How could anyone not fall head over heels for Lark and Callum? Sweet, sexy and full of banter, Morbidly Yours would have anyone giggling and kicking their feet by the time they’re finished with it. I loved how the storyline of grief was woven so organically and sensitively throughout the whole story whilst still allowing the romance to develop alongside. Who would have thought that running straight in to an undertaker would be the thing that Lark needed to confront her loss head on?

I cannot wait to read more from Ivy Fairbanks.

I love, love, love, love, loved this book! Callum is my new book boyfriend, he’s shy, grumpy, possessive and so cute, I love him so much. Lark is the complete polar opposite and compliments him, an absolute ray of sunshine with a rainbow wardrobe and living life to the max. They bring out the absolutely best in each other to create such a feel good romance, and if I didn’t already love contemporary romance this would have me absolutely hooked.

This book is set in beautiful Ireland and more specifically Galway, everything is described in the most gorgeous way and it really helps you fall head first into the pages. The misinterpretations of the language and the slang between our Irishman and American makes for an wonderful foothold for fabulous banter that facilitates the continued growth of the friendship between this grumpy and sunshine pairing.

Throughout the pages of this story, you really get a deep dive into Lark and Callum’s back story and this makes my heart ache in different ways. Reading as their friendship heals each other and eventually begins to develop into something more makes for the loveliest story that I could not put down. There is the undercurrent of Callum having to marry before his thirty fifth birthday in order to inherit the family business, this ensues a dating project with Lark helping Callum and pushing him out of his comfort zone. However, as their friendship blooms into something more you can’t help but be hooked, I needed to know what was going to happen next and I loved every second. This book made my cry and laugh and everything in between.

Dual POV
Pining
Friends to Friends with benefits to lovers
Opposites attract
ShyGrumpy cinnamon roll

Ivy did a great job with this book, it was written well, such a fun read that was so easy to get into, great characters, fun banter, heartfelt, sprinkled with some spice and cinnamon role Mmc who talks both sweetly and dirty to her in Gaeilge.

I honestly loved both Lark and Callum. Reading this story and watching their relationship develop, first as friends and then into more was great. They are opposites who compliment each other so well. The perfect yin and yang bringing out the best in each other. I don’t tend to gravitate towards friends to lovers naturally, but this is friends to lovers done so well.

Widow Lark is a breath of fresh air and I love how she brought Callum out of his own little bubble her kept himself in. I really liked how even though this is her and Callum’s story, when mentioning her ex, you still see the love and respect she had for him. It was finished just because this is her second chance at loving someone.

Callum is a sweetheart. A mortician who pretty much keeps to himself until Lark lands in his life. I love how he rises to challenges set by Lark and the openness to step out of his bubble with her help and watching his confidence grow with her made me smile. His pining for her, his affection and all the kind things he does for her are swoony. He fell first and he fell hard and ate it up.

This really is a great little cosy read.

This was such a fun and addictive romance that had me hooked and blushing throughout! I loved Lark and Callum and I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow. They are two polar opposites but it works so well and their banter was just on point! I absolutely loved that we got povs from both of our main characters as I really felt like it just helped develop these characters and their relationship more.

This book has amazing representation in it and also deals with darker topics such as grief which I feel were done really well and is something I think many people can relate to. I will also mention that there are few scenes in this book that detail looking after and caring for those departed in a funeral home.

Honestly this was amazing and I'm still blown away that this was a debut novel! I am so excited to continue this series as Fairbanks is an amazing author who writes characters you cannot help but fall in love with and root for!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Release date today!!!!
This is suuuuuch a cute friends-to-lovers book, I literally can’t understand that this is a debut?? Ivy Fairbanks is amazing for this and I will be adding her name to my list of auto-buy authors.
Lark is too relatable for me lollll the way she avoids confrontation (especially at work) is so me-coded. Her inner monologue was literally like being inside my own brain, which made the book easy to read and I sped through.
“What I would endure personally and what I would tolerate on behalf of others were two different things.”
SO ACCURATE!!!
Super fun, cute and an awkward dreamy MMC. The cover attracted my attention, but I stayed for the content 😌 defo recommend!!

When I saw this cover I thought this was so cute, then I read the blurb and I knew I had to read it.
Whats not to love about a second chance at love?
This book seems like a cutesy rom-com book, and it is, but it is also SO SPICY!!! Do not let the cover fool you. If you like your story with full on steam and spice, this is for you.


* The MMC talks dirty in Irish
* He has a stutter which is treated with sensitivity and respect
* The FMC is a widow who loved her husband and isn’t all “oh I thought I knew what love was but now I know that I didn’t” no fuck that you can love more than one person in your life
* The MMC is described as “hot in a Damien Rice song way” why aren’t more people described like this
* The MMC punches a workplace bully and it is very satisfying
* “Love is a living thing. It grows like wild brambles, taking over everything. Love had taken me hostage.” Like are you kidding me right now?

Please get your hands on this asap!

I absolutely adored this story! I loved how prominent the theme of finding love after loss was, and how you can also find yourself in the process. Callum and Lark complimented one another beautifully as both characters provided the other with a safe space to grieve without judgement. I really appreciated how they initially valued their friendship which gave them the perfect setting to get to know one another without conditions and expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised by Callum and his dirty talk. Callum being demisexual with a speech impediment was a wonderful addition that I hope will allow readers to recognise themselves within his character, and overall despite the heavy themes I found the love story to feel sweet and accepting. The book itself felt well-paced and an ease to read, and overall I really enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more by this author.

ARC Review.

This was a surprisingly cute read considering grief and loss are big plot points.

Callum and Lark couldn’t be more different but were exactly what each other needed in their lives to bring out the best in each other.

Strangers to friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes and it was done so well here, despite having an attraction to each other early on they were both (maybe Lark more so) set on keeping their friendship platonic as they valued each other so much.

And a quick mention for the spice, as I was NOT expecting it to go that hard, Callum and his Irish dirty talk was something else!

Callum is in dire need of a bride! His grandad meant well but that stipulation in his will! Why in this day and age does he need to be married! But Callum will do anything to save the family business and keep it out of the hands of his money grubbing father!

Lark ran to Ireland to get away from the grief and memories that surrounded her after the death of her husband. New Job, New Country, New start is her now creed. But she really should have googled that new address of hers, cos the woman who won't walk through a cemetery is now living next door to a funeral director!

Callum is a breath of fresh air. He's not bulky, muscled or alpha. He's a sweet, slightly nerdy, workaholic dealing with a speech impediment. He's also demisexual - an orientation I haven't seen repped that much. There is also a great array of secondary characters of every gender and orientation.

Really enjoyed the gentle humour and the way that Lark finds friends when she goes to buy a piece of furniture!

Friends-to-lovers, dealing with grief & anxiety, learning to ring your own bell!

This book was very interesting. I did enjoy seeing the main characters work on their issues together and grow but I do feel like the communication side of things could definitely been better. The LGBT representation in this was lovely especially seeing a main character who is Demi sexual as you don’t see that much in romance books which was a nice change of pace.

I love a grumpy x sunshine romance so I absolutely fell in love with this book right away. It had the perfect combination of sweet and spice for me and I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting.

This story was a lot different from what I expected. It was a lot more serious, for starters. I definitely like it a lot!
Firstly: I like that Callum is demisexual. Hopefully readers will recognize themselves in him and find words for their own experiences. It is wonderfully portrayed, for as far as I can tell.
Secondly: Lark is a ray of sunshine. Some writers overdo this and make a sunshine character mostly irritating, but Lark is wonderful. I completely understand why Callum falls for her (and vice versa, of course)
I cannot stand the premise of the story, namely, that Callum *has* to marry in order to keep the morgue. This is weird and unrealistic.
Sean is a very realistic villain, ugh I intensely dislike him.

I like the plot, the characters and the romance. The pacing was well done, though not perfectly. I appreciate that this book is not just about love, but about some deeper issues, too.
All in all, I'll happily recommend this book to customers who want to read a book that's not just fluffy.

This one was a fun quick read and it was set in Ireland! I was fascinated with the concept of Callums job and his ability to inherit his family business. The whole book was fun and I really enjoyed it.

This was so much FUN!! Ivy Fairbanks really said, let’s take some of the best romance tropes, combine them, add in a healthy dose of morbid humility, AND a sexy accent… voila!

Two unlikely neighbors, one an American running from her tragedies and the other, a lone mortician trying to hang onto his quiet life and crumbling practice, meet and start an adorable friendship.

In order to keep ownership of the family mortuary, Callum must marry… and soon. Lark quickly jumps at the chance to set him up, leading to the awkward and absolutely adorable shenanigans between the two of them as she tries to help him find a bride.

In the midst of everything, the two begin catching feelings, but there is too much in the way. It couldn’t work… right?

This was quirky and just a silly goofy, SWEET time!

MORBIDLY YOURS - IVY
FAIRBANKS - ARG
I really struggled to get into this one, the first 30% or so just didn't seem like it was meant for me. However I stuck with it and by the end I was so invested I was glad I stuck around. I laughed and cried at this story. Heartwarming and heartbreaking moments but overall it came together really nice and had some very surprising spicy scenes! 🌶️🌶️
He's an undertaker about to loose his family business if he doesn't get married before he's 35 and she's an animator who moved to Galway to escape her memories back home in Texas! They strike up an unlikely friendship which could turn into more of either of them let it. But will they?
@rachaelmcreads

The romance in this book is wonderful, and I absolutely loved how the relationship developed from a friendship, but that on its own is not enough to hold my interest in a book.

It took about 35% for me to fully get into the story, it just seemed incredibly stilted and I found it difficult to get through all the little things the author was explaining.

My biggest frustration was how chapters would abruptly end at what seemed like the middle of a scene, then the POV would switch to the other character's, and just never return to that moment. Why? What's the point in even starting something if it's just going to be left open like that? This happened too many times and annoyed me to no end.

I liked Lark at the start, and I was looking forward to exploring her processing her grief, but dear God was she a pushover who didn't stand up for herself until the very end - and this was one of those abruptly ended scenes! All throughout the book she didn't speak a word to defend herself, but when she finally pushed back it was so mild and not even satisfying.

Callum as a character was incredible, he had a stutter, a very unusual job which was absolutely perfect for him. The two characters were total opposites, with Lark being the sunshine to his not exactly grumpy, because he was more calm and stoic, gentle and anxious.

The friends with benefits angle also didn't work in my opinion, it didn't last long or make sense for these characters.

The dates Callum went on were hilarious though, and there were quite a few funny moments throughout the book that did make me chuckle. I also loved the spicy Irish lessons, and overall the smut was great.

Lastly, I am aware that grief looks different for different people, but idk, I just don't think it was explored deeply enough here, considering the main character was a widow.

This was great!!! I grew up in Northern Ireland so (although not the south, and definitely not as nice as Galway), this book made me feel hella homesick but in a nice way. I loved all the Irish language throughout, and the slang.

As for the romance, the miscommunication / lack of communication between Callum and Lark kind of annoyed me, but all their actual interactions made sense. That’s probably just my own personal opinion, though.

I enjoyed the spicier scenes and the sexual tension that grew as the book went on. Also Séan made me SO ANGRY which I’m taking as a very good thing. He made me feel a lot of things.

All in all, very enjoyable book! Thank you for approving me for it :)

Overall this was a fun and sweet romance with an interesting concept. And it was set in Ireland!!!

I didn’t find this too groundbreaking but if you want a quick and light romncom this is for you.

I really enjoyed this. It was quite a unique read for me and I liked the development of Cal and Lark’s relationship. They were both so good for each other and helped each other become the best versions of themselves.

I requested this because the write up sounded cute, and I felt like giving it a shot. There was a lot I liked in this, and some things that just didn’t click for me. For me the biggest thing is Lark’s stupid resistance and how long it dragged on, not to mention her inability to deal with some workplace drama, as well as some pacing (it felt like a really long read but actually wasn’t). I thought the spicy was great though, and I adored Callum (even though I didn’t love the must get married trope). I appreciated that Lark’s relationship with Reese was never downgraded to second class or anything.

Fun, cosy read with some frustrating parts, solid humour, and fun characters.