Lark moves to Galway for a job after her husband is killed in a car crash. Unbeknownst to her, her rental is next door to a funeral home. Callum the mortician next door must marry or loose the funeral home that has been in his family for years. They befriend each other and Lark agrees to help the him with his dating life. All of the characters were great and even though the 2 main characters had to deal with grief this book was funny. This was a great Rom-com.

4.5 stars rounded up

This book was everything I wanted after reading the descriptions and seeing this adorable cover. This is a contemporary adult romance, it has multiple perspectives with slow burn build up and opposite attract, and grumpy/ sunshine trope. I thought that this was going to have a seriously spooky vibe with the MMC being a mortician, but it had just the right amount to be a great read during fall and spooky season. It does have a focus more on grief and loss rather than the gross graphic aspects of the job. Lark was the complete opposite of Callum, fun, bright and optimistic, even after dealing with some tough stuff. I loved her job in animation, it was so fascinating and added a unique element. They were so great together, bringing out the best in each other, supporting and pushing each other a little out of their comfort zone. It led to some hilarious moments. It was just a slow well-developed relationship, and I enjoyed the journey. Finally, the setting being in Ireland was fantastic. With a small, close village and the sightseeing it had some great descriptions. I had the best time reading this book.
I received an advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Callum would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. So it’s out of the mortuary and into the dating scene. Lark would rather get crushed by a falling anvil than stay next to a funeral home during her stay in Galway, Ireland. The cartoon creator and animator came here to embrace life, not be reminded of losing her husband. Little do they know that, they're in for a ride of a lifetime.

This book is what I'd call a "soft boy romance." Not only that, it was exhilarating, unique, fresh, fun, & satisfying to read!

Callum & Lark two opposites who found themselves to be each others' neighbors. I loved how they became extremely good friends first! Their banter and relationship were too pure. And the chemistry was so GOOD.

Contrary to the blurb, the marriage of convenience storyline doesn't rush the plot. I really enjoyed the steadiness of their relationship.

The subplot involved one or two evil people who will make your blood boil. And I think part me thought the office drama went along for too long. Otherwise this book was a beautiful surprise for me.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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Morbidly yours follows the story of Lark, who moved to Ireland for a temporary job as a way to cope with her grief. She doesn’t want anything to do with death, but ends up living right beside a mortuary house and befriending Callum, the undertaker.

Callum is wonderful and everything precious we love when woman write man characters.

The romance was quite nice! Lark infuses Callum with life and joy, and he gives her the support and companionship she needed to start healing. We see their friendship blossom to love, and it is beautiful.

The sex scenes were very well written! They were sexy, tasteful, and probably some of the best I’ve read in contemporary romance. Callum stutters and this issue is treated with care.

The third act conflict was awful! I’m still suffering on behalf of Callum who is too forgiving. I still enjoyed the story as a whole though.

Definitely recommended for contemporary romance readers

4.5 STARS

“Grief had been my stowaway across the pond.”

After a heartbreaking tragedy, Lark Thompson decides to leave her home in Austin, TX and take an art director position at a company in Galway, Ireland. Looking to start her life over, she never expects to form a friendship with Callum Flannelly, the undertaker who lives next door.

Callum is handsome, sweet and shy, more accustomed and more comfortable being around the deceased. Lark is the opposite, she is outgoing and talkative and full of life and color. However, she has vowed to stay unattached for fear of repeating the regrets that have brought her to Ireland.

“Everything changes in this world. Not always for the worse. Wounds heal, if you let them.”

Callum and Lark’s friendship does more than provide companionship. It starts to heal them both in their own ways. Callum learns that even though he is surrounded by death, he has so much living to do. And Lark learns the importance of moving through life being brave and honest and not scared to open her heart.

“We show the people we love the ugliest parts of ourselves, and we tell them the truth even when it hurts, because that’s what intimacy is.”

I love the journey of this relationship. It is so sweet and tender as both these characters open up to one another. I adored the secondary characters, especially Maeve who provided such profound insight to life and love. I also loved all the Irish words used in this book (even the spicy ones!) Callum speaking these words to Lark was total SWOON.

This friends to lovers debut romance is beautifully written with diverse characters, profound topics and poignant moments that touched my heart. I loved this story.

“Feeling seen was as unnerving as it was comforting. A freaking emotional paradox.”

Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was super excited for the concept of this book. As someone who has previously worked with funeral homes, I found the idea of a romance between a morgue owner and an animator cute and interesting. I was, unfortunately, really disappointed instead. I struggled reading this, to the point where it has taken me several months to get through. Here are my likes and dislikes.
Likes:
-I liked the Ireland setting and the Texas girl learning a new way of life and a whole new culture.
-I liked the asexuality and disability rep! I loved that Callum was very awkward and shy and learning to navigate his feelings for Lark as someone who found it a struggle to be sexually interested in other people.
-I liked the Gaelic language (and the glossary of translations included!).
-I loved Deirdre! I also loved that fact that she was willing to marry Cal in order to help him keep the funeral home.
-I liked that Séan got a well-deserved canning at the end, although he felt a little too "workplace villain"-y throughout the book.

Dislikes:
-Lark's entire personality felt like it hinged on being the "cute and quirky!" girl, and it felt incredibly over the top, especially in the beginning of the book.
-Lark needed therapy!!! Not a move to Ireland, she needed serious therapy to help process what happened to her husband and the way she felt responsible for it.
-Normally, I like miscommunication in books. Unfortunately, Lark refusing to admit that her husband was deceased and that she had trauma from her last marriage and that being the main reason she couldn't let herself fall for Cal was more frustrating and upsetting.
-The switch from "no we can't be involved" to "I want to see if I can get him to sleep with me" felt like it happened really quickly with no serious character development shown on page.

Overall, as a reader, I could tell that this book had been previously self-published. It felt like it needed another round or two of developmental edits and some help to flesh out the characters more. Most of the time, they all felt very 2-dimensional or like caricatures of characters. I think the idea is really fun and Cal and Lark had a lot of good tension and interactions, but it needs a little more work, in my own personal opinion. Also, on the mobile version, the book is over 300 pages, and it just felt like it was dragging without anything of any major importance happening. I'm sure it'll find its audience, but sadly just wasn't the best read for me.

READ THROUGH NETGALLEY. ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. This story was cute and I liked the characters, but I wasn’t drawn in and obsessed with it as I can get with books I really like sometimes. I wasn’t thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it. I wasn’t reading it and feeling things because of what the characters were saying or doing. I was just enjoying the story and enjoying seeing where it went and how it turned out. I did feel really bad for Lark because of Sean and it was just like come on you have to report him and also don’t be naïve he was obviously going to steal your ideas for his pitch. Also you don’t have to swear off love because you loved someone badly, people change. She did figure it out though.

3.5

Cute story- I enjoyed the premise! It was a nice mix of funny and sentimental.

Some of the pieces felt a tad underdeveloped, like the side plots with Rachel and Sean.

But still, this was an enjoyable, quick read.

I loved this quirky romantic comedy featuring a hot Irish undertaker on the ACE spectrum. The banter was spot on, and I adore nerdy groan worthy puns. The setting in Galway and use of Irish language throughout was delightful. The aspects of grief were handled with care.

Just be careful when reading the ebook… immediately after the puffin scene my social media feeds have been flooded with our little bright beaked feathered friends!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This is a poignant and heartfelt love story. Readers will alternately find themselves laughing and crying as they get to know Callum and Lark. They are two broken people who find little bits of joy in each other and the things around them that lead to the beginning of healing. The author does a magnificent job of dealing with subjects that could otherwise be off putting for readers. Instead it becomes an uplifting and rewarding story to read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This is my first book by this author. It started off strong, but the middle definitely dragged on for me. I feel this was a classic case of miscommunication. Lark doesn't know how Callum feels and vice versa because no one talks to each other! About 80 percent in it picked up again, and I loved the ending. Lark receiving closure after years of not feeling worthy was nice to read. 3/5 for me.

This book was amazing. Such a poignant tale about love, loss, grief, and leaning to be able to trust and be vulnerable again. This book is for lovers of PS I Love You and The Dead Romantics. You wouldn’t think you could make a romance about an animator and a mortician work, but damn was it ✨chefs kiss✨. HIGHLY recommend!

Obsessed and blown away!

Now it is no secret that I love a good romance and some good doses of Ireland, but this book was the perfect combination of the two! There wasn't a moment where I wasn't enjoying this story. From beginning to end, I loved every single moment this book had to offer.

This book was so unlike a lot of the romances I tend to read. The sensitive subject matter was handled so delicately and thoughtfully. I appreciated how well they were handled throughout this book. The characters had me obsessed! Lark and Callum equally stole my heart. They were just such a beautiful pairing. The romance itself was also so beautifully written. Grief is such a delicate topic, but it was woven into this romance so beautifully. This book made me feel things I haven't felt in a long time. The spice was also a pleasant surprise as well. I thought it added to this story without taking away from the difficult topics at play. The Irish dirty talk was bonus points though for sure!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I can't think of a single moment that I didn't enjoy or like about it. I thought the pacing worked really well, and the story flowed seamlessly from beginning to end. I would recommend looking up the possible triggers before reading because this book does handle sensitive topics throughout. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to be reminded what love can look and feel like. Perfect romance read!

I would like to give a huge thank you to Putnam, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

Rating: 5/5

4.5 stars and I'm so glad this is the start of a new series called Love in Galway. This was a fun and cozy read. Lark Thimpson takes a job as an art director in Galway to get away from her grief in Austin, TX. She ends up moving next door to a dour mortician, who actually isnt as dour as we firs think. They become best firends and the slow burn is exquisite. Seems poor Callum has to marry before he turns 35 so that he can keep his family business. And time is ticking. Lark tries to help him find a match but of course ends up falling for him herself. And callum falls for Lark. And the getting there is slow and adorable and completely believable. Loved this fun romance! Can't wait for the next book in the series!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam's Sons for this e-arc.*

This was such a unique concept for a rom com! An American widow leaves the states to get away from the loss and guilt of losing her husband only to move into the apartment next door to an awkward yet sexy and cute, Irish undertaker! Maybe because my grandmother was the hairstylist at our local funeral home before she retired but, my family never made death a taboo subject, so I appreciate a good death pun and this book had plenty but, still addressing Callum's job with the dignity his customers and their families deserve. The relationship between Lark and Callum felt natural and sweet. They brought out the best in each other.

Morbidly Yours delivers a quirky, transatlantic romance that pairs an introverted Irish undertaker, Callum Flannelly, with a vivacious American cartoon creator, Lark Thompson. The premise is charming: Callum, who would rather spend his days in a mortuary than on the dating scene, is forced to find a wife before his 35th birthday to inherit his family's undertaking business. Lark, visiting Galway to escape the memories of her late husband, reluctantly agrees to help Callum find "The One," despite having sworn off love herself.

The novel shines brightest through Callum’s point of view. His serious and sarcastic demeanor, combined with the unique setting of a family-run funeral business, adds a refreshing contrast to the rom-com genre. Callum’s character is so compelling that he easily becomes the highlight of the book, making it hard to put down whenever the focus is on him.

However, Lark’s character may not be as universally appealing. Her "toxic positivity" and refusal to address her own grief through counseling or conflict resolution make her come across as overly bubbly and somewhat one-dimensional. While some readers may enjoy her effervescent personality, others might find her avoidance of deeper issues frustrating.

Despite these concerns, one of the novel’s strengths is the natural progression of the romance. The friendship between Callum and Lark grows slowly and organically, laying a solid foundation for the eventual romantic connection. This careful pacing makes their relationship feel more authentic and satisfying.

Overall, Morbidly Yours is an enjoyable read with a unique premise and a standout male lead. While Lark’s character might not be for everyone, the book’s heartfelt exploration of friendship, grief, and love makes it a worthy addition to the rom-com genre. Fans of opposites-attract romances will likely find themselves rooting for this unlikely pair.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book, much to my surprise. Im a sucker for enemies to lovers trope, and this delivered!! Callum and Lark had amazing chemistry and i really loved their characters. Get me on a plane right now!!

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I loved this adorable (yes, it is an adorable novel, even given Callum's profession ⚰️ and Lark's grief❤️‍🩹) book. I loved how the relationship between Lark and Callum bloomed. I loved the humor, heat, sexual tension, and learning all the neat things about Ireland. 🍀

Ivy has a perfect voice for dark romcoms. This book is for you if you are a fan of grumpy and sunshine, Ireland, quirky humor, and spice. Oh, and if you don't mind dead bodies (not in a zombie way💀).

I'm looking forward to reading the next Ivy Fairbanks book.

⚠️ TW: Funeral house and mortuary
⚠️ TW: loss of loved one (of the pages)

Thank you, G.P. Putnam's Sons & NetGalley, for the ARC.

This book!!! I was drawn in by the cover and the blurb but I stayed for the adorable and touching intimacy that jumps off the page. Callum is my sweet, sarcastic, adorable Irish cinnamon roll. He is so earnest and caring. He takes his job so seriously with the appropriate amount of decorum and respect. He has a silly little sarcastic sense of humor. I also loved how he handled and embraced Lark's past. He treated her with the utmost care and adoration. I am obsessed with this man. 

Lark!! What a gal. I loved her career and her bravery in moving countries to begin a new life for herself. I also loved her journey into accepting Callum into her life and learning how to open her heart while also dealing with grief. 

This book was full of those little moments in a romance book where you can physically feel the couple falling in love. From roller skating in matching outfits, to playing with their pet mouse, going to the pub and getting their faces painted like puffins, I was in love with these two as a couple.

I didn’t know I needed an opposites attract, friends-to-lovers romcom (featuring toe-curling Irish dirty talk) that handled loss and death and grief so beautifully and tenderly until now but here I am, looking up flights to Galway