The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Florence Day, a ghostwriter for a prolific romance author, has a deadline looming over her like a storm cloud.
Unfortunately, after a break-up that left her heart shattered, Florence no longer believes in love. It’s hard for her to write what she doesn’t believe.
When her new editor, the tall and handsome Benji Andor, refuses to give her the extension she needs to wrap up her latest novel, Florence’s back is against a wall. She needs to finish this book. She cannot fail.
But just when Florence thinks things are at rock bottom, they get so much worse. After Florence receives a late night phone call from her mother, her entire world grinds to a halt. Her beloved father has passed away.
She needs to get to her small South Carolina hometown as soon as possible. It’s the first time in a decade that Florence has been back to Mairmont and as far as she can tell, not much has changed.
Her mother, brother and sister are there and the family funeral parlor is still running like a well-oiled machine. The only thing missing is her father’s presence. It’s a loss Florence feels through her entire being.
Florence and her father shared a very special gift: they see ghosts. This isn’t something Florence necessarily wants, it actually ruined her teenaged years, but she’s made a certain peace with it.
But when she sees a ghost waiting for her on the steps of the funeral home, she’s shocked and he seems equally confused to be there.
There must be unfinished business between them, something she can help him with. The more they get to know one another, the more Florence’s feelings towards love begin to change.
Y’all, The Dead Romantics took me completely by surprise. I put off reading this for a few months, because I just wasn’t sure I would be in the mood for this ‘type’ of story.
I was so wrong. I would always be in the mood for this type of story, because it’s Ashley Poston that gets me every time. I just absolutely adore her characters, writing style and smart, sarcastic sense of humor.
It’s like she sees me, and I see her too.
I cannot express enough how much I loved everything about this book. From the very start, I felt attached to Florence and getting to go on her journey with her, I felt it.
At times it was like a gut-punch, at other times it was like being tickled by butterfly wings, but I was with her every step of the way.
While there is romance in this story, to me, that aspect wasn’t the shining star. To me, the thing that stood out the most was Florence’s path of self-discovery and her relationships with her family members and her past.
I loved the exploration of love and the many facets where love can be found in the world around us. Love isn’t just mutual attraction and sex with a partner, it’s so much more than that, surrounding us from the first day we make an appearance on this earth, and following us long after.
I went on a roller coaster ride with The Dead Romantics. It was a ride I never wanted to end, but I was left with such a sense of hope at the conclusion.
Ashley Poston, you have absolutely filled my heart. This is a special story, one that will stay in my heart for a long time to come. My ghost-loving heart sings!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Poston knocked this out of the park, to the moon and back!