scijessreads

• Genre: contemporary romance
• Tropes: friends to lovers, friends with benefits
• Spice Level: moderate
• TW/CW: death of a loved one, death in general (mortuary), workplace harassment
• Recommend: yes

Mortality, guilt, demisexuality, family, toxic people… this little book (Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks) had it all. Cal and Lark, complete opposites, do manage to bring out the absolute best in each other, but it takes time, patience, and work (this is definitely a slow burn). And they are so very much worth it.

Callum (Cal) is the undertaker in Ireland, trying to hold on to his family legacy in light of some obstacles that seek to force him out of his comfort zone in order to inherit the mortuary he currently operates. Lark is an American from Texas who comes to Galway on a visa to do some freelance work for an animated film/project company. They have a “meet cute (and awkward)” that sets them on a path to becoming friends, slowly realizing that there may be more there. Lark is the one fighting it the hardest, for a complicated mess of reasons surrounding the death of her husband (the incident that led her to Ireland).

I loved how Cal, the quiet undertaker with a stutter, was presented as demisexual. It was part of him, and absolutely accepted by Lark. And to see him become friends with, and slowly fall in love with, Lark was beautiful to watch. They were both hesitant for various reasons, but they had the support of a wide array of friends to nudge them in the right direction in the end.

Love that this was a debut book. It had a lot of good stuff in it, and some solid characters and story. I love that it was a little outside of the “normal” for romance books. I will be keeping an eye out for the next books by this author.