I was really looking forward to a romcom involving an employee of Death and a casket business owner. It seemed like such a great premise and I’ve enjoyed so many contemporary books with little bits of paranormal/dark/death aspects mixed in.
I’m sorry to say that this book just didn’t work for me at all. I can’t say I didn’t like the characters, because I think I did in the end, but I did expect a heck of lot more personality. Nora and Garett did have some funny moments and banter, but it was peppered into long bits of otherwise bland dialogue. The scenes of angst were… well.. not very angsty. Instead it was still pretty bland. The whole thing just felt like trudging through mud, but there were some pretty flowers along the way. So much potential!
Overall, I am genuinely disappointed by this because I felt so sure I would absolutely love it. The execution just did not work for me despite loving the premise.

Casket Case by Lauren Evans is a debut contemporary romance with a paranormal/fantasy twist. Nora has recently lost both of her parents and ended up back in her tiny town, running the family casket business in their stead as she works through her grief over her parents and her life turning upside down. She meets Garrett, a handsome man new to town with a secret job: he works for Death. This was such a great, fun premise and a unique way to explore the book’s deeper topics. However, I otherwise found this book just fine. The writing, especially the dialogue, is a bit stiff, which might be chalked up to it being a debut. I found that Nora and Garrett didn’t really have a special spark that made me invested or enjoy their development, beginning with their bland first date happening so quickly. I really wanted to love this but sadly didn’t.

I thought this book had great promise. When I began reading it, the book is in third person, but there was something off with the point-of-view (POV). It read like it was in the third person, but it felt like at times the story was told by a third person from third person POV. I know it sounds confusing, but that's also the way I felt. I couldn't become invested in the story because of my previous concerns.

This was an interesting story. It was pretty easy to be sucked in, and especially with the small-town setting, it was easy to be caught up in all of the characters and their intertwining lives.

I went into this hoping for a fun witchy romance, and it fell a little short. Despite being a worker for Death and a casket seller, there was very little magical elements, and everyday life felt almost mundane. There was also a strong love-at-first-sight element, which felt almost contradictory.

While I enjoyed reading it, I wish this had been a bit shorter.

I also found the third-act breakup to be unnecessary, and seemed fairly easily resolved.

I'm really not sure how to rate this book. I enjoyed the small-town setting and found Casket Case to be a surprisingly easy and propulsive read considering the difficult subject matter. (This includes a protagonist, Nora, who works at a casket store, which was left to her by her deceased parents, whose sudden death derailed Nora's career and social life and threw her into what appears to be a depressive episode. Also, the love interest literally works for Death, but that's actually kind of the cheery bit.)

But I really struggled with the romance and the overall plotline. Nora and Garrett meet by chance and fall immediately into a love affair that consists of Nora being alternately needy and angry (both of which were understandable as manifestations of her grief over her parents and her frustration and embarrassment over her current circumstances) and Garrett trying desperately to appease her. I was sometimes frustrated by Nora's behavior - but Garrett's immediate and profound commitment to their relationship was even more confusing. Later, when Garrett reveals the nature of his work, Nora becomes focus on his connection to Death with a seriousness and attention to detail that feels inconsistent with their relationship up to that point. I think this is all meant to be read as a meditation on grief and Nora's struggle to accept death and its role in her life, but I couldn't quite connect with that part of it.

3.5 stars?

This is an entertaining RomCom. I was glad to have the humor since working for a casket company and working for Death can be morbid topics. Nora inherited her dad's casket company and is trying to keep it afloat. She meets Garett and she instantly falls for him, but his job is logistics for Death. He doesn't really tell her about the ins and outs of his job, which is a red flag for me, but it's a novel so it's all good! ha It's a very interesting concept and I read to see how it all worked out. Overall a book I am glad that I picked up to read something new! Thank you Random House Publishing Group- Ballentine for an early e-copy of this book! This book will be out Sept 10th.

I really enjoyed this book! The dark themes, the romance, the flawed characters, and the fact that Garrett works for Death! The romance between Nora and Garrett seemed both fast and slow at the same time — the timing was fast but their conversations felt too slow at times. And yet I really enjoyed seeing them get to know each other and feeling like I was watching a real and at times very awkward new couple fall in love. I liked seeing Nora discover who she can be and what she wants out of life in terms of love and work and everything. I liked hearing about Garrett’s job and what it entails and I wish it was a real thing — that would be so comforting to know! Yes this book is dark at times (it is about death!) but at the same time the way it speaks of death is warm and comforting. I really liked this book a lot!

The blurb promised rom-com, and while I think it was far from that, I thought it was charming and represented grief in a unique, real way. Also gave me Steel Magnolia vibes with all the town people. This book is not lovey dovey, not about grand gestures. It doesn’t ooze happiness. It’s about grief and anxiety and how sometimes just taking a step outside feels like the biggest task and largest victory. I think Garrett’s job was just a metaphor for Nora living around death everyday and learning to live her life with that reality. He was her path to understanding death is a part of life. He has already found his peace with it. He was a manifestation of her trauma and recovery. I do get that some folks will see this book as a mundane downer and it won’t be for everyone. For me, it felt kind of cool that so many human emotions, many we’ve all experienced, aren’t unique. It makes life feel a little less lonely. I enjoyed it.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Casket Case - was it going to be funny, emotional, heartbreaking, all of the above? It was a little bit of all three, but mostly it took this reader on quite the emotional rollercoaster. Eleanora “Nora” Clanton sells caskets. Seriously. She’s seen more than her fair share death in her young life - three of her grandparents and then both her parents in a car accident a year ago. Now it’s just her and her grandpa living in her small Alabama hometown, and she keeps herself to a small circle and small life, running her parents’ shop selling caskets and living in their house, changing nothing. Until one day, Garrett, a handsome and well dressed man, walks into her shop asking for directions. There’s an immediate connection between the two, and they quickly fall into an intense and passionate love affair. But when more than several townsfolk suddenly die, and Garrett has been seen at the place and time of death each time, he reveals to her that he works for death as a “logistics coordinator”. Given Nora’s past, she is understandably upset by this, and finds herself at a crossroads - break things off and try to distance herself from more death, or take a chance on lasting love but expose herself to more loss. When she tries a “normal” relationship with someone else on for size, she realizes that maybe normal and predictable is boring. A study on grief and loss, and how love and passion are worth the risk of loss and heartbreak, Casket Case shows us that sometimes loss and death are worth the risk when it comes to matters of the heart.

I was initially drawn to Casket Case because it seemed like a unique concept for a romance and I was intrigued by the idea of someone working for Death. It seemed really fun!

There was a lot going on in this book. I love an insta-love trope so Nora and Garrett’s romance was enjoyable for me. However, the pacing was soooo slow, and I feel like this book could have been much shorter and had the same impact. There were so many scenes of them arguing over basically nothing?? The question “what do you want to talk about?” was asked so often, along with an ensuing argument about what?? Nothing! I don’t know, I could have just done without all of that.
I did enjoy the paranormal aspect and the idea of Death having logistics coordinators who work simply to ensure no one dies alone and everyone receives some comfort in their final moments. I also appreciated how grief was written and handled. There was no sugarcoating and it was really realistic how Nora dealt with the aspect of death in her life.
I guess I just didn’t really like Nora herself? The weird love triangle she forced herself into towards the end wasn’t great and made me feel icky about her love with Garrett afterwards and overall I found her somewhat annoying, like why are you acting like that girl? Stop it.

I really liked certain pieces of this but others just didn’t work for me. I’d really love to read more of the author’s work in the future!

Thank you to the author and Random House Publishing/Ballantine/Dell for this gifted ARC via NetGalley.
Publication date 9/10/24

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Casket Case
Author:  Lauren Evans
Source: NetGalley
Pub Date: September 10, 2024

I predict Casket Case will get mixed reviews, which is not the author’s fault. The cover, title, and colors all hint at a rom-com novel centered around a young woman who inherits the family business of selling caskets. That is NOT how I see this book; I think the “decision makers” missed the mark on marketing this novel. Casket Case is a story about love, albeit a strange kind of love. The female lead is Nora, who has inherited the family-run business of selling caskets in a small Alabama town after the death of her parents. Nora meets Garrett, a wildly gorgeous and mysterious stranger who arrives on “business” in town. They fall in love quickly, and for those who are wondering…yes, you can fall in love quickly (I’m living proof), but their biggest hurdle is Garrett is a messenger for death. He comes to people in their last hour of need and helps them crossover. I may be in the minority here, but I thought it was interesting and a different look at love. The writing is fine except for a bit of repetition; Nora has a lot of quirks, which could also be attributed to her occupation and growing up in a sheltered environment. Nora’s relationship with her grandfather is sweet, and her willingness to keep an open mind is a plus. When the lead characters are both in the business of death, pitching the story as a rom-com is problematic, but love is to be found in this novel. #romance #love #death #fantasy #paranormal #smallTown #grief #CasketCase @laurenevanswrites @netgalley @randomhouse @ballantines
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel.
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Can a grieving woman drifting through life and a man who literally works for Death make a relationship work? In this witty yet sensitive debut rom-com, author Laura Evans introduces readers to small-town business-woman Nora Clanton. Having inherited her parents' casket=selling business after their death a year ago, Nora's merely existing from one day to the next - until Garrett Bishop walks in asking for directions. Garrett seems like the perfect guy: nice, thoughtful, ridiculously handsome. The only problem is, Garrett's job is the logistics of death. Can Nora reconcile such a seemingly cruel line of work with the man she thinks she's fallen in love with?

Nora and Garrett are easy-to-love characters, and their supporting cast are fleshed out enough to make them interesting. I would highly recommend this title to anyone who enjoys their rom-coms with a hefty dose of emotion. Perfect for fans of Talia Hibbert or recently-released Rules for Ghosting.

I really did try. The pacing of <i>Casket Case</i> felt off, with an unconvincing insta-love story. Nora’s loneliness and the male lead being the only one around didn’t provide a solid foundation for their relationship. The plot became repetitive, dragging on for 400+ pages. A novella format might have been more effective.

The characters lacked depth, and the side characters were numerous yet forgettable. The writing was choppy, with short, detail-lacking sentences and stiff dialogue, making both main characters unlikable from the start, in my opinion.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For me this is a hard book to rate. Your main characters are Nora, a woman that inherited her family's casket comapany after her parents died, and Garrett, a director of Logistics. I found Nora's character frustrating at times but also a relatable character as grief can alter a person drastically and we all handle it in different ways. I really wanted more of Garrett's character. His job's background is peculair and I wanted to understand much more of it besides "Death goes corporate".

I was drawn to the story of how a casket-seller could fall in love with a logisitics coordinator for Death. I think I was thinking I'd find more of a spooky romcom, and instead was given an immediately "I love you" and then a very much not needed third-act break-up. I could have lived without Johnny's character being introduced about wanting to buy Nora's funeral home. You want to like him but know he's not worthy and she is just settling.

This book still gets a 3-star from me for the character of her grandpa. I think he was such an important character, I just wish we would have gotten a tad more interaction with him, Nora, and Garrett.

Also I'm going to pretend the epilogue didn't exist...

3/5 stars.

Quick Summary: Nora has moved back to her small town to run her family's casket business and recently moved to the area and Garrett works for death. What happens when two people who work in similar professions meet?

I thought the concept of this book was going to be cool. I just felt like this book fell flat. I feel like Nora is a flat character. I feel like she didn't do a lot of character development throughout the book. I feel like her side characters changed more than she did. Her parents passed away which is why she moved back, but she doesn't talk a lot about it in this story. I also felt like Garrett was a bit flat too. I enjoyed him because of how supportive he was with Nora. Both characters never really got into who they were which made the romance a bit awkward. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I feel like the storyline was all over the place and the pacing was weird. I also feel like some of the spicy scenes were just thrown in there. I felt like that threw the plot off.

Overall, if you are a fan of small town romance, romance with some spice and a cozy fall read this is your book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lauren Evans, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not for me.

The pacing of this book really took me out of the story, and I just feel like for a romance book, the romance was super undeveloped. The characters had absolutely no personality, and I really couldn’t wait to just be done with this one.

♡ Small Town
♡ Cozy Romance
♡ Spooky Rom-Com Vibes

While the setting was cozy and kinda had the vibes of Bon Temps from Sookie Stackhouse series, I just couldn’t like either of the characters. The main relationship felt one dimensional and childish. It lacked depth with their characters and I just couldn’t get into it.

Plot wise though, I did enjoy the idea. It had a charming small town vibe with a light magic atmosphere. However, I don’t know if it was because it was too fast-paced for my taste or if I just didn’t connect with any of the characters but I found the main characters so difficult to like. Unfortunately, it just kinda fell flat for me.

I almost skipped this one because of low ratings but I felt it deserved a chance and I'm so glad I did. I read it in less than 24 hours and found it to be pretty dang good.

It's weird and a little dark and sad but it's also sweet and hopeful. I haven't read a romance quite like this before.

Nora returned to her home town after her parents died and now runs the family business, selling caskets. She's still grieving when she encounters a handsome stranger and they fall for each other. The only problem is he works for Death and she fells she's had enough of it in her life.

There was a side angle that was odd and unnecessary and the writing isn't terribly strong, but the story and characters more than make up for it. It made for a quick, easy read.

Highly recommend for rom-com readers looking for something different.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lauren Evans for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Casket Case coming out September 10, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I received it directly from NetGalley. I was intrigued by the plot. Nora has a unique job. It reminded me of My Girl, except Nora’s an adult. Everyone goes through grief, so I thought that aspect of the book was done really well. I wasn’t quite expecting a supernatural element to it. I think it was a little too instalove for my liking, but I really enjoyed the book overall. It had some spooky vibes that feel right for fall.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys otherworldly romcoms.

Interesting premise, but execution just wasn't there. Pacing was a bit off, but I loved the idea of the story.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.