Hey, it’s been a loooooooong time since I have written a review. I was in a bad place, mentally. I have had a lot, and I mean A LOT of pet deaths in the past few years, and the first half of this year had a few that were back-to-back. The irony that the book that pulled me out of my slump was a book about a funeral home was not lost on me. Why don’t we have funerals for our pets? It would be such a healing process. My beloved 16-year-old Scottie/Dachshund deserved to be eulogized and memorialized in the most extravagant of ceremonies like the Bitch-Queen she was!
Callum Flannelly (which is the MOST Irish name ever) is an undertaker in Galway, Ireland. He is the definition of a buttoned-up recluse. Raised by his grandparents, undertakers themselves, he has never been bothered by death, but he also barely bothers with having a life. He is demi-sexual and doesn’t see himself being attracted to anyone ever again. He’s taken completely by surprise when he starts popping boners around his new neighbor, Lark Thompson, a vivacious American who seems determined to pull him out of his shell. She is an animator who fled her job and her life in Texas after the sudden death of her husband. Tired of the pitying looks around her, she wants to start over in a new place, where nobody knows she is a widow. She didn’t realize, when she booked her apartment, that she was next door to a funeral home. When she accidentally receives their shipment of body bags, she meets Callum and immediately befriends him. She’s not looking for a relationship, and he’s too awkward to start one. How will these silly fools get together? Well, it’s a romance book, not a “let’s just be friends” book, so eventually they figure out their growing attraction for each other.
This book was so damn adorable, I almost couldn’t take it. My book club picked this book for the theme of “Hobbit Girl Summer”. This book was so cozy that it feels like wearing your most comfortable sweater, under your most comfortable blanket, while you drink tea with 3 cats in your lap. If this book were a Hobbit, Samwise Gamgee would marry it! Also, it was SPICY! Not just “we finally confessed our attraction, now let’s have the obligatory love scene” spicy, but multiple very intense love scenes spicy. Funny story, I was listening to the audiobook on a long road trip with a friend, and right when the main characters are FINALLY about to kiss, my husband called me and interrupted the book. My friend and I both screamed in frustration and then yelled at my poor husband for interrupting. This book is the slowest of slow burns, and I loved every second of it.
Don’t read this book if you hate slow burns, grumpy/sunshine, friends-to-lovers, great spice, or characters who think they are just going to bang one time and “get it out of their system”. Read this book if you enjoy cozy smut (yes, that is possible), nerdy shut-in male main characters, healthy processing of grief, and sexy Irish accents. DEFINITELY get the audiobook for this one!
5/5 Stars. Would read again!