The Dead Romantics

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🙌🏻🙌🏻

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 😅

This is one of the best book I've read. The best romance read 🤌

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The beautiful story reminiscent of a film I have seen but with its own twist made this a most enjoyable read. It’s the characters, all of them. The are likeable, vulnerable and above all so normal but who are part of something a little paranormal. Normal in the sense of questioning, uncertainty, not always doing the right thing with the best intention and mostly very good people. People who make the unreal believable although that is also part of the author’s charm and ability to write. No spoilers. just read it and enjoy and look for the scene at the end where the play on words is a dictionary delight. Loved it and can’t wait for the next book.

lovely book

Charming and poignant, this ghost story is a little bit romance and a little bit women's fiction. Our hero is a ghost, so that causes plenty of tension, naturally. But as someone who exclusively reads romance novels, I wasn't making an exception for this. There's a sweet and swoony love story wrapped up in the center of a somewhat heavy book about grief and processing loss. Mixing bleak moments with hopeful ones, this intricately weaves together so many important themes in a masterful way. And the ghost puns! SO MANY ghostly references within the text, I loved it. The romance reader in me gobbled up every little bit of the romance; I personally wanted a stronger focus on that, but that's because I'm greedy. One of the best parts of the book is how it balances the light with the dark - there's as much time spent on the pain of death as there is the hope for the future. And that one-of-a-kind feel is what makes this a truly special book - a truly special romance novel - even if this romance reader wanted a stronger focus on that element. The story follows Florence, a woman who ghostwrites for a famous romance author. When her own debut novel failed, Florence was worried that her career was over, but she's found success being the woman behind the scenes. At least she did, until her own love life imploded a year ago. Now Florence is on a tight deadline to produce a happily ever after, and she just doesn't have it in her. She's starting to think that love is dead, and the sudden death of her father certainly doesn't do anything to change her mind. So when Florence's sexy and stern new editor shows up on the funeral home's doorstep - as a ghost - she's not sure what to think. Florence and Ben only met briefly before he became a ghost, and neither one is sure whether Florence is supposed to be helping Ben find peace or whether he's supposed to help Florence wrap up her novel while processing her father's death. Either way, as these two near-strangers spend time together, they begin to wish that they'd gotten closer before Ben crossed to the other side. You're probably still skeptical about whether this is a romance novel or women's fiction, because of the ghost situation. I would call this a romance novel for readers who enjoy elements of women's fiction, because the book is truly Florence's journey, and that doesn't always involve Ben. But... yeah, it's a romance too. While much of the book is emotional and full of grief (not only is Ben grappling with the fact that he's no longer amongst the living, but Florence's father has just passed away), it's also got a funny, uplifting side. It's hopeful. It's a little bit swoony. I loved the opposites attract vibes between Ben and Florence, and how they definitely wouldn't have found their way together if Ben hadn't experienced this time with her. Florence is a chaotic mess of a woman who communicates with ghosts, so that's not something the controlled, workaholic Ben would've been able to handle pre-accident. There are these tiny shifts to the dynamic along the way, and Poston does a masterful job of tying everything together perfectly. That's why this romance reader is willing to round up her rating - while I was greedy for more romance, this is the kind of book that I'm going to be reflecting on for a long time. And it had exactly the kind of ending I wanted. Audio note: The audio was excellent! The story is told exclusively from Florence's point of view, so there is just a single narrator. But she does a great job of differentiating between the characters and giving a stellar vocal performance. I found her voice soothing and easy to listen to, perfect for the many different facets of the story. The runtime was just slightly too long for one day/sitting (10-11 hours), but I was eager to pick the book back up every time I had to set it down. It also makes an awesome workday listen, because there's little to no steam (Florence and Ben literally can't touch), and the romance is an achingly slow burn. I'm sure I would've enjoyed the book in a more traditional format as well, but the audio definitely enhanced the experience.