Monday, February 26, 2024

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston



Reviewed by Kristin

Florence Day escaped her small hometown of Mairmont, South Carolina, after years of being known as the funeral home director’s daughter who solved a murder at age thirteen with help from the victim’s ghost. Most of the adults in town and her fellow students thought that she was downright weird, or a liar. Florence ran to New York City and became a ghostwriter for famous romance author Ann Nichols. Her writing was respected and admired, even with another name on the cover. Florence was good at writing these love stories, until she was dumped and could no longer believe in love.

With a looming deadline, Florence goes to meet her new editor Ben Andor. Or shall we say, her extremely hot and sexy new editor. She goes into the meeting under the guise of being Ann Nichols’ assistant, and lacks the courage to ask if Ben knows that she is the actual author of Ann’s last several bestsellers. She leaves with a “message for Ann” that she has one more day to submit her latest manuscript, because promotion and printing schedules wait for no one.

Florence is in despair about her ability to finish the last scenes of the romance. Nothing rings true, but then tragedy interrupts and she is called home to Mairmont to bury her father. Suddenly, her deadline falls into the background.

Florence has a strict policy of ignoring ghosts, but once back at her family’s funeral home she sees a familiar shape. No, it’s not her father. That actually would be a bit of a relief while she is under the weight of grief missing him. It’s Ben Andor. Her editor is ghostly, and no longer in New York City, but in Florence’s southern hometown.

No spoilers here. All of this is pretty much covered in the jacket copy or the first chapters. Florence has several friends and family members who might be seen as a bit stereotypical, but mostly likeable. Reconnecting with her family and trying to carry out her father’s final wishes keep Florence busy, from breakfasts at Waffle House to the cemetery where she is definitely not supposed to be walking at night. And then there is Ben, who fades in and out of her vision with stunning regularity, who is turning out to be much kinder and relatable than he appeared in his New York office. Could it be that Florence is starting to believe in love again, with a ghost?

Before starting this review of The Dead Romantics, I made the mistake of checking Goodreads. It seems that readers either love this book, or hate it with a fiery passion. The first negative review was funny though, if you like the sort of review that rips every chapter apart with the kind of detail that tells you the reviewer paid a whole lot of attention to a book that they then claimed not to like.

I have enjoyed several of Ashley Poston’s books. She has written the Once Upon a Con young adult series, including Geekerella, The Princess and the Fangirl, and Bookish and the Beast. Also The Seven Year Slip, which I reviewed a few months ago. The Dead Romantics was Poston’s first foray into adult fiction. You definitely have to suspend your disbelief to fully enjoy Poston’s writing, but I have found it fun and worth my reading time.

P.S. I do have one issue with this book that cannot be overlooked. At one point in the days before the father’s funeral, the family goes out to the cemetery and takes great joy in scrubbing and power washing the headstones. If that was any kind of historic cemetery—which was implied—power washing would likely disintegrate the older stones. The proper tools and cleaning supplies, maybe. But not a power washer. Also, while you’re grieving and preparing a family member’s funeral? That was just a bit beyond my ability to believe.

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