I was drawn in by the concept of this book but unfortunately it came up short me. I’m not a fan of insta-love so the fact that by 35% they were exchanging “i love yous” really irritated me. They didn’t really know each other on lacked chemistry in my opinion. The fact that Garrett works for Death I thought was a really fun and interesting premise, but we barely got any insight into that. I would’ve liked to have seen more on how his job works and him actually interacting with the people.

The main characters were very surface level and I found myself not really caring about either of them. Nora was pretty annoying and Garrett was forgettable. Not to mention the small town charm were supposed to get was pretty lackluster as well. The pacing just felt off to me. I couldn’t make it past 60% of this because I just stopped caring.I’m sorry, I hate DNF’ing books but I couldn’t continue. The blurb about the book was great and could’ve been really fun but the execution didn’t hold up.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in return for an honest review

With all due respect, this book was weird.

The premise was very creative and promising. The prose were also fine. I was genuinely excited to read this. The implementation of the premise was, however, very poorly executed. Instead of doing some magic realism, we really went very corporate/capitalist America. In general, the magic and charisma of this book was totally lacking. I also felt that this book played heavily on southern stereotypes: football (gag). religion (fully go there, if we are going to talk about Heaven and God), and slang (Grandpa was practically shouting “what in tarnation” every in every scene).

The beginning part of the book was the best part. I really liked the budding relationship between Nora and Garrett. Once they were together, things got really boring. And then I did not enjoy the conflict with the love triangle. I also did like Nora’s relationship with her community members. I found that very endearing and sweet.

I do not think I would recommend this book. However, this is a debut, and I would not write off this author entirely. I still think she had a money idea here, I just wish it had been written differently. I will still be interested to see what her next title.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this. 2.5 / 5 stars rounded to 3.
This was a cute and fun read. I thought it was a really novel concept: Nora, the inherited owner of a casket company meets Garrett in her small Alabama town. Its insta-love (one of my least favorite tropes but done here in a really cute way) but Garrett has a secret: he's actually a logistics coordinator for death. Its really unique because there isn't any sort of magical realism in play beyond his employer: its a normal everyday job that just happens to be sitting with people when they die. This story also touches a bit on grief and the impact of death on your psyche.
This was cute and relatively closed door romance but overall, just ok for me. I think Nora's indecision over Garrett in almost every capacity and therefore it drags on for waaaay longer than it should have. I didn't care about the 'love triangle' moment and I needed more all over: more tension, more movement, more decision making...just more. Garrett, I will say, is adorable through and through.

This was... just fine, but I felt like the premise of a romance between a casket maker and a man who works for death was a lot more exciting than what was delivered. I didn't hate anything about it, but it was just fine. I'll definitely give other books by Lauren Evans a try in the future!

I was looking forward to reading this book, but it just didn't deliver. It was slow and the romance was lacking.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was a good book and I wasn’t expecting the outcome! It’s definitely a page turner and a slow burn but I recommend it!

I really liked the premise of the book. But I feel like the pacing was a bit slow in some parts. I’m not a big fan of Insta love and wasn’t expecting it and it ended up seeming too quick - if that makes sense. They were in love before the conversation of Garrett’s job became the focal point. I really felt for Nora and what all she had been through. But then I felt like she continuously second-guessed herself and what she wanted and was hot and cold throughout the book. Hearing Garrett’s story was sad. I didn’t understand how Johnny came to play so quickly. That also felt a bit rushed. The grandpa was my favorite character. He was pretty funny, witty and honest. All in all, it was a good debut. I will definitely read.more from the author in the future. Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early copy.

This book is a beautiful commentary on life and death and what matters, with a love story kind of sprinkled in throughout so it feels less heavy. The characters flow well together and have a cute little love story outside of their main problem.

Based on the description online, I didn’t think it would be THIS heavy of a book. There are a lot of deep, emotional thoughts related to death, dying, and grief. I’d highly recommend looking at trigger warnings and making sure you are in a good head space before reading this book, especially towards the last third of the book.

I was really intrigued by the premise of *Casket Case*—it had so much potential to be a unique and engaging story. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t live up to expectations. The characters felt more like strangers who were pushed together rather than two people building a genuine connection. The romance lacked chemistry and depth, and the instant attraction between them came across as rushed and unconvincing. Without any real spark or development, it was hard to become invested in the relationship, which ultimately made the story fall flat for me.

I loved this beautifully written story, unusual as it is, it captured me on the very first page! I love the wonderful complex characters and this unpredictable story will keep you turning the pages and wanting more. Nora owns a casket shop and meets Garret who has the unusual job as logistics coordinator of death. Will she understand his job? A really clever story and a must read!

I was intrigued by the concept of this book--a romance between a woman who sells caskets and a man who works for the corporation of Death. However, I had several issues that prevented me from enjoying Casket Case as much as I hoped I would.

First, the romance happened way too fast, without any of the buildup I look forward to in romance novels. I was looking for deeper emotions throughout (where was the pining?? the yearning?!) and never got them. Plus, I never really knew what Nora was thinking or feeling as most of the dialogue suffers from "talking heads syndrome."

Like many other reviews say, the characters got together too soon and broke up shortly thereafter, meaning the love interest was missing for like half the book. The pacing was also fairly slow and I struggled to stay invested, even when the characters were developing their relationship, as nothing much happened.

What I did enjoy was the portrayal of grief in Nora's life and how she had to come to terms with the death of her parents in her own time. It felt very true to reality, for the most part.

Ultimately, I think this book suffers the most from an error in marketing--Casket Case is not a rom com. Nor is it paranormal romance or fantasy romance. There's very little comedy and the romance is lukewarm at best and outright missing for most of the narrative. Casket Case feels more like a book club novel, meant to be discussed (hence the discussion questions in the back). Whatever my personal feelings about the book, I think readers--and the author--will be let down by the mismatch between the genre as listed and reader expectations.

TL:DR Anyone looking for a typical rom com feel is going to be left disappointed.

**Thank you to Random House for this free digital review copy.**

I had such a good time reading this rom-com about two people intimately acquainted with Death. The concept behind this felt very unique to me while still being a cute and cozy small town romance. The dialogue was sometimes awkward but to be honest, I was so grateful that there was legit communication happening, I looked past it. The taste of fantasy in this novel was interesting and as more of the truth was revealed I was very sucked into the plot and the relationships. Especially the last 30% or so I didn't want to put this down!

This one was an interesting read. The concept was quite odd, in that the MMC works for Death and the FMC runs her families casket business. I wasn't really pulling for them to be together, but for Nora to find herself outside of the family business and to see her growth. The side characters were great and there were a couple twists I wasn't expecting.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC of this book for my honest review.

Casket Case by Lauren Evans has an intriguing concept, with a casket seller dating someone who works for Death—a unique twist! As a debut novel, I think Lauren did a solid job, though at times the story veered off on tangents that felt a bit unrelated. Despite that, I kept reading to see how it would all resolve, and Nora's journey wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion.

This book is probably about a 3.5⭐️ to me. The idea was really great, but I found the execution to fall a little flat. As individuals, I liked Nora and Garrett. I even liked moments of their love story.

But, I found most of it to feel a little boring. The dialogue often felt forced - like why are arguing over this? Or that? I liked the setup of the love triangle moment but found even that to be slightly transparent.

By the end, when we switched to grandpa's POV briefly, I wasn't all that shocked and I wish I had been.

Not the worst book I've ever read. Not the best. I hope future books will feel a little more lively. But a good first go.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for early access to this!

I loved this story. It was a cute fall read, more like a romcom, but it was so good. I would definitely recommend it.

Such an interesting topic for a book! I like reading things like this that are unusual and still fun. I enjoyed this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Lauren Evans!

I won't lie, I loved the concept. Girl who has dealt extensively with death meets boy who secretly works for death. Small town vibes. There is good stuff here. Still, I didn't quite like it. It was slow and there were too many times when both characters were jerks. There were too many times I felt like it was very telly. It was slow to start and mostly just neurotic. Not my favorite.

This is a difficult review for me to write. I have mixed feelings about the book. The concept of death, loss, grief and love being intertwined is intriguing and the potential for those things to be explored peaked my interest, but the book missed its potential. I struggled with connecting with the characters. The main characters lacked depth and Nora particularly lacked maturity. Nora’s insecurities and her almost victim attitude because of what life had dealt her, got tedious and too drawn out. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me.

This was definitely such a different read from what I normally read! The whole main idea was so clever. I wish I could’ve seen more of Garrett and Nora’s relationship and more of how they handled the situations they were in. The ending was so sweet. I really enjoyed it.