I'll start off by saying this was a good book and it was an enjoyable, engaging read. I do have a couple of small complaints but overall I liked it. My first complaint, and it's definitely my own fault for not reading the synopsis close enough, but I'm not a huge fan of books with a ghost/spirit as a character. Annabelle being part of the bigger story was somewhat of a drag for me but if you don't mind ghosts as characters, then this will not bother you. My second main complaint was that the "enemies" to lovers lasted a bit too long for me. Dominic spent so much time hating on Vada that I started to get sick of it after a while and then he does a complete 180 in record time. That didn't sit well with me. And to say "enemies" is a bit strong and I would say more dislike than anything.

Finally, this book is marketed as dark romantic comedy and I feel that is a bit of a misnomer in a sense. When books are marketed as dark, my mind goes in another direction and this book struck me as a rom com with death, mourning and grieving being a prominent part of the story and that doesn't mean dark to me. Although the definition of dark comedy (style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss i.e. death) does fit this book, when I'm thinking of dark fiction I don't always think of books like this. So please, take my opinions with a grain of salt!

Anyway, like I said, I did enjoy this book and it was a fun little read.

Thank you NetGalley and the author, Caitlin Moss for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was BRILLIANT!! Like everything Caitlin writes. It was a very fun and entertaining read. It was quirky, a very original storyline, captivating and quite thought provoking. It’s a romantic comedy-slightly on the dark (humor) side. I loved this book SO much. Definitely will be telling everyone to read it.

4.5/5
I had to figure out how to create a NetGalley account when Caitlin announced she’d be sending out ARCs. I started reading her work back in 2023, and she’s been one of my favorite discoveries ever since. Whenever I get the chance, I always mention how much I adore her writing style.

Now, about the story: I had never read a book like this before. The premise is super original and fun. I didn’t give it 5 stars because there were moments when I wasn’t a fan of Dominic’s behavior (even though, deep down, I understand why he reacted that way). Still, I absolutely loved Vada, their relationship, and the other characters.

When I saw the number of chapters, I was a little surprised, but it reads super quickly and is a total joy. Definitely 100% recommended.

Just like Taylor Swift has a song for every situation, Caitlin has a book for every season of the year.

<b>this book was a masterpiece
<i></u>Loud Out Loud funny, embrace your weirdness ♥️</b></i></u>

if you love rom-com with paranormal elements, this book is definitely for you. I don't think I've ever read this type of book, and im so happy I got the opportunity to read this. I will definitely be buying a copy when it comes out in September.

im sad that it's over it was sooo good. You have laughter, banter, hope, love, sadness, and anger. You feel all the emotions in this book. Pick this book up, and you will not be disappointed. <B>TRUST ME</B>

Thank you, Netgalley, Caitlin Moss, for providing me an Ebook ARC Copy of this masterpiece 🫶🏼 in exchange for my honest review.
mark <b><u>SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2025</U></B> and grab your copy of Mourner For Hire.

I know I choose the rating but it’s firmly in the middle for me; some aspects were SO GOOD-FIVE STAR, and some were just meh…

This story centers around a woman named Vada whose profession is a professional mourner… but not just any mourner, she specifically follows last wish requests from those departing in whatever fashion they want: drama, crying, a friend, anything (within reason) and she stumbles into her (long lost) home town. Of COURSE there’s a very hot, tattooed, golden boy bartender… and I will not be divulging any further for plot purposes. I really enjoyed both characters and their development over the book! Also, loved watching them fall in love.

That being said…

There were several moments of the book that I felt could be edited out, or rewritten as they didn’t move the storyline forward or provide any additional depth for the characters. The spice was kind of lacking, and at a few points I honestly was wondering if the two MCs were genuinely interested in each other…

A VERY solid three star read and thanks to NetGalley and the author, Caitlin Moss for the ARC!!

What a unique concept! I fell in love with Vada and her ability to preserve through all she’s been dealt in life. She found a way to cope, and then even stronger, she found a way to reimagine and reevaluate her coping skills when they were no longer serving her. The lovers to enemies to lovers was fantastic and believable. The humor and the grief were all expertly intertwined.

Mourner for hire is a fresh and interesting take on the enemies to lovers genre.
Vada Daughtry promises she’ll attend your funeral. For a fee, she’ll add a little mystery, right a wrong, or help you achieve a little mischief from beyond the grave. On the commute back from her latest job, she pulls over at a bar and stumbles into an almost-but-not-quite encounter with Dunner, the owner of the bar. Somethings are not meant to be…or are they? Because a year later, Vada turns up at the latest funeral, only to find out Dunner is the son of the deceased. Perhaps fate has intervened, except this time, he hates her and is determined to make her life hell.

I liked the originality of this plot. You can’t beat an enemies to lovers story and Mourner for Hire delivers exactly what it promises, plus all the charm of a small town romance and a mystery to unravel too. You’re guaranteed short, snappy chapters from the dual narratives, witty banter and a moderate amount of spice too. There’s a really good balance with the element of magical realism. It’s strange to say I wanted more funerals in the romance read, I know. However, the quirky professional mourner element is what made me request the book, and I couldn’t have done with more witty vignettes from Vada’s time at funerals.
Nevertheless, you’ll root for these characters and you’ll be satisfied by the ending.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Vada, a mourner for hire, gets a new client from the town where Vada lived until a tragic accident at eight uprooted her. While fulfilling her obligations, Vada finds a nemesis in her client’s sexy son.

I adore a good enemies-to-lovers romance and MOURNER FOR HIRE delivered. Both Vada and Dominic have solid character arcs. Their attraction to each other sizzles and the town and its residents (including ghostly Annabelle) are super fun.

Vada’s sad backstory, dark sense of humor, and her desire to help her clients rest in peace made her a fabulous heroine. Dominic’s baggage fueled the conflict.

I’m hoping that the author makes this a series with Vada’s best friend as the heroine of the next installment.

For me this book was a 4.5 star read, rounded up to 5.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to the author for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

I want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed this book! It is a small town romance surrounding Dominic and Vada who come together in his bar and are then reunited in a very unusual way. Vada is a mourner for hire, however, there is so much more to the job title than you would expect. She really does fulfill people’s last wishes.

This book is all things family, ghosts and finding yourself and was a very wholesome read.

I enjoyed the dynamic between the two main characters and the side characters added so much to the story, making you really route for them all the whole way through.

Thank you to Caitlin Moss and Net galley for the eARC.

One of my favourites to read. From the first chapter to the end, it got me hooked, i read the book in one setting. Vada and Dominic made me cried.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Haunting, Lyrical, and Fiercely Original

Mourner For Fire by Caitlin Moss is a beautifully written and emotionally intense debut that lingers long after the final page. Moss crafts a world that feels both mythic and intimate, blending grief, resilience, and transformation into a narrative that’s as poetic as it is powerful.

The prose is stunning—lyrical without being overdone—and the atmosphere is rich with mood and tension. The main character’s journey through loss and identity is handled with nuance and emotional depth, and the story has a quiet, simmering intensity that builds in a deeply satisfying way.

My only reason for holding back a fifth star is the pacing in the middle—it slows a bit, and there were moments where I wished for a little more momentum or clarity in the world-building. But overall, this is a bold and evocative book that marks Caitlin Moss as a writer to watch.

Highly recommended for readers who love character-driven speculative fiction with poetic language and emotional weight.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book might be the best thing I have ever read it had been feeling all the feels. From laughing out loud to crying and everything in between! The banter, the slow burn, the heartache! It’s all perfect, everything I could want in a book!

What a unique concept! I loved that Vada was a mourner for hire and her reasonings of being one. It was interesting every time we got a peek into her funeral jobs. Her relationship with Annabelle and the cottage was lovely as well as her growing relationship with the town and its people. I liked the suspenseful moments regarding her history with the town and the people in it. I loved the relationship between Vada and the mmc as well. I only wish that we got more of their relationship after they stopped fighting their attraction towards each other but I enjoyed the build up to it. Overall, this will be a fun fall read to get you into the season!

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭒ ⭒
3 stars


♰ This book was such a ride for me emotionally! starting off strong, nosediving hard, and then clawing its way back in the final act. I almost hated it. I almost loved it. In the end, I settled somewhere in between.



જ⁀➴ When I started reading, I actually liked it. The first few chapters? Super solid. The dynamic between Vada and Dominic when they first met had a charm to it, and I was invested. There was a nice undercurrent of humor, and the whole “mourner for hire” premise was fresh and interesting.

I was into it… until I wasn’t.

જ⁀➴ By 30% in, I realized Dominic is kind of a bitch. And honestly, that realization tanked my experience. I tried…like REALLY tried to keep reading without holding that grudge, but he just kept being INSUFFERABLE

જ⁀➴ I was 80% in and still side-eyeing everything he said and did. His entire thought process was just flawed. Like… he literally knew from his own dead mother that the people who are dying are the ones hiring Vada. Yet he’s out here accusing her of being a scammer and “feeding off the grieving”? Make it make sense.

જ⁀➴ Yes, the book tries to frame it as “he’s projecting his grief” but to me, that doesn’t cut it. I’m a firm believer that trauma doesn’t excuse you being a trash person to others. And he was trash to her consistently. Even the townspeople were like, bro, chill. That should say everything.

જ⁀➴ And Vada? Vada, girl. I liked her as a character, but I kept wishing she had more backbone. He was mean and disrespectful, and her response was basically “lol fuck off 😄.” Like, where’s the fire? It made me frustrated to see her endure that just because “his mom died.”

જ⁀➴ And don’t even get me started on when they had sex because the switch flipped right after that. Suddenly he understands her job. Suddenly he wants her to stay. Suddenly he’s all mushy and tender. Like… oh, so you had to sleep with her to start treating her like a human being? That’s what we’re doing now?



જ⁀➴ But then came the twist (the memory thing)and I was like, okay, okay. That moment made me stop and reassess. The emotional punch landed. The writing pulled through. And I remembered that I actually do like the humor, I like Vada, and the writing style is genuinely strong.

જ⁀➴ So in the end, I settled on 3 stars. It’s not a bad book. It just hit some wrong notes for me (mostly because of Dominic) But it is clever, well-written, and if you’re into complicated grief, weird jobs, and slow-burn healing, there’s something here for you. Just be prepared to really dislike the love interest before you can maybe tolerate him.


Thank you netgalley and Caitlin Moss for this arc. All thoughts are mine

This review contains minor spoilers - proceed with caution.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️

The premise of this novel was truly unique, and I was immediately intrigued. However, throughout this read I found myself wanting more focus on Vada’s peculiar career rather than spending the majority of the story centered around a grieving man who often directed his anger at the wrong person.

The first few chapters and the ending were definitely the highlights for me. They were charming, sweet, and heartfelt. I especially enjoyed the glimpses into the funerals; those scenes were thoughtful, surprisingly tender, and often laugh out loud funny.

The cycle of Dominic lashing out at Vada, followed by a friend or neighbor reminding him to stop, often citing his mom’s wishes, started to feel repetitive. While I understood the grief and internal conflict he was dealing with, the pattern played out several times with only slight variation, and it left me wishing for more growth or nuance in how those moments were handled. A bit more emotional accountability or refinement in the pacing could have made his arc more impactful.

That said, it was a quick, easy read with some sweet moments. Shellport itself had real charm, and I can absolutely see how readers will be drawn to its small-town warmth and quirky community.

Mourner For Hire is a dark romantic comedy that manages to be both sharp edged and tender hearted. The story blends grief, ghosts, and grudges with wit and slow burn romantic tension, all wrapped in the premise of a professional mourner with a murky past.

Vada is a paid mourner who makes a living fulfilling the dead’s wishes. With both a difficult past and her current profession, she’s learned to slip in and out of people’s lives with minimal emotional entanglement. That is until one twist of fate and one very persistent ghost turn her life upside down.

Dominic, the grumpy bartender with his own wounds, balances Vada perfectly. Their dynamic crackles with tension, resentment, and the kind of smoldering chemistry that makes enemies to lovers such a satisfying trope.

The ghostly presence of Annabelle Dunne, Dominic’s meddling mother who refuses to rest quietly, adds intrigue, humor, and heartache to the story.

Shellport, the PNW seaside town where much of the story unfolds, is richly drawn and full of charm and small town gossip, adding a cozy backdrop to the unfolding emotional chaos.

There’s humor and romance but also moments of vulnerability and insight about love, loss, and the strange ways people hold on to each other even after death. It’s both predictable and unexpected in just the right ways. Overall a very cozy and heartfelt read!

ARC provided by NetGalley

I was intrigued from the book based on the title and cover alone and then was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Something about the idea of crashing funerals and helping people get revenge from beyond the grave is iconic.

And that’s part of Vada’s job. She meets the deceased months or sometimes years before they go, and helps carry out their final wishes. Some of them are funny, such as causing drama at a their funeral, while others are oddly sweet and heartwarming. Despite not wanting to have a connection to those she helps, she seems to feel hard and get attached to the deceased.

Then there’s her client, Annabelle. She’s hilarious and manipulative in the best way. After Annabelle passes, she takes to haunting Vada and her take on being a ghost is pretty creative. Annabelle’s son, Dominic, is obviously grieving the loss of his mother and embodies what that can look like really well. And then he also has a sense of humor and exhibits some behaviors that definitely reflect being raised by someone like Annabelle.

The story is the right combination of being funny but making you feel. It’s light-hearted when needed and deep when necessary.

#arc

This review is so hard to write through my tears.

I had a feeling that this story would get me and it really truly did. Vada being a Mourner For Hire, is so crazy and outlandish, but it suits her perfectly. I swear she is my spirit animal in literary form. Although this story was pretty funny- Dom and Vada’s banter was literal perfection, it was also pretty tender and sad. Which I suppose can be expected from a book about death overall.

I really enjoyed everything about this book, but one of the most interesting aspects for me was Vada’s job. I feel like we really got to see so many different facets of death and how people handle it and what last wishes they hope to see fulfilled. I feel like Mourner For Hire is such a silly term, that when you see everything she does to ensure people’s last wishes are fulfilled- it feels like she does so much more than that.

Dominic, poor sweet Dominic. He doesn’t handle the loss of his mother well (most wouldn’t I’d imagine). But his arc is interesting and I enjoyed watching him and Vada fight each other off.

Be warned if you read this book, laughter and crying should be expected. Annabelle (our resident ghost) is a paranormal mastermind and the story is just so great. If you are looking for a romance with a bit of a bite, and a journey of self-discovery and remembrance- PLEASE pick up this book. You won’t regret it.

This review is so hard to write through my tears.

I had a feeling that this story would get me and it really truly did. Vada being a Mourner For Hire, is so crazy and outlandish, but it suits her perfectly. I swear she is my spirit animal in literary form. Although this story was pretty funny- Dom and Vada’s banter was literal perfection, it was also pretty tender and sad. Which I suppose can be expected from a book about death overall.

I really enjoyed everything about this book, but one of the most interesting aspects for me was Vada’s job. I feel like we really got to see so many different facets of death and how people handle it and what last wishes they hope to see fulfilled. I feel like Mourner For Hire is such a silly term, that when you see everything she does to ensure people’s last wishes are fulfilled- it feels like she does so much more than that.

Dominic, poor sweet Dominic. He doesn’t handle the loss of his mother well (most wouldn’t I’d imagine). But his arc is interesting and I enjoyed watching him and Vada fight each other off.

Be warned if you read this book, laughter and crying should be expected. Annabelle (our resident ghost) is a paranormal mastermind and the story is just so great. If you are looking for a romance with a bit of a bite, and a journey of self-discovery and remembrance- PLEASE pick up this book. You won’t regret it.

I can safely say I’ve never read a book like this, in the absolute best way possible. I was kicking my feet and giggling one page, and crying the next. Dominic is the best type of MMC, aka a grouchy bartender who’s a secret cinnamon roll softie, and he and Vada were so cute, even when they were verbally sparring (or getting the town involved in their feud). I had a blast with this book and will definitely be picking up more from this author!!