I wanted to love it but i just enjoyed it . I found myself drifting into space on and off throught the book. Some parts of the book were interesting. But others i felt were unneeded. Do i feel like this book could have been shorter yes. The whole demisexual aspect was bot it for me. But solid 3 stars

This was so sweet and so real. Real traumas and life experiences affecting relationships and how to work past things. Lark and Callum are perfect and I loved them together!

I loved this. Callum and Lark’s friendship was so real, you could feel them falling in love through the pages. Seeing Callum grow into himself was so beautiful. It was frustrating seeing Lark fight her feelings and honestly be a little selfish without explaining why. Callum standing up for her and truly making the gestures was everything.

I want more and to see their life together.

There’s so much to enjoy here! Callum needs to marry soon or lose the family business. Lark has come to Ireland for a fresh start after her husband passed away. The two become friends - and more - and both need to dig deep to become to best versions of themselves and get what they want.

Everything about the relationship felt genuine to me, and I really rooted for the main characters. I also liked that the secondary characters added to the story. Add in a little spice and this is nearly perfect. I can’t believe it’s a debut novel! Will definitely read more from this author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

4.5 stars
I truly enjoyed this book. I've read both versions, and each time I was hooked. The writing is addictive, and the characters were interesting and complex. I found the demi rep to be done in a respectful manner and brought a unique aspect to the story.
I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

I would say this was. 3.5. It was very cute and sweet - I liked Callum’s character development the most! Lark drove me crazy with her lack of confidence and inability to stand up for herself, she grew up a little at the end but it made it a little too frustrating for me. And I know Callum was an undertaker, but I didn’t need a lot of the details about his job

"When Lark needed an escape, she took her animation career from Texas all the way to Galway, Ireland, hoping for a fresh start. Unfortunately for Lark and all the heartache she’s trying to keep buried in her past, she ends up moving in next door to a funeral home. Isolated in a new country and already making rivals at work, Lark starts to find comfort in the tall but quiet funeral director next door. Callum might be the solid foundation that Lark needs right now, but he has his own problems. With stipulations in place if he’s going to keep his family’s funeral business, Callum must marry before his next birthday in order to fulfill his grandfather’s wishes. But thanks to his social anxiety, Callum has all but given up finding a wife. But when Lark enters the picture, they might just be able to mutually benefit each other.

I absolutely loved Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks. I loved the characters, I enjoyed the plot, and I had no problems at all getting swept away by the writing itself. This was definitely a right book at the right time kind of read for me, but I just loved everything about Lark and Callum’s story.

I could not get enough of Callum. He initially came off as quiet and reserved, but the more Lark got to know him, the more we saw him open up and reveal the whole person. Callum had several things he preferred to keep to himself, hidden away from most people. He did have a stutter, one that became stronger whenever he was experiencing more intense emotions. This, with good reason, made meeting new people - and fulfilling his grandfather’s stipulations for inheriting the funeral home - very hard for Callum. But one of my favorite things to explore with Callum was his sexuality, specifically his demisexuality. I love reading romances where characters are on the asexual spectrum, and Callum was such a great example of demisexuality in day to day life. Obviously, Callum could only exhibit his particular form of demisexuality, and it was a convenient way to really challenge him when it came to finding a wife, but I still thought it was a good representation of a demisexual character in contemporary romance.

And like Callum, Lark had her own history standing between her present and future happiness. From the very beginning - in fact, it was the catalyst for her move to Galway in the first place - Lark was harboring so much guilt and heartache because of her past. I don’t want to give away too much since it’s such a huge part of her emotional journey in this book, but Lark was so emotionally fragile when she first met Callum and it was a beautiful, if not tumultuous, journey to get her to her happily ever after. Stories full of heartbreak and guilt aren’t always the easiest to read, but I thought Fairbanks handled Lark with the caution and care that she needed and deserved.

There were laughs and plenty of sorrow, but Callum and Lark were such a good couple from start to finish. Whether they were just friends, flirting with something more, or finally admitting their feelings for each other, these two gave me all the good vibes and made Morbidly Yours a hard book to put down. "

For a debut novel this was so so good! I absolutely adored the main characters as well as the side characters and loved the depth and emotion in the story. Callum is literally the cutest, sweetest, most precious angel in the world and must be protected at all costs! I cannot wait to read the next book in the series and highly recommend this book!

Another case of this book just not being for me. I had a hard time getting into it and caring about the characters. I wanted more from this in terms of pacing and character development. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts are my own.

I absolutely loved this one! I thought the slow burn of the romance was great. The demisexual rep was fantastic (can we get DemiDate in real life please?). The grief plot was so emotional but also well done. All in all I highly recommend!

dnf @ is 20%

i tried, i really did. i just could get into this. there was no real chemistry between the characters and nothing happened in the first 20% of the book that would’ve even made me want them to be together. the writing is superfluous and just hard to follow.

I really loved the unique main characters in this book. Their jobs, but also their personalities were fresh and different in the romance genre.

This book had a great start, but after a while the decisions the main characters made started yo grate on me. Yes, I like flawed characters, but at points they crossed over into unlikable territory, particularly Lark.

But the sweet moments in this book as well as the thoughtful storylines surrounding grief, not being socially comfortable, and not being easily attracted to potential romantic partners were so well done. This was a good read overall!

Lark is starting over. After her husband's tragic passing, she is starting a new job in a new country. When she opens a neighbor's package accidentally, she realizes she unknowingly moved next door to a funeral home. This was not the fresh start she was looking for, but the owner/undertaker surprises her by quickly becoming a friend. Callum is painfully shy and Lark helps bring him out of his shell. Hopefully just in time as he needs to find a wife in the next 9 months or risk losing his beloved funeral home.

Lark is a breath of fresh air. Her spontaneity and humor was the best part of the book. I felt overall it moved a little too slow, but it was worth it to get to the end. This book is (obviously) very focused on death so read with caution if that could be triggering for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of Morbidly Yours.

So funny! Such a breath of fresh air. I loved the uniqueness of this premise. It got me out of a reading slump. Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Title: Morbidly Yours
Author: Ivy Fairbanks
Genre: romance, contemporary
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5

✨ARC Review ✨

Thanks to Ivy Fairbanks, Putnam Group Putnim, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Morbidly Yours in exchange for an honest review. This book was released on August 20th and I can’t wait to see what other people think!
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lark Thompson lost everything in Texas: her husband, her best friend, and her job. Looking for a fresh start, she heads to Galway, Ireland to start a new job and escape her past. Callum Flannelly is a single mortician who lives next door. The funeral home has been in his family for generations, and he can only keep it if he’s married by 35 (which is only a few months away). Lark and Callum quickly become friends, and Lark makes it her mission to find a wife for Callum so that he can keep his beloved job. As they grow closer, it becomes clear that Lark is the one Callum wants, but will Lark be able to move on from her past and commit to Callum?

I really enjoyed this book! I went to Ireland last year, and Galway was one of our stops, so it was fun to read about some of the familiar places. Cal was a different kind of MMC, and I loved his awkward quietness and the way Lark was able to bring out his fun side. Lark was slightly annoying to me at times with her “promise” to her late husband, Reese. Ivy Fairbanks really knows how to write a side character because I was obsessed with Maeve and her relationship to both Lark and Callum. If you’re looking for a cute destination romance with quirky characters, this is the one for you!

A striking balance between sadness and grieving and some serious hotness! Lark's grieving was a painful journey to read and a challenge to stick with, but was a good growth story. I LOVED Callum and enjoyed reading a different perspective on attraction and sexual connection. It was a unique take and incredibly hot.

Callum's mortuary profession was an interesting highlight and "Morbidly Yours" focuses a lot on death, but it is very compassionate and not graphic or sensationalized.

I'll be looking forward to more stories from Ivy Fairbanks!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Lark has packed up her boots and moved from Texas to Galway. She is in desperate need of a change after losing her husband and being incredibly uncomfortable at work. She blames herself for things she never has gotten closure over within her marriage and also with her friends at work. this new start could be just what she needs to boost her confidence. After accidentally getting a suspicious package to her new home she visits her neighbor to return it to them. She thought maybe it was a bed & breakfast, but it turns out to be a funeral home!
Callum has an ultimatum hanging over his head from his late grandfather. He has a set amount of time to find a wife before losing the family funeral home business he runs and has worked his whole life. His stutter and tendency to avoid people have always been obstacles in his life and especially his dating life. He takes a long time to really fall for someone and it turns out he might be falling hard for Lark but she is not looking for any of the same thing.
I really enjoyed this trip to Galway and the glossary of Gaelic terms used was a really fun touch!

Every so often, I read a book that just doesn’t click for me the way I want it to. It has all the makings of a book I’ll love, but can’t quite sink in. This was one of those books for me, and I’m not totally sure why. I might have been tired that week. My best guess is that there was something that didn’t ring true to me about how quickly the two main characters became such good friends so fast, without angst or friction surrounding two people that are so incredibly different. I love angst. Or some of the back and forth- I lost track or who wanted what out of the relationship and why and at what time.

However, each individual aspect of the book was really good! I liked both of the main characters on their own, but also the intimate moments when they were together! I loved how both had their own struggles, both personally and professionally. I’ve never read a book where one of the main characters is demisexual, and I thought it was really well done in this book. The plot moved and the book handled some heavy emotions gracefully. It was well written, and I do plan on reading the author's next book. I’d recommend picking it up and giving it a try!

Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for the opportunity to review!

Morbidly Yours follows Callum, an undertaker for his family’s funeral business and Lark, a cartoon animator who moves to Ireland to get a fresh start. The two become neighbors, and we soon discover Callum must marry by his 35th birthday in order to inherit the business. As it turns out, Lark would rather be literally anywhere else, than near funeral homes. Despite this, they become friends and she makes it her mission to help him get married by signing him up for the dating apps and getting him back out on the scene. (I’m sure we all see where this is going). Their friendship grows, as does their mutual attraction. Can these two polar opposites come together for the happy ending they both deserve?

This was a delightful tale of grumpy vs. sunshine with an attempt at marriage of convenience. That’s not my favorite romance trope, but the story really didn’t convince me that the author pulled this one off. Don’t get me wrong - the book is adorable. The trope doesn’t really fit though. The book would have been better off if grumpy vs. sunshine and friends to lovers had been the main focuses. Still, this is superbly cute. I do love that our MMC has a stutter and it’s treated with the utmost respect in the book.

I would recommend this to a majority of romance readers. This is a general enough book that the majority of readers should enjoy, especially with spooky season approaching.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Morbidly Yours is a delightful, unique romance with great chemistry and an intriguing premise. Callum and Lark's story is set against the charming backdrop of Galway, Ireland, and the contrast between his serious, introverted nature and her vivacious, impulsive personality makes for an entertaining reading experience. The progression of their relationship feels natural and heartfelt, with plenty of humor and warmth. The premise of a mortician needing to marry to secure his inheritance is refreshingly different, and Lark's role with an animation and graphic design business was super cool. While this novel is a little spicier than I typically read, the emotional depth and captivating characters make it a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions shared here are my own.