A grumpy/sunshine dual POV romance that‘ll transport you to Galway! Although the meet-cute seems like something straight out of a typical laugh-out-loud rom-com this book did contain a lot of angst and heavy topics.

After losing her husband Lark packs up and moves from Texas to Galway where she falls hard for Callum, the quiet but sexy and sweet mortician next-door. I really loved how both our MCs are career-driven and work in professions we don’t typically see in romances. (FYI If youre squeamish about embalming, there are a couple of scenes that briefly touch upon the process but nothing too detailed) Also Callum has a stutter and is demisexual, which I found refreshing since almost every other book I’ve read featuring someone on the ace/aro spectrum has been female. When Lark loses her husband, she loses her BFF too, and it was so lovely watching Lark and Callum become close friends before the attraction builds between them. Callum needs to marry someone by his birthday in order to keep the funeral home and Lark does her best to be his wingman even as she falls in love with him. Some of the bad dates and other shenanigans in this book were funny, but it was sad too. Lark has a lot of baggage with the way her husband died and the falling out between her and her former BFF. For half the book she keeps Callum in the dark, pretending it was just a divorce. Eventually the pair admit that they want to have sex with each other and start a friends with benefits arrangement (he talks Irish to her and it is VERY hot), but with Lark‘s late husband (and her work visa in jeopardy because there is workplace drama in this book and an asshole coworker) and Callum‘s threat of losing his livelihood hanging over their heads, it takes almost the entire book for these two to FINALLY get together.

I‘d give this book a solid four stars. It was an enjoyable read and made me feel like I was in Galway. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!!

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks

Overview: Lark has just moved from Texas to Ireland after accepting a new job. After accidentally receiving a delivery for body bags, she discovers that her new neighbor is a socially awkward demisexual mortician with a stutter named Callum Flannery. After becoming fast friends, Lark finds out that Callum must find someone to marry to keep the funeral home in his family (due to an antiquated inheritance clause) and makes it her mission to help him find “The One”. But as their friendship deepens, Callum can’t help but wonder if the perfect candidate is the girl living next door…

Thoughts: I ADORED this book - Lark and Callum are officially one of my favorite book couples. Although they are an unconventional pair, they were SO sweet and complemented each other in the best ways. The writing and dialogue were pitch-perfect and there was actually an interesting plot - I couldn’t believe this was a debut novel?! And considering how innocent and naive Lark and Callum were as a couple, I was surprised by the amount of spice in this book! Ivy Fairbanks is definitely an author to keep on your radar!!

Take home message: I highly recommend picking up “Morbidly Yours,” a ridiculously cute rom com (that features a friendly girl from Texas and a demisexual Irish mortician) that is bursting with charm. Tropes include: neighbors-to-friends-to-lovers, opposites attract, and friends with benefits. Note that this book is a dual POV open-door romance and includes many discussions about grief as the main character is a widow.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

4.5/5 Stars 3/5 Spice

Tropes:
Neighbors to Lovers
Friends to Lovers
Opposites Attracts
Ron Com
Demisexual Rep

Lark & Callum 🫠🫠 i loved these two with my whole chest. this book was so quirky & original. i loved every second.

This was so good! I was hooked by the cover and the story kept me! I am SHOCKED this is debut novel. I loved the way Callum's stutter was treated with so much respect and he was just a shy sweet cinnamon roll. And the way that Lark loves Dolly parton and is from Texas was awesome! The way the whole subject of grief was handled was also SO good. It's such a delicate topic and it was covered so beautifully. I love all the tropes especially he falls first, opposites attract, and friends with benefits. But it wasn't focused on just the tropes which I appreciated. IT WAS VERY SPICY! It is not for people who don't like spice. Overall I cant wait to read more books by Ivy Fairbanks!

This book was an unexpected pleasure! I loved the grumpy sunshine of it all. Callum and Lark were the cutest couple that you'd never expect to root for! Super cute romance. Very different plot overall.

I absolutely positively loved this book. For some reason, these characters spoke to me. I stayed up way too late and then got up way too early the next morning to finish this. I was fully invested in this relationship through its ups and downs. I could not get enough of each character separately and also together. Love, love, love!!!

I promise myself I will stop staying up late reading, and then I find myself up till midnight to finish this book. But it's not my fault, it was just really good! I fell in love with Lark & Callum and their funny & sweet exchanges. I wanted to punch Sean, hangout at the Hare's Breath pub, I was fully immersed. And talk about some steamy scenes! Hubba hubba! An amazing debut & I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for this ARC! I've heard great things about Ivy Fairbanks and was excited for this one. Unfortunately, Morbidly Yours was not for me. I couldn't get into it, and really struggled with the dialogue. Grumpy/sunshine is not always my favorite, and that was the case here.

I devoured this book. I very much enjoyed the main male character, a shy Irishman with a stutter who has social anxiety and talks in dirty Irish words during the smutty scenes? Yeah, sign me up. I enjoyed the concept of the literal girl next door who has her own personal past with death moving in next to a funeral parlor. This book is full of some of my favorite troupes- slow burn (I just wanted them to just kiss already!), friends to lovers, and a dash of grumpy sunshine. It was unique, and I really enjoyed reading this one. It was sexy, charming, and although it had the dreaded third act breakup, the resolution was so sweet. Plus, the side characters created such a well rounded story- I loved Maeve! It was a perfect beginning to my spooky season reads, and I'm glad that I picked this one up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Well, this was adorable! I went into this hoping it'd be a breezy, fun read. And I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed the story. The grief storyline was a wonderful touch, Callum was incredibly likable and the romance was believable, well-paced and sweet.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review.

If you are looking for a grumpy-sunshine romance book, set in Ireland, with a "need to get married to receive inheritance" trope, then look no further than Morbidly Yours. But if you think this will be just a simple puffy feel-good book, you'll get more than expected. Fairbanks does a nice job of balancing sweet romance with deeper topics of grief/being a young widow and even some asexual representation. I adored the main male character, Callum, and overall this was a very cute book. I will more than likely want to read the second in this series as well. Solid 4 stars.

This was cute and funny with a unique storyline that I really enjoyed. The MCs are (intentionally) awkward yet funny. The spice was good, and i genuinely enjoyed watched this friendship and relationship develop over the course of the book.

Highlights:
- Romance: MF
- Friends-to-lovers / friends with benefits
- Neighbors
- Opposites attract
- Demisexual MC
- Love/life after loss

I truly enjoyed this book as it seemed to embody a few of the things I loved in one cute little package. A southerner girl with secrets finding herself again whilst in Ireland…. SOLD! The plot, the character dynamics, the quiet man next door ughhh just couldn’t get enough of this book. This book managed to touch on serious topics while keeping a light and almost relaxed vibe most of the way through which was.a pleasant surprise to me as I am a mood reader and sometimes books can feel very heavy on my heart. If you’ve ever watched the movie “Sydney White” and you’re familiar with the character dinky than your bound to relate when I say our FMC, Lark, had a similar disposition to her she was fun and bubbly and the complete opposite of Callum which just made me love their dynamic so much more. Without giving away spoilers I’d also like to say I loved that there were true honest friendships in this book and that certain characters stayed true to themselves and supported their friends decisions which seems to be far and few in the romances I’ve read as of late. This will DEFINITELY be on my reread list. Read it read it read it, it is so cute.

2.5⭐️s. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the first half of this book. The title and cover felt kind of tacky to my taste honestly and I sort of apprehensively accepted the ARC when it was offered. However, I thought it was well written and had some good depth to it. It dealt with grief and social difficulties, and had some funny scenarios. I was enjoying a lot of the awkward situations and much of the character development.

But the second half just tanked the book for me. The constant doormat situation with a subordinate was really frustrating for one. But mostly, the whole friends with benefits is so cringey and distasteful, not to mention completely selfish on Lark’s part, which yes, she realized and yet did nothing but constant yo-yo-ing and more selfishness. I really disliked her in the 2nd half. And the ending was a complete let down. I just don’t get it.

All in all so much potential cuz again, the writing flowed well and everyone started out really good. But the content and then lack of substance and actual character in a main character just ruined it for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

Morbidly Yours was such a sweet and heartwarming read! It delivered an incredibly solid friends-to-lovers romance that felt natural and well-paced. The relationship between the main characters was refreshingly healthy—there wasn’t unnecessary drama between them, which made their connection feel even more genuine while still keeping the story engaging.

I was pleasantly surprised by how spicy it got in parts, but the balance between the steam and the deeper, more mature themes of grief and loss was beautifully done. The characters themselves were so relatable and loveable, making it easy to root for them throughout their journey. Overall, this is a charming and emotional read that hits all the right notes for fans of contemporary romance. Highly recommend!

Morbidly Yours is a romance novel set in Ireland with a shy and morose funeral director and a bubbly sunshine animator from Texas. I thought this seemed like a cool setting and love books set in Ireland!

Things I liked: The setting! I also liked that Callum was a funeral director and Lark was an animator. Those are jobs that I don't think I have ever seen in a romance novel, and I always enjoy it when unique professions are shown. I liked the representation in having queer and nonbinary co-workers and Lark (who is White) having a biological cousin who is Latina.

Things I had issues with: I don't know what it is with American characters x characters from the British Isles, but this book was so aggressive towards American people. In some ways I get it, but who do you think is reading this book?? I think it's mostly Americans who want to romanticize those places! I liked Lark just fine but really struggled with Callum. This book is dual POV I had to take a deep breath before his chapters. The story also just didn't work for me. I considered DNFing after the weird aggression towards stupid, uncouth, unsophisticated American people. I honestly really should have but it just had me in its clutches and I couldn't pull free.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite. 2 stars. If you LOVE grumpy/sunshine you might enjoy it! Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for the eARC, my thoughts are my own!

This was such an excellent take on the grumpy/sunshine trope! I didn't know I needed a mortician in my romance until this book. Loved the side characters and felt this was really refreshing in a lot of necessary ways (thank you for no kids or oops pregnancies! thank you for making them talk about their feelings & needs!)

I looked one it was published and I wish that it had an audiobook, but my brain filled in the accents as best as possible.

I absolutely adored Lark and Callum!

Lark is a widow of 2 years from Texas. She needs a change in her life after feeling like her whole world was turned completely upside down after the death of her husband, Reece. Her best friend, Rachel, Reece's sister, blames her for the death of Reece. Lark feels completely isolated and takes a big leap, moving to Galway, Ireland for a contract animation job. When a package is randomly delivered to her apartment, she stumbles to her neighbor's house to give the rightful owner the package.

Lark meets Callum, a sweet, quiet introverted undertaker with a slight stutter. Callum is a little standoffish at first, but he starts to let his guard down around Lark. Callum explains to Lark that he has his own dilemma, he must be married within 6 months, by his 35th birthday, to keep his family legacy of undertaker. If he isn't married by his 35th birthday, the funeral home is gifted to his father, and his father cannot wait to sell to another branch.

Lark helps Callum navigate the world of online dating and sends him on several dates to search for the love of his life. The only issue, Callum isn't fiercely attracted to anyone and is having a difficult time finding anyone worth his time. The more time Callum spends with Lark, the more he notices he's really attracted to her, and he would like to pursue something more than this new friendship. Lark is resistant to the idea of a relationship with Callum or anyone else. Lark has solemnly sworn off any kind of relationship since the death of Reece. She doesn't feel like she's entitled to happiness since his passing.

But we all know what happens in romance novels. Eventually Lark opens up and lets Callum in a litle more. They become best friends, with the benefits of a little more and their relationship becomes stronger. Lark and Callum make each other happy, but can they race the clock an determine they're right for each other before Callum's time runs out? or will Callum be forced to marry someone as a paper commitment with no real love?

This is a beautifully blended story of love, loss and finding true love again. I would definitely recommend reading this one. Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC in the exchange for my honest review.

Morbidly Yours is a slow-burning, grumpy-sunshine romantic comedy. This book was SO AMAZING to me. Sincerely, I'm happy that this is a series, and I'm eager to see what happens next! I loved the main characters and the entire story.

Thanks to Ivy Fairbanks, G.P. Putnam, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy.

"Morbidly yours" is the first book written by Ivy Fairbanks.
The MC are Lark, the "sunshine" and Callum, the grumpy. As imagined, the main trope here is sunshine vs grumpy, and friends to lovers.
Callum, has inherited his business (very particular and out of the ordinary for a romance novel), but on one condition, he must marry before the age of 35 (and it's already late, just under a year to go). Lark decides to help him in this arduous undertaking. The story is very particular, and at the beginning you can say it started with a bang, but after that I found it a bit boring and slow.
All in all, it's not a bad debut, there's certainly some room for improvement.
Furthermore, I found the setting perfect for a cosy autumn reading.
Thanks to Ivy Fairbanks, G.P. Putnam, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.