After being deep in fantasy, this quirky dark rom-com was exactly the mood switch I needed!!

Vada is a professional mourner (yes, someone you hire to cry at funerals), and she’s both hilarious and heartbreakingly real as she spins stories for a living. But when her path crosses with Dominic, whose mom she’s mourning- things go wild.

There’s ghostly humor, enemies-to-lovers tension, and a slow-burn romance with feels and feels. I laughed, I teared up, and that emotional plot twist snatched me back in  . If you want something fresh, fun, and full of heart, grab this one for fall vibes and ghostly romance magic. 📚✨

I loved how the author was able to create instant chemistry and attraction between our main characters… and then was able to turn it on a dime to hatred. Which we all know enemies to lovers is a glorious thing so lovers to enemies back to lovers was EVEN BETTER. I was hooked page one - this book starts off with a bang and will have your eyes bulging out just like our FMC’s, Vada, at the crazy scenario she finds herself in. I really love how comedic her job initially comes across… but the author does such an amazing job of unraveling the layers to Vada and her respect, compassion, and love for those who are going to or who have passed. My heart ached for our MMC, Dominic, as he grieved the loss of his mom - as someone who recently lost her mom this book really touched me. I also fell head over heels in love with Annabelle… we could not have asked for a more perfect pot stirrer. The added mystery and suspense due to Vadas missing memories was the cherry on top…. I really am amazed at the depth this story has! I honestly am not sure I will ever forget this story as it was just so unique and I’ve never read anything like it.

The one SMALL criticism I had is that I found it hard at times to follow who was talking… there were a few times I had to back track and really closely pay attention to figure out who said what.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book - all thoughts and opinions are my honest review.

I loved this book. It’s a bit ridiculous but in the best way.

I honestly don’t really have the words to describe this book. It’s witty and funny, full of hate, love, and grief. It took a lot of unexpected turns and it had a ghost.

Vada is a mourner for hire. She doesn’t have a lot of memories, she doesn’t have a lot of family, but she does have a business where she lets people hire her before they die to show up at their funeral or after their death in some capacity to meet a need. Many of these are funny, full of revenge, but some are wholesome and full of light and love. I guess you never know what you’ll need after death.

When hired by Annabelle in vadas hometown she doesn’t remember, Vada doesn’t expect her son, Dominic, to be a one night stand (ish?) from when she was in town meeting Annabelle before her death. They have crazy chemistry but he is mourning his mom and hates her for being there. However his mom Annabelle seems to be pulling some strings from beyond the grave and maybe memories and love will be found!

A very funny, very emotional, paranormal romance that I absolutely adored!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and Caitlin Moss for the ARC!

I have to say this was fantastic. There was the perfect balance of humor while depicting grief and everything that comes with it. It was at times messy, but hey that’s what grief is.

I typically do not enjoy when the MMC and FMC meet immediately. However with this, it worked. And boy did it work well. Vada being a “mourner for hire” was so unique and I loved hearing all of the different stories of her jobs and the people who hired her. I loved the connection between Vada and the MMC Dominic but I have to admit I enjoyed the relationship between Vada and Dominic’s mother (a hilarious, endearing and often cryptic ghost) even MORE. Their banter had me cackling.

The setting was a perfect little coastal small town with cute side characters. I can picture it clearly in my mind and it’s a setting that will stick with me. There was a male side character in the town with a brief (kinda sorta romantic but not really) storyline involving Vada and I didn’t much care for him. I feel like it could’ve been left out and the story still would’ve been complete. I didn’t think it added anything to Vada’s character or the romance between Vada and Dominic.

Dominic was an interesting main character. I can see how readers may think he comes off as harsh and mean but I reminded myself while reading that he just lost his mother. As someone who is currently grieving the loss of a parent, this hit the mark without being too intense, all while making me laugh along the way. Grief is incredibly hard to depict within a character. I’m impressed with how it was shown that Dominic was a very different person when Vada first met him compared to after his mother died but still remained good at his core.

Overall this was such a fun and emotional read! Is it too late to switch careers to become a mourner for hire myself!?

I really enjoyed Mourner for hire. Very funny and lighthearted. I was screaming stop being mean to each other you like each other! I liked the dark and paranormal elements. 5/5 for me.

4.25
Things I liked:
- the overall plot of the book
-the adjectives and the visuals, I felt like I was there.
-overall, most of the characters
-the way death was viewed and discussed

Things I didn’t:
- I felt that Dominic was mean just a little too long and the romance portion was a little too short. I understood the purpose of Dominic have the feelings he did but I would of liked that to be resolved a little quicker
- while I also understood the purpose of Connor I wish as a character he was a little different. I never could figure out why no one like Connor
- I also feel both of their exes stories should have been dove into more
- the last chapter felt a tad rushed where the rest of the book seemed very thought out

But I really did enjoy this book! As someone that lost their parent to cancer I very much related and thought it was a great story! I would read again.


Thanks to NetGalley and the author for allowed me an eArc

Mourner for Hire by Caitlin Moss a review:

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Rating: 3.75 stars.

Premise:
Follows Vada who is a professional mourner getting paid to cry or even spread gossip at funerals all in an attempt to bury her past and forget about it. She meets Dominic at a bar and ends up at a funeral where he is, he hates her job. They banter, it’s dramatic and there is eventually romance.

Characters:
Very lovable and well developed/thought out. The characters are complex and multilayered. The relationships between the characters (especially the daughter/son - mother relationships) were beautifully written and it felt like you could really get to know them. The pain they went through can be felt by the reader vividly.

However, Dominic was a bit too harsh and rude for me. I understand he was grieving, but you can’t use trauma as an excuse for being a trash person. It took me out of the experience a little bit because of how rude he was.

Plot:
I really enjoyed the plot to this. The concept from the start was fascinating and it made me want to delve into why they both ended up with their respective careers - especially Dominic who was on the path to being a world class doctor. It is an emotional tear-jerker at times but it’s beautifully balanced out with the romance and comedy aspect.

Writing style:
The writing was a perfect balance between being a romcom and being an emotional teary read. It blended amazingly together. It was at the right pace in developing the relationships.

Final thoughts:
If you’re looking for a darker romcom book this one could be for you. It held quite an emotional depth to it - content warnings include grief and death of a parent.

Book expected to be published on the 9th September 2025!

This quirky little story really brought the feels in the last few chapters. I'm not one to easily cry when reading books but this one actually got some tears flowing.

Vada is a Mourner for Hire; that is, she meets with her clients weeks/months/some times years before they die to go over a contract that she will honor their special request at their funeral. Cheating husband? Mysterious woman shows up at the service. Feuding family members? Boom! Vada shows up to help show them there's more to life than bickering.

On her way to one funeral, Vada is stuck in hours long traffic, so she pulls over to an out-of-the-way bar. She hits it off with the barkeep, Dunner. They have a pleasant not-a-one-night-stand.

Nearly one year later, one of Vada's clients, Annabelle, dies and the Mourner contract asks Vada to watch over Annabelle's son and renovate her beach cottage. A much bigger ask than Vada's ever had before!

I was a little worried in the first chapter that our mmc was terminally ill or that he is a ghost. Turns out he's Donner, aka Annabelle's son, Dominic.

The story is enemies-to-lovers with some supernatural elements. I appreciated the no 3rd act break up, especially since it took over half of the story for them to finally FINALLY become lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book for my unbiased review.

‘This is my job. I have turned a passion into an income, and you cannot fault me for that. It doesn’t make it less good or less worthy. It doesn’t make it less meaningful, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I care less about the people I do it for, just because they pay me.’

Okay, this was a really pleasant surprise. I totally picked this on a whim because the cover was charming and the idea of a ‘mourner for hire’ was really unique. And honestly, I’m really glad I gave it a chance. Vada is a great character. She’s completely blunt and honest and heartfelt and kind. She tells people when they hurt her feelings and when she cares about them. There were so many moments - I’ve seen a lot of romcoms, so I was expecting it - where I thought her conflicts with Dominic might have lead to a miscommunication or swallowed feelings or whatever, but she was so forthright with him. I really appreciated that.

Dominic, I struggled with more. He was really lovely at the start, and I did like him overall as a character, but I felt like there were a lot of moments where he was kind of ‘mad for the sake of being mad’. That said, while it could have felt contrived and just to set up conflict between them, it did work insofar as people do act irrationally and lash out when they’re grieving. So while he did drive me a bit bonkers here and there with the way he reacted to Vada - who was nothing but honest and kind and patient with him - I was also able to go with the flow of the plot because it didn’t just feel like conflict for conflict’s sake. More that he needed someone to be angry with after his mother passed and Vada was an easy target for that anger and grief. So, all that’s to say that despite the fact that he could be a bit frustrating at times with his insistence on doubting Vada’s motives, he didn’t cross the line into unlikeable.

I will say I totally did NOT seeing the paranormal side of this coming at all. (I’ve since looked at the synopsis - which I did not read all of before diving in - and it’s literally right there, so egg on my face. But still!) It was a twist I really liked, too! I wasn’t sure where the story was going to take it, but at the end of the book I had an ‘Ahhh, okay, I like that’ moment. So, hats off to the author on that front!

Overall, this is a really solid romance novel about grief, death, life and forgiving yourself. I’m definitely going to check out more from Caitlin Moss because this was a lovely surprise of a novel.

I wasn’t sure about the premise of this book, as I’m going through a period of grief; but I’m so glad I gave it a shot. It’s witty, sweet, morbid and weird, but the good kind of weird. It’s sweet and sad, it’s funny and heartbreaking, it’s real and fiction all at once. I loved the way the story unfolded. It was the right amount of detail. A teeny bit of spice, but lots of romance. I love love and this is one for the lovers of love. I recommend.

I LOVED this book! It was a cute and sweet rom com that also hit on the heavy themes of grief and loss. The character banter was also top notch.

This is THE spooky, quirky and fun romance for the fall season!

Caitlin Moss ate with this book and left zero crumbs. This slightly paranormal, friends to strangers to almost lovers to enemies to lovers book was the best ARC I've been lucky enough to read to date.

I usually take screenshots of things to edit/adjust to make it a five star read, and I had zero screenshots at the end of this book. No notes and I inhaled it within a day. It was just that good.

Okay enough of my obvious praise, go place your pre-order, library hold or whatever to read this now!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This has been hands down one of my favorite books that I have read so far this year and I cannot stop singing it's praises or recommending it to my friends and family.

I absolutely loved Vada and thought that it was such an interesting and fresh idea for her to be a mourner for hire. She took such care in making sure each of her clients had their final wishes carried out, no matter how weird or outlandish they seemed and no matter how long after the first meeting their death happened.

Dunner was such an interesting counterpart to Vada and I thought his character was so well done with how much he was struggling to reconcile that the woman he had met and fallen for almost a year prior was now hired by his mother, Annabelle, for her funeral. He wanted so badly to stay mad at her throughout the book, despite how she continued to slowly chip away at his sharp edges.

I also loved that Vada was getting to know his mom while also getting to know her own past. She was finally able to get answers she didn't know she needed and the closure she already thought she had.

This book made me feel a vast array of emotions and had me laughing out loud in some parts or balling my eyes out in others. I would give this a million stars if I could and cannot wait to purchase a physical copy when it's released.

⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was adorable. At first I thought it was going to be insta-love but it turned out to be so much more. Grief and all its stages. Acceptance. And missing loved ones.
I absolutely adored this book and I am so thankful to NetGalley for sending me the ARC. Please go read this book when it releases. 🧡

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you like your romcoms on the darker side with just as much emotional depth as banter and chemistry, this might just be the book for you.

Vada is a mourner for hire. If you need someone to come to your funeral to cry, share memories, reveal a cheating spouse, or even stand mysteriously behind a tree in a black veil, she’s your girl. Her newest client has a very unique request that goes outside of Vada’s normal job description. Remodel my beach house along with a list of other requests once I’m gone. Only problem is the client’s son Dominic who thinks she’s a fraud and doesn’t want her in his mom’s beach house. I loved this book so much and will definitely keep an eye out for more from the author. 4.5 stars rounded up.

This was a quirky, emotional slow-burn romance with a lot of heart. The idea of a professional mourner pulled me in right away, and I liked how the story explored grief and love in such a thoughtful way. Vada and Dominic were both complex and felt real, and their enemies-to-lovers tension had me hooked. Some parts dragged a little, but the ending was so satisfying that I didn’t mind. A perfect book to curl up with on a quiet weekend.

3⭐

The last 1/3 of this book was absolute perfection. I laughed, cried, swooned and felt pretty much every emotion in between. It was beautifully written, profound, heartwarming and heartbreaking. However, the first 2/3s of the book were not as good for me. The pacing felt off (it was VERY slow burn) and parts felt quite repetitive.

Mourner for Hire follows Vada, a mourner for hire. She completes client's requests after they pass away (whether this is crying at their funeral or outing their surviving family members' betrayals). On her way to visit Annabelle, her latest client, she gets stuck in traffic and decides to pull in to a local bar. There she meets Dominic (Dunner) Dunne. After a nearly one night stand, they part ways and expect to never meet again. Until Annabelle passes away, and she learns that she was Dunner's mother. Annabelle's unusual requests lead her to stay in Dunner's town (which is her hometown) whilst navigating a love(ish) - hate relationship with Dunner. Until they realise that maybe the love outweighs the hate...?

The start of this book was really solid. Unique, funny, comfy, then it got a little too slow and repetitive for me. Honestly, sadly, this book was nearly a DNF for me at around 50%. However, I'm really glad I persevered for the ending alone. To me, the start of the book felt very repetitive and long. The dual narrative often just told the same scene again from the other's perspective (but it was basically just hatred all round so not necessarily different enough to warrant this in my eyes) and phrases like 'I just want her to leave town' or 'I just want to leave town' were used far too much for me. it also felt like suddenly Dunner flipped a switch, forgave her, understood her job and all his other issues with her were iron out in the blink of an eye which felt quite jarring. It felt like the start of the book could've been much shorter and the ending would've still had the same impact.

That being said, the ending was perfection. I don't want to spoil it for future readers but I really loved it and flew through it in 2 sittings (despite the rest of the book taking over a week to read).

The book (especially the ending) explores deep topics well. Such as grief, death of a parent (and both parents), trauma and mental health. For me, it was just a pacing issue. That being said, I would recommend the book purely for it's ending if you like a slow burn romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Caitlin Moss for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book. 🖤👻🏡

Adorable cozy romance with some humor and ghosts tied in. Vada is the kinda girl I'd want as my best friend. I loved watching her stand her ground and defend herself wheenmoody Dominic is pushing her buttons. They manage to figure it all out, even Vada's lost memories surface. Would 100% recommend.

I can see how many people would love this book, but It was not for me, This was on me but I did not realize Dominic's mother passes of cancer.. Some of the quotes about grief were hard hitting and difficult to digest. .I also found some of the time jumps to be a little clunky. While I liked the main characters individually I was not buying the relationship aspect. Overall 3 stars.

This was just a fun, enjoyable story with a little bit of haunting, a slightly unconventional job, and a very happy ending. Vada is a professional mourner for hire and is on the way to meet a client when she makes a pit stop at the local bar... cue the sexy bartender/bar owner. After an interesting night, she leaves to meet her client and and the night is just a pleasant memory... Until her client passes away and she has to attend her funeral. This is where the chaotic fun, lust/hate relationship continues with our two main characters.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the banter of all of the secondary characters. I just really like good banter and side characters, I think.

Thanks to netgalley for the arc.