This book is sweet and spicy. I really love this book for several reasons. This book deals with a widow main female character and it’s done so well with her finding love again. The main male character has a studder and it is treated respectfully. I really can’t say enough how much I loved this book.

I was always so hesitant with this book because a lot of people loved it. This was so great, I swear. Like I thought it was funny and it was cute. The main female character was kind of annoying but I was obsessed with Callum. Like so obsessed. Where can I find out? Like so much.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I actually ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would which is always a pleasant surprise.

Both Lark and Callum are going through major upheavals in their lives. For Lark, she moves to Galway, Ireland from Texas for a totally new start (and new job) following the death of her husband. She's dealing with grief, guilt and harassment at work as she works toward healing. Callum, as a Galway native, is the owner of a local funeral home which was bequeathed to him from his grandfather and has been in his family for generations. He loves his job and is good at it, especially when dealing with and consoling those loved ones left behind. But he finds himself suddenly dealing with anger, frustration and bewilderment as he discovers that his grandfather has stipulated in his will that Callum must marry by 35 (right away), or he will lose the business to his father who deserted the family when Callum was a young child.

While this story definitely had some heat, I liked that it was a slow build from friendship to romance. I also liked that it had some depth to it which I must say I was not expecting from the cover art (note: never judge a book by its cover). Callum was a sweet somewhat shy soul who was slow in trusting but when he did, he was totally in. I actually ended up more of a Team Callum because Lark, who was a vivacious extrovert, could be frustrating as she acted out of character at times, especially when dealing with a problem at her workplace.

Nicely done.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley and G. P. Putnam's Sons for providing the free early arc of Morbidly Yours for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I have not loved a book this much in so dang long. The chemistry in Morbidly Yours is off the charts and you can tell that Fairbanks really took her research seriously in writing this book! The Irish-isms are so strong!

There was so much fantastic representation in this book that was balanced with humor, spice, and incredible character building.

5 stars. No notes! Can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

Forever and always this will be one of my favorite books. Seeing Ivy get to be trad published was just the cherry on top. I absolutely adore these two, it’s the greatest friends to lovers with just so much care and adoration.
I will never stop pushing this book to people!

This is such a fun and cozy book. I found so many times where I was yelling at the book for them to just kiss already. The romance in this book was absolutely adorable.

This was a fast and easy read that was cute and funny and had me excited for more from this author.

I had not read this when it was indie published, and I am so happy it got trad published or I may not have had it on my radar. I really liked Lark and her character development and journey, but I LOVED Callum. He was exactly what I want in a book boyfriend and I couldn't get enough of him. Also the spice was perfect! It really flowed with the story and never felt out of place.

Go read this book and thank me later.

✨||“𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬.”||✨

[4.75 Stars🤩] I originally read Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks as an indie release last year and I loved it so much, so getting approved for the ARC of the trad pub release was a special treat for me! The updates from the indie version are subtle, but the storytelling and flow felt streamlined, and it allowed the true heart of the book to shine brighter.

Callum fits into the canon of Jane Austen’s dark-and-broody-with-a-heart-of-gold male characters, and when he delivered my favorite line of the book, I immediately thought of Captain Wentworth’s passionate plea to Anne (...”you pierce my soul...”) from Persuasion. I just could not get enough of the way he thought about Lark and the mutual pining between them! And when this sweet man speaks to her in Irish (Gaeilge)? SWOON. I thought my heart would melt into a puddle.

At first, I was a little unsure about reading a book about a mortician, but the care and respect that Ivy Fairbanks took with Callum’s point of view was so nuanced and reverent as well as the grace dealt to Lark’s character was so well done that I was mad at myself for not picking up Morbidly Yours sooner!

I loved getting to revisit Callum and Lark’s story, and I loved it even more with the second time around. I can’t wait to see how their relationship progresses as we get to know more of the Galway crew!

Oh, and when are we getting a screening of Harvarti and Plague Rat? 😉 @ivyfairbanksbooks How can I make this happen??

🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️🐁✨🪦☘️

+A HUGE thank you to @ivyfairbanks, @netgalley, and @putnambooks for the ARC of Morbidly Yours! All thoughts in this review are my own.
____________________________________
Details:
💘Contemporary romance
🎈Romantic (dra)medy
👀Dual, first-person POV
🌦Darker themes and elements
🏳️‍🌈LGBTQIA+ representation
🥀 3rd Act breakup
✈️Travel
🙌Would re-read
🌟Favorite

Characters and tropes:
🌪️Broody MMC
🍰Cinnamon roll MMC
📍Forced proximity (neighbors)
🤑Friends with benefits
🌤Grumpy/sunshine
🤐Secrets

Spice:
🧨Slow burn
🔥Explicit content (hot)
____________________________________
Emoji Ranking System:
🤩Excellent to Fantastic (4.75-5.00)
😍Very Good to Great (4.25-4.50)
😊Good to Really Good (3.50-4.00)
😒Just OK to Decent (2.75-3.25)
😑It's A No (1.00-2.50)
🚫DNF

The perfect cozy book to kick off the upcoming Autumn season! I love a good friends to lovers storyline, and having the characters give off black cat and golden retriever energy was the highlight of Morbidly Yours for me. The storyline was quick and easy to follow, along with a few spicy scenes that do not leave anything to the reader's imagination. Can’t wait to see what else Ivy has up her sleeve!

This is a 5 star book. It's absolutely amazing, the characters are so well-written and have so much dimension, and all of the emotions feel real. I was lucky enough to read this as and indie pub, and again as a trad pub, and I know it's one I'll be re-reading over and over.

Lark, a vibrant animator from Texas, relocates to Galway on a work visa, hoping to heal from a recent loss. There, she meets her new neighbor, Callum—a mortician on a mission to marry before his 35th birthday to keep the family business. On the surface, they seem like polar opposites, but their connection runs far deeper than anyone could imagine.

As soon as I was approved for this ARC, it went straight to the top of my TBR. This story beautifully illustrates how opposites not only attract but also complement and uplift each other. Lark may have her stubborn moments, but the dynamic between her and Callum is captivating and wholesome. She helps lift his spirits, while he grounds her, making them seem like two perfect halves of a whole. I loved every moment of this story and couldn't put my kindle down until I finished. Fingers crossed the next book in the series is Cielo and Aidan!!

Thank you NetGalley, Ivy Fairbanks and Penguin Group PUTNAM for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Morbidly Yours was so cute! It had just the right balance of spice and a deep story with a couple you just couldn’t help but root for. Lark was a ray of sunshine cartoonist and Callum was a stoic funeral director and yet the two of them balanced each other out.
I loved the dynamic between the two and enjoyed seeing Callum come out of his shell.
I think this will be a huge hit this year and I definitely recommend it.

My only criticism is that I felt like the drama of Lark not wanting a relationship worked in the beginning, but I didn’t think it worked as the main conflict as the story progressed. I wished she’d have gotten over that point sooner and the conflict had shifted into her potentially not being able to stay in Ireland or something later on. It wouldn’t have changed that much, but it would have felt less frustrating watching her continue to lie to herself and reject Callum, who already stepped far outside his comfort zone for her many times. I just felt awful for him.
Other than that, I felt like this was such a perfect story and I really enjoyed it. I loved the characters, the setting, the language, and the romance!

4.5 stars/5 stars

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks is a romance between widowed American artist Lark Thompson and Irish mortician Callum Flannelly. Lark moves from Texas to Galway in her process of getting away from the grief of unexpectedly losing her husband alongside becoming the art director for a film by independent Irish film studio, KinetiColor. Callum’s career, home, and very livelihood are at risk of being sold off by his father after his granda chose to pass on their family legacy found in their mortuary, Willow Haven, to him instead of Callum, who must marry be his 35th birthday (aka in six months) if he wishes to be able to continue the family undertaking business. Speaking with strangers is difficult for Callum, but there’s something about his next door neighbor, Lark, that brings him ease in opening up. Despite having sworn off love and marriage for herself, Lark takes it upon herself to help Callum find His Person. However, they are inevitably drawn towards each other despite their differences in wants and Lark’s looming expiration date for living in Ireland.

Reading Lark felt like a study in grief. There were times that I was so frustrated with the mentality that she trapped herself inside of, and yet I have so much empathy for her and her emotional journey. I cannot fathom losing the love of my life, especially in such an unexpectedly traumatic way, and especially *especially* after such a fraught interaction. I can, however, relate to the need to get away, which let’s call it what it is– the desire (and in both of our cases, the follow-through) of running away when times get tough. I admire that, with the help of Callum lifting her up and loving her for who she is, Lark was able to get the help that she needed and take the active steps in becoming the person she wants to be, most notably with opening her life back up to love, in both the romantic way and in building community for herself.

I absolutely adore Callum. He is oh-so-serious and stoic, and reading him melt into into human goo as he slowly fell for Lark, *chef’s kiss.* Characters like Callum are the very reason that I love reading dual POV because in lieu of his shyness and social anxiety, reading his cinnamon roll thoughts of Lark bringing light and joy into his otherwise solemn life had me swooning and wishing that I could find myself a person like him outside the pages of fiction. Another thing I love is how Fairbanks approached Callums’s stutter. While I have no personal experience with this specific disability, Callum’s stutter felt like it was written about with respect and honesty in how it doesn’t absolutely define him, but it still impacts him and how he approaches life. Furthermore, Callum’s demisexuality. I, particularly, am constantly searching for characters who exist on the asexual spectrum, for I’m hoping to find a character with whom I identify in this way. While I have yet to find any that I wholeheartedly find home with as far as the asexual umbrella goes (which even though, honestly, I’m not necessarily looking to find a label, I do think would be nice to feel like one fits me, specifically), I am so happy to be able to add Callum to my list of ever-growing ace-spec fictional characters who fall in romantic love. Callum was written with the utmost respect in every regard, from his disability to his sexuality to his genuine love for Lark and his calling for working with folks and their grief as a mortician.

I had so much fun reading this book. I legitimately laughed out loud several times, and I loved getting to read the beauty of Galway and Ireland at large. I have been slightly stuck in a reading slump, and this was the first book that caught my attention and kept my focus. I am super excited to read every book in the Love in Galway series and every book Ivy Fairfield has to write!

Thank you, Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons, for the ARC!

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a great story and a fast read. The characters were instantly likable and interesting backstories. I liked the speech disorder/widow rep as well.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.
The premise of this book was so unique, it will be difficult to forget these characters. The author gives each character an interesting job and background.
Callum is a mortician and loner. Lark is the colorful studio animator that brings color and life back to Callum. She is the girl next door, difficult to ignore, and even more impossible not to love.
The two become neighbors by chance and friends by choice. Lark acts as Callum's wing woman to help him find a wife in order to keep his family business and inheritance. She gets one glimpse of Callum's forearms and it all changes.
These two are the epitome of opposites attract. Callum has a stutter, deadpan humor, and social anxiety, but more than that he is a deeply loyal and thoughtful man. You will absolutely fall in love with him. He delivers the swoon and the sexy.

Not to be ignored, Lark is a strong character as well, but Callum really steals the spotlight in this one. I can absolutely see this being a series with some of the supporting characters ready to take the reigns.

Morbidly Yours ⚰️🌻
ARC REVIEW

I absolutely loved this book so much! Once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down, and I read it in a day.

⚰️ Opposites Attract
🌻 Blonde Bubbly Texan Widow FMC
⚰️Shy Demisexual Irish MMC with a stutter
🌻 Marriage of Convenience trope
⚰️ Neighbors/ friends to FWB
And these microtropes
🌻 Bonding over a shared pet, hair washing to show love, sexy language lesson, and supervising after an injury.

Callum Flannelly can only inherit the family undertaking business and carry on their legacy under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. But this introverted and sarcastic mortician has an aversion to marrying out of necessity rather than love.
Enter Lark Thompson. The bubbly blonde Texan just moved to town to start over after losing her husband and is Callum's new neighbor. After hearing of his plight, Lark is convinced she can successfully play matchmaker and help Callum snag a wife.
But the more time the two spend together, the more their connection grows. Soon, neither one can deny their growing feelings.

I loved both of these characters so much! Lark is not a typical annoying female protagonist. She is trying to build a new life, and I love her positivity and spunk. Callum is a well-done representation of someone with a stutter. I also appreciated the Demisexual talk. It really made sense for his character.
These two are so sweet together. They have chemistry from their first meeting. I loved that they were really friends first. I felt like they genuinely cared about each other's feelings.
Callum is obviously being added to my long list of book boyfriends! He is dreamy!❤️
The way the book deals with grief and guilt is gentle and heartfelt, and I loved it. I shed a few tears every few chapters. 🥹
I really can't believe this is a debut! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A huge thank you to the author and @Netgalley

This book took the journey of grief and portrayed it so well. I absolutely love Callum and Lark! This book is definitely one I would recommend to anyone who loves grumpy sunshine, and friends to lovers!

Such a morbidly cute read!

The characters were both so different but at the same time compatible! I really enjoyed the writing and felt it made the story even more endearing. It wasn’t anything crazy but it was what this story needed.

P.S I did really like how the author used deeper topics to make the story feel a bit more emotional

Great if ur looking for a fall romance!

Morbidly Yours is book one in the Love in Galway series by Ivy Fairbanks.
This is a quirky but fun romance that I instantly got hooked to.
This book was so adorable and the characters are amazing.
They were real and so relateable.
The storyline was incredible and sucked me in almost immediately. The story was well-written and well-developed.
I can’t wait to read book two.

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book is a hit and miss book. Let me highlight what I loved first. I love that you have a male demi character. Demi people are so tragically underrepresented not only in fiction but in general. Having it be male is even more powerful. Because demi’s are not always women. What I didn’t love was I felt like sometimes Callum wasn’t always represented in the way that his character was written. I know stuttering can be hard to come through within written texts, but if he does still stutter then having a couple of instances would have felt more authentic. The ending wasn’t necessary I feel like the book had ended on a beautiful note, and then one last scene was added in just for heck of it and honestly it wasn’t needed. I enjoyed the plotline for the most part, but I wasn’t swept away as much as I like to be when I read a romance.
Thank you so much to Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.