I loved the two main characters. They were the perfect grumpy/sunshine trope. The grumpy undertaker and the sunshiny animator. The Irish setting was fun. I hope the audiobook does the accents justice! I haven’t read a book with demisexual rep before. That made it a very slow burn; but once it got going there was definitely some good spice. I appreciated the various locations and positions for the spicy scenes. That kept it from getting boring and repetitive. I would have appreciated a better fleshing out of some of the side characters. They were all very two dimensional. And I felt like the conclusion of the plot wasn’t well explained. I’m still not sure how it all got wrapped up. But overall I enjoyed this friends with benefits story.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This book really intrigued me straight off the bat because I see myself as a morbid person. Mix in some romance and I'm sold. Lark and Callum's story was told in such a way that had me tearing through the book. What I really enjoyed was both main characters were flawed, but they saw past each other's flaws and connected to each other on a deep level. Grief was a large part of this story, but it didn't overwhelm it, and there were still tons of light and funny moments. I loved Callum and Lark as characters, but I especially loved that Callum was so down bad for Lark from the start! That had me giggling and kicking my feet!

If you're looking for a rom-com that deals with grief definitely give Morbidly Yours a try!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Morbidly Yours follows our FMC, Lark, who has moved to Ireland to run away from the grief of losing her husband and is thrust right into the world of death--she is neighbors with a funeral home! Callum has taken over the family undertaking business after the death of his Grandfather but there's a catch: he must be married by the time he turns 35 to inherit the business, or it'll turn over to his father, who wants to sell it. Will Lark and Callums budding friendship blossom into something more?

I enjoyed this! I'd give it 3.5 stars. I probably wouldn't re-read it, but I'd recommend it if you like marriages of convenience, dreaming of moving out of the USA, and navigating difficult topics (death, grief, stutter, social anxiety, etc). I also appreciated the exploration of the MMC's sexuality on the ace/aro spectrum

A mortician is definitely something that I haven’t read about in a rom-com. However, it did make me think of the movie My Girl, which is a definite plus!

This is a forced proximity, fake marriage, grumpy sunshine trope. What’s not to love? I appreciated a different take on a typical story.

"lonely as I was, dating was still a nightmare"
morbidly yours follows lark and callum through their friendship to love story. callum is an interesting main male love interest and refreshing compared to other male love interest, he is different with his nontoxic masculinity, his actual liking to the lark, him speaking his native language, and him having a impediment that doesn't get cured or forgetten through out the story.

"I trust you"
while callum is amazing, lark started off really strong for me but fell flat by the end. i felt like she regressed from an older adult main character to an older teen to young adult and I felt myself losing hope in her. she did have a redemption by the end of the book but not enough for me to fully like her again.

"rule four: we stay friends. no matter what."
lark and callums friendship was so pure and i loved reading it, once they became fwb, their story felt not as much fun. i personally liked them more as friends and i do wonder how their relationship will go on as a married couple.

"gra mo chroi. mo chuisle mo chroi."
the sex scenes in this book were curated with love and respect. the pleasure of both characters was a focus and the sex was normal, nothing too out of the place for the story.

thank you net galley and author ivy fairbanks for letting me read for a honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for the copy of Morbidly Yours!

This book was sweet, sexy and so fun. FMC Lark takes a temporary job in Ireland to escape from the memories of her dead husband and the guilt she feels over their relationship and his death. Moving in to a quaint apartment, she meets her new neighbor Callum.... an undertaker who needs to marry in the next 8 months to keep his family funeral home. Although very different, the two of them strike up a friendship that eventually turns into more. The tension was so high through this slow burn that half way in I was literally screaming at them to just HAVE A CONVERSATION AND KISS. Cal was such a fresh take on the sterotypical rom com MMC-- he is very reserved, anxious, has a stutter, is demisexual, and despite his time constraints and financial concerns, only wants to marry for love. He also has muscles on muscles and talks dirty in Irish, so he's pretty much the whole package. Lark was a bit bubbly and too much of a pushover for my taste, but the author does a fantastic job of fitting them together believably and romantically.

If you're looking for a cozy, romantic read this is definitely a good one to pick up.

I wouldn't have guessed this was Fairbanks's debut novel at all. The story is well-written, sweet, and while I wish it focused more on their romance itself, I really did enjoy it. We will be purchasing this for the collection and I already know several patrons that will really enjoy it.

This book scratched an itch inside me I didn't know I had. The combination of part travel romance part grief narrative really worked well for me. And when our main male lead, Collum, speaks Irish to our protagonist in bed? Swoon worthy. This book is a combination of sweet and wholesome. Recommend for fans of Kilt Trip, The Dead Romantics & The Undertaking of Heart and Mercy.

This was a super fun and cozy one! Callum is a mortician, and Lark is a widow. Set in Ireland (love that!). Please make sure to read the trigger warnings! They're there for a reason.

This one had one of my favorite tropes (Grumpy x Sunshine - if you've met my husband, this checks, lol). Also, slow burn and friends to lovers.

This romance is fun for anyone who wants a quick read with well-developed characters.

ALSO HOW IS THIS A DEBUT NOVEL!? It's so good!

Shout out to NetGalley for the early copy <3

I enjoyed this adorable love story. For a debut novel, I thought the book was really good with a unique plot. I liked how it was a true friends to lovers story and I appreciated the dark, morbid feel where Lark was a grieving widow and Callum was a mortician. However, I wish the story had focused more on the romance between the main characters rather than dragging out the process of them getting together. It was clear that they had feelings for each other, so it was frustrating to see one of them pushing the other to date someone else. Despite this, I felt that the book did a good job exploring dealing with grief and finding love again. This book should have an audiobook for the Irish dialogue because it had me swooning while reading it!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Penguin Group Putnam for giving me a copy.

This was such a fun book! It had a perfect balance of spice and sweet charming moments. I really liked the Ireland setting and the characters were great! Will be adding to our library!

I will admit I am not a typical romance reader and this was only my fourth romance book ever. But I throughly enjoyed this book. I feel like the spice was just the right amount! Loved the story and the characters too.

The setup: Lark takes an animation job in Ireland because she is running away from the loss of her husband and her associated guilt. Unbeknownst to her, she moves in next to a demisexual mortician and we are off to the romance races.

What I liked: the characters, generally. The setting. The writing style.

This is one of those reviews that is hard to write because I wanted so much to like the book and I think I might like books Ivy Fairbanks writes in the future as her writing style is really appealing. But I had a lot of problems. Callum’s stutter seemed unnecessary and his demisexuality fades into the background—I’m curious if Fairbanks was writing from her own experience or not. There wasn’t so much miscommunication as a lack of honesty and directness, which is just as irritating, especially when it goes on for as long as it did here. There’s a lot of mushy middle that could have been condensed or cut.

As a reader I didn’t like how long we had to wait for the details of Reese’s death because I wanted to know what exactly Lark felt guilty about. When it was finally revealed it felt kind of like a let down. I was surprised to have so much intensely detailed mortuary information. 😬 And finally, I was shocked that in the year of our Lord 2024, a creative Zennial didn’t immediately go to therapy after her husband’s death.

TLDR: this didn’t work for me, but Fairbanks writes interesting characters in an interesting way and I’d read more from her in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

"Grief had been my stowaway across the pond."

Lark reminds me of so many people I know - bubbly on the outside, dealing with things on the inside - must be a side effect of living in the South.

Callum is possibly one of my favorite characters I've read this year so far. He's self-conscious, intelligent, caring, but also guarded (for good reason). "Grief, rebellion, and faith all stemmed from love."

The mortuary and funeral home business can be a lonely one. My daughter's dance teacher grew up in the funeral business. Dark and light, sadness and hope.

I especially appreciated the portrayal of a believable demisexual character. The ace umbrella is used for so many, and it's so refreshing to find an author who allows characters to be themselves.

And despite the grief and spooky undertones, this book is easy to read. Just be prepared to laugh and cry, and maybe need to deal with your own issues after. "You can't keep.letting the past hasn't the present."

Lark just moved from Texas to Ireland for a short term job. She become friends with Callum who lives next door in a funeral home. Lark and Callum are totally different, she's outgoing and care free and he is introverted and a homebody. When Lark learns Callum will not inherit his family's funeral home unless he is married by the time he turns 35 (in just a few months), Lark is determined to help him find a partner. Of course the two find themselves falling for each other but Lark is running away from her past in Texas and Callum doesn't want a marriage of convenience. Callum's job as a mortician and running a funeral home is a unique topic. He really cares for the families he takes care of and this is what persuades Lark to help him. The Ireland setting is different and their trip to the Cliffs of Moher makes me want to visit.

Morbidly Yours
by Ivy Fairbanks
4⭐️

texan ✈️ ireland
slow burn
HE falls first
friends to lovers

This was such a sweet & cosy love story! I absolutely loved Lark and Callum!! They were so unexpectedly amazing! I loved their friendship and how naturally it happened. Who wouldn't want to fall in love with the tall handsome Irish neighbor! They brought out the best in each other 🫶🏼 This book was so well written, it was perfectly heart-wrenching and so so intense at times. I was deeply invested in Lark and Callum. The slow burn was SO well done! I really wanted Lark and Callum to have their happy ending because the journey there was so intense.

I thought this would have more of a dark rom com vibe than it actually did. I was also hoping the marriage of convenience trop would be more present.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

*will be posted on IG on 6/18/24*

“Of course the morbid specter of guilt would follow me from Austin. Grief had been my stowaway across the pond.”

Rating: 4.25 stars

Ivy Fairbanks paints a perfect picture of grief, kindness, and love in this whirlwind romance. I read this book in 4 hours from start to finish because I didn’t want to put it down.

Grief is shown in many different ways through Lark’s loss of her husband, the different people who come through Callum’s funeral home, and Callum’s grandpa. One of my favorite things was to see how both Callum and Lark respected each other’s boundaries regarding their grief and didn’t push them for answers. I usually avoid books where a main theme is grief because it personally triggers me, but I would highly highly recommend this one. Such a delicate subject was interspersed with laughter, jokes, and down to earth characters.

Callum’s demisexuality representation was nice to see and explained really well. The only thing I didn’t love about it was how Lark kept thinking ‘if he just needs attraction, we can do this no strings attached!’ I understand she was trying to justify it to herself, but that’s not really what demisexuality is about. It’s hard to have a ‘no strings attached’ arrangement with someone you care about.

I do think this book dragged a little bit at the end, but not too bad. I didn’t love how Lark acted after Callum’s response to Sean (side note: fuck that guy). Overall, I did really love this book and despite reading maybe 1-2 rom coms a year, I will be on the lookout for the next Ivy Fairbanks book!

Fairbanks' caught my attention from the first page, where our FMC has a package of body bags delivered to her front door. The dark humor is offset by lightness and hope throughout the story, carefully balancing the journeys of grief and of falling in love. Cal is delightful, absolutely delightful, and it is a joy to watch him feel more at home with who he is and to feel seen as he is. Great chemistry, one of a kind dates, and realistic communication --- not problems for the sake of drama, but very real things that must be wrestled with,. Highly recommend.

I just wrote out my entire review and lost it. 😭

This was a cute book. I definitely wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. I love a good grumpy main character and Callum delivered. He was definitely my favorite character. I loved Lark’s character, but I’m the opposite of her, so I had a hard time relating.

I loved that there were so many different representations seen throughout this book, I feel like there was something for every reader, making it easily relatable.

I also fully expected this to take the marriage of convenience road and I’m glad it ended up taking a different path.

This was a touching and emotional concept with great moments of levity. Unfortunately, a lot of the workplace drama rubbed me the wrong way — maybe it’s just me, but I struggle with a female lead who just lets herself get walked over time and time and time again. Not quite my ticket, but I think others who aren’t as sensitive would like it more.

2.5 stars (rounding up to 3).

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.