4.5 stars rounded up!
Thank you, NetGalley & Caitlin Moss, for the eARC of Mourner For Hire! 🪦👻❤️‍🔥

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ . 5 / 5
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️ . 5 / 5

When I saw the cover and title of this book, I was immediately intrigued. I’m so ecstatic that I was able to receive an eARC of this unique story!

This story involves a slow burn small-town romance that is also strangers-to-crushes-to-enemies-to-lovers. 🙂‍↕️ This book somehow made me emotional and made me giggle all at the same time. It’s witty, flirty, and heartbreaking (in a good way?).

I didn’t expect the quirky twist on the paranormal aspect of the novel, but I’m pleasantly surprised! It was comedic, original, but also devastatingly healing in a way. ❤️‍🩹

I recognized some of the remarks in the story from the internet. For example, there’s a meme I once saw that said something along the lines of, “when I pass away, everyone must sleep at the graveyard. Y’all can’t leave me alone with people I don’t know”. Well, without giving too much away, one of her clients requested that. Could be a coincidence, of course! Another example; “is _____ in the room with us?”. If you’re online in 2025, you’ll probably know the references too. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or disliked it!

Overall, this book is so much more than just a spicy and beachy rom-com. There’s many layers I didn’t expect to peel through. From grief, to comedy, and even to home renovations! 🤭 I loved this book and as a weird girl myself, I loved the FMC. ❤️

I adored this! I love a rom com that is more.. and that is what this is. It has more depth and heart and humor. Vada and Dominick’s chemistry was great. The banter was crackling. I loved how quirky she was. And some of the funeral scenes had me cackling. Go read it!

Mourner for Hire made me laugh out loud so many times and it made me cry! It is an amazing balance between a rom-com and a tear-jerker.

Vada has an interesting job. She is hired by people to perform a service after they die. It could be to tell a certain story at their funeral, or to stand mysteriously to the side at the funeral to create intrigue. She is a beautifully written, well rounded character.

Dominic is a bartender who cut his dreams short to be with his mom while she battles cancer. After Vada gets hired by Dominic’s mom life gets messy. They have amazing banter and once they get together are super sweet.

I really loved reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves emotional romances or romcoms!

Thank you to Caitlin Moss and NetGalley for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest and timely review!

loved this paranormal romance of a mourner for hire and ends up falling in love with the son of someone she mourns. she has a different job and loves doing her job. Loved her friend and hope to see her friend with a romance. loved dunner and vada and that they fell in love.

I rated this 4 stars!!
Below is a snipet of my IG review:

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘝𝘢𝘥𝘢, 𝘢 '𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘳𝘦' 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘋𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤 (𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳).

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 '𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘳𝘦', 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬? 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘝𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 - 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯-𝘵𝘰-𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴.

𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘨. 𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥.

𝘝𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘋𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 (𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯... 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘝𝘢𝘥𝘢.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 300 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵, 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘺.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤'𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵.

I adored this. Thank you Caitlin for giving me the chance to read this!

I really loved Vada and Anabelle's relationship and how it blossomed after death and once Vada was older compared to her eight year-old self. BUT THEN SHE REMEMEBERED ANABELLE and I wanted to cry. It was beautiful and so sad that she didnt get to spend more time with her whilst she was alive.

The ending was wonderful. I was engaged from start to finish and I just thought the whole concept was done really well.

I did want to see Connor's reaction to them getting together though? I think he just got forgotten about...

Okay when I read the summary for this book I was intrigued. I devoured this book two days, it had me in all the emotions happy, sad, and angry. Vada Daughtery is one heck of a main character, I was completely hooked from chapter one. The sense of feeling lost was seeping through the pages. Her complex character was everything I wanted and more. I feel in love with the story & what a unique concept mourner for hire a crazy concept that just worked it shows so many emotional layers. And Dominic Dunne made me feel everything he was going though. I will absolutely be reading more books by Caitlin Moss, incredible writing style and raw emotion. All I can say is I can’t recommend this book enough 5 stars!!!!!!!

This book was great! I really enjoyed the book from the beginning. It was a unique story. There was the right amount of comedy to keep it light with a serious premise.

I absolutely loved this so much. I was literally cheesing so hard, and finding my self laughing out loud and swooning. It had the perfect mix of angst, sweetness, humor, and spice. A easy 5 star read.

This is my favorite rom com I’ve read this year. Hands down. As a death care worker, this scratched an itch I didn’t know I had.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

I went into this expecting a fun dark romcom but also somehow cozy, and it was, but it was also so much more. The original meet cute, turned enemies to lovers between Vada and Dominic was done so well, and the ghostly meddling/matchmaking of his mom Annabelle made for some of the more hilarious moments. But it’s also about two people who have both lost parents, and are dealing with grief, childhood trauma and in Vada’s case memory loss, and how they heal on their own and by trusting each other and letting someone else in. These topics were handled with care and a sensitivity that gives you an emotional understanding and depth, and the story leaves you with a feeling of being home.

This book was a fun read! It was cute and unique. I was hooked from the first page. The twists and truths in this book I never saw coming.

This is the first book I have read from this author and I’m excited to read her other works. Mourner for Hire has such an offbeat premise that really works. The writing is good, the main characters present as authentic and there is a good cast of characters. Do heed the trigger warnings!

Recommend!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this book! Definitely want to buy a copy when it is released. This book is for those who likes a small town, slow burn romance with a lot of banter, fall town vibes and a hint of magical realism. I also really enjoyed that the book has two POV’s.

The book talks a lot about grief and regrets and really made me think about life and all the people around me. At the same time there were some funny moments, and I liked reading the chapters when the main character Vada was working as a «mourner for hire».
This book deserves a 5 ⭐️

Mourner for Hire by new to this reader Caitlin Moss, is romance with a definite twist. Vada is a professional mourner, hired by someone before they pass and given explicit instructions on how to act at the funeral. Annabelle Dunne has tasked Vada with redecorating an old beach cottage in the town where Vada was born, but has no memories of. Actually, Annabelle has sent Vada on a quest to find…something she will know when she finds it. Annabelle’s son is not so keen on having Vada in town, much less on her being in his mother’s cottage. Ms. Moss has written a lovely story about two people trying to find their proper place. Her prose is descriptive and she has a few surprises for both her readers and her characters. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

What a fun read! I laughed, I cried, I even snorted! I loved the concept of the book, and it reads so quickly! I didn’t want to put the book down, so there were several late nights! Vada and Dominic/Dunner were a great couple. I loved that Vada gave as good as she got, and wasn’t ashamed of her career. And Annabelle was a hoot. If you want a fast read, fun, sad and crazy book, please check this one out!

Mourner for Hire by Caitlin Moss was such a quirky, heartfelt surprise. Vada’s job as a professional mourner? Totally unique—and kind of awesome to see someone making peace with death in such an unconventional way. When she crosses paths with Dominic, the bartender, and then finds out she’s inherited part of his mom’s estate? Drama and feels instantly. Their chemistry mixed with the ghostly, mysterious vibe kept me hooked.

The story balances grief and humor perfectly—Vada’s resilience and wit made the darker moments hit without feeling heavy. It’s got that vibe of finding connection and meaning in unexpected places, plus a sprinkle of supernatural that just adds the right amount of intrigue. Honestly, this one felt like the perfect blend of sweet, spooky, and real. Can’t wait for it to drop!

4.5⭐️ — Unexpectedly Heartfelt and Addictive

I don’t normally read paranormal romance, but the cover and description gave me a feeling about this one—and I was right. I got sucked in from the beginning and read it in one sitting.

Vada is a loner with a complicated past and a unique job: she helps people plan exactly what happens at their funerals. When a detailed request pulls her back to the coastal town she left as a child, she’s forced to confront old memories and a new complication—Dunner, the son of her latest client, and someone she had an unexpected connection with a year ago.

Things get even stranger when Vada starts seeing the ghost of Dunner’s mother, who insists she follow the funeral plans to the letter. The town thinks she’s a fraud, Dunner doesn’t know what to believe, and Vada’s just trying to do right by everyone while piecing together the past she forgot.

Atmospheric, emotional, and just the right touch of eerie. Highly recommend—even if paranormal romance isn’t usually your thing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Caitlin Moss for this free advanced copy. I am reviewing voluntarily.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It started out a tad morbid with a hint of dark comedy before easing into romcom coziness. It’s not a typical story of haunting or forced proximity. The MMC made me swoon at the beginning and then he lost me somewhere in the middle. There’s mild bullying but the MMC is too nice to be committed to it. The side characters saved the day here. There are two brief open door scenes. The reveal at the end isn’t surprising but sweet and heartwarming nonetheless.

Thank you so much to Caitlin Moss and NetGalley for this ARC!

At first glance this is a charming small town romance set in a cozy beachfront community. However, the deeper you get into the story you realize it contains so much more. While I wouldn’t go as far as to label it a dark romantic comedy it doesn’t completely fit in the cozy realm either.

We follow Vada, a professional mourner for hire, who first meets Dominic at his bar and later takes on his mother, Annabelle, as a client. After some hesitation, Vada agrees to Annabelle’s bizarre final wishes, attend her funeral, renovate her beach house, throw a celebration of life party, and track down a mysterious “it.”

Fast forward nine months, Annabelle has passed away, and Vada returns to town to fulfill their agreement. What she doesn't expect is Dominic’s reaction. Not only is he unhappy to see her again, he despises her. He’s determined to make her life miserable and run her out of town. Unfortunately for Vada, leaving isn’t an option, because Annabelle’s ghost is now haunting her and she’s not letting Vada out of their deal.

This book has all the cozy tropes you’d expect from a heartwarming Hallmark, but with slightly higher emotional stakes. It touches on themes like childhood trauma, memory loss, death, and grief, yet still manages to maintain that comforting, feel good tone in the end.

Overall this is a fun, cozy fall read with an atmospheric setting, solid tension, and just a touch of spookiness. Perfect for fans of the Dream Harbor series or anyone who wants a little grit with their fluff. Don’t go in expecting literary perfection but if you’re here for the vibes, you’ll get them. 🍂 🪦 👻 (

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What I Liked:
🍂 The Vibes!
This book oozes small town charm. I’m talking farmers markets, close knit community, fall festivals, and vivid food descriptions. The author paints such a delicious picture of the dishes that I was practically drooling. I need an apple cider donut and a “Vada” cocktail stat!
🍂 The Darker Undertones
While it’s not a true “cozy,” the book flirts with that genre while introducing heavier themes like memory loss, trauma, and death. Moss handles these topics delicately, adding just enough emotional depth without sacrificing the overall feel good tone. I appreciated that balance.
🍂 The Romance
Classic enemies to lovers tension! While it didn’t break any new ground, the chemistry between Vada and Dominic sizzled. That electric push and pull made for an enjoyable ride.

What I Didn’t Like:
🍂 Inconsistencies
There were noticeable errors, clothing mysteriously changing that didn’t make sense, timeline issues, etc. They didn’t ruin the book, but they did pull me out of the story a few times and affected my rating.
🍂 Trigger Warnings
I think this book should include a content warning for disordered eating. The main character clearly has some unhealthy eating behaviors that are never acknowledged or addressed. It felt like an oversight on the author’s part.

I thoroughly enjoyed this emotional and poignant romance. We follow Vada, a professional mourner-for-hire, as she travels to her childhood hometown to meet a client. Vada has a type of amnesia that affects her childhood memories since the age of 8 after the tragic death of her mother so although Shellport is her hometown, she doesn’t have any real memories of it. On her way to meet the client she takes refuge from a traffic jam at the local bar and meets Dunner (a nickname for the MMC, Dominic) and they get on really well. These scenes were really lovely and I liked getting to know them better. After this there’s some plot twists and reveals so I spoil any of that but I will say that I loved how it all turned out and it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I did question some of the attitude of both Vada and Dominic but it was understandable for the most part. I loved the side characters and the feel of Shellport as a whole.

A great standalone romance that examines grief and death in a sensitive manner, coupled with humorous moments and a larger than life side character ghost that I could’ve read more about.