Florence Day is ghostwriter. She's been writing for a very famous and prolific romance novelist and her books are hit. All's been going well until she stops believing in love. Her craptastic boyfriend breaks up with her and "steals her memories" to use as plot for his own book. You see, Florence has had an interesting life: growing up in a funeral home run by her parents, she literally "sees dead people" ... and they talk to her. Her boyfriend betrays her trust and uses her story for his book. Not cool.
When she tries to get an extension on her deadline, she's not prepared to find a too handsome editor on their meeting. He ends up not giving her extension and she gets the worst call of her life: she has to return to the hometown she hates to busy her father. The town has mocked her for her gift and she hates coming back. She just wants to get on with the funeral and leave. But a very handsome ghost shows up to haunt her - her editor! Too bad that he's even more attractive now, even in spectral form.
I was immediately drawn by the premise of this book! A ghostwriter falling for a ghost? Sign me up! The story is fun, sweet, and it really pulls you in. However, by the middle I had already guessed what was going on and it dragged a little. Fortunately, it picks up again and you get a wonderful HEA. Don't worry!
Narration: Kudos to Eileen Stevens (new narrator to me), who carries the story in a stellar solo narration! When I was a little bored in the middle there, it was her narration that kept me going. Excellent job and I will be on the lookout for her work!
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“Everything that dies never really goes. In little ways, it all stays.”Highlighted by 767 Kindle readers- Love wasn’t a whisper in the quiet night. It was a yelp into the void, screaming that you were here.Highlighted by 640 Kindle readers
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The Dead Romantics was such a lovely and unique love story. I laughed a little and I cried a little. It’s an emotional read that has some really beautiful passages about death & loss and love & relationships.TDR is told in the first person by our heroine, Florence Day. She’s a ghostwriter - for an extremely popular romance novelist - who can see ghosts, usually of the recently deceased. These ghosts are not around to haunt or scare, they’re generally around because they have something to say or unfinished business. When Florence helps them with their issue they depart, for good.Florence hasn’t talked or helped a ghost in a decade, when she moved to NYC from her small town in South Carolina. That all changes when she has to return home to Mairmont to bury her beloved dad. The ghost of her new editor, Benji Andor is standing on the porch of her family’s funeral home. The same editor she told the day before that “love is dead” and she can’t possibly finish the fourth and final book in her contract by the deadline. You see our dear Florence has recently suffered a terrible betrayal which led to a breakup with her boyfriend.As the week goes by and Florence deals with her dad’s funeral arrangements, she begins to come to terms with her feelings of betrayal, loss and love with the help of Ben; who’s always popping in and out. But when he leaves for good Florence is truly heartbroken.However, on the negative I found there to be some editing issues; wrong words, odd transitions, etc. and Poston’s choice to ignore the canon she created - shimmering dead people - to advance the story. And whilst these issues detracted from my reading flow, they don’t detract from the overall story. It’s beautiful. The two twists were not at all a mystery, to me, but it didn’t matter. The Dead Romantics is heartwarming and happy and provides a much more pleasant way to think about death.P.S. is “that one guy from The X-Files” Luke Wilson? It’s my favorite episode.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 22, 2022
The Dead Romantics was such a lovely and unique love story. I laughed a little and I cried a little. It’s an emotional read that has some really beautiful passages about death & loss and love & relationships.
TDR is told in the first person by our heroine, Florence Day. She’s a ghostwriter - for an extremely popular romance novelist - who can see ghosts, usually of the recently deceased. These ghosts are not around to haunt or scare, they’re generally around because they have something to say or unfinished business. When Florence helps them with their issue they depart, for good.
Florence hasn’t talked or helped a ghost in a decade, when she moved to NYC from her small town in South Carolina. That all changes when she has to return home to Mairmont to bury her beloved dad. The ghost of her new editor, Benji Andor is standing on the porch of her family’s funeral home. The same editor she told the day before that “love is dead” and she can’t possibly finish the fourth and final book in her contract by the deadline. You see our dear Florence has recently suffered a terrible betrayal which led to a breakup with her boyfriend.
As the week goes by and Florence deals with her dad’s funeral arrangements, she begins to come to terms with her feelings of betrayal, loss and love with the help of Ben; who’s always popping in and out. But when he leaves for good Florence is truly heartbroken.
However, on the negative I found there to be some editing issues; wrong words, odd transitions, etc. and Poston’s choice to ignore the canon she created - shimmering dead people - to advance the story. And whilst these issues detracted from my reading flow, they don’t detract from the overall story. It’s beautiful. The two twists were not at all a mystery, to me, but it didn’t matter. The Dead Romantics is heartwarming and happy and provides a much more pleasant way to think about death.
P.S. is “that one guy from The X-Files” Luke Wilson? It’s my favorite episode.
TDR is told in the first person by our heroine, Florence Day. She’s a ghostwriter - for an extremely popular romance novelist - who can see ghosts, usually of the recently deceased. These ghosts are not around to haunt or scare, they’re generally around because they have something to say or unfinished business. When Florence helps them with their issue they depart, for good.
Florence hasn’t talked or helped a ghost in a decade, when she moved to NYC from her small town in South Carolina. That all changes when she has to return home to Mairmont to bury her beloved dad. The ghost of her new editor, Benji Andor is standing on the porch of her family’s funeral home. The same editor she told the day before that “love is dead” and she can’t possibly finish the fourth and final book in her contract by the deadline. You see our dear Florence has recently suffered a terrible betrayal which led to a breakup with her boyfriend.
As the week goes by and Florence deals with her dad’s funeral arrangements, she begins to come to terms with her feelings of betrayal, loss and love with the help of Ben; who’s always popping in and out. But when he leaves for good Florence is truly heartbroken.
However, on the negative I found there to be some editing issues; wrong words, odd transitions, etc. and Poston’s choice to ignore the canon she created - shimmering dead people - to advance the story. And whilst these issues detracted from my reading flow, they don’t detract from the overall story. It’s beautiful. The two twists were not at all a mystery, to me, but it didn’t matter. The Dead Romantics is heartwarming and happy and provides a much more pleasant way to think about death.
P.S. is “that one guy from The X-Files” Luke Wilson? It’s my favorite episode.
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Top reviews from other countries
Jellichor
3.5* - Cute and sad ghostie romance
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 10, 2022
Jellichor
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 10, 2022
This book was a very easy and cute read with a scattering of literary and film references which - for a bookish person - I enjoyed. Particularly the subtle IYKYK nods to Mulan, Jumanji and Howl's Moving Castle. The romance plot was cute, albeit predictable and cheesy - I find most books like this are - and I found their background stories a tad surface level. I would have liked to have gotten into the nitty gritty a bit more - something I felt for most of the characters and sub plots actually. There was a lot of potential to go deeper throughout the storyline - think the author missed a few tricks there - but it never really happened so I just accepted about a third of the way through that I was just going to sit and enjoy the journey and not try and hope the book is something that it is not.
The small town setting is a familiar one but I enjoyed the focus around the family run Funeral home which was fitting for this time of year - it was interesting for there to be only wholesomeness and joy centred around a building whose business is death. There was some talk about Florence's and her Father's ability to see and talk to ghosts but I feel that could have been explored more. There were several touching moments focussing on the concept of them trying to fulfil the last requests of these lingering spirits, particularly when it connected directly with her father, but it didn't turn into anything more than a vague suggestion here and an unconfirmed hint there. I felt the same about a few other parts of the plot which I won't specify (DM for deets) as I prefer to do spoiler free reviews - but lets just say the ghosts weren't the only ones with unfinished business!!
Overall a sad, but pleasant and cosy ghost romance read!! I read this in 2 days, the second half in one night, and teared up in a few places. It was perfect for the thriller free stint I'm currently on after reading a few too many in a row, and now I'll leave you with a couple of my highlighted bookish quotes -
“Buying books always made me feel better, even if I never read them.”
“I ran my thumb over the pages of one of the books in my lap, feeling them buzz softly.”
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kirstyes
Spooky season supernatural romance. Cosy comfort.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 2, 2022
kirstyes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 2, 2022
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.
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Ashton parker
4.5 Stars!! Quirky and Loveable!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 18, 2022
Kindle Customer
Fun uplifting joyful escapism
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 8, 2022Stephanie Wood
“Just Like Heaven” but in book form with a ‘meh’ delivery
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 31, 2022
