Book Review: The Dead Romantics
The Dead Romantics was on my #TBR list for a while. I heard great things about it from a few friends and on social media so when Amazon ran a one-day deal for $2.99 back in August, I snagged the Kindle edition to read closer to spooky season. The Dead Romantic was billed as a quirky romance with ghosts and a unique twist and so, as the leaves started to change colors, I finally pulled it off my digital shelf.
Florence Day is a ghostwriter for a top romance author – and happens to be able to talk to ghosts. She’s great at crafting stories full of love, lust, romantic gestures, and happily ever afters (and ignoring the ghosts she sees on the New York streets), until she goes through a bad breakup and no longer believes in love. As she struggles to finish the last book of her contract, she is forced to go to her new editor, the handsome Benji Andor, who is absolutely not going to give her the extension she needs. She’s prepared to kiss her career goodbye when she learns her father, the proprietor of a funeral home in her small Southern hometown, has died.
Florence hasn’t been home in ten years and quickly learns not much has changed in the decade since she left. Her father has made absurd requests for his funeral, and her family seems to forget she’s a part of said family. Never mind that her sister can hardly stand to be in the same room as her. To make it even worse, she finds the ghost of Benji Andor standing on her family’s doorstep. Romance isn’t the only thing that’s dead – so is her editor.
There was a lot about The Dead Romantics I liked. The romance had depth and I related to Florence’s struggles of self-doubt and wondering if love was meant to pass her by. The grief storyline was authentic and I liked the quirky small town where a golden retriever serves as mayor. However, there were numerous side characters, her siblings included, that felt like they were stuffed into the pages to add diversity and representation. Likable as they were, they didn’t add to the plot. They were merely – there – and detracted from potentially giving us more of the main story lines. I’m not a fan of what I call character stuffing and felt like less would have been more in that area.
Ultimately, I enjoyed The Dead Romantics. I identified with Florence and I enjoyed Benji’s vulnerability. I didn’t find the twist all that surprising and in fact guessed what was coming, but it was still well done, including the additional smaller twist that tells us exactly how Florence came to be a ghostwriter. I recommend The Dead Romantics if you’re looking for a rom com with heart that is a little left of center.
3.5/5 stars
