I finally got around to this book after it appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. I’ve had it on my TBR pile for a while. But, I read it earlier this week, and sobbed so much over it that my cat, Josh, climbed into my lap to check on me. Ashley Poston’s first adult novel, The Dead Romantics, just moved me that much.

Do you believe in ghosts? What about love? Do you believe in happily-ever-after romantic love? Florence Day, whose family owns a funeral home in Mairmont, South Carolina, sees ghosts. But, she fled town as soon as she graduated, heading to New York City because she didn’t want to be bullied or laughed at any longer for being the girl who saw ghosts. But, she left behind a family that loves and supports her.

Florence once believed in romance. She wrote a novel, and then became the ghostwriter for Anne Nichols, one of the biggest bestselling romance authors. Readers raved about Nichols’ most recent books. But, after the man she loved, another writer, violated her trust a year ago, Florence hasn’t been able to write. She no longer believes in romance, and has to tell Anne’s new editor that she needs another extension on her deadline because she can’t write a happily-ever-after ending. But, the big, handsome Benji Andor won’t give her another day.

She’s at a bar drowning her sorrow when she receives a call from her family. Florence has to go home for a family funeral, and she hasn’t returned in ten years. She’s seen her family in New York, but she hasn’t wanted to return to the town that rejected her. Now, she has no choice. She has regrets and feels guilty and angry. But, she’s the closest one to the door when someone comes to the funeral home that night, and she answers. It’s her big, handsome editor, Benji Andor. And, he’s a ghost.

I’m not sharing the rest of the story because you’ll either turned off by all this talk of ghosts and romance, or it already caught your attention. I bought a copy. I don’t know the last time I was so caught up in a book, moved to tears and a little laughter. Poston’s descriptions of Mairmont are beautiful, but it’s all Florence’s thoughts of death and ghosts, along with her father’s comments about it that are moving and fascinating and thought-provoking. It’s a story of love, loss, regret, hope, and family with all its disagreements and love.

If you finish the book, you might not believe in ghosts or happily-ever-after. But, you’ll want to believe.

Ashley Poston’s website is https://ashleyposton.com/

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. Berkley, 2022. ISBN 9780593336489 (paperback), 368p.