3.5*

Florence Day lives in New York and is a ghost writer for a widely loved romance author - she can also talk to ghosts, a gift she inherited from her Dad. (Who just so happens to run a family Funeral Parlour.) The problem is Florence no longer believes in love after The Break Up a year ago, so she has nothing to hand over to her brand new Editor, Benji Andor, for her upcoming deadline. Not long after their first meeting where Benji refuses Florence's request for an extension on the book deadline, Florence finds herself having to suddenly leave New York and return to her family and home town - somewhere she hasn't been in over 10 years - and unexpectantly comes face to face with the ghost of... yup. Benji. All '6 foot sexy' of him. I most definitely was rolling my eyes while chuckling out loud at that line!

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.”

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Stories for the complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.