Nora, a 30-something owner of a casket store in the small town of Rabbittown, Alabama, finds herself unwittingly entangled in a whirlwind romance with Garrett, the Director of Logistics for Death.

The relationship between Nora and Garrett progresses at a rapid pace, making it feel problematic and unconvincing. The lack of development and depth in their relationship is a significant drawback.

The book suffers from noticeable editing oversights. For instance, in one chapter, Nora explicitly states her dislike for tomato sauce. Yet, two chapters later, she is seen making pizza with “pizza sauce.” Isn’t pizza sauce essentially tomato sauce? This and additional inconsistencies disrupt the reading experience and raise questions about the editorial process.

A quarter of the way through, the book’s tone feels reminiscent of a high school drama. While it might be categorized as women’s fiction, the writing and plot development lack the sophistication expected from a well-crafted story in this genre.

One of the few redeeming qualities of the book is its occasional sprinkling of humor which adds a touch of wit to an otherwise lackluster narrative.

The epilogue introduces a surprising twist related to family history. There was a hint of this midway through the book, but it is abruptly sprung on Nora in the literal last pages, leaving the reader feeling blindsided and unsatisfied.

“Casket Case” had the potential to be an engaging read, but it falls short due to its pacing, inconsistent character development, and editing issues. If it weren’t for the rare moments of humor, this would have been a definite DNF for me.

I added this book to by TBR and request list because I was intrigued by the synopsis. But I just recently read another book where the main character's family owned a funeral home and was hoping it would be similar to those vibes. While it did have some family interactions and a love story as the plot, this one sadly fell flat for me. The writing didn't seem to hook me and the third act break up and love triangle felt unnecessary. It was also a little more morbid than I was hoping, which some people make like. But for me this was just a 3 star. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 rounded up
please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: HFN
POV: dual 3rd person
spice: closed door romance
TWs: anxiety, talk of cancer, talk of death, death of parents, death of a sibling, grief, purity culture
standalone: standalone
final thoughts: The writing style was super easy to read and the author has a good voice but overall I just wanted more. This was a really interesting premise, and it was almost there but did end up falling short for my tastes.
The FMC was almost insufferable, the grandpa was cryptic, the MMC was too elusive but also too instalove, it just felt a little all over the place. The side characters and relationships didn’t feel meaningful or help move the story along. It seemed like storylines started and were forgotten which is too bad. I really wanted more from Garret and his storyline, work, and overall character.
What we got from the lines of work I really enjoyed, I liked some of the twists, and I liked the portrayal of the small town.

This debut rom-com is like nothing I have ever read before. Nora is keeping her family's casket business going in a small town in Alabama and is very lonely, single, and living in her dead parents' home, not wanting to change a thing. She's just going through the motions until Garrett shows up at her store, looking for directions. He seems perfect. The catch? He works for Death.

You've heard of a slow burn. Well, this book was a fast burn. Sparks fly very quickly in this book. But it's a rocky road for Nora and Garrett. Nora has a lot of baggage and she drove me crazy with how she was always second guessing everything. There's a lot of will they, won't they, up until the very end. Nora kinda drives me nuts but I didn't mind her in the end. I'd rather read about messy people than characters who always seem to have their shit together.

I didn't find this book to be morbid at all. I thought it was fascinating and darkly funny and sweet. I rooted for Nora to make the right decisions for herself and to put her happiness first.

I was nervous that I wouldn't like this book because the average rating on Goodreads is sadly pretty low. So I purposely avoided reading other reviews first because I didn't want anyone's opinions to color my own while reading this book. It was the right call.

I really wanted to love this one, because the premise is so good, but it fell flat for me. The character development was hectic and the plot was hard to follow with the sometimes frenetic pacing.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of Casket Case
by Lauren Evans

Nora inherits her family's casket company from her recently passed on parents, and meets Garrett who works for death, yes you read that correctly death, a very diffrent rom com, but overall I enjoyed it more then I thought I might

Casket Case, Lauren Evans’ debut rom-com, introduces us to Nora Clanton, who returns to her small hometown to manage her family’s casket business after an unexpected tragedy. The premise is intriguing, blending themes of love, loss, and the macabre in a unique setting. However, while the book has its charming moments, it ultimately falls short of its potential.

From the outset, the flow of the narrative feels disjointed. The pacing is uneven, making it difficult to grasp the direction of the story. The initial chapters struggle to establish a clear path, leaving the reader wondering about the plot's trajectory. While the latter half of the book picks up some momentum, the slow start detracts from the overall experience.

The romantic relationship between Nora and Garrett Bishop also feels lacking in depth. Their dynamic often resembles that of a high school romance, which may not resonate with readers expecting a more nuanced portrayal of adults in their thirties. The emotional stakes don’t fully engage, leaving the characters feeling somewhat one-dimensional, especially when faced with the gravity of Garrett's job.

That said, Evans does shine in her characterization of Nora’s grandfather, who adds a touch of warmth and wisdom to the story. His presence serves as a reminder of the connections we have with our loved ones, even in the face of loss.

In conclusion, Casket Case is a heartfelt attempt to navigate the complexities of love and grief, but it struggles with pacing and character depth. I would rate it 2.5 stars, as the latter part of the book shows improvement and hints at the potential of Evans as a writer. With further development, her future works may resonate more strongly with readers.

I am pulled into all things creepy, this book had a cute and creepy feel.. I loved how dealing with a hard breakup she finds solace in all things familiar.

Nora left Rabbittown, Alabama a king time ago and don’t plan on moving back, but when her parents died in a car accident she moved back to run their casket business. This isn’t exactly where she wants to be as a thirty year old single woman with no prospects on the horizon, but she feels a sense of obligation to her family’s company. Enter Garrett, the perfect guy for her. He’s nice, charming and thoughtful and has a steady job in ‘logistics’. He’s everything Nora could have hoped for in a match, but when Garrett is spotted at the scene of multiple deaths in the area Nora starts to wonder what his job in ‘logistics’ really entails. Who is Garrett actually and is he the one for Nora? Is Nora ready to settle in Rabbittown or let go of the family business and move on with her life? Will she ever get her happily ever after?

The cover of this book pulled me in in the beginning and the description intrigued me enough to make me want to read this. It is an interesting concept with Garrett working for Death and I wanted to see how this all played out. I have to say that this concept and book are definitely creative, but it ended up being too morbid for me in the end. The romance in this book was just okay and the characters weren’t exactly my favorite. The book moved pretty slow for my liking and I felt like there was a lot that was unnecessary. The connection between Nora and Garrett was t really there for me. Nora was too needy, but also really quick to pull away at the first sign of trouble. It just wasn’t a great combo for me. The book was well written and the story creative, but I just didn’t fully connect with it. The strange concept makes this book really unique, but the romance didn’t do it for me. If you are a fan of Death, the Grim Reaper and funeral homes this book might be perfect for you!

This book was such a wonderful surprise! I went into it thinking it was going to be a sweet, small town, cozy romance and it is, kind of, but it is so much more than that. It is smart, wry, heartwarming, a little messy (the characters, not the writing), and before I knew it I had stayed up hours past my bedtime and was 80% of the way through. Seriously, it zooms.

Despite being largely focused on pretty heavy topics like death, grief, and quarter-life crises, I found myself smiling on literally every single page at the banter and Nora’s internal monologue. You know those books that make you feel wittier and oddly seen because the dialogue is so tight and totally nails feelings that you’ve felt, but in such a humorous way that you laugh at yourself while also laughing at the characters? This is one of those.

If you’re a fan of Amy Poeppel, Abbi Waxman, or Linda Holmes, you’d love this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Dell for the eARC!

Casket Case sounded like the perfect book to start off spooky season with, but unfortunately this one didn't work for me as much as I was hoping. This book is marketed as a heartwarming rom-com. I agree that it's heartwarming in many ways, but it didn't really feel like a rom-com to me. Our main character Nora is back in her hometown running her family's casket company after tragically losing her parents in a car accident. Then Garrett comes in looking for an address in town and that's where it starts.

Garrett works for death, but it takes us as readers even awhile to really learn what his job actually means. I appreciated the little bits from his POV, so we got to know him at least a little bit. That being said, this plot went really slow while their relationship went a little too fast for me. They were saying I love you before they really even knew each other. I felt like they were fighting more than anything. It just didn't work for me.

That being said, I do enjoy the small town feeling of this book. The side characters were a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the relationship Nora had with her grandfather. Grief was also handled really well in my opinion. It's not something that just goes away or it rational. Even though I didn't end up loving this one, I will give this author another chance if she gives us more books.

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on November 10th.

As a fellow Alabamian, I enjoyed reading a book with characters set near a town i've visited and almost lived in. The plot of Casket Case felt a bit like a sad country song; a woman trying to leave her small town and make a name for herself only to be struck by tragedy and end up back in the small town cycle of life. Because of this, Nora's character feels rough and frustrating as a reader -- she wasn't as likable as I believe she could have been. Garrett, one of the MMCs was an interesting concept -- someone who worked for death -- but again, he fell flat.

I wasn't disturbed by the insta-love or the darkness of the book (since it does deal with death) but I felt it could've been...more. More dark, witty humor. More intrigue is what I was looking for and found lacking. I wasn't invested in the characters or plot like I thought I would be with this book. An interesting read during spooky season but not one I could confidently recommend to my friends.

Rating: 3.25 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a free ARC.

Casket Case follows a casket seller, Nora, from a small town in Alabama and her love interest, Garrett, that works in "logistics"... for Death.

One might assume with them both working in the same industry they would hit it off, right? At first it was instant love but then there were too many secrets and a then third act breakup. But they just couldn't resist each other. The ending with Nora's grandpa wasn't a huge surprise but still sad.

Personally, I loved the concept but dragging on the secret of Garrett's job became very exhausting at about 45% I put it down and struggled to pick it back up. It just felt really slow. But Garrett was so sweet with still some mystery to him so I needed to know how things ended. Things were going too perfect for too long so i needed to see how things ultimately ended. Nora was fine but I didn't feel very connected to her. She felt more like an acquaintance. I did love her interactions with her grandpa and she may not have liked the business she was in she still cared so much about the families she worked for and I did really respect that.

I did listen to the audiobook after it was published and will add I like the narrators they chose for this book.

Overall I would likely recommend this to anyone that was interested in a small town romance around the fall season but would be sure to let people know of the third act breakup since it's not everyone's favorite trope. I try to avoid that trope when reading but I'm just so so glad things didn't go farther with Johnny because I had a bad feeling about him from the start. I thought it would be an enemies to lovers with him but I'm so glad Nora didn't take things farther with that snake.

This just wasn't working for me and I'm not sure why. I loved the premise, but the characters and the relationship felt flat despite the slight paranormal intrigue

I went back and forth about requesting this book. It looked so intriguing but I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it. Finally, I went ahead and requested because it really seemed like something I had never read before. I was right and . . . I'm glad I took the chance!

Nora runs her parents' casket business and one day she meets Garrett who comes to ask her for directions. But, who is Garrett? Welp, he's a logistics coordinator for death. Yep. You read that right.

Some of the pacing was a bit off and I felt like some better development would have made the characters even more compelling. But, having said that, this is a really unique premise and covers a lot of intense topics. I might also suggest a different POV would change some of the issues I had with connection to characters. But . . . I still enjoyed this book. It's not a feel-good cozy read so don't be fooled. Like people in the industry of death must do in real life, the morbid here is treated as normal and death isn't sugar coated. But I found this to be an interesting, unique read and I'm looking forward to what Evans might do next.

Perfect for the start of the season!!! This was definitely an interesting one and very different concept! Kind of gave similar vibes as The Dead Romantics, in a way!

Casket Case is a cozy read about a woman who comes back to her small town to run her family's casket store after the death of her parents and a man who works for death. It touches greatly on themes of grief, but is overall, a sweet story about these two characters.

I am really enjoying this trend of cozy reads set in traditionally spooky settings. The small town casket store is a fun concept and the characters of the town are fun. This book was really enjoyable and I highly recommend adding it to your TBR for this season when you want something on theme, but still cozy.

Thank you to Lauren Evans, Random House, and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

This book had an intriguing concept, but it fell short for me. The story featured humans actively dying (which, fair based on the premise and Garrett's job), but then there was nothing nice to go along with it. I know death is not really a nice thing, but this is a romance! Look at how many romances talk about death or have ghosts or zombies or whatever else and make it work. This one just shrugged it's shoulders and said, "sorry, can't do anything about it." The book tries to present the dying characters as finding closure through interactions with the hero, but it felt like a lot of emotional wounds were left unhealed.

On top of that, the stiff dialogue and clunky writing didn’t help. It was mostly telling rather than showing which really slowed the pacing down and made my attention wander most times. Also, because I wasn't receiving great lines, I wasn't falling in love with the characters.

Also, despite the dialogue pacing, the romance was wildly rushed. This was very insta-love so they were sleeping together and swapping "I love yous" before I even knew their last names. Then, to add insult to injury, the pacing got weird. They broke up halfway through, she started a romance with someone else, and a forced love triangle ensued. Naturally, they ended up back together in the end, but I didn't even care about the MMC anymore.

In the end, this book just wasn’t for me. While the book’s focus on death was clear from the start, the execution left a lot to be desired. The idea itself was intriguing, and I did enjoy some of the Death-related details. Unfortunately, the romance is where it all fell apart for me.

I really wanted to love this book. The idea that Garrett works for death is such a wonderful and fun concept. The romance was very weak, the chemistry just wasn’t there. The relationship moved so fast that it was hard to feel invested in the characters story as a couple. It’s hard to believe that they had these two awkward dates but then were glued to each others faces. The writing wasn’t the best but tolerable.

I really liked this! It was a good transition into cozy fall reading. I do think Nora grew a little annoying, and I could have done without the Johnny subplot, but I found this really enjoyable overall.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for this advanced reader copy.