The concept is one I loved, the thing that made this a. 2/5 for me is that it’s a romance but like it was so confusing? For me at least! They had sex so fast, fell in love so fast then they broke up sooner then I felt was necessary for it to be a love triangle till 95ish percent where they get back together… but where was the character development? It felt like she completely did not give a crap or think about our MMC then they get back together after she kisses another dude? Idk it was all over the place for me and I think maybe I just didn’t get it? Maybe I missed some important stuff that would have explained it better if I caught on to little hints!
Still completely recommend, the plot was good! Great ideas all around, just not the romance I’m used to!💜 All love, will read more by this author for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the early access to this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

the owner of a casket store is no stranger to death, especially after losing her parents in the previous year, when a man who seems too good to be true walks into her life, we find out that there might be a deal breaker, he works for death. Nora does not take this new very well. can she get past this and be happy with Garret?

While i did not request this book, i was very glad to dive into it, it has an interesting premise and i found myself captivated by the story. The smalltown and its residents make for a charming background to our main story. Both Nora and Garret are charming and lovely characters that you just want to root for and want to make sure they get their happy ending.

The story begins very quick paced, it could be said its Insta-love, which it's not my favorite. it feels like there is a lack of substance on the relationship but i loved it on this book. while it moved fast it also highlighted their meaningful talks and how they are there for each other.

When Nora finally finds out about the nature of garrets job, they take a break, and we spend the second half of the book waiting for Nora to decide if she can get past it or if they will remain broken up. this was not my favorite, and it was the part that dragged a bit.
there was a bit of a small romance with another character which felt like it came out of nowhere and it made no sense to me if I'm being honest.

while we get a bit of inside into Garret's mind and life every other chapter, we don't have an actual pov of him, i would have liked to get more inside into his mind and what was going on while they were apart, we only saw a few insides into the job.

when reading the blurb i had expected a supernatural aspect to the story but there was none.

did not love the ending, we didnt get a glimpse into the future but it was sweet that Nora got to see that aspect of what an appointment entails for garret and she got to say goodbye to his grampa.

Nora and Garrett’s story is one of a kind! Quiet Nora hiding out in her recently acquired family casket company. In walks a beautiful human with unimaginable secrets she tries not to fall for. Charming story!

This was a cute and easy rom-com of a read. This was exactly what I needed when I picked it up - light, breezy, sweet and whimsical? The element of Death would usually put me off, but it worked for this book.

Casket Case had everything to be one of my comfort and 5 stars read, but sadly it missed the mark for me :( the writing is good, but the pacing of the story was a little off and the romance a little underwhelming, which made my progress through the book much more slow than normal :(

Thank you so much Dell and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This was one of the sweetest books ever. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started this book, maybe a spooky cutesy story, but I was not expecting this lovely little nugget of a story.

This book made me laugh, the end brought me close to tears - UGH, I loved it, ok.

Both the FMC and MMC were deeply human, flawed, but incredibly likable. The banter between the two of them made me smile, and remember the excitement of a new relationship. While both characters have their flaws and conflict, Evans avoids making them annoying. Many authors ride the line of making the two main characters frustrating and over-the-top, during conflict. Evans just makes them human. They speak to each other (and themselves) like actual people do. It was refreshing.

The story itself is incredibly unique - I haven’t read anything like it, which is a nice break. I’ve never wanted to own a casket store until now?

Evans’ writing style is wonderful - it’s intellectual, cohesive, but not pretentious. It’s, for lack of a better word, real. You can see yourself, or people in your life, saying the things these characters do.

My favorite characters were Garrett’s mom and Nora’s Grandpa. Read it and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about!

I am IN LOVE with this book.

The premise of this book had potential and I was looking forward to it. Sadly, I was disappointed. The romantic scenes had potential but fell flat. Then there was a plot twist that was totally far fetched and wasn’t at all what I had expected. The religious undertones were a bit much. I was sorry it wasn’t what I was hoping for.

I completely regret reading this book. The characters where boring and had no depth. Nora seemed like she turned every convo into a fight. The plot didn't do anything for me either and the writing style felt like I was reading a fan fic. 1.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and author for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. I love a story that wraps up completely to a happy ending and this one did not disappoint in that aspect. I think the character development is lacking a bit which left me not feeling connected. Some of the introduced characters were not necessary at all and I'm still trying to figure out why they were introduced. I didn't really feel the chemistry between Nora and Garrett but I wanted to. I actually liked the storyline with Johnny and found myself routing for him some. I wish "Death" had played a bigger role, I really felt like the author could have done so much with that but it kinda fell flat. Finding out that grandpa had done the same work as Garrett could have been a wonderful story as well but it all felt rushed. I liked that Garrett's chapters were titled and not numbered, I don't think I've seen that before.

Casket Case has a pretty wild concept, and I must admit I was drawn in by the blurb and thought it might be something interesting/different. In this story, our FMC Nora works at a family-inherited casket store. She has a run in with a seemingly perfect stranger, Garrett, and they quickly develop feelings. From there, she finds that he works for Death himself, and has to come to terms with this seemingly perfect man not being quite so perfect after all, and figure out how she will handle that. It definitely did deliver on the "different" aspect I was hoping for, but sadly it just wasn't for me.

The pacing of this story was very odd and didn't really mesh well with my personal taste. It was extremely insta-love, and I did not even kind of understand why they were so into each other so quickly, besides the fact that Nora was lonely and he was the only one there, and that's not exactly a great foundation for a relationship that I'm meant to root for. Once the couple is together, the entire rest of the story until the resolution is pretty much just a back and forth of our MMC being like "should I tell her I work for Death?" and then our FMC being like "Am I okay with the fact that he works for Death?" Back and forth, back and forth, on and on, for 400 pages. The indecisiveness was so frustrating to read from both of their POVs, and went on for entirely too long. To be honest, this could've been a novella and I would've liked it way more because it wouldn't have been so repetitive for so long.

The characters were really surface level in my personal opinion. I can tell that there was depth attempted to be given to the characters, especially Nora regarding her parents' passing, but unfortunately that was never really gone into that much, and her having dead parents and being lonely doesn't really give me enough and isn't just a fast-pass to character development. None of the side characters were discernable from one another at all--I truly couldn't tell you the first thing about any of them, they may as well have not been there for the most part. This story was dual POV, but there was not really a difference in tone in the way Nora and Garrett's chapters were told, and at that point I didn't really feel like it needed to be dual POV at all.

This was also written in third-person, and I feel like it made far more sense for this to be first-person POV (although this one may just be personal preference, as I almost always prefer first-person romances) so that we could've gotten more of the characters' inner monologue and it not felt like a weird, over-sharing narrator that we don't know. It just felt out of place.

The writing in general was very choppy and didn't flow to me. It was repeatedly extremely short sentences, with no to minor details, and quickly moving on. It felt like the book equivalent of when you ask people questions and they give you a short yes or no answer with no elaboration and you're like ... okay and?? The dialogue felt very stiff/unrealistic as well, and I think largely for this reason, Garrett gave me the ick right from the start.

Overall, sad to say I didn't love this one. 1.75 stars rounded up.

Thanks so much to Random House Publishing | Ballentine | Dell and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was so interested in the plot prior to reading. I thoroughly enjoyed The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston & was hoping this would be similar. This went in a different direction, nothing wrong with that. The romance would have been better & more believable if there would have been a somewhat, slow buildup. I felt as if Nora & Garrett did not know each other at all and were already saying their "i love you" bits. I totally get being from Alabama (I'm from Mississippi) & wanting to highlight it in the book, BUT... the Alabama football team merchandise/ clothing items were mentioned so many times. The repetitiveness of this + the parts of "I'm going to kiss you now", were both just exhausting. The epilogue felt sufficient and a good way to end.

This was a cute read and I would recommend it for any romance reader. I loved the journey we went on with our MC but I didn't particularly enjoy the forced love triangle. I wish our MC just had more time to reflect and that her grandfather gave her some actual closure in the middle and end of the book. I don't think Johnny's character really needed to be a love interest, that whole part felt very forced. The ending was very abrupt as well and I felt it was a bit rushed into a HAE. All in all it was a great read.

I really liked this book it was different, interesting, two people in love one works for death and one is death, she didn't believe him at first she thought he was murdering people because so many people she knew had died the minute he was there and then went 'somewhere'. It took him a while to explain to her because she thought he was crazy when she told him. It was definitely different and a really nice love story. I liked it.

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately it just didn't live up to my expectations. A big part of that is due to the book having two of my least favorite tropes: insta-love and a love triangle. I was also hoping for more of a woo-woo Death vibe and was disappointed to get a corporate Death vibe instead.

If those tropes don't bother you, then this is a super cute story about death and love and how grief shapes our lives. It is also a closed-door romance, for those who look for less spice in their romances, with strong "grew up in the church" vibes from the author (some funny quips about purity culture that hit home as someone who also grew up in the church 😂).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

Soooooo I didn’t love this one. I found the FMC to be intolerably annoying and the MMC to be manipulatively toxic. But besides that it was interesting to read a romance set in the death industry. I just wish I would’ve liked the characters.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

I was over the moon for the premise of a romance between a woman who sells caskets and a man who works for death, but the delivery unfortunately fell flat. The paranormal aspect had the potential to go so many ways but never really arrived. The romance was an instalove that left me feeling hollow. They kept telling us they loved each other, but we never got to see those feelings really develop in any meaningful way.

For a character in her 30s, the main female lead was incredibly immature. She read as if she was 20 instead of 30. She was codependent and refused to communicate, which made it hard to root for her. Her constant mistrust of the main male lead made sense because they didn't really know each other at all, which again called into question how real their love was. For a woman who works in the death industry, it was absolutely baffling how naive she was about the realities of death and the potential benefit of a job such as his.

The love triangle was simply not necessary. It only reinforced the feeling she doesn't really love him and it didn't add to the story when introduced so late in the game.

To the book's credit, it does not shy away from death or frank discussions of the same. Those were the moments when the book shined.

I loved the concept and feel that this could have been developed into something very interesting, but didn't get there.

Thank you for the ARC and the chance to review this novel.

Before I begin, I would like to thank Lauren Evans for allowing me to read a Net Galley ARC of her upcoming book, Casket Case, which will be available on September 10, 2024.

Nora planned on leaving Rabbittown, Alabama forever but then loss forced her to return to her hometown to run her family’s casket store. One day a handsome young man walks into her store and asks for directions and a date. Garrett is charming, kind, successful, and evasive about where he actually works except that it’s on call and has a lot of traveling involved. But soon people start dying, and others see him at the scenes, and then he tells her the truth. He works for Death. Can Nora accept the man she’s dating with the job he has or will she force herself to let him go?

This book was really good. You have Nora who is sassy, protective, hard working and has gone through a lot of loss in the past couple years. You have Garrett who is kind, ambitious, and passionate about his work. Both of the main characters are drawn to each other and it was lovely to see Nora interact with her family throughout the book. This book gave a thoughtful discussion about death and how it not only affects family members, but those that knew the people that passed as well, and that death doesn’t have to be solely negative. Overall, if you like books with complex characters, great family dynamics, humor, discussions about death, grief, self-discovery, and quite a bit of spice, then I would highly recommend this book. Here’s the link for more information: Amazon.com: Casket Case: A Novel eBook : Evans, Lauren: Kindle Store

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Casket Case by Lauren Evan’s was an ARC I was given. It follows Nora, a young woman who inherited her parent’s casket store after they passed in a car accident. She is drawn back to her hometown and becomes complacent and depressed, just making it by day to day. That all changes the day Garrett walks into the store to ask for directions. They fall madly in love, but are shortly pulled apart by Garrett’s odd job and Nora’s inability to cope with that and the deaths that seem to always surround her. This book is a cute paranormal romance. The reason I gave it five stars is because of the way Evans delves into and really expresses Nora’s anxiety. I’ve never read it described so accurately with the doubts and self sabotage talk. It is a real thing that affects her everyday life and her relationship, and it’s something many of us deal with everyday. I really loved this book, and I think you will too! Make sure to grab a copy on its release day, 9/10!
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This story makes an effort to blend a romance with the experience of grieving. Nora is grieving the death of her parents as well as what she had hoped her life would look like. Garrett works for death and his insight into death and grieving made their connection feel valid. I found their romance to be unearned at the beginning of the story and I wanted more open conversations between the two of them sharing emotions and feelings. The story felt like a slow read at times because it had a lot to offer which was not capitalized on. Nora is not particularly likable and I would have enjoyed the story more it the author had gotten me more on her side.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this ARC ebook.This story makes an effort to blend a romance with the experience of grieving. Nora is grieving the death of her parents as well as what she had hoped her life would look like. Garrett works for death and his insight into death and grieving made their connection feel valid. I found their romance to be unearned at the beginning of the story and I wanted more open conversations between the two of them sharing emotions and feelings. The story felt like a slow read at times because it had a lot to offer which was not capitalized on. Nora is not particularly likable and I would have enjoyed the story more it the author had gotten me more on her side.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this ARC ebook.

"Casket Case" is probably named with the phrase "basket case" in mind. I mention this because I kept expecting a mystery of some kind to arise. There are mysterious elements, but no case of any kind.

Instead, this is a charming, classic romance novel set largely in a casket showroom. Nora has come home after her parents' sudden death and taken over the operation of the family business. She spends her time in the casket showroom, at funerals, enjoying low-key small town life with friends and family, and drinking wine while watching old TV shows at home. It's not an exciting life, but she's not sure where she wants to go next. Her family thinks she's in a rut, and they may be right.

Then a handsome stranger shows up. It seems like love at first sight on both sides, but Nora soon discovers that the stranger's connections with death are more complicated than her own.

There are some twists and turns in the plot, memorable characters, and you might laugh and cry while you're reading. I look forward to reading more from Evans.