The pros: The narrator, Nina, is very witty. She's got a great, quick wit and I liked a lot of the little asides she had in the book (such as advice on not wearing lip gloss when spreading ashes, how one of the things she looks at in a man is his suitability to carry a coffin, etc). Also, the unusual profession made for a great twist in what is a pretty hegemonic genre.

The cons: This book moved a little too slowly for me and I felt like the conflict with the shop in Primrose Hill could've been avoided through some due diligence on Nina's part. When Julia came in and told her about how Primrose Hill is becoming younger as its going through gentrification, I felt like that's the sort of thing she should've looked into when deciding where to lease her store. So that conflict felt a little contrived.

Overall, this was a sweet book, I just don't think it was my cup of tea.

Not my usual genre at all but I fancied something lighter for a change - and I really enjoyed it.
Well-written, warm-hearted, funny and very easy to read, with a host of likeable and believable characters and most importantly not too cheesy or clichéd. Great stuff!

FIVE WAKES AND A WEDDING is a winning and witty debut ideal for fans of quirky women's fiction with sparkling dialogue. Although I had some minor issues with the novel's pacing, I was charmed by the cast of characters and lead Nina Sherwood is a total gem.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is was a cute but predictable story. That isn't necessarily the worst thing, but I found it took quite a while to get going. The characters are quite enjoyable, and Ross sets the scene well.

This was not a heavy nor complicated read. The characters were likable enough. There were some confusing points in the story, where I wasn’t sure what was happening. I wanted to like it more than I did.

Good book. Nothing spectacular but a solid story. A good read if you just needed to kill some time. Not a catch on fire story but good character development and theme.

Well, that was an enlightening read, I must admit it took a while to gel with the characters but when I did there was no stopping me. I was a bit dubious about the funeral aspect of it but the writer showed her talent in bringing together a fabulous story of friendship, business, love and happiness.

Thank you Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the review copy!

I DNFed FIVE WAKES AND A WEDDING at 20%. Sadly wasn't for as I found Nina the main character grating and the story slow.

3 sweet, soft, joyful, funny, romantic, entertaining stars!

I mostly enjoyed this absolutely hilarious book and loved Nina's characterization. .

All the happy ending parts and strong bonded friendship made me sigh too many times, warmed my heart, put a real smile of my face!

Only problem is everything was a little predictable and it was too light reading for me! Some parts are slow paced and made me lose my interest.
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Maybe as soon as I read the blurb, I was thinking to read more different, distinguished story but it is still well crafted and romance parts are so genuine,, enjoyable.

So I enjoyed it. It was not one of the best reads I've done but still it has great potential!

Special thanks to the publishing company and NetGalley to send me ARC COPY as an exchange with my honest review!

This book needs to be made into a movie!

I didn't expect to laugh out loud so much when reading about an undertaker and funerals. I loved this book by an author who is new to me and I look forward to reading more by Karen Ross.

This book follows Nina as she opens 'Happy Endings'. It covers life, death, family issues and relationships but still leaves you feeling happy. Loved the twists in the story and demolished this book in 2 days.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a review copy - I can honestly say I love the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-arc copy of #FiveWakesandaWedding.
A cute, fun, and sweet read about love when we least expect it.

Cute but not perfect. Nina was a bit too whiny for my tastes and I couldn't understand what she saw in Barclay. Especially after figuring out what he was up to. Nina has terrible taste in men.

Expected more about the funerals and planning to be honest, it is called Five Wakes and a Wedding... but not much is included about each of those items.

Quick read and not too bad.

An easy , feel good read that I really enjoyed.
We are introduced to Nina who branches out in her own business as an undertaker in an area where she is definetly not welcome and where initially work is not forthcoming. We meet her flat mate Gloria and Barclay, the Adonis of the village.
This story beautifully describes how Nina fights to become accepted within the village, her loves and passion for her job. Laced with humour a book I was sad to finish.

Five Wakes and the Wedding by Karen Ross is a charming love story about a young female undertaker.

Classic love story placed in unusual romantic setting of undertaker world where Nina Sherwood mourns a loss of both her husband and her job. Being left without means to live she gathers up her courage and her father's savings to open up her own funeral parlor.
With help of her two friends and roommates Gloria and Edo. However, things don't go smoothly as other residents of the affluent suburb abhor the idea of funerals and death, as it doesn't fit into their perfect world and will stop at nothing to have her close her shop.
For the first time after her husband's death Nina starts to have feeling for a man. Yes, he quite often behaves like an idiot and says wrong things at the wrong time, but underneath it all he seems like a decent sort.

Full of twists and turns, and so many unexpected things thrown reader's way this book will delight and empower you.
It is a book about love between two people, about love between friends and about love for your pet.
Beautiful and lovable characters, so full of joy and life, so well portrayed you will wish to become part of their circle.
You will root for them, you will cry and laugh with them, and you will be so sorry when the end comes.

Highly recommended not just for romance reader but for everyone who enjoys well told story.

READ FOR: feel-good writing, something to make you smile

OVERALL: 3.5/5

Adorable light and fun read. I really liked Karen Ross’ writing style in this book. It was engaging and it was intriguing to read about Nina.

There was nothing too heavy and the characters were very easy to relate to. They were very easy to care for and are the kind that I look for in a contemporary. I really liked that the plot is centered around wakes and a wedding, it made it very intriguing for me since these events are opposites of each other in terms of how people react to them.

It was honestly a real fun read and I would recommend this to anyone who just wants something light-hearted. I read this book to break up a fantasy streak of mine and it worked really well for me… so if you want to do that I really recommend you try this out.

PLOT: ★★★★☆
WRITING STYLE: ★★★★★
CHARACTERS: ★★★★☆
THEMES: ★★★☆☆
PACING: ★★★☆☆
PAGE TURNER: ★★★☆☆

Thank you to Avon Books UK for sending me an ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this novel! Excellent character development, and totally keeps you wanting to find out what happens next. Highly recommended!

Aww that's a shame but sadly I wasn't too keen on this book. There was nothing wrong with the writing. Easy to read, kept a fairly steady flow of different things happening but generally I found it slow and it didn't really capture my interest. I expected more funerals and the stories behind them. Instead the book seemed to reach half way, with Nina drumming her fingers on the counter top before eventually finding someone willing to seek out her undertaker services. Of the funerals she did organise, of which I think there were four including one for a dog, they were rather bizarre even for Happy Endings whose mission was to make funerals very personal to the deceased and their families.

The premise of the story was OK I just thought it all went a little over the top even for a fictional undertakers. I didn't personally like the fact that it was a book that seemed to lean towards the rich and famous, even if they were fictional characters, but that's just me. I'm not a great follower of celebrities and tended to agree with one of the journalists attending one particular funeral when he muttered something about them having more money than sense.

I much preferred the story that surrounded the death of Nina's husband and the story behind it, which was revealed just over half way through the book. I would have liked to have heard more about this. I also thought Barclay was an interesting character, although there again it went way over the top when it came to living a somewhat privileged life. You know, lets just whisk someone away for a day trip to Paris in their private helicopter, as one does! However that's fiction, it isn't meant to be real. I think looking back, its the fact that it really was about the affluent of London that irritated me somewhat which is why I didn't really take to it.

Having said that, it did have a lot of light moments and things that did make me laugh. There was Barclay's surname for a start but I don't want to spoil the bit where its revealed in the book. Then there was early on in the book, two of Nina's observations made me smile. Referring to a woman and her hair dye, she described it as Menopause Red which I thought was funny. I know exactly the red she means and I always wonder why women of a certain age go for that colour, is it the new purple rinse of old? Then there was Zoe Banks with her collagen enhanced lips which Nina described as looking like a pair of scarlet bananas. It did have its funny moments.

Many reviewers did enjoy the book so don't just take my word for it, it just wasn't one for me.

Five Wakes and a Wedding by Karen Ross a five-star read that will open many eyes. This was such a good novel, I am so glad I picked it up, it reiterates what I keep telling everyone, how we shouldn’t fear death and have bland funerals but have an event for people to celebrate. People thought I was crazy planning what I wanted at 25, but after being like Nina and losing a friend you and seeing them looking like an old woman and not the person I knew, I knew I never wanted to be seen like that. This was so heart warming and honest, it won’t be everyone’s taste, much like a certain window display in Primrose Hill. But everyone should read it just to understand. I cant wait to see what else Karen Ross has written as this was a masterpiece of art in the written word form.

A fun read with some hilarious laugh out loud moments. Maybe slightly slow at times but I thoroughly enjoyed it & would recommend it to anyone.

This was very cute, but a little slow to get into. I love all of the friendships in this book and Happy Endings should absolutely be a real business.