4.5 stars!

I loved how grief is portrayed in throughout this book. Love after loss is such a touchy topic for many ways and it's very well done in this book. It took a bit for the romance to kick in but when it sparked it was great! I was loving them together and rooting for them. As they help eachother through their personal issues, sparks eventually fly, it's warming and such a slow burn tale.

The title is unique and it has a stunning cover. This is a very well done contemporary romance with the a friends to lovers theme that had me in all the feels. This is a great debut and I will be looking forward to this author's next works!

Not for me. I didn't enjoy this to a degree that I think I'm the problem. It's ostensibly a fun and cute rom that touches on grief and self actualization, but it simply did not hit for me. The characters were not endearing, the plot was odd, and the writing felt juvenile. Giving two stars instead of one because I worry my dislike is at least partially due to personal taste.

This was a sweet, vulnerable, heartfelt story of friendship, healing, and opening your heart to love again, but I’m a bit disappointed because we were set up for a marriage of convenience (one of my most favorite tropes)… and it never landed. Even with multiple proposals… nada.

Callum and Lark were tremendously lovable and relatable and there was such tenderness in their friendship. I appreciated how they provided each other with a safe place to share their hearts and souls. While I loved them dearly, Lark’s wishy washiness with Callum hurt my heart - I know she was healing and trying to protect her heart, but I wish she hadn’t used Callum.

Overall, this was cute and I enjoyed the setting and spending time getting to know the side characters, but Lark’s flippancy with Callum left a sour taste.

☘️ Book Review ☘️

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Re-Publication: August 20, 2024

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫 (I really liked it)

This was my first book by Ivy and I really liked meeting Callum and Lark. I have to say that it felt like Callum was written just for me. A lot of his inner thoughts resonated.

I did dock some stars mostly for pacing. I’m not sure how to describe it but it felt off for me, however this was still a cute read. Plus it will be perfect for fall time!

For fans of:
☘️ First person POV
⚰️ Dual POV
☘️ Shy x Bubbly
⚰️ Neighbors
☘️ Demisexual rep
⚰️ Friends to lovers
☘️ Must get married
⚰️ She helps him go on dates
☘️ Love after loss
⚰️ Slow burn

Short Synopsis:
After the death of her husband, Lark finally decides to move on and move countries and leaves her family and life in Texas for Ireland. But she knows nobody and befriends the mortician next door.

My Thoughts:
This book has so many cute parts and did some much so well. I love how grief was portrayed and the demisexual representation. I’m here for an Irish love story too. I also loved the representation of a MMC with a stutter.

I will say Lark was such a caricature of someone from Texas. As someone who actually was born and raised in Texas it drove me batty. I’ve never not once said “remember the Alamo” in conversation unless I was actually at the Alamo. 🙃

What You’ll Find
Love after loss
Demisexual representation
Friends to lovers
Grumpy/Sunshine
Irish setting

5 🌟 apparently a mortician as a love interest really worked for me (who could’ve guessed)?? Don’t get me wrong, our FMC was a complex ball of sunshine and I loved her character development throughout but WOW Callum was so down bad and it was the most endearing pining I’ve seen in a while!! This might be classified as a “grumpy sunshine” but he’s not actually grumpy - he just has social anxiety and a stutter (which made me love him even more). Grief is a central theme of this book and it was handled with such care and showed many different forms of it, giving every reader something to relate to. I definitely wanted to give Lark a good shake after the umpteenth time of her refusing to allow herself to be happy but also played into the themes of progress not being linear. Just all around this book was so enjoyable and realistic; I started giggling and kicking my feet 5% in and never stopped. So cute and would highly recommend checking this out once it re-releases in August!! 🫶🏼

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

This book was so cute! The grumpy/sunshine couple was just precious. Im glad she stood up for herself and stuck it out. The funny banter and accidents was lovely. I cant wait to read more from this author!

Morbidly Yours is as romantic as it is cathartic. Fear, grief, and loneliness are all on page as Callum and Lark fall in love.

Lark left her life in Texas to take an animation gig in Ireland. She's making a new start for herself after the untimely death of her husband. Callum is facing a deadline to marry or risk losing inheriting his family business - a mortuary. Where the easiest solution would be a marriage of convenience, he is seeking love and true connection.

I love Lark and Callum's friendship. She wakes up Callum's playfulness. He allows Lark to be still and grounded. At the same time, they work to respect boundaries both said and secret. Lark learns to recognize Callum's social battery levels, and Callum becomes a safe place Lark can rest her grief when ready.

When their romance sparks? Oh my word! The chemistry is fully developed. Callum and Lark get full marks in relationship. Their sexual relationship is spiced with the attentiveness and enthusiasm we already see in their friendship. After a few personal breakthroughs, there's no doubt these two have something so special together.

I shed all categories of tears - happy, sad, anger, even the laughed till I cried kind - over Callum and Lark falling in love. This book has left its mark on me. I'm happy to carry Morbidly Yours in my heart always.

Thank you Netgalley & Penguin Random House / Putnam Books for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this story but something about it just kept me from losing myself in the characters.
A solid 3.5 stars for me.

Lark + Callum

-friends to lovers
-opposites attract
-slow burn
-irish dirty talk
-demisexual rep

this was such a unique story & the opening was HILARIOUS, it had me hooked immediately!! the comedy throughout was amazing & entertaining as well! i had a great time!!

First, don't skip this if you think it's dark or ghosty from the title - it's not! It's a gorgeous, loving, contemporary romance! I am feral for MCs who make "rules" just to break them later, and this attempted friends to benefits with a splash of marriage of convenience SCHEME does not disappoint! Both MCs are misunderstood in their own ways, and this brings them together so tenderly. The Irish setting is so dreamy, and their spice is explosive. Includes demisexual rep in the MMC ❤️ an incredible debut; don’t miss it!

When publishers advertise new authors by saying things like “if you like Abby Jiminez and Emily Henry you’ll love this new book by so-and-so” I prepare myself to be disappointed, because it’s so rarely true that new debut authors are even close to these NYT bestsellers. Ivy Fairbanks’ writing, however, really was very reminiscent of both Jiminez and Henry, and this was a well done first novel. The banter and way the two characters were playful and fun together was what made the book so similar to a lot of my favorites. When I’m reading romance I want to really understand why the characters want to be together so badly, or why I should root for them, and I was rooting for Callum and Lark from the beginning. A great example of opposites attract, friends to lovers, and there’s even a marriage of convenience storyline thrown in for another plot twist. I will definitely be watching for more Ivy Fairbanks in the future!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the basic idea of this book a lot. I thought the fact that Callum is an undertaker who is an introverted demisexual with a stutter was a unique take on a romantic male lead. He is the star of this story, in my opinion.

I didn’t dislike our female lead, per se. The author gave her a tragic backstory that definitely made me sympathetic. But Lark is pushy. She claims to be supportive of Callum’s demisexuality but then pushes him to kiss Saoirse when he’s clearly not ready. She is sometimes very empathetic to his needs but then will steamroll him in a sort of “I know better than you” way. This improves as the book goes on and she is much more understanding of Callum’s needs as the story progresses.

The plot seemed to meander towards the end. I found myself skimming as it started to feel repetitive. But the sex scenes were written really well and I definitely would read more from this author. I really loved the unconventional male lead and also that she wrote Lark as a recovering people pleaser. I think many readers will see aspects of themselves in these characters.

Morbidly Yours was unexpectedly good! I went it with an open mind because honestly I couldn’t grasp that the MMC was an undertaker and that’s a little dark for me BUT I really enjoyed the morbid parts.

Lark and Callum are both dealing with issues of their own but they help each other navigate them. Their friendship flourishes and becomes more as they help and rely on one another. The writing style was addictive that I finished it in one day.

Callum is the shy Irish mortician that has to marry by 35 to keep his family’s funeral home. Lark is the bubbly Texas gal who came to Ireland after her husband passed away to pursue her animation dreams. What happens when Lark ignites a fire inside of Callum in more ways than one?

LARK AND CALLUM!! The epitome of grumpy/sunshine!! I loved the banter, the ambiance of Ireland, and the spice 🔥 I loved this duo. They compliment each other perfectly and it was lovely to see how they both grew during the book! The dirty talk ( IN IRISH) was next level and I loved how the book also showcased more serious topics like grief and anxiety as well!

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 stars for me!

4.5 oh man i kinda loved this and mad it took me so long to read. it’s way past my bedtime but i think it was worth it. i really loved both of them. i felt the chemistry. they both had personalities and things happening outside of the romance, which i find important and interesting too. the romance itself… such a sweet, sweet slow burn. callum is so sweet (and i like that despite his stutter and social awkwardness if you will, it wasn’t his whole thing. sometimes authors fail on that, but she did not.) lark was a perfect (but flawed) main character. i just completely adored callum and lark and i couldve read an extra 100 pages with them. did i tear up at a few points? i sure did. that’s how you know a book is worth my time. such an easy but super good read.

thank you so, so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this one!

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

I can’t resist a book set in Ireland- especially Galway!

Lark Thompson has been through it. She lost her husband in a car accident and in turn- her job & relationship with her best friend. She takes the opportunity to pursue a temporary job in Ireland. She needed the escape. She moves in next to a moratorium where its owner, Callum, lives.

Callum is a quiet guy- seems introverted. Lark is bubbly and chatty. She instantly befriends him even if he’s resisting a bit. It turns out Callum is being pressured to get married or he’ll lose the family business. Lark makes it her mission to help him. She has also sworn off love and marriage for herself as she believes she doesn’t deserve it.

We get to watch an adorable friendship blossom and then turn to more. Lark & Callum are both pretending they’re not interested in the other, but readers see differently.

I struggled with Callum a bit. He was sweet but a little lacking for me. I love feeling swoony over the male lead in a book. He didn’t quite do that for me. I also appreciated Larks grief but it seemed unrealistic too. It was cute that this woman fighting grief ends up befriending a man who deals with death constantly. Callums character had some interesting traits that I hadn’t seen represented in a book before. Overall I liked the book but it didn’t hook me.

It was a cute book kinda predictable still enjoyable I would recommend this for like a beach vacation with the girls

3.5/5 (Rounded up to a 4) - The idea of asexual people was a fun concept for me to read about!! They take more time to get to know someone and then develop romantic attachments.. and that's not necessarily something I'm used to reading? If you're a 'doer' when it comes to relationships/life - you may find this one to be a nice change of pace!

**Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

this was a cute read, definitely not something i usually pick up, but i was still cute. I really enjoyed the book until half way through,i did get a little bored and i had to stop reading for a couple weeks, maybe that was just me. the story was really compelling, i did enjoyed the slowburn, i thought the way lark and cal fell in love was natural, it wasnt rushed at all which i really liked. overall really cute!