I found myself rooting so hard for Delphie in "The Love of My Afterlife!" The character building is really fun to see in this book as Delphie learns to accept friendship along the way and rediscovers pieces of herself she'd hidden away. And what an eclectic group of friends she makes...they are so entertaining! With the premise of finding love AFTER your death hooking me from the beginning, I just couldn't put this book down. Delphie's antics are hilarious and without spoiling anything, the twists along the way made for the perfect ending!

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of The Love of My Afterlife by Kristy Greenwood. When I read the synopsis, I just knew I had to request it. It sounded so fun and right up my alley.

*spoilers*

I really liked the banter between Delphie and Cooper and the relationship they have created. However, the execution of this story fell flat for me. Delphie dies and she has one shot to get her life back, by getting a guy named Josh to kiss her. She has 10 days to make it happen or she goes back to officially being dead. I get it, she is on a time crunch but if you didn’t know what she was going through, you would most likely think she is a stalker. She approaches the situation in the wrong way. I mean, who goes up to a stranger and yells at them to kiss her? She isn’t used to being around people, so she doesn’t have social interaction skills but still. Her downstairs neighbor, Cooper, starts to help her find Josh and in return, Delphie has to help Cooper with some things.

At first, I could not give two cares if Delphie succeeded in her mission or not but as I got towards the end of the book, the story started growing on me a little bit. Not her mission, but the friendships she started to create. Once she started letting people in and putting herself out there, I realized she wasn’t just the creepy, kind of dead girl, but she really cares about people. She wasn’t so bad. The ending went on a little longer than it could have.

Again, I liked the premise of the story but for me personally, it wasn’t for me, but I know so many others will find it fun.

I wish this book would have been for me, but it just wasn't. I think 99% of romance readers will love this book! There is honestly nothing wrong or bad about this book, I just didn't care for the writing style.

Nothing stood out to me and I didn't quite care for the main character. Honestly writing this review I had to go look at who the main character even was because I had forgotten already.

I love the premise of this book, and the very cool title. It's fresh, quirky, fun, has an offbeat heroine, and a ticking clock in her search for love. Kirsty gives us a sparky, entertaining read and the writing is excellent - she really can write comedy. While the scenarios in her time-pressured search for her man were fun and frolicsome, I was aware at the half way mark that I'd have liked a little more backstory on our heroine, a little more character development to really understand her and root for her. But I did enjoy it very much indeed.

i went into this book with no idea about the plot other than she died and i was so pleasantly surprised. this book was so deeply emotional and really a love letter to friendships and the human experience. if i wasn't on my antidepressants i for sure would have cried my eyes out at the ending of this book.

The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood

I lost track of the number of times I LLOL (literally laughed out loud) while reading this story. Many of my laughs were also embarrassed laughs because this story contains a high amount of grossness and embarrassing talk, situations, and behavior. And I laughed at all of them.

Delphie has led a reclusive life. She works across the street from her flat so doesn't have to go far even when she does get out. Other than her two co-workers, the person she sees the most is her mute eighty six year old neighbor and he may be just tolerating her because he needs her help to survive. But at least seeing him everyday gives her a reason to get out of bed in the morning. He needs her whether he likes her or not.

There is also Delphie's hunky downstairs neighbor, Cooper, who Delphie has had a hate/hate relationship with since they first met years ago. They avoid each other at all costs. Too bad he seems to hear her coming and going...such a busybody.

But now Delphie is dead and has just met her soulmate, also dead, in the afterlife waiting room. Oops, he was almost dead, not totally dead so he sparkles back to the living. Just Delphie's usual rotten luck. That is until Delphie is sent back to life with ten days to get this gorgeous stranger to kiss her. If Delphie can do that she'll be able to stay with the living.

Delphie is never at her best. She's certainly not at her best when she has ten days to find a stranger whose last name she doesn't know. Drats, she's going to need help from Cooper. No way she can tell anyone what's going on though, everyone already looks at her funny. But they look at her even funnier when she dons her mom's super old running outfit...which makes for some of the many LOL moments for me. I don't know if I've ever laughed more when reading a book about death.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read! The main characters were fun, and the side characters were adorable. I really enjoyed the romance. Delphie and Conner were fun to read. The banter was hilarious. While my library won't purchase this because its more adult, I will definitely be purchasing it.

This was a fun read! Not what I expected but once it was established it was easy to get into it and get lost in. I thought it was a little long for what it was and got easily annoyed by the FMC always JUST missing meeting up with Jonah. It was kind of ridiculous after a while. Also at times didn't enjoy reading the internal monologue of Delphie. She was exhausting and I hated how self centered she was at times. I know this has maybe been addressed but there were some things in the book that were just copied and pasted from The Good Place which is cool if the author got permissions for that but if not, very copy and paste feely with the whole after life concept. I just wish the whole thing took place in the after life because that's what I thought it would be (I don't read synopsis sometimes). Either way, fun and quick read and looking forward to more from this author!

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.