**Thank you to Random House for this free digital review copy.**

I had such a good time reading this rom-com about two people intimately acquainted with Death. The concept behind this felt very unique to me while still being a cute and cozy small town romance. The dialogue was sometimes awkward but to be honest, I was so grateful that there was legit communication happening, I looked past it. The taste of fantasy in this novel was interesting and as more of the truth was revealed I was very sucked into the plot and the relationships. Especially the last 30% or so I didn't want to put this down!

This one was an interesting read. The concept was quite odd, in that the MMC works for Death and the FMC runs her families casket business. I wasn't really pulling for them to be together, but for Nora to find herself outside of the family business and to see her growth. The side characters were great and there were a couple twists I wasn't expecting.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC of this book for my honest review.

Casket Case by Lauren Evans has an intriguing concept, with a casket seller dating someone who works for Death—a unique twist! As a debut novel, I think Lauren did a solid job, though at times the story veered off on tangents that felt a bit unrelated. Despite that, I kept reading to see how it would all resolve, and Nora's journey wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion.

This book is probably about a 3.5⭐️ to me. The idea was really great, but I found the execution to fall a little flat. As individuals, I liked Nora and Garrett. I even liked moments of their love story.

But, I found most of it to feel a little boring. The dialogue often felt forced - like why are arguing over this? Or that? I liked the setup of the love triangle moment but found even that to be slightly transparent.

By the end, when we switched to grandpa's POV briefly, I wasn't all that shocked and I wish I had been.

Not the worst book I've ever read. Not the best. I hope future books will feel a little more lively. But a good first go.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for early access to this!

I loved this story. It was a cute fall read, more like a romcom, but it was so good. I would definitely recommend it.

Such an interesting topic for a book! I like reading things like this that are unusual and still fun. I enjoyed this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Lauren Evans!

I won't lie, I loved the concept. Girl who has dealt extensively with death meets boy who secretly works for death. Small town vibes. There is good stuff here. Still, I didn't quite like it. It was slow and there were too many times when both characters were jerks. There were too many times I felt like it was very telly. It was slow to start and mostly just neurotic. Not my favorite.

This is a difficult review for me to write. I have mixed feelings about the book. The concept of death, loss, grief and love being intertwined is intriguing and the potential for those things to be explored peaked my interest, but the book missed its potential. I struggled with connecting with the characters. The main characters lacked depth and Nora particularly lacked maturity. Nora’s insecurities and her almost victim attitude because of what life had dealt her, got tedious and too drawn out. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me.

This was definitely such a different read from what I normally read! The whole main idea was so clever. I wish I could’ve seen more of Garrett and Nora’s relationship and more of how they handled the situations they were in. The ending was so sweet. I really enjoyed it.

This was an interesting story about Nora who has inherited her deceased parents casket business and Garrett who happens to be a logistics coordinator for death. Nora finds herself running her parents' casket store after their untimely death in a car accident. A chance meeting with a perfect guy - Garrett - starts the perfect relationship for her. That is, until she finds out what Garrett does for a living.

Garrett, on his way to his is next assignment, stops in the casket store for directions. There he is immediately taken with Nora and she is equally attracted. Starting a relationship seems to be just the thing but what will happen when Nora really finds out what he does.

I really liked the concept for this book. This did not have the usually flow for me that I like, it often felt stilted. The MCs relationship while endearing, was a little to insta love for me. I did really enjoy learning how he came to work for death. I look forward to seeing what this author writes in the future. Casket Case is a story about love, loss, and acceptance.

Thank you NetGalley for the EARC of this book.

I went in with high hopes as it was a super cool plot I haven’t read before! I think it could have been really cool but it felt very rushed to me. Our main characters go on like 3 dates and are in love? This all happens before the book hits 50%. Our female main character is for sure an alcoholic like all this woman does is bitch and cry and drink wine. The idea of our FMC getting mad at her love interest when she finds out he works for death when she literally works in the death industry just seemed silly. I really wanted to like this book more. I will say I did like the playlist at the end of the book though. 🤷‍♀️

This is an oddly-fascinating book about Death. Nora works in the family casket shop in Rabbittown, Alabama after her parents have passed. One day a handsome man, Garrett walks in and she's immediately smitten and they begin dating. But when she asks about his job, he tells her he is a "logistics coordinator for Death." What on earth could he mean? But he gets on well with the townspeople and even though she has reservations, she's excited to meet an eligible bachelor as he takes her to lovely dinners and brings her flowers. Even when he's called away on business, she eagerly awaits his return as she misses his attention even though he's so vague about what his job entails. I's a lovely debut novel, unlike anything I've ever read and I really enjoyed it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Casket Case by Lauren Evans in my opinion was a really genuine authentic romance. Garrett Bishop goes in to The casket store in Rabbittown Alabama to get directions to his latest appointment. This is how he meets Nora Clanton the proprietor and owner of the casket store. Running the family business isn’t what Nora saw herself doing a year ago but after her mom and dad died in a traffic accident she came home to 10 to the funeral and never left. When Garrett walks in the store it is a month after moving to Alabama due to a promotion he is a logistics coordinator for death. After he and Nora initially start dating he keeps that information to himself but they do start dating and due to their overwhelming attractions their feelings grow quickly. Nora wonders how such a wonderful well put together a seemingly well-off attractive guy should be single but what she doesn’t know it’s his job is usually the thing that ruins his relationships. Nora is so happy but she is also waiting for the other shoe to drop and when it does she is surprised to see who is there to catch it. Lifelong competitor and frenamy Jay Chandler seems to be interested in Nora and after her and Garrett have a blowup she tries to date Jay only to find out he has ulterior motives. There is a lot to the story and I am doing a horrible job with this review so what I want to say is I really liked the romance part of the story I found Nora‘s inner thoughts to be authentic and genuine and I’ve read another reviews where they say this is Insta love but it is no way at all Insta love I mean anyone who has ever been in love has to know how Nora feels when her and Garrett start dating especially when books today have women having one night stands with different men and acting as if it is all A-OK I found the story to be sweet although I kind of didn’t like the whole thing with Jay because he was smarmy and calling Nora by her last name was just so dumb. For a first book I think this is a great story didn’t really believe the authors books will only get better I found as I said the romance to be authentic and although there were a few things I didn’t like and also thought the whole thing with death could’ve been more flushed out and explored, I still enjoyed it and although I don’t know if I recommend this one I am excited to see what the author comes up with next. #NetGalley,#Random house valentine, #LornaEvans, #CasketCase,

This book was very difficult to read. The writing doesn't flow or hook you. It wasn't fun to read. It felt like a chore and made me anxious. The premise sounded intriguing but the writing fell flat.

2.5⭐️ “Casket Case” by Lauren Evans

⛔️ THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ⛔️

This book was okay. It was one of those books I couldn’t DNF because it had enough hold on my attention that I wanted to know how it ended, but overall it felt like I spent a lot of time fighting the urge to skim the story. The concept of Death running a corporate agency was cool, and fitting an orphaned casket store owner would fall for an agent of Death, but it felt flat overall. Even thinking back on the book having just finished it, it seemed like Nora did a whole lot of nothing most of the book.

The romance aspect of the book was minimal. For me personally, I’m not a fan of a ‘breakup get back together’ storyline. After reading it, I almost wish the book had been more about Garrett and the agency. It was almost like a mean joke to throw in near the end that Nora’s grandpa and Joe both worked for the same agency as Garrett in their lifetimes.

Overall, it wasn’t the right fit for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

❗️Disclaimer: I received a free copy and am providing an honest review.❗️

The premise for this one was interesting. Nora runs her parents casket business after they passed away in an accident. Garrett's brother passed away & he wants to make sure others have someone there for them when they pass. He works for death. I thought the romance was a bit too rushed. It's hard to explain but it felt rushed with the romance but slow with the death career reveal. It seemed to be resolved too quickly.

I am not a fan of insta love and this book was very much it. I was tempted to DNF it but decided to give it a chance… oh man do I honestly regret my decision. The pacing of this read was really slow, the writing was descriptive to the point where details that were mentioned didn’t really add to what was occurring and the romance development between both MCs was lacking. Don’t get me wrong, the premise was interesting but the way that it was executed wasn’t there. Truly disappointed this read didn’t work out. Thank your NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Will I always read romance that involves Death as a character? Yes, I will! I will literally read the book in one sitting. Thankfully, Casket Case provides that with the love interest, Garrett, working with Death but on a need-to-know basis (like a shush-shush situation). But it's going to create some problems when the main character, Nora, catches the little white lies whenever a death occurs in her hometown. Tricky Tricky.

Personally, I enjoyed Garrett as the love interest. He never pushed or asked more than needed when he started pursuing the main character Nora. He knew that he wanted her, but he slow his pace to Nora's pace. That's what I love about a love interest when they care about their partner's needs before theirs. Garrett, I love you so much. Nora, I just didn't care. Particularly, I found her way too annoying. She just gives me headaches all the time when she questions everything. And don't get me started about that lousy third love interest. It was definitely not needed between them. Nora and Garrett just needed to communicate a little more. 

If you enjoy reading about spooky vibe romance read with bits of insta love, forced proximity, and miscommunication, then you will enjoy reading this book.

This was marketed as a warm hearted romcom with darker themes such as the main character working in her family’s casket business who falls in love with a man who works for Death.

This could have been such a fun concept but I feel it was executed poorly. I was so excited to read this and it started out fun but within the first few chapters, I was dreading finishing it. I had read that it had insta-love and I was ready to support it, sometimes people fall in love quickly! But these characters were both insufferable. The female was overly clingy and worried that a grown man was only trying to be with her because bad things had happened to her? What sense does that make? Then he says he loved her before he even knew what she’d been through. After a handful of dates where she picked the most bizarre arguments I’ve ever read every single time. Not to mention he was taking digs at her constantly in what I think was an attempt at banter. At one point she kisses him and when he tries to take it further she declines and he says “Fine. We’ll do it your way.” That is not ok. He made fun of her, picked at what she liked to eat, and I did not enjoy this reading experience at all.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Lauren Evans, and Random House Publishing for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review! This published on September 10th.

I have posted my review on Goodreads, my Facebook book club, and will make a TikTok to post before the pub date.

This book had a pretty unique premise which is why I was so excited to read it. I have been loving Magical Realism in my books lately. I personally do not feel good about posting a review as I have chosen to DNF however, I did want to share my honest thoughts. One of my main issues with the book was the pace of the FMC and MMC's relationship, I have found that I tend to not like fast moving relationships ("insta-love") as much as I used to. I also just could not get behind the FMC, I disliked how it felt like she was creating issues through the parts that I have read.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.