The Dead Romantics: A GMA Book Club Pick

I liked it. Enjoyably cute read. 4 stars!“Because ghost stories were just love stories about here and then and now and when, about pockets of happiness and moments that resonated in places long after their era. They were stories that taught you that love was never a matter of time, but a matter of timing.”

3.5 stars rounding up to 4The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston is just the most recent book that made me cry. Florence, the FMC, was a raw, disorganized mess. A bad breakup made her not believe in love, which sucks for her because she’s a ghostwriter for acclaimed romance writer, Ann Nicols. Being in her head was tiring at times, and it just became heartbreaking when she thought about her dead dad.One part of the book that stood out to me was that everything was going on as normal in Florence’s life, except that her dad was gone. Beach Read was still pretty fresh in my mind by this point, and reading about another dead heroine’s dad just made me automatically cry.I understand why this is a polarizing read, but given Florence’s circumstances, her being in that exhausting mind space makes complete sense. However, it does make the reading experience a tad frustrating. Especially since Florence is a passive character who ruminates a lot. There are also plenty of scenes of her complaining to Adam Benji Andor, her ghostly love interest. You would think you’d be more sensitive complaining about life to your recently deceased friend.But there is plenty of good in this book if you can get past the woe is me narrative. Ashley Poston’s writing is lovely as always. The small town setting, especially with the funeral parlor and the cemetery, was plenty immersive to read about. The other characters, like the Day family, were all lovely. Florence’s mom and sister were very memorable.My favorite part was that the Day family has run a funeral home for generations. I watched a lot of Caitlin Doughty on YouTube, plus read two of her books. Reading about death from their perspective, who work so closely with death, was enlightening.Ashley’s take on ghosts was also unique and interesting. She kept everything vague, which is a smart choice, or else I’ll be overthinking everything about the afterlife in this book.The most satisfying part is, hands down, Florence’s character growth. It was a sigh of relief seeing our home girl gaining perspective and the confidence to get out of her rut. And even to fight her man.I love the latter part of the book, where everything is revealed, and plot twists are plot-twisting. Things got a lot more exciting after all the chapters of sadness and gloom.Overall, this was a worthwhile read with beautiful writing from Ashley. I highly recommend it if you love beautiful, descriptive writing and fleshed-out characters and don’t mind a narrator who’s experiencing a low point in her life.

Not just another romance, this one includes ghosts. A little romance, a little mystery and a little supernatural, this book has something for eveeyone.

Excited to read the first part about a struggling ghost writer. Found the rest, until the very end, a bit depressing. Not to give anything away, it was not very romantic in the middle, for odd reasons. I figured out how the ending was going to be fairly quickly, because frankly, how else could it be a romantic novel at all, with what is going on in the middle of the book?!My daughter is a licensed funeral director and now works at a large cemetery, so I don't have an issue with that at all. If you do, this book is not for you.

What a funny, powerful, lovely story. The characters were so well-developed and the story so relatable. Absolutely loved this. Great book!