A modern day fairy tale…Can a kiss from the right person STILL save a life? 💋

After choking (or is that gagging?) on a Microwave Burger 🍔, Delphie wakes up in the processing room at Evermore.

Welcoming her, is her chatty “AfterLife therapist” Merritt, now forever 28 years old- favorite things on Earth: Spicy hot curry and even spicier and hotter romance novels.

She is the complete opposite of Delphie, a 27 year old, “kissed only once” Virgin, who is socially awkward and has only one friend, her octogenarian neighbor “Mr. Yoon”. This is most likely because she seems to lack a “filter” when speaking-saying whatever she is thinking no matter how harsh her words may sound.

MAYBE the Afterlife won’t be so bad after all-

The next arrival, Jonah is gorgeous and is looking at her like she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, despite the embarrassing nightgown she has arrived in!

Unfortunately, as it turns out, he wasn’t meant to arrive just yet-it’s been a mistake- and POOF-after an iridescent shimmer and a pop-he’s gone!

Merritt explains that each person has five soulmates on Earth, and because she is a “hopeless romantic” who thinks that Delphie may have just met one of hers-she is going to invoke the seldom used “Franklin Bellamy clause” and allow Delphie to return to Earth since nobody there has yet realized that she is dead.

The Catch? If she doesn’t FIND Jonah and get him to KISS her, voluntarily, within TEN DAYS-she will die again and return to EVERMORE- FOREVERMORE!

What ensues is a FRESH, highly ENTERTAINING romp around London, filled with HUMOR, and QUIRKY FOUND FAMILY, which incorporates a few of the popular romance tropes, and also mentions of a few of our favorite romance authors, books and book characters adding to the FUN!

If you enjoy a touch of magical realism, you WON’T want to miss the latest book from U.K author Kirsty Greenwood-this isn’t her first ROM COM but it marks the debut of her first traditionally published U.S. title-congratulations on achieving that long held dream!

AVAILABLE July 2, 2024
Highly Recommended! Add it to your TBR today!! 📚

Thank You to Berkley for inviting me to read this ARC, provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

4.5 stars

This was actually kind of delightful. Our MC, Delphie, dies choking on a burger and gets a second chance at life, but she has to track down her alleged soulmate while only knowing his first name and last initial. If she can’t get him to kiss her within ten days, she’s done.

This was really fun and easy to read, a little cringy but funny, and in the end super sweet and heartwarming. I absolutely loved the direction the romance took and the love interest was perfect. I also enjoyed how the author talked about romance novels & tropes in the book and poked fun at it a little.

The found family aspect was actually the cutest and I loved how it wasn’t your average group of people. The ending made me shed a tear and question all of my life choices. Highly recommend this if you’re looking for a lighthearted & quirky yet incredibly moving romcom!

Thank you very much to Berkeley Publishing for the ARC!

"Love of My Afterlife" by Kirsty Greenwood is a charming and quirky romantic comedy. The witty dialogue and endearing characters made for an enjoyable read. However, I found some parts of the plot to be a bit predictable, and the pacing occasionally felt uneven. Overall, it's a fun and light-hearted read perfect — a feel-good romance with a supernatural twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

These days it feels like a refreshing and unique read is harder and harder to come by in the contemporary romance genre, until this one! Greenwood's "The Love of My Afterlife" is a startlingly fresh read amongst an increasingly saturated market. I absolutely gobbled it up in one sitting, and let me tell you- while this book checked all the surface level boxes (cute romance, quip-y dialogue, rivals to lovers), it quite took me on a trip!

Right off the the bat, our FMC dies. At first, I was unsure. I definitely did not want to be starting a book like this. And then we're introduced to the excellent wide range of characters, and the plot starts building momentum. We see, as readers, what our FMC's second chance at life mission is- its predictable, has been depicted in media before. But the writing continues to "show, not tell" us small meanings of life, the importance of friendship, finding community, and even just knowing how to laugh. It was just so fresh to have a raw look of what it means to live life without actually being gut-wrenching or a tear-jerker. The romance? Such an excellent build. Clear misunderstanding of character between our MC's, but not an a frustrating way (can you believe it)!

However, through all of the freshness of this book and the uniqueness of the plot, I would still classify this as an easily devourable light read. The writing was just ok, and yes we did have some plot holes or some side details that never get resolve. But really, in the grand package of this book, they are easily passed over. In the end they these flaws didn't add nor detract from the reading experience.

Truly enjoyed this book, and just thankful for something new in a genre that feels so oversaturated. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately not for me. I was really excited going in! I'm all for a kooky premise, and this had the makings of something that could've been really fun, but it fell flat for me. The main character was frustrating, the love interest felt too distant, the relationship contrived, and the side characters very one-dimensional.

Also have to dock a full star for the positive mentions of both a racist war criminal (Gal Gadot) and a racist author (Lucy Score). The pop culture references were too much in general, but these two specifically were out-of-touch and left a bad taste in my mouth.

The Love of My Afterlife was super cute! I had a fun time reading this one. I adored all the quirky characters. The last quarter grabbed me & didn't let me go. I LOVED how this one wrapped up!

I absolutely LOVED this one! It’s hilarious, charming, snarky, and touching. I laughed and I cried. I had all the feels! This was such an unexpected delight, and I really hope other readers pick this one if you need a palate cleanser from thrillers. I highly recommend this one, and can’t wait to read more from the author!

I received an eARC courtesy of Berkley Publishing Group/Berkley via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a delightfully spicy piece of magical realism and I am all in! This was my first book from Kirsty Greenwood, but I doubt that it will be my last.

For Libraries: Your romance fans are going to love this one!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was super cute and had me LOLing at the beginning. It starts off with some dark humor which pulled me in. And some clueless references made it fun 🤩. This was awkward and a fun read but it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I still recommend grabbing if you want a solid romcom - I just didn’t connect with the female main character in a way I had hoped. 3.25 stars

Synopsis:
Delphie has died by choking on nothing other than a microwave hamburger. Now she’s in the afterlife, in her night gown, and she just met the most gorgeous and amazing man ever.

Too bad he’s not dead, but she is. He gets to wake up, she doesn’t.

So much for having better luck in the afterlife.

When she’s offered a deal to return to earth for ten days, she jumps on it. The twist is that she has to find the mystery man with no clues other than his first name and large city he lives in.

As Delphie wades through millions of people, she learns some important lessons, but will she find the man in time?


Thoughts:
This was my first Kristy Greenwood book, but it most definitely won’t be the last. I loved this one! I love reading romcoms because they brighten my day, especially after reading a dark thriller. I love the polarity of the two genres and have a lot of fun with it.

This book was a lot of fun and it reminded me in a very broad sense of another one of my favorites. I think that ghosts or books focusing on the afterlife are one of my favorite subgenres – is that a subgenre? It should be so now in my world it is.

This book was great because it made me think in a broad sense, that there is always hope. This book also focused on finding love when you least expect it, and I always love it when an author does this trope well because it hits close to home. When I met my husband, I had finally decided to go out for the night after staying in alone for months after my divorce. I wasn’t looking to meet anyone, but when I saw him, there was an instant feeling like we fit, and once we started talking, we just talked for hours. The rest they say is history. So books that remind me of this happy memory are always fun and wonderful for me, and this book did that.

Publication Date:
July 2, 2024

Author:
Kristy Greenwood

Page Length:
384pages

Publisher:
Berkley Romance, Berkley

Thank you to:
Thank you so much to @BerkleyPub and @BerkleyRomance for this amazing e-arc from Netgalley @Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

The Love of My Afterlife by Kristy Greenwood was such a ride! A good ride that is. Totally sucked in from the start and thought the whole premise was fun and fresh. Delphie was a great character. The book makes you think about life and love and death. Well done!

Oh my god, how I loved this book! I’ve been reading romance since I was 11 and I LOVE (!!!) Romance. Capital L. Capital R.

The Love of my Afterlife hits allllll of the right notes. And then it has that little something extra. That little life lesson that really touches you at your core. Makes you live with a little more wonder. A little more hope. And love life just a teeny bit more deeply.

I love when a novel full of joy and laughter and surprises goes the extra mile. This is one novel I won’t soon forget. Highly recommend. Five stars.

Right off the bat, this premise is what I live for. I can’t scolding exactly what it is but a ghost/not ghost, afterlife, high risk type romance type situation really gets me. It’s the extremes of it that shine and is very rarely done wrong. This had all the ingredients to me: a heroine that’s just relatable enough that you don’t hate her, the looming but unattainable love interest, and a whole messy cast of characters.

I don’t want to give too much away because the ending sells the whole book all by itself but Delphie is so unhinged that I couldn’t even fault. Her quest on earth has her doing all sorts of odd things and while unbelievable at times, it was still fun to read and experience. There were times I did question if I was going to end up liking this but like I said, the ending brings it home. It makes the messy bits worth reading.

It also puts a lot of things in perspective in terms of life, death, and how we treat the people around us. As someone who can be a bit jaded at times, it was a hard hitting lesson wrapped inside of a romance, exactly how I like it.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Easily one of the best romance-comedy books I have read in a long time. What a refreshing set of characters who all deserve the happiest of endings. I love this unexpected enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance. And I had to keep reading because it reminded me of the little mermaid but….on land? Either way, it was phenomenal. An unexpectedly great read.

Got to love a rom com when one of the character's is a ghost. As a 90s kid I have to think I have the movie Casper to blame for me liking this type of rom com and The love of my Afterlife was no different.

I thought this was an enjoyable read. Although I found it a bit hard to believe just how much of a misanthropist the main character was at the beginning of the story, I liked the way her enemies-to-lovers romance unfolded while at the same time she became part of a true community of friends.

I appreciate the chance to read this ARC in advance of publication, and I'll definitely be recommending it to others.

_The Love of My Afterlife_ by Kristy Greenwood is an entertaining, humorous, and romantic read that the reader will not want to put down. Delphie is recently deceased, and upon entering the afterlife meets her soulmate in the waiting room for the dead. After a mix-up where he is sent back to the realm of the living, Delphie makes a deal that enables her to return to earth to find her mystery true love. With eccentric characters and hilarious situations, this second-chance-at-life read will keep the reader turning the page.

I absolutely CANNOT wait for this book to come out so all my friends can read it. When NetGalley emailed me about this book, it reportedly had The Good Place vibes, now I love that show, so my expectations were high. Greenwood DELIVERED. This book was such a fun read, like legit smile on my face while reading (not just in my head).

Watching Delphie's character grow through the book as she navigates the challenge presented to her was heartwarming. There were also a TON of other characters introduced throughout her journey, and they all played such key roles in her development. No one felt like a "bonus" or out of place, they each had important pieces to add to Delphie's growth.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this book!

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪 𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕓𝕪 𝕂𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕪 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟𝕨𝕠𝕠𝕕 💞

I had so much fun reading this book-it’s laugh out loud hilarious and the FOUND FAMILY trope was troping 🥹🥹 This book offers a fun and different approach to the romantic comedy genre. I’m impressed with the authors ability to write a book that made me feel so many different emotions that you don’t normally don’t get in a romcom book. As others have said in their reviews if you were a fan or liked the idea of Dead Romantics READ THIS BOOK.

<b><u>Tropes & What to Expect</b></u>
☁️London setting
☁️found family 🥹
☁️book and romance author mentions 💕
☁️fake dating
☁️grumpyXgrumpy
☁️one bed
☁️virgin FMC
☁️grumpy loveable characters
☁️love triangle-ish but not really(read and you’ll understand 😂)

Delphie is a quirky character that is super introverted. She spends most of her days going to work and coming back home only to start the day over again the exact same way. When she finally comes out of shell I was so happy for her 🥹 She was exploring the city and doing things she never would have done if she never visited the afterlife.

The SIDE CHARACTERS really shone in this book. I loved and admired all of them.

<b>Overall thoughts</b> YES I will recommend this book. The romance isn’t the most swooniest it’s average imo but the found family really sucked me into this beautiful novel. The characters with their different personalities you can’t help but fall in love with and want to be their friends. If you’re tired of the same ole romcom books add to your tbr 🩷


Thank you NetGalley, Berkeley and Kirsty Greenwood for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was hilarious, borderline goofy. It definitely made me laugh and cringe through a good portion of it. I did see the twists coming from a mile away though. I do recommend this since I had a lot of fun reading it but the last 25% felt so rushed. There were no conversations or explanations given towards the end. Like an epilogue or something would have been nice. Also I hated Merritt, she was the true villain in this story.