I loved this beautiful and weird story about two very different men who lived two very different lives. There is a lot of introspection about success and failure, fear, taking chances, and ya know, living. It’s almost coming of age vibes because we are learning so much about each of their pasts. I couldn’t put this book down. Also shout out, Macon, Ga. Never thought I’d read about a ghost of a movie star being from there. 😂 thanks to NetGalley and The publisher for a chance to read this book early in exchange for an honest review!

I was really excited for this book and the plot. From the summary and reviews I thought that this was going to be completely different. I had trouble getting past the incessant nagging from both Adam and Roland. I understand that Roland was going through a self discovery journey and was trying to understand morality and his life but the author had such a bad habit of over explaining and droning on. The changes that both Adam and Roland had to overcome made me continue the book. Both my desire to know what happened at the end and the fact that the premise was interesting were the only things pushing me to finish.

This is such a unique, heartwarming book! It tackles heavy subjects yet manages to be funny and thought provoking, and there's even some sexiness!

Adam is a down on his luck writer when he gets notice that mega celebrity Roland Roger wants him to ghost write his memoir where he will come out publicly. Things get weird real quick but Adam manages to get the job done.

Highly recommend!

When I first started reading this book, it gave me Evelyn Hugo vibes, but it's more than that. Take those vibes and make it gay, paranormal, heartwarming, and hilarious.

In this rom-com, author + ghostwriter Adam Gallagher, an ex-Mormon with a complicated past, is hired to write a tell-all memoir for the late A-list actor Roland Rogers - a job complicated by the fact that Roland is dead, buried under an avalanche, and insists on dictating his story "in person."

What starts as an absurd, high-stakes project with a $250k payout becomes a journey of regret, revelation, and second chances as Adam and Roland navigate past traumas and undeniable chemistry.

Between food-fueled ghost flirting, bidet escapades (IYKYK), and haunting conversations about love, Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet delivers all the romance, spicy surprises, and poignant moments that make you cheer for these two men seeking the lives they never truly got to live.

✨ fave line: "I'll never get back the life I could have lived, but with Adam, I at least get to taste it."

^ See a few more fave quotes if you scroll the pics in this post.

I loved this book and gave it a solid
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet is a really fun read featuring an ex Mormon interviewer and a Hollywood hunk who…. is somewhat dead.
It’s a very quirky read with some highly enjoyable moments though sometimes is let down by its popular culture references.
I enjoyed this book but I still wanted more.

I liked this book because I enjoy books that are weird and unusual, and this book, is definitely weird and unusual.
Now why did I rate it a 3 star? I didn't like any of the characters. Adam, Roland, Zola were not likeable, in my opinion. The story itself was good and entertaining, I just wish the characters weren't such assholes. Zola was a mean girl just because she's pretty and felt wronged by Roland. Adam was stuck in his success from his early 20s and now he's 40 and unsuccessful. Roland just brags about his success and it's not until the last few chapters that you see an actual person.

Paranormal books + smut= my jam. I also love LGBTQIA+ books. However, this book fell short for me due to the characters.

I really wanted to like this book but I struggled reading it. And that could also be due to the kindle version having weird breaks, and the title showing up in random places on the page making the breaks weird and jumpy.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

<i>Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet</i> is a unique romance: Adam, exmo memoir author with a flagging career, is hired by movie star Roland to ghostwrite a posthumous memoir. Roland, dead and communicating through electronic devices, plans to come out in this memoir. It's too simple to say "and then they fall in love", because that's only a small part of what happens.

I wish this were longer! The relationship between Adam and Roland seems rushed, and the late appearance of Roland's ex Zoya isn't given enough time. However, I enjoyed the book, and will read any fiction that Samantha Allen writes.

3.5 rounded up.

A warm and witty piece of queer literature! While I normally don't gravitate towards the paranormal side of fiction, I was more than happy that this ARC landed in my lap. While it may be a little weird for some readers, I found it to be a very enjoyable experience and something I think I could (and would) recommend to almost anyone. I look forward to seeing more of what this author writes!

“People aren’t calculators and the ideologies we live under aren’t equations; we’re ruled by formless, fleshy impulses: hunger and hurt, pride and anger, lust and guilt.”

Samantha Allen’s sophomore novel follows Adam, a man who has been hired to ghostwrite the coming out memoir of A-list celebrity Roland Rogers. When Adam arrives to begin writing, he discovers that he’s been hired as a ghostwriter for a real, actual ghost.

This novel is bizarre and wholly original. Filled with eccentric charm and humor, Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet will have you laughing a few sentences before you tear up. It’s quirky, it’s fun, it’s heartfelt. I had so much fun reading it!

This is perfect for fans of the film “her.” Trust me if you loved that movie, you’re going to thoroughly enjoy every moment of this book.

Thank you Netgalley for proving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Goodreads 10/9/24.

Review will be posted to Instagram week of release. Star rating and mini review will be included with October reading wrap up at the end of the month.

one of my favorite books of this year! Allen has a way with words that is so engaging on top of these fun quirky queer stories!

What did I just read?? This is a deeply weird book, but also emotional, original, and extremely funny at times. If you're looking for a story in which a frustrated author takes a ghostwriting gig that turns out to be for an actual *ghost*, who can only communicate through various electronic devices in his house, this is definitely the one for you.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Look, I like this book a (not) normal amount, my only real problem is that in the description this is sales as a romcom: it’s not. There is no happy ending here, so how this is a romcom? I really like the ending, to be honest, it’s the only possible ending, it’s so full of emotion and bittersweet, but it’s not an happy ending, so please don’t call it a romcom.
However. I’m a little obsessed by this book. It’s so great. It reminds me of Evelyn Hugo and it’s a huge compliment coming from me: Evelyn Hugo is my favorite book ever. I love the premesis (he’s a writer who struggles after an extraordinary debut, Roger is a gay actor in the closet that… is dead. I love it so much. I think I will reread it soon enough.

Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet is a delightful and sweet novel about mortality, grief, isolation, and coming out. Adam and Roland, while different in so many ways, share an understanding of certain types of loneliness specific to gay men. Roland is lonely because he never felt comfortable coming out while in the spotlight. Adam is lonely because he feels he doesn't fit in within his community. As Roland gradually shares his life story with Adam, their closeness increases and they can help one another heal.

With this release, Samantha Allen has proved her distinct ability to write deeply entertaining paranormal stories with a ton of heart. Like Patricia Wants to Cuddle, Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet is full of just as many silly moments as cultural criticism. Both novels demonstrate Allen's grasp on the nuanced humanity behind the public figures we think we know and love.

Suppose the literal "ghost" in "ghostwriter" is the person whose book the ghostwriter is writing -- okay! Roland Rogers, superstar actor and hot heartthrob, has died in an avalanche, but his ghost is hanging around his awful Malibu mansion and doesn't want to leave this world with his ex-self still in the closet. Fortunately, his ghostly self is able to manipulate electronics, and so much can be done remotely!

For example, Roland can hire Adam Gallagher, writer of a best-selling memoir about being excommunicated from the LDS for being queer, to ghost his autobiography. Also fortunately, he can talk to Adam through the various speakers in the aforementioned awful mansion. Perhaps even more fortunately, he somehow connects with Adam's physical experiences, so when Adam eats or drinks or has an orgasm, Roland goes into ecstasies. And they fall in love.

You might wonder how that works out for them. The ending is bittersweet; I wouldn't normally spoil it even to that extent, but the ad copy calls this a rom-com. No. Although it is sometimes funny, and there is a love story, a rom-com it is not.

Does it succeed on its own terms? Almost. The comedic aspects, starting with the premise and going on to the hideous Chihuly chandelier in Roland's foyer, never quite mesh with the realistically painful ones -- Adam's anxiety over his identity and worth as a writer; his lingering unease about his sexuality and his body; the loss of his family, who stopped speaking to him when he came out; his money worries; Roland's loneliness in life; the traumatic experience that made him decide to remain closeted once and for all; the hints of violent abuse by his father. Why some books successfully integrate hilarity with great pain and others don't is a mystery, and readers other than I may differ about how well this one works.

I might have said 3.5 stars and rounded up except for the character of Zoya, Roland's longtime beard and friend, the only person he confided in before Adam. She's so unpleasant a person and her reasons for her behavior are so ... grasping? transactional? shallowly ambitious? that although she and Adam finally arrive at a truce, I was left wondering why she had to exist at all, or at least why she's characterized as she is.

Mind you, I did mostly enjoy myself, and I think many other readers will too, even if the story taken as a whole is shaky. Thanks to NetGalley and Zando for the ARC.

In Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet, Samantha Allen masterfully blends supernatural whimsy with heartfelt storytelling. Adam Gallagher’s journey, ghostwriting for an actual ghost, unfolds with a unique mix of humor and emotional depth that keeps readers hooked. This novel not only entertains but also touches on themes of self-discovery and authenticity, making it a standout read.

I am such a Samantha Allen fan. Weird queer fiction with humor and heart is always a hit for me. I loved the ex-mo talking points and the fleshing out of faith and being gay.

I want to start this review by saying I love this author and I’ve given everything else by her 5 stars, from her nonfiction to Patricia Wants to Cuddle. But this one didn’t work for me as well. I found the plot a little boring with some really weird elements (the strange food eating scenes especially). The best parts of this book were the two characters talking about their life experiences and comparing two very different lives. I would have liked this a lot more if it hadn’t been a romance and focused more just on their friendship because the love story felt very instant and forced to me.

Please let Samantha Allen write as many books as she wants. After reading Patricia Wants to Cuddle, I knew I had to keep her upcoming titles on my radar and I am so glad that I was able to read an advanced copy of this. If you like what is classified as “weird girl litfic” then you should definitely check this one out.

Such a sweet, heartfelt book! I was not expecting to shed tears at the end. I am not typically interested in reading paranormal books, but this had the perfect touch of paranormal without being cheesy or ridiculous. Nothing is more fun than a gay ghost whose body is still yet to be found, working with a ghost writer (ha!) to work on a memoir before he moves on to the afterlife. This is definitely something I will recommend to someone wanting a fast-paced, lighthearted read.

If I had one critique, I felt like there were too many pop culture references, but that is me being particular.

Adam's an author whose debut book, a memoir about his coming out as a young gay Mormon, was a huge success. However, he has struggled to recapture that same level of acclaim.

When his agent offers him a big book deal to ghostwrite a celebrity memoir, Adam eagerly agrees, hoping it will jumpstart his career. The deal includes a big check and the opportunity to meet mega-famous action star Roland Rogers, as well as stay in his Malibu mansion.

However, strange things happen as soon as he arrives for the job, like the fact that Roland only communicates with Adam through electronic devices. Adam soon discovers that Roland has recently died and his spirit desperately wants to tell his real-life story before his body is found. Roland, who played a heterosexual heartthrob on the big screen was actually gay and in the closet his whole life, wants the world to know his truth. As Adam helps him write his life story, they fall in love despite Roland being a ghost.

This unconventional novel about reputation, success, identity, and living authentically will appeal to readers looking for a unique take on a love story.