversations felt awkward and stilted. Nora was still mourning her parents and the live she had so it made her question and overthink everything with Garret from the begging, almost waiting for something to go wrong. Even though Garret was hiding what he did for work he seemed to be putting more effort in making their relationship work.

Slight Spoilers Ahead!
There was a scene that made me very frustrated and was what almost made me put it down where Nora asked Garret for space. When they were talking about it later Nora said it was her prerogative to be pathetic because she spent that time were they were apart basically sulking and waiting for him to call. He responded that she was not pathetic and it was her who asked for time and that is what he did. Her response was "You caused this whole situation, Garret. Don't come at me with that shit." And that made me not like her much because make up your mind, he did what you asked and why is she also putting everything on him. For a character that kept reminding everyone that she was thirty, she acted a bit immature at times.

Last thing I want to mention is the love triangle should have not happened so late in the book. Specially with Johnny, a character we were told initially had never been that kind to her. It made no sense for her to suddenly find him attractive after he was nice to her for a couple of days. Overall this story had great potential but for me personally it fell a bit short with the storytelling.

Thank You to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest opinion.

The concept of this book was incredibly interesting. I have never read a book that explored the concept of death in this way before. Our FMC owns a casket store that she inherited from her parents after they died. She has been struggling with her purpose since they passed. She meets our MMC and falls in insta love. Their romance moves very quickly and they both fall fast. This leads to the biggest problem with this book. Our MMC has been lying about his job and when the FMC finds out she wants to take a break to figure out her feelings. They then take two more breaks before they breakup. They spend the second half of the book broken up. They also "talk" about this issue three separate times without ever coming to a conclusion about his job.
She then tried to date other people which feels like an entire section of the book that could have been skipped. She ultimately decided she is going to ignore his job and be with him anyway. The ending felt very rushed after several sections of the book where nothing happened. The pacing of the book really struggled due to the consistent breakups. I liked the idea of this book but in the end it felt a bit flat.

Between the stiff (no pun intended) dialogue and lack of chemistry between the main characters, I found myself wanting more from this book. I did enjoy the small-town setting, but unfortunately this one was just not for me.

3/5 overall book rating
1/5 spice
If you want Gilmore Girls meets The Dead Romantics, then this is for you. I was immediately intrigued by the description of this book. Nora returns home after her parents’ deaths to run their casket business, only to fall in love with a stranger who works for Death.
I wanted more development of their relationship to make everything they were going through to feel more substantial, but it was a cute and cozy read.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC and the opportunity to compete a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing group for giving me the opportunity to read this arc.

Casket Case is about small town girlie Nora, who is running a casket business that was passed down to her after the unexpected loss of both of her parents. Nora falls for Garrett, the new hot mystery man in town who happens to work for Death. The story follows Nora and her personal journey and struggle with Garrett’s job and how death seems to follow her and surround her entire life.

This is a very unique plot for me and I think Lauren did a great job at giving us something eccentric with this small town romance. I will say as much as I enjoyed it, Nora really was getting on my nerves. She was very self-destructive when it came to her relationship with Garrett when the man was really trying his best! I think her character development was stunted, I would have liked to see more self-awareness sooner. Garrett was 10/10, we love to see a man who is showing up, and ugh the way he is so proud of what he does for a career (and why) really made me like him more.

I DID love the relationship that was highlighted between Nora and her grandpa, as someone who has a soft spot for grandparents, I really enjoyed this aspect of him being her best friend and confidant. The relationship they had till the last page really yanked at my heartstrings.

There were some moments that fell a little flat for me as far as the general pace of this book, I feel like there could have been a little more drama but when I got to the last 3 chapters my rating went from a 3.5 to a 4.0. I really was surprised with the twist at the end and how it hit me emotionally, a tear was shed.

I think for a debut novel, Lauren has a great recipe and I look forward to reading her work in the future.

As someone living in a tiny town— I really resonated with our FMC and was rooting for her throughout the story. I did find it to be a bit sow going and struggled to stay engaged in the beginning but around 30% through and it started to pick up pace. I also felt like the characters could be fleshed out a bit more because they felt a little flat. Overall, it’s a sweet romance with an interesting twist.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing - Ballantine, and Dell for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I was intrigued by the concept of someone working for death and that being part of a romantic novel with Casket Case, so I was eager to pick this up. The premise came together in a sweet novel and I enjoyed the main characters along with their supporting cast. Eleanora (or Nora as she is widely known) has gone through a rough time with the death of her parents and inheritance of their casket shop. She’s still definitely frozen by grief when Garrett, a logistics employee (his job being very generalized and mysterious to others) comes onto the scene and the two strike up a fast moving relationship. But it soon emerges that Garrett works for death, comforting those about to pass, which for Nora just represents the deaths not only of her parents but those close to her that seem to be happening even more with him around.

As we dive into Garrett’s role and why he took the job, we also see Nora trying to decide how to finally move her life along. I thought these parts were all very well done striking bittersweet tones in the perfect way. I did wish we could have dived into her Grandfather’s past a bit more and that the epilogue was a bit more robust, but this was a cute romance that took advantage of its unique premise in a satisfying way. The third person point of view with which this was written made it just a bit harder for me to get into (I’m not quite sure why as this works for me normally) but it may just be my experience.

This book is sweet, funny, cute, swoon worthy and everything a romance reader could want! I liked seeing their relationship progress across the novel. It’s a heartwarming, and an emotional story that romance fans will love!

thank you to netgalley and random house publishing for the opportunity to read this arc!

this book follows our main character nora who comes from a family that runs a casket business. after her parents suddenly pass away, she is brought back to her small hometown to continue running the store. one day she meets garrett as he enters her store looking for directions.
what she doesn't know about garrett is he works for death.

this book concept really intrigued me, and the synopsis had me thinking about a kdrama that i watched a while back and really enjoyed called "tomorrow". while there were some similarities (really just the concept of working for death), this story also had romance which i am no so sure i was that big of a fan of. the two characters seemed to not have much chemistry and it was quite insta-lovey, which i am never really a fan of, but that is personal preference! i also was quite bothered with how they communicated, it seemed like they were just always arguing. the overall pacing of the book was maybe just not for me!

i did enjoy the concept like i said earlier and i also really loved how the author talked about grief in this book and how our main character handles her grief and also slowly starts to understand it better throughout the story.

overall i would rate this book a 2.5!

Thank you to Netgalley, Lauren Evans, and Random House - Ballantine for an advanced copy of Casket Case in exchange for my honest review.

Casket Case was quite a journey! It was a little reminiscent of the television show "Dead Like Me" in a good way. I felt the main plot of the book was interesting and unique. I enjoyed reading about the backgrounds of the main characters and how they were related in a roundabout way through their work. Lauren Evans did an excellent job weaving the story in the setting. I truly felt like I was in a small town in Alabama. I could feel the Southern, small town vibes and the closeness of the community. I also enjoyed reading about the main characters and related a lot to the female main character, Nora. Her history and background were set up well and really gave us a clear picture of her internal conflict throughout the book.

This book is very dialogue heavy, which I enjoy. There was a lot of missed communication attempts or attempts at talking through issues with sometimes limited resolution leading to extended conflict. Several times I just wanted the main characters to discuss their emotions and feelings more clearly. My other critique is that a little more description within the book of the emotions of the characters may have enhanced the writing and the exposition of the story, because otherwise there was just the stilted dialogue about being frustrated without looking for resolution.

For people who enjoy closed door or fade-to-black intimacy scenes, this book fits those criteria. Although there is a lot of kissing, there isn't anything overtly graphic romantically. Overall, the main tropes of this book include: small town and he falls first. Those tropes are done well and I truly felt engrossed in those parts of the story.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and felt that the plot was very eccentric and distinct.

The plot for Casket Case was incredibly creative, and is what drew me into the book. Unfortuantely, I did not love the main couple as much as I would have hoped. Their chemistry was okay and some parts did make me laugh, but I was also frustrated with some of the fights they had. A lot of Nora's journey about being unsure of what she wanted to do with her life was very relatable.

I did however love the small town setting and the supporting characters. They were a huge part of what made this book endearing and also funny.

Overall, it was a cute read. I loved the connection between the main characters with their jobs - a casket company owner and someone who helps the living pass through to the other side. It was great to see Nora grow as a person throughout the book. As someone in her 30s, she was a relatable character. The ending had me in tears, both happy and sad!

Thank you random house publishing group and net galley for this arc!

interesting concept with death and someone who runs a funeral home. the romance was okay and went from dating to quick relationship. this book dealt with grief.

I was excited for Casket Case by Lauren Evans because I was hoping for a weird, dark-humored comedy, but it fell a bit flat for me. I did like the idea, but it was just a bit tropey/cliché for my taste.

Nora takes over her family's business, selling caskets after her parents pass away. Garrett works for Death, comforting people as they pass. He is driven by compassion as his brother died young.
Having a personal life is pretty tough when you work in the death industry, so maybe they're a perfect match?... but Nora has a hard time accepting that Garrett works for death. She loves him, but can she handle dating death?
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for access to read Casket Case in exchange for an honest review

This was a really interesting concept and unlike anything I’ve read before. I enjoyed the story and characters, but I can’t put my finger on it, I think I just wanted a bit more? Garrett and Nora fell hard and fast but their chemistry didn’t jump off the page to me. I also feel like at times things were a bit surface level, like Garrett’s brother, or even how/why he was recruited for his job. Was the woman who came for his brother his recruiter? Things like that. I think a bit more depth and detail would have helped. The ending and epilogue also felt a bit rushed. Overall I did like the book and writing style though.

Casket Case by Lauren Evans feels unlike anything I’ve read before. Who knew I wanted a protagonist who runs a casket shop? It was fun look at a job I’ve never thought twice about!

As a whole I did really enjoy this book. The concept was creative and well done. The pacing was ok, maybe a bit slow at times, but it kept me interested. Most of the slower parts were Nora acting like a whiney teenager instead of someone that is 30 years old. She was the only one in the entire book not acting their age. It got to be a bit much. I don't know what Garrett saw in her or continued to see in her. Their relationship felt a bit forced at times because of this. They didn't seem to be on the same maturity level. By the end she did have some growth which was nice. Took her long enough. There is a small twist, if you will, that I enjoyed in the book. I found that the final chapter ended kind of abruptly. I felt like there should have been more to wrap it up. The epilogue was well done and finished the book off nicely but I feel like there was more that could have been said prior to it. All in all the book is good, concept is solid, and it was a cute and cozy read.

I'm always down for a bit of magical realism in romance, an element that's not always easy to find. I was so excited to learn of a romance novel about a woman who sells caskets for a living, falling in love with a man who literally works for Death.

This story fell apart for me in the execution. First, internal monologue makes up a significant portion of the narrative. You are in Nora's thoughts and memories for I'd say more than half the book. Because of this, the book itself feels slow and drawn-out, with little happening on the page. However, the romance itself is almost too fast paced. I appreciate the insta-love trope--but in this case, I felt like Nora and Garrett coming together felt rushed and too easy. By 30% they were declaring they loved each other. By 55%, they had their "third act" breakup that typically happens at 80%. I didn't really believe in how Nora and Garrett said they felt about each other. Then you have this odd interlude where Nora starts up a flirtation with Johnny. When Nora and Garrett get back together, I'm not convinced they'll go the distance--it doesn't really feel like they've overcome anything.

Things I did like about the book: Garrett was a solid MMC who was mature, patient, and romantic. I liked the relationship Nora had with her grandfather, and appreciated the plot twist that he had also worked for Death. I was fascinated by the concept of Death as a boring as hell corporate logistics operation. I loved the references to "classic" pop culture that won't date the book in two years, like General Hospital and Cheers. I think many people will love and appreciate this book a lot more than I did--especially if they're looking for an internal, women's fiction-esque story more than a classic romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House - Ballantine for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.