The Dead Romantics

"Sometimes I just wanted to let my guard down, let the pieces of me fall to the ground, and know that I had someone there who could put me back together without minding the sharp bits."#qotd What's the most beautiful book you've read recently?For me, it's The Dead Romantics. Ever since I became a rom-com girlie last year, I wanted to read this book, so I ordered my copy from ChapterOne Books (and the order is still processing 🥲🙃—a long story for another day). I couldn't wait any longer to read it, so I got my copy from Amazon. It was not until the end of June this year that I got to read it, and I'm happy that I impulsively picked it up.Florence Day, a romance ghostwriter, has lost faith in love after a bad breakup. When her new editor refuses to extend her deadline, she faces a career doom. Then, a family emergency forces her to return to her quirky hometown and family funeral parlor after a decade away. There, she encounters a handsome ghost - her new editor - who's as confused as she is. As they unravel his unfinished business, Florence must confront her past and rethink everything she thought she knew about love stories. Thanks to Goodreads.The Dead Romantics handles the themes of death and loss in a distinctive and captivating manner that I have not encountered in other books. It strikes a remarkable balance between emotional depth and humorous moments. I loved how adorable all the characters in this book (especially the mayor) were, except for the ones who had wronged Florence. I must say thanks to this book, without which I wouldn't have found a new favorite comfort author!I loved the love story as well. I felt it was perfectly written for my liking.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience and consider the story to be refreshingly unique, a quality that is highly sought after by readers.I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for an emotionally engaging yet humorously uplifting read.4.5✨️TW: Death and loss of a parent.

The book’s shape is not great! It does not look new! 😒 please recheck your stock and send a good shaped book atleast so that the customer is satisfied 😅

Utterly charming, heartwarming and poignant book.Throughout the book I laughed, teared up and cheered for all the characters. They will always be one of my favourite.For some reason I didn’t expect the book to be funny but oh my god, this book was much needed relief for me.Florence was a mess but she was adorable and quirky mess and I loved her and her eccentric family so much. Like all the families they have their share of drama but they also are there for each other.Ben was grumpy to Florence’s sunshine(ness) but they really clicked. I can’t get over how adorable they were.I loved that Florence and her family view death in such a different way. Xavier was such a brilliantly portrayed character and I loved how much positive influence he was to his children.Writing style is tremendously awesome and I’m so glad I have two more of this author’s book to read.One tiny complaint I have about this book was I needed a little more romance in it. I wished there were more Ben and Florence interactions.Also throughout the story when things get difficult Florence has a tendency to run away and when it happened in the last part, when so much was at stake I got a little irritated. I expected a little more character growth for her.And Lee deserved more than that punch he was delivered.Overall I highly recommend this book and it’s worth the hype.

My heart is so full after reading this book. I thought no book by the author could ever come close to The Seven Year Slip, but this book just got under my skin and is staying there for a long time. Even days after finishing it, I can’t stop thinking about this book.The plot was so unique and beautifully crafted. The characters were all endearing, and I just want to wrap them in a hug and keep them with me forever. The way the book also explores grief resonated deeply with me, which is why I could connect so well with the characters and their story. The character growth that our FMC underwent was also written so well and the side characters were just as amazing and added so much depth to the story.This book felt like such a comfortable embrace, and even though it brought me to tears several times, the hopeful message the book conveyed left me feeling so uplifted. I would highly recommend it but make sure you check the TWs before diving into it.

can we just talk about how criminally underrated is Benji Andor as a book boyfriend.. 😍 Ill take a shot everytime Benji Andor checks on Florence whether she is ok or not.. 🤌🏻🤌🏻 As a ghost Benji cannot do everything what a human does.. Yet Benji does something what every human does not do and that is to listen.. Be there for the other person.. Mostly he does this because he feels he has never done this when he was alive. And that makes him so special and remembered throughout the book. Benji is much more than a book boyfriend because of his remarkable personal growth from a perfectionist to embracing vulnerability.This book was truly an emotional rollacoster. There were moments where i cried and giggled with happiness, and moments where i swooned. Also this is my very first book of Ashley Poston and i absolutely loved it. The simple and grounded romance is what that makes this book special.Picked up this book at the right time🙌🏻🙌🏻

you know when the author is Ashley poston the book has to be goated and beyond words. this book makes no exception to the statement above . now as i ordered the hardcover the edges were sprayed and designed very neatly the delivery was on point no damages to the book i received it in a great condition so i would say GO FOR IT GURLLLL

The Dead Romantics is as morbid as Wednesday Adams and her family, but as quaint as Stars Hollow and the Gilmore Girls. The theme and the premise of the book is death, and yet it stays hopeful. Florence and the rest of the Day family have a morbid sense of humor. It is hard not to get into the spirit of things and suspend your disbelief for a few moments. I kind of guessed the ending, but even so, it was a satisfying experience to see it all coming to life on the pages.

First, a huge thank you to Berkley Romance and Ashley Poston for sending me an eARC to read and review! 🥺 I so thoroughly enjoyed myself, and this really got me out of my reading slump!“you don’t ever lose the sadness, but you learn to love it because it becomes a part of you, and bit by bit, it fades. And, eventually, you’ll pick yourself back up and you’ll find that you’re okay. That you’re going to be okay. And eventually, it’ll be true”Knowing just how much I LOVED Ashley’s Geekerella series, as soon as I heard she was debuting her adult RomCom, with speculative elements, I knew I had to read it! And she did not disappoint. Ashley Poston knows how to handle grief so beautifully in her stories. It’s real, and it’s raw, while also so hopeful. I feel like grief is often portrayed as this heavy, terrible thing that weighs us down, keeping us from life. And yes, that is a part of it. But through this story, Ashley shows us how much more to it there is. Grief is love. Love for the people who have left us—which doesn’t end when they’re gone, we take it with us. Love for the people we still have—who make it easier to get through. Ashley shows also how joy and grief can live simultaneously, and it’s ok to feel all these things at once. That death is sad, but it’s also a celebration of life.“Love wasn’t a whisper in the quiet night. It was a yelp into the void, screaming that you were here.”This was also, of course, at it’s core a love story. Florence and Ben are honestly just so perfect for each other! I loved how their relationship developed. Their banter and wit, their chemistry. Do you know how engaging chemistry has to be when they LITERALLY CANT TOUCH BECAUSE HE’S A GHOST?! 🤣 It is not easy to do, but Ashley made it seem easy. I was hooked on them from their first meeting, and I absolutely loved the way it ended. I will be dreaming of Ben and Florence for a long time to come.“Worth wasn’t dependent on someone else’s love for you, or your usefulness, or what you could do for them.”Lastly, in this story, Ashley just so eloquently put to words so many things I struggle with myself. Learning how to unlearn that your worth depends on what you can do for other people, rather than just *being*. Learning how to let others in, let others help you, let them love you. Even if you feel you don’t deserve it, because you do. Learning not to let people walk over you, or use your kindness and your love against you either. I loved all the little tidbits about the publishing industry, and the things no one likes to talk about. Authors who are amazing writers but don’t “make it” because they don’t have the right recourses. How so many writers define their worth by their success, but the only thing that matters is their words finding the people who need to hear them. I truly cannot wait to read whatever comes next to Ashley, because I know I will love it.“…we popped champagne and played Dad’s favorite burned CD and danced through the parlors to all the good goodbyes, because endings were just new beginnings.”

Well. What can I say. Ashley Poston has done it again - I’m not sure I was ready for a book with a squatty potty reference 😂 - but I’m here for it (it’s good for the digestion!).I am a huge fan of Ashley’s YA Geekerella series which uses fandom as a backdrop to her romances. Now with this foray into adult fiction we have publishing as our backdrop but with some additional supernatural goings on. This makes this a perfect spooky season read.This is the second book recently I’ve read where I can reference Ghost Whisperer as a comparison (see my review of middle grade book The Whisperling) and I’m not at all mad about that - what with it being one of my favourite shows.Florence Day has grown up around death - literally. Her family run Days Gone Funeral Home (excellent name) and both her father and her see dead people walking around like regular people! Hounded out of her small town because of this gift, Florence headed to the big smoke and tried to turn her love of writing smutty X-Files fan fic into a career in romance fiction. After her first novel doesn’t take off in quite the way she’d hoped she ends up ghostwriting (lol) for a hugely successful romance writer. We meet her as the last book on that contract is due - but the thing is she has writer’s block. How can you write romance when you’ve had your heart smashed?Florence’s ex is a despicable piece of work who deserves much worse than he gets in my opinion. Seriously he makes my blood boil.Pulled back to her home after a family tragedy she finds a ghost on the doorstep of her family home but this ghost is very out of place and unwelcome. After all he didn’t give her an extension on her novel! Rude. It’s her very hot editor Benji Andor who on first meeting him the words “climb him” were screamed by her inner voice - although sadly that turns out not to be possible when you can’t touch a ghost. But is it possible for the spirit of romance to be reignited? No spoilers here but I was satisfied with the journey Florence went on.I will say that this was perhaps a slightly slower start than we’ve grown used to but the payoff makes it worth it and Ashley’s writing is easy to read and comforting.This mixes the best echoes of Christmas Hallmark movies (but with Halloween vibes in April - and not Christmas), Sweet Home Alabama and A million funerals and a wedding! I loved this exploration of complex family relationships, small town gossip and an incorporeal romance. Poston brings her humour and pop culture references naturally across into the adult sphere where she can be a little more spicy (although only in small doses - we don’t actually get any of the X-Files smut on the page! More’s the pity).The small town of Mairmont with its doggie Mayor (this needs to become a thing - the world would be so much kinder) becomes a character itself and I fell in love with it too. I loved the incidental non binary and queer characters because there was no negative focus on this - they just were and this is what the world should be.If the Reader Discussion questions are anything to go by keep your fingers crossed for a sequel and more Mairmont. I’d equally be happy with other books following some of our side characters.Although grief is a big theme in this story the book itself is hopeful and not macabre and focuses very much on death as part of life. In the author’s note Ashley Poston talks about her fear of death which I very much share - so to write such a book must have been a therapy session as much as it was reading it.A huge thank you to Ashley for this piece of magic and to HQ Stories for the gifted copy for the purposes of an honest review. Do check out what everyone else on the tour thought.

Cette édition reliée est superbe ! Cela met davantage en valeur cette lecture incroyable. Où l’on évoque le deuil, la famille, la confiance en soi, les sentiments amoureux et les secondes chances. C’est superbe. Ashley Poston est l’une de mes autrices fétiches. Je ne suis jamais déçue par ses histoires.

lovely book

Perfect! (A reminder to all my book fellas to not rate the books on Amazon. It’s not their problem if you thought the book was bad)