{stand alone; romance, ghosts, puns}(2022)

A story about a ghostwriter - who also sees ghosts. This was sort of a book bullet for the author by way another of her books, [The Seven Year Slip].

Florence Day is a ghostwriter for the very famous romance writer Ann Nichols but no-one knows other than the two of them, Ann's agent and their editor. But Florence, as the story opens, is about to meet her new editor, Benji Andor (who, she discovers, is pretty hot), and she's not sure if he knows the secret. The problem is that she has a deadline to meet but she can't write the 'happily ever after' ending prescribed for Ann's books after she a bad break up from her boyfriend, Lee, in the last year (the love interest keeps dropping dead in the middle of the scene).

Then Florence gets bad news from home and has to return from NYC to the Southern town of Mairmont, South Carolina where she grew up and where the family business (a funeral home) is - and where she hasn't returned since graduating from high school because she sees dead people so she got badly bullied even though she solved a murder. And while she's there, Ben turns up - but he's a ghost.

I stared through the window at the stacks of romance novels, with Ann Nichols's new books at the top. The ones I wrote - Midnight Matinee, A Rake's Guide —all of them. Dad walked by this bookstore every day on his daily lunch breaks to Fudge's. He must've seen this display, these books. I wondered if he ever ducked into the store and bought one. I wondered if Mom loved the dry humor in Nichols's new ones. Mom and I never really talked about books after mine failed. I didn't want to talk about books at all after that.
I turned to keep walking, when Ben backtracked and nodded his head toward the door. "Let's go in."
"Why?"
"Because I like bookstores," he replied, and stepped backward through the closed door. I had half a mind to not follow him, but a part of me wondered what section he gravitated toward. Literary? Horror? I couldn't even imagine him in the romance aisle, towering and broody in his pristine button-down shirts and ironed trousers. The bell above the door rang as I stepped into the cozy bookstore. The woman behind the counter, Mrs. Holly, had been there for twenty-odd years. She looked up from her book with a smile. "Well, I'll be damned! Florence Day." Even my local booksellers back in Jersey didn't know my name, but it seemed like a decade away couldn't erase me from small-town memory.

Florence decides to be like her dad (who also talks to ghosts) and help Ben with his unresolved business. If they can work out what it is. And it's a shame he's dead because he turns out to be a really sweet guy (as well as sexy) and she could have fallen for him. There are lots of mentions of golden retrievers (you know that's a plus point for me), lots of name dropping of book titles, authors and publishing houses (including a list of Ash's comfort reads at the end) and lots of deathly puns - you have been warned.

My ears began to burn with a blush, and I glanced away from him. He was a ghost, Florence. Very much dead. And off-limits. "You know, if I was any other kind of person, I'd ask you to haunt Lee Marlow's hipster ass?"
"A ghost for hire."
"You'd be chillingly good at it."
"I have a bone to pick with him, anyhow"
"Oh?" I laughed. "Were you in love with him, too?"
"No, but you were. And I can tell that it hurts."

The town mayor* is a retriever (been re-elected twice, in fact) and who doesn't love a happy dog? And when isn't a retriever happy? I'm not ashamed to admit that it tipped my rating upwards.

Granted, we're mostly in Florence's head and the secondary characters aren't very detailed but this was a light-hearted, feel-good story with romance, a lot of family love, friends and (thankfully for me) minimum steam - and also puns and, most importantly, Fetch the retriever. I like the way he pops up at the edges of scenes being taken for walks visiting his constituents and so on.

*in real life, per Wikipedia, the unincorporated town of Idyllwild in California has had golden retrievers (Max, Max II and Max III) as their mayors since 2012.

February 2024
3.5-4 stars ( )

This book is so full of heart and it's so honest about it, it was refreshing to see people openly embrace love, family and grieving all at the same time.

I really liked Florence and Ben, they compliment each other and their time together is beautifully written. ( )

Another book I read in about a day thanks to switching between print and audio.

This one was charming even if I guessed what was happening right away. This is my second dead/dying Dad book in a week, which is a lot, but that’s something that always resonates with me. I also liked the Six Feet Under vibe of the family living a normal life in the funeral home.

Also of note the author’s note at the end about writing this during 2020. I find it so interesting what people wrote during that profoundly weird time of our lives and how this book deal so directly with death and shows why it shouldn’t be so taboo and why we should celebrate our loved ones instead of being entirely mournful but also be better about appreciating and loving people while we are alive.

Loved the musings in the author’s note too about how most of us are never completely gone and the ways in which our legacy and memory linger with those who love us.

( )

A fun rom-com, with a supernatural twist that Ms. Poston managed to make as natural as the wind in the trees. Very enjoyable and even some important ruminations about what "normal" is, what it means to be flawed, impossible humans, and of course death.

A couple of small hiccups in grammar, and occasional clarity (I am very picky), but otherwise deftly paced, and the characters and circumstances were quite believable. ( )

Clever concept some good twists. It was cute. ( )