HANDS DOWN….Caitlin Moss’ best book written to date. I can’t stop thinking about the acknowledgements at the end of the book and how she tells her readers how her husband says, “I just don’t understand how your brain works” (my husband too thinks the same about my comments and actions and thoughts and moods after reading books).

Mourner for Hire is ALL THE FEELS. I haven’t laughed and cried and just felt the feelings in a book in a very long time. Both Vada and Dominic’s characters are so complex and left me hanging on every word. I adored the dual character perspectives because it put me right there just like I was a ghost like Annabelle.

This story was beautifully written and I can’t wait for everyone in the PNW to read it because I’m literally going to scream it from the mountaintops for everyone to read it.

wow wow wow wow wow! Firstly thank you to Netgalley and Caitlin Moss for letting me be an ARC reader to this book! I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve related more to a character than I did Vada. This may be the best book I’ve read so far this year!! An amazing book. So well written. So easy to fall in love with the characters and get lost in their story! Thank you Caitlin for writing such an amazing book!!

Thank you to netgalley for the oportunity to read this early copy in exchange for my honest review.

if the idea of a funeral where there is haunting precense in the back with a veil to make your loved ones wonder who is that and who were you really, a mourner for hire is what you need.

Vada will take care of your last request and make sure that it is followed down to every little detail. so when Anabelle hires her and asks that she stays and renovates her old cottage and live in it while it is being remodeled she agrees. she will make sure it is perfect.

Vada goes to a bar where she meets the charming dominic and after sharing a few drinks ,they talk and vada shares her career with him, a coulple of kisses they part ways expecting to not see each other , atleast dominic does.

Dominic was not expecting to see Vada at her mothers funeral, knowing what she does for a living he is outraged to think that vada took advantage of his mother to get her money.

i enjoyed both characters, vada had this charm about her and you could really feel she cared for her clients and it was not just a squeme to get money. she put her heart in to it and after every funeral she was a bit heartbroken.

Dominic i had some trouble loving all the way. while he was charming in the beguining i was very upset about how he was treating vada. then i realized that he was displacing his sadness. instead of allowing himself to be sad for the lost of his mother he went to anger towards Vada. it was a little too real which i realized was why i could not love him.

the vanter between them was everything. i liked how both knew they liked each other, they both remembered the chemiestry they had and how they enjoyed their brief time together but they kept antagonizing each other.

it went a little longer than what i would have liked, it mostly felt like dominic being mean to vada and her just taking it. once they got together it was cute and i was happy with the ending. it felt good and fitting to them.

the background characters were adorable and i would have loved to see a bit more of this small town.

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
2/5 🌶🌶

**Tropes:**
⚔️ Enemies to Lovers
🌊 Small Town Romance
⏳ Slow Burn
👻 Light Paranormal Elements

Mourner For Hire is a short and heartfelt story that offers a unique, thoughtful take on grief and healing. The premise—centered around a professional mourner hired to fulfill unusual posthumous requests—was what originally drew me in, and it definitely delivered on that front. I appreciated how the book explored different ways people cope with loss, and found the depictions of grief—especially through Dominic’s experience—to be raw, believable, and emotionally grounded.

Vada, a former interior designer turned "mourner for hire," returns to her hometown for a final job: carry out the funeral wishes of Annabelle, a dying woman with a very specific request—help her son grieve and renovate her beach cottage. Complicating things? Vada and Annabelle’s son, Dominic “Dunner” Dunne, had an almost-hookup nine months earlier, and now he’s convinced she’s taking advantage of his late mother.

While the story had emotional depth and a fresh concept, the execution didn’t always land for me. The dialogue often felt a bit forced and unnatural, and I struggled at times to connect with the characters, whose motivations and personalities seemed to shift from scene to scene. The romance lacked some development, and the chemistry didn’t feel fully earned—which made the spicy scenes fall a little flat for me. That said, the ending tied things up in a satisfying way, even if the final twist was fairly easy to see coming.

Overall, *Mourner For Hire* had an original premise with meaningful themes and some strong emotional moments. While the writing style wasn’t quite a fit for me, I think readers who enjoy offbeat small-town romances with a touch of the paranormal and a focus on grief and healing may find something special here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Caitlin Moss for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Mourner for Hire is such a unique story! Readers are introduced to Vada, who is a professional mourner who may have a bit of a depressing job but loves it. When a one night stand turns out to be the son of her latest assignment, Vada finds herself with her hands full with a suspicious (though hot) romance and his mother as a ghost haunting her. First, five stars for Annabelle, the ghost, because though the story didn’t rely too heavily on her, she was absolute gold.

While grief and processing death is an understandably large part of the story, it is done well and there was plenty of humor and romance to keep things from getting too dark. Surprisingly, there is also plenty of (not directly related to the ghost) mystery as well as Vada can’t remember her childhood after a traumatic accident that killed her mother, though the small town where Annabelle lived and where Vada is currently on assignment was where she lived with her mother.

Caitlin Moss is a new to me author but she should be introduced to a wider audience based on this book. I can’t wait to read more and recommend this to others, it is the ultimate pleasant surprise of a book that goes so much deeper than its (charming) cover.

After being deep in fantasy, this quirky dark rom-com was exactly the mood switch I needed!!

Vada is a professional mourner (yes, someone you hire to cry at funerals), and she’s both hilarious and heartbreakingly real as she spins stories for a living. But when her path crosses with Dominic, whose mom she’s mourning- things go wild.

There’s ghostly humor, enemies-to-lovers tension, and a slow-burn romance with feels and feels. I laughed, I teared up, and that emotional plot twist snatched me back in  . If you want something fresh, fun, and full of heart, grab this one for fall vibes and ghostly romance magic. 📚✨

I loved how the author was able to create instant chemistry and attraction between our main characters… and then was able to turn it on a dime to hatred. Which we all know enemies to lovers is a glorious thing so lovers to enemies back to lovers was EVEN BETTER. I was hooked page one - this book starts off with a bang and will have your eyes bulging out just like our FMC’s, Vada, at the crazy scenario she finds herself in. I really love how comedic her job initially comes across… but the author does such an amazing job of unraveling the layers to Vada and her respect, compassion, and love for those who are going to or who have passed. My heart ached for our MMC, Dominic, as he grieved the loss of his mom - as someone who recently lost her mom this book really touched me. I also fell head over heels in love with Annabelle… we could not have asked for a more perfect pot stirrer. The added mystery and suspense due to Vadas missing memories was the cherry on top…. I really am amazed at the depth this story has! I honestly am not sure I will ever forget this story as it was just so unique and I’ve never read anything like it.

The one SMALL criticism I had is that I found it hard at times to follow who was talking… there were a few times I had to back track and really closely pay attention to figure out who said what.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book - all thoughts and opinions are my honest review.

I loved this book. It’s a bit ridiculous but in the best way.

I honestly don’t really have the words to describe this book. It’s witty and funny, full of hate, love, and grief. It took a lot of unexpected turns and it had a ghost.

Vada is a mourner for hire. She doesn’t have a lot of memories, she doesn’t have a lot of family, but she does have a business where she lets people hire her before they die to show up at their funeral or after their death in some capacity to meet a need. Many of these are funny, full of revenge, but some are wholesome and full of light and love. I guess you never know what you’ll need after death.

When hired by Annabelle in vadas hometown she doesn’t remember, Vada doesn’t expect her son, Dominic, to be a one night stand (ish?) from when she was in town meeting Annabelle before her death. They have crazy chemistry but he is mourning his mom and hates her for being there. However his mom Annabelle seems to be pulling some strings from beyond the grave and maybe memories and love will be found!

A very funny, very emotional, paranormal romance that I absolutely adored!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and Caitlin Moss for the ARC!

I have to say this was fantastic. There was the perfect balance of humor while depicting grief and everything that comes with it. It was at times messy, but hey that’s what grief is.

I typically do not enjoy when the MMC and FMC meet immediately. However with this, it worked. And boy did it work well. Vada being a “mourner for hire” was so unique and I loved hearing all of the different stories of her jobs and the people who hired her. I loved the connection between Vada and the MMC Dominic but I have to admit I enjoyed the relationship between Vada and Dominic’s mother (a hilarious, endearing and often cryptic ghost) even MORE. Their banter had me cackling.

The setting was a perfect little coastal small town with cute side characters. I can picture it clearly in my mind and it’s a setting that will stick with me. There was a male side character in the town with a brief (kinda sorta romantic but not really) storyline involving Vada and I didn’t much care for him. I feel like it could’ve been left out and the story still would’ve been complete. I didn’t think it added anything to Vada’s character or the romance between Vada and Dominic.

Dominic was an interesting main character. I can see how readers may think he comes off as harsh and mean but I reminded myself while reading that he just lost his mother. As someone who is currently grieving the loss of a parent, this hit the mark without being too intense, all while making me laugh along the way. Grief is incredibly hard to depict within a character. I’m impressed with how it was shown that Dominic was a very different person when Vada first met him compared to after his mother died but still remained good at his core.

Overall this was such a fun and emotional read! Is it too late to switch careers to become a mourner for hire myself!?

I really enjoyed Mourner for hire. Very funny and lighthearted. I was screaming stop being mean to each other you like each other! I liked the dark and paranormal elements. 5/5 for me.

4.25
Things I liked:
- the overall plot of the book
-the adjectives and the visuals, I felt like I was there.
-overall, most of the characters
-the way death was viewed and discussed

Things I didn’t:
- I felt that Dominic was mean just a little too long and the romance portion was a little too short. I understood the purpose of Dominic have the feelings he did but I would of liked that to be resolved a little quicker
- while I also understood the purpose of Connor I wish as a character he was a little different. I never could figure out why no one like Connor
- I also feel both of their exes stories should have been dove into more
- the last chapter felt a tad rushed where the rest of the book seemed very thought out

But I really did enjoy this book! As someone that lost their parent to cancer I very much related and thought it was a great story! I would read again.


Thanks to NetGalley and the author for allowed me an eArc

Mourner for Hire by Caitlin Moss a review:

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Rating: 3.75 stars.

Premise:
Follows Vada who is a professional mourner getting paid to cry or even spread gossip at funerals all in an attempt to bury her past and forget about it. She meets Dominic at a bar and ends up at a funeral where he is, he hates her job. They banter, it’s dramatic and there is eventually romance.

Characters:
Very lovable and well developed/thought out. The characters are complex and multilayered. The relationships between the characters (especially the daughter/son - mother relationships) were beautifully written and it felt like you could really get to know them. The pain they went through can be felt by the reader vividly.

However, Dominic was a bit too harsh and rude for me. I understand he was grieving, but you can’t use trauma as an excuse for being a trash person. It took me out of the experience a little bit because of how rude he was.

Plot:
I really enjoyed the plot to this. The concept from the start was fascinating and it made me want to delve into why they both ended up with their respective careers - especially Dominic who was on the path to being a world class doctor. It is an emotional tear-jerker at times but it’s beautifully balanced out with the romance and comedy aspect.

Writing style:
The writing was a perfect balance between being a romcom and being an emotional teary read. It blended amazingly together. It was at the right pace in developing the relationships.

Final thoughts:
If you’re looking for a darker romcom book this one could be for you. It held quite an emotional depth to it - content warnings include grief and death of a parent.

Book expected to be published on the 9th September 2025!

This quirky little story really brought the feels in the last few chapters. I'm not one to easily cry when reading books but this one actually got some tears flowing.

Vada is a Mourner for Hire; that is, she meets with her clients weeks/months/some times years before they die to go over a contract that she will honor their special request at their funeral. Cheating husband? Mysterious woman shows up at the service. Feuding family members? Boom! Vada shows up to help show them there's more to life than bickering.

On her way to one funeral, Vada is stuck in hours long traffic, so she pulls over to an out-of-the-way bar. She hits it off with the barkeep, Dunner. They have a pleasant not-a-one-night-stand.

Nearly one year later, one of Vada's clients, Annabelle, dies and the Mourner contract asks Vada to watch over Annabelle's son and renovate her beach cottage. A much bigger ask than Vada's ever had before!

I was a little worried in the first chapter that our mmc was terminally ill or that he is a ghost. Turns out he's Donner, aka Annabelle's son, Dominic.

The story is enemies-to-lovers with some supernatural elements. I appreciated the no 3rd act break up, especially since it took over half of the story for them to finally FINALLY become lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book for my unbiased review.

‘This is my job. I have turned a passion into an income, and you cannot fault me for that. It doesn’t make it less good or less worthy. It doesn’t make it less meaningful, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I care less about the people I do it for, just because they pay me.’

Okay, this was a really pleasant surprise. I totally picked this on a whim because the cover was charming and the idea of a ‘mourner for hire’ was really unique. And honestly, I’m really glad I gave it a chance. Vada is a great character. She’s completely blunt and honest and heartfelt and kind. She tells people when they hurt her feelings and when she cares about them. There were so many moments - I’ve seen a lot of romcoms, so I was expecting it - where I thought her conflicts with Dominic might have lead to a miscommunication or swallowed feelings or whatever, but she was so forthright with him. I really appreciated that.

Dominic, I struggled with more. He was really lovely at the start, and I did like him overall as a character, but I felt like there were a lot of moments where he was kind of ‘mad for the sake of being mad’. That said, while it could have felt contrived and just to set up conflict between them, it did work insofar as people do act irrationally and lash out when they’re grieving. So while he did drive me a bit bonkers here and there with the way he reacted to Vada - who was nothing but honest and kind and patient with him - I was also able to go with the flow of the plot because it didn’t just feel like conflict for conflict’s sake. More that he needed someone to be angry with after his mother passed and Vada was an easy target for that anger and grief. So, all that’s to say that despite the fact that he could be a bit frustrating at times with his insistence on doubting Vada’s motives, he didn’t cross the line into unlikeable.

I will say I totally did NOT seeing the paranormal side of this coming at all. (I’ve since looked at the synopsis - which I did not read all of before diving in - and it’s literally right there, so egg on my face. But still!) It was a twist I really liked, too! I wasn’t sure where the story was going to take it, but at the end of the book I had an ‘Ahhh, okay, I like that’ moment. So, hats off to the author on that front!

Overall, this is a really solid romance novel about grief, death, life and forgiving yourself. I’m definitely going to check out more from Caitlin Moss because this was a lovely surprise of a novel.

I wasn’t sure about the premise of this book, as I’m going through a period of grief; but I’m so glad I gave it a shot. It’s witty, sweet, morbid and weird, but the good kind of weird. It’s sweet and sad, it’s funny and heartbreaking, it’s real and fiction all at once. I loved the way the story unfolded. It was the right amount of detail. A teeny bit of spice, but lots of romance. I love love and this is one for the lovers of love. I recommend.

I LOVED this book! It was a cute and sweet rom com that also hit on the heavy themes of grief and loss. The character banter was also top notch.

This is THE spooky, quirky and fun romance for the fall season!

Caitlin Moss ate with this book and left zero crumbs. This slightly paranormal, friends to strangers to almost lovers to enemies to lovers book was the best ARC I've been lucky enough to read to date.

I usually take screenshots of things to edit/adjust to make it a five star read, and I had zero screenshots at the end of this book. No notes and I inhaled it within a day. It was just that good.

Okay enough of my obvious praise, go place your pre-order, library hold or whatever to read this now!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This has been hands down one of my favorite books that I have read so far this year and I cannot stop singing it's praises or recommending it to my friends and family.

I absolutely loved Vada and thought that it was such an interesting and fresh idea for her to be a mourner for hire. She took such care in making sure each of her clients had their final wishes carried out, no matter how weird or outlandish they seemed and no matter how long after the first meeting their death happened.

Dunner was such an interesting counterpart to Vada and I thought his character was so well done with how much he was struggling to reconcile that the woman he had met and fallen for almost a year prior was now hired by his mother, Annabelle, for her funeral. He wanted so badly to stay mad at her throughout the book, despite how she continued to slowly chip away at his sharp edges.

I also loved that Vada was getting to know his mom while also getting to know her own past. She was finally able to get answers she didn't know she needed and the closure she already thought she had.

This book made me feel a vast array of emotions and had me laughing out loud in some parts or balling my eyes out in others. I would give this a million stars if I could and cannot wait to purchase a physical copy when it's released.

⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was adorable. At first I thought it was going to be insta-love but it turned out to be so much more. Grief and all its stages. Acceptance. And missing loved ones.
I absolutely adored this book and I am so thankful to NetGalley for sending me the ARC. Please go read this book when it releases. 🧡

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you like your romcoms on the darker side with just as much emotional depth as banter and chemistry, this might just be the book for you.

Vada is a mourner for hire. If you need someone to come to your funeral to cry, share memories, reveal a cheating spouse, or even stand mysteriously behind a tree in a black veil, she’s your girl. Her newest client has a very unique request that goes outside of Vada’s normal job description. Remodel my beach house along with a list of other requests once I’m gone. Only problem is the client’s son Dominic who thinks she’s a fraud and doesn’t want her in his mom’s beach house. I loved this book so much and will definitely keep an eye out for more from the author. 4.5 stars rounded up.