A solid debut from an author I look forward to hearing more from! Such a fun and different premise. I didn’t develop a solid love for the main characters but did think it was a darling book!

Definitely hope to read more from Lauren in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for this review.
Unfortunately DNF at 22%.
The first chapter I loved, I was interested and intrigued and then it just stopped. The characters were so boring and unlikable. Like at one point we did almost half a chapter talking about making pizza. It was just so not enjoyable. It sucked cause I loved the premise but there was no spook factor. No fun. And I connect with most grieving people after losing my dad and I felt nothing.
The pacing for their relationship was also way way too fast.
Overall this had promise but the execution just was so lack luster. It needed more umpf

Nora has inherited her parents’ casket store after they die unexpectedly. Garrett works for death.

I struggled a lot with this one. I work in funeral service and I’ve never heard of a casket store open to the public that also does funeral planning. So that was a hurdle. Also, the writing style seemed uncomfortable.

I wanted to like this, but I just couldn’t.

Nora never thought she would find herself back in Rabbittown, Alabama, the small town where she grew up. However, her parents tragic and sudden death landed her back in her hometown and managing her family business - a casket business. There aren't a lot of prospects for a woman in her thirties in Rabbittown, so when a handsome stranger comes into town, she's instantly intrigued. The only problem? He works for Death.

Casket Case had such a promising and unique premise. I mean come on... She sells caskets and he WORKS for the grim reaper? (I mean essentially works for the grim reaper. However, the execution of this story, the characters... Everything was so sloppy. The pacing of Casket Case was very very fast. We've barely been introduced to our main protagonists and any qualities about them when Garrett walks into Nora's business and instantly asks her out on a date. There is absolutely no chemistry between our two protagonists. Everything they do feels so lackluster because there is no motivation behind it and no motivation because we truly know absolutely nothing about them except of how flat they are. 45% of the way through this book, the characters had been on maybe 2-3 dates and already entered a committed relationship, said "I love you" and met each others families. These two characters started off as strangers when the book began and had no previous relation to one another that would warrant such development. Even if this fast pace was warranted, the author made no efforts to make it meaningful or worthwhile to the reader. For some reason the author decides to add a love triangle in the second half of the book that is just not needed. I mean the fact that he works for Death is enough conflict and can be well developed enough to BE the main conflict that drives most of the story.

This book left me very disappointed and while I think the author came up with a very engaging, interesting premise... You need to have the skills to support it to make it a readable story. I honestly have no clue how I was able to finish it.

I normally don't read rom-coms, however the plot of this book intrigued me so I picked it up. A woman who works in her family's casket shop meets up with a representative of Death. They go on many dates. Characters die. Despite the interesting plot, the book soon becomes uninteresting. I didn't really care when the couple broke up, got back together, broke up, blah blah.

I was definitely excited to read this book, but unfortunately I don't think it is the one for me.

The overall concept greatly intrigued me, and I liked the main characters. I just wish the book had given me more than it did. I would've loved to have gotten more perspectives from Garrett and seen more about his life and his job. I know the insta-love puts some readers off, but I didn't really take any issue with it. In fact, I kind of preferred them getting together early over the usual will they/won't they type of stuff that romance books usually pull. My main issue lies with the pacing. The last 1/2 of the book quickens the pace, so that was nice, but the first half dragged. Additionally, the ending was sweet but the last 2 chapters kinda wrapped it up a little quickly for my taste.

Again, the book wasn't bad. There were a lot of great elements that made me enjoy it, but the few structural issues kind of put me off. These are just my own personal issues, so I know that another reader is going to love this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine/Dell for the ARC.

Casket Case was such a fun premise. She sells caskets and he works for death. It’s set in Alabama which made my Alabama born and raised heart happy! It has some heavy topics but comes across lighthearted.

It was a little insta-love but a cute little read! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

This book is surrounded by themes of grief, grieving & death with just a sprinkle of romance.

The romance happens quickly, but is ripped apart just as fast. Little action takes place until closer to the end. The main character, Nora, seems to be in a consistant state of panic & overthinking.

A little more focus on Garrett, who works for Death, would give the reader a better understanding og him.

The book lacks a solid flow; at times it figuring out the narrator for the chapter was not immediately evident. And while the premise of the book is interesting unfortunately it was difficult to read in the sense that it is lacking in many areas.

Nora returns to Rabbitown to run her family casket store after her parents are killed in a car accident. Her life has become pretty boring, she has her very small circle of friends, dinners with her grandfather and reruns of Cheers. Then one day a shockingly handsome man walks into her store asking directions, and then returns and asks for a date. Nora and Garrett hit it off immediately, he seems perfect - only one issue, he's a logistics coordinator for Death.

The premise of this one seemed really cute and the title was super catchy, my issue was how their relationship played out. It just… happened, they met, they kiss, they are in love. There just wasn't much to it which made me feel that the pacing of the story seemed to be off and therefore I was not as invested in their relationship as I wanted to be. I really kept wanting more from the story because the premise had drawn me in. This is really a case of great idea with not as great execution. I also wonder if this would play well as an audiobook because it’s light. Regardless, I will certainly try another by the author though because I think she is creative and I'd like to see what else she can do.

3.5 stars

Thank you to netgalley and Ballantine for the ARC to review

3.5

Pretty solid debut- I enjoyed the concept and the writing. I'd be interested in reading more books by Evans in the future!

The premise was intriguing. It does deal with death, but despite that, I don't think it was particularly morbid or depressing. Both of the main characters have experienced tragedy and grief, and though there were a few heavy scenes, the overall tone was optimistic. Definitely be careful of trigger warnings if you don't think you're in the right headspace to read about death of loved ones.

Nora and Garrett have a sweet relationship, though it veered a bit too close to instalove for my tastes.

I do think the overall plot and characterizations could have benefitted from a little more development. The third act conflict was actually an understandable and valid conflict, but it wasn't really resolved in a satisfying way.

Thanks so much to Random House/Ballantine/Dell for reaching out with an ARC via Netgalley for this one. I was really excited to read it. I'm sorry that it didn't hit home for me, but hopefully it will resonate better with other readers!

Quote from my highlights:
"Why are dates like this? Staring at someone you just met while they eat. Maybe it’s supposed to be a test. If you can stomach the person’s table manners or strange food requests, you can handle whatever they might do or say elsewhere."

Third-Person POV
She inherited a casket store
He works for death
Third-Act break-up and ***spoiler alert*** there's a sudden love-triangle???
Small-town alabama
Actual death + grief
It's pretty morbid

During the third-act break-up-turned love triangle, the FMC honestly had better chemistry with the dude that was trying to use her to buy her business from her than with the MMC. It also came out of nowhere and was a super weird choice.

The main characters really did not have chemistry at all but yet they sort of had a insta-love thing? It was really weird. The writing was SUPER dry and made it hard to care about any of it. The FMC was definitely an alcoholic or had serious problems with drinking but it was never addressed. The fights between the main characters were super annoying.

The pacing was slow and the romance was rushed - in both cases.

Honestly the best character in the book (and twist) was her Grandpa - AND HE GETS KILLED OFF! But the twist that he also worked for Death was pretty good, even if I could see it before it was revealed.

I did like the MMC's job with death and how that was presented as more than HIM being the actual grim reaper. As expected, the FMC did not handle the news well. He honestly deserved better in all this, even if he was dry af.

If you're a person who hates when a MC gets with someone else when they're in their third-act break-up, you'll hate this one! Though it doesn't go further than kissing (and like her basically planning a future with him)

I was let down by this one, honestly, and it's hard to find much I enjoyed about it. I don't DNF often, but I definitely considered it with this one.

I wanted so badly to fall in love with this one, but it unfortunately missed the mark for me. I have to give the author and/or publisher props because the synopsis really did draw me in, initially, but it ultimately failed in its execution. There was so much potential here for the story to expound upon the intricacies of grief and "death" as an industry, which was such a compelling thought that was only ever so slightly brushed upon.

I wish the main characters, but Nora specifically, had more than one redeeming quality. I couldn't relate to Nora at all and as unlikeable as she was and all the heartbreak and grief she's been through, I still found it hard to empathize with her. I think the main issue is that it's ingrained in our minds as the readers that Nora's a 30 year old loner with absolutely nothing else going on for her. She didn't have a single friend and/or core support group (besides her grandpa, "boyfriend", and the gossipy elders in her town) to give it to her straight that would make me believe she could even be likable. I honestly feel like a lot of her problems would've been resolved if someone had checked her or called her out on her bullish*t. 🤣 Like Nora girl, maybe we should be asking our boyfriend of 2 minutes what exactly he does for a living around date 1-2 instead of declaring our love for each instead. 😕

And lastly, that brings me to my overall grievance with this book. I could not for a second buy into the romance this book was trying to sell me. not the meet cute. Not the first dates and the weird time jumps in-between where they be separated for weeks at a time and the FMC would be really antsy and depressed. Not the second (and a half?) act break up. The only time I felt the least bit of chemistry was between the main character and some other guy (not the MMC) that's supposed to be her business competition! 😩

I hate to be overly critical, especially with what I believe to be a debut novel because I respect the hell out of any author that can write and publish a book at all. This one may not have been for me but I hope those that do choose to pick this up, enjoy it. Thank you random house & netgalley! (all thoughts are my own)

I really enjoyed the premise of this book and the way it centers around grief and dealing with that. I enjoyed each of the MMCs, but I did feel like the relationship with Garrett and Nora was rushed and so I wasn't as bothered when there was a breakup.

2.25 stars

This premise was really promising and on a sentence basis, it was well written. But it was overall a bit lacking and boring. I think that happens often with a insta-love trope and also with how small the town was. I honestly cannot fathom how a casket sales place gets near enough business to stay profitable in a town that small when they don't do the whole funeral planning process so that threw me off a lot. I also think seeing more of the MMCs job working for death could have added a lot more interest to the story. The completely random love triangle felt like the author needed to hit a word/page count but were out of plot for the MCs. I do think the author has potential but this just wasn't it for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

As a big fan of paranormal romance, I was very intrigued by the premise of this novel. Unfortunately, that’s just about the only thing that worked for me.

I felt like a third wheel the whole start of Nora and Garrett’s relationship - it was too instant. The pacing was very choppy and much of the writing was described to the most minute detail. Because of all these inconsequential details, I couldn’t connect to either character or what was going to happen in the story.

I wanted more from this storyline! I just feel like the development was so slow but the relationship happened so. Fast. It was more about grief which I can definitely relate to, however a sexy man who works for death deserves a bit more development!

I liked the small town feel of this and I would say the first 25% was really good. It had that falling feeling of when you meet someone you really like. But then it got weird -- not just weird in that I knew what the premise was but weird in that everything was talked and over-analyzed to death (pardon the pun!). It was just off... it turned from a romance into something pretty dark and just not fun. I applaud it for real life feelings but it just didn't hit the mark for me. Hope you have better luck!

Casket Case comes out next week on September 10, 2024 and you can purchase HERE.

She would love to play it cool, but she can't stop the smile that takes over her face. He answers with one of his own, and she feels it all over her body. She wants to kiss him. To lean across the table and kiss him right here in front of everyone at the Tasty Dip. Is that appropriate for a first date? Could she even pull it off? Sure that she would find a way to make it awkward for both of them, she takes a deep breath instead.

This is an easy to read romantic comedy. The story is told from the point of view of the two main characters Nora and Garrett. The plot gives the reader opportunities to flash back and see how the characters past is influencing their present. There are many moments of hilarity some of which will make the reader laugh out loud and others just a roll of the eye. The setting of a small community was very fitting and made everything come together well.

I thought the premise for Casket Case set me up for a fun and heartfelt read. Nora has to take over her family's casket company, and she meets the man of her dreams...only he works for Death. I was prepared for paranormal hijinks and a battle for a love that just shouldn't be. Instead, I got two characters acting like teenagers with their bickering and petty differences. The story is told from both the main characters point of view, but then randomly it switches, which made a few chapters confusing.

Overall, there was not enough of the quirky, paranormal aspect for me to really enjoy this one or to highly recommend it to anyone.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

This was a bit disappointing. The first few chapters were compelling, but once the banter between the characters started, it felt like the whole tone of the book changed. I think it could have used some more edits to keep the tone and pacing of the first few chapters. But hopefully the author's next book will be stronger - I will definitely continue reading!