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!

This is the third romance around a funeral home (or funeral-home-adjacent, I guess, this is technically about just a casket store?) I've read for publication this year—are people okay?

The main character in Casket Case was funny, and pretty relatable, and interesting to read about. I enjoyed following her around. Though I'm sorry to say found the love interest in this one very, very boring. Like if a man were a paper bag with a weird secret job. What there is there beyond the weird secret job? Not much of a personality, in my opinion.

I was expecting this to be a cute and spooky Halloween read but boy was I wrong. This book was filled with romance, heartbreak, and many heartfelt and sad moments, but I guess that’s what happens when the owner of a casket store and an employee for death decide to date. This book had its ups and downs for me and I found myself being more interested during certain parts over others. I will say that the speakers POV tended to change randomly mid paragraph and the timeline jumped around a lot which I will say did help with this not feeling like a fall in love in a minute kind of book. But I can honestly say that I could have done without the epilogue because boy did the waterworks start when I read that last chapter. Be sure to have your tissues ready when reading this book whether it’s for laughing tears or crying tears because you’re going to need them. I really enjoyed the premise of this book and being someone who has lost their fair share of close people, it’s a nice sentiment to think that there is always someone there when they went so they didn’t have to go alone. Although I found this book to be mildly depressing, I did enjoy the romance between Nora and Garrett and I’m glad they at least got their happily ever after.

I wanted to love this one! The premise sounded so interesting…a woman with a casket store falls in love with a man who works for death. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.
Nora and Garrett fall in love at first sight for no reason that I can discern. Their relationship felt very one dimensional. They felt like high schoolers. Fall in love instantly, become obsessed, pick stupid fights, make up.
After Nora finds out what Garrett does for a living, she says she needs space. Garrett agrees but says he'll call her. She then spends the next however many days, angry and confused and questioning why he hasn't called her. When he does call, she is angry with him for not calling sooner despite asking him to give her space to think.
Their whole relationship frustrated me but it was ninety percent of the plot.
We see very little of Garrett's job, although they talk about it constantly. And at the end, Nora just decides she is going to get over all the issues that she had about Garrett's job.
The emotional development of the characters is lacking and there isn't much of a plot to help carry the novel.
The little Grandpa twist could have been developed into something with much greater impact on the story and to help Nora better understand Garrett and his work but it seems like it was thrown in as an afterthought.
I also had issues with the narration. Most of the time we are in Nora or Garrett's third person POV. But sometimes we shift into other people's perspectives. One chapter starts off in a coffee shop in Elaine's perspective but as soon as Nora walks outside we are back in Nora’s perspective and we never see Elaine again. It was confusing at times.
Overall this story just fell flat for me.

Lauren Evans is clearly a talented writer. I can see the world she is creating and her characters feel like real people. That being said, Casket Case missed the mark. I acknowledge that not every love story is perfect - but Nora and Garrett argue more than they love. Nora has more chemistry with a character that she supposedly hates than her love interest - and their romantic subplot contained more genuine emotions than the romance we are supposed to be enjoying. There is such potential here, but it needs some massive edits to be a success.

Casket Case by Lauren Evans is rom-com about Nora who returns home to run the family visit selling caskets. A good looking stranger walks in to ask directions. They both are interested in each other. Except his employer is highly unusual! A predictable story line. The banter between the characters keeps it interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Casket Case” by Lauren Evans follows Nora as she moves home after her parent’s death to take on the family business- casket selling. Home and heartbroken from a breakup, Nora unexpectedly meets Garrett Bishop when he stops in the shop to ask for directions. Sparks fly. But Garrett works for Death… Is that a deal breaker? Nora isn’t sure.
I’m not sure how to categorize this one… morbid romance? Whatever it is, it was definitely interesting. And a quick read, too.
I liked Nora and Garrett instantly. They had a quick love story that felt too fast, but honestly? I love love, so it was fun to read through even if it felt like things were moving fast. I am not good at slow burn romances, ha.
Overall, this read like a normal love story- that is until their jobs would resurface and remind me of what an odd combo they were. Garrett’s job was weird and so was hers. Honestly, I think his job is a book premise that would have fit better as its own storyline not in a romance book.
In the end, this book was a solid romance read with the predictable tropes. I gave it 3 stars, simply because their jobs kept jarring me out of the romance genre. But I think this would be a fun spooky season romance read, if you’re looking for something unique!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the ARC! This book publishes on September 10th!

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Magical Realism
Spice Level: View into the bedroom
Language: Some profanity

Having someone working for Death is a fun twist (slightly paranormal). And Nora has taken over her family's casket business.

I found Nora hard to take for the first 50% of the book. Why was she so insecure? I know she was grieving for her parents, but I wanted to see her not being quite so needy. And Garrett is lying to Nora, but I was okay with that because who would really believe your job was working for Death. I was never clear on how Garret got paid for his work, but that isn't critical for the storyline.

The second half of the book picked up for me, and I enjoyed it as Nora came to trust herself. There is also a nice little twist.

This is a fairly light-hearted read considering that grieving and loss are represented.

Happy reading!

While this book is a romance book, it is not a lighthearted one nor will you find any type of comedy to liven up the mood. Which with a book about two people who deal in death it could have used. This book just fell flat on so many levels for me. I did appreciate that Nora had two love interest’s kind of. Nora was just so depressed and sad throughout most of the book and questioning all her choices that it was hard to enjoy.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Dell, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Nora is a casket sales woman, she took over the family business after her parents passed away. She's lonely and lost back in her hometown. But then she meets Garrett. Their love story is very sudden from strangers to content and in love - but that all changes when she learns Garrett works for Death.

This book wasn't lighthearted but it wasn't heavy. It is full of religious undertones which is uncommon for romances centered around death. I don't know how I quite feel about that.

The premise of this book hooked me pretty quickly, but I do wish the story was a little more fleshed out. I enjoyed some of the banter between our MC’s but their relationship felt a little flat and forced. I will say the author did a beautiful job of displaying grief and showing a different side of tragedy. All in all it was a fun read, just maybe a few tweaks to make it perfect.

I loved the cover and description of this book which lead me to request an ARC. I thought the author did a good job covering grief in this story with Nora's character who has a hard time letting go of the past and with Garret whose role is to make sure nobody dies alone. I enjoyed meeting all the characters of the town and how they all seemed to really care about Nora and wanted her to be able to move on and do something that makes her happy.
I did think there were some pacing issues with the love interest and I found myself not really caring if Nora and Garret were together or not because the relationship was not built up enough.