The Dead Romantics

By: Ashley Poston

Narrated by: Eileen Stevens

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK ∙ A disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2022

"I LOVED this book! . . . Funny, breathtaking, hopeful, and dreamy.”—Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.

When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won't give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.

For ten years, she's run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.

Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.

Romance is most certainly dead . . . but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

"One of the Summer's Hottest Reads"—Entertainment Weekly

©2022 Ashley Poston (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“It’s ‘While You Were Sleeping’ meets ‘Six Feet Under,’ and I need to yell to everyone about how good it is…The result is an antidote for despair, a romance that is frank about the fact that life ends and time marches on but that nevertheless insists: We aren’t a gothic horror novel. We’re a love story. This is a book to make you laugh during the funeral scene and cry when the dance party begins."—The New York Times

“The Dead Romantics is a lyrical masterpiece of a book that's both cozy and impactful in the way it deals with grief.” —People

“We could all use a good summer ghost story, and you can't get much better than Ashley Poston's adult fiction debut.”—Entertainment Weekly

The Book I Didn’t Know I Needed

This book is just so darn good. It is a little silly, a little sappy, a little sad, a lot of dark humor—all wrapped up in a beautifully written package with words penned with love. I had no idea how badly I needed this book. Smiles and tears and out loud laughs. It is absolutely lovely. A gift for the soul.

Chock full of cliches and predictable characters

I wouldn't have finished this except that it's our book club selection. Several of the members raved that they really enjoyed the book but I strongly disliked it. The characters are predictable personas, including the main character who is insufferably insecure and seemingly incapable of trusting any thought or feeling she has. I wanted to slap her or shake her and tell her to quit whining and grow up.The setting is cheesey, the family strife is lame, even the grief is surface level. It was just not my cup of tea.

Such a sweet story

This book was not at all something I’d normally read, nor was it was I expected it to be based on the description. It was such a sweet story of love in many forms. I cried… a lot, but I couldn’t put it down.

Happy Feelings

I loved this audiobook. Narration is great. Characters real and dinamic. I recommend if you need a lift you should listen to this audiobook.

Fantastic Performance!

I wasn't sure how we were going to get to a happy ending, and I'm very glad we did!

The narration was fantastic! It really added to the story.

spoooopy and cute

love the nods to romcoms like "I'm not exception I'm the rule", "I'm looking for cheesy in my life" etc etc. it was very cute and the narrator did a great job. :)
(was my first audio book to have steamy scenes so I skipped em tbh) but! it was a heart warming and poetic romance <3

Excellent

Couldn't put it down, finished listening in one day! Solid story, with relatable characters.

The ending saves it

This wasn’t badly written but wasn’t my cup of tea. Also, first use of gender neutral pronouns I’ve seen in fiction which was interesting.

Maybe Romance isn’t dead after all…

Almost had an anxiety attack once I realized she was going to fall in love with a ghost. Being the realest that I am, I wondered how that was going to work because it would only end up one way… and it didn’t look like a good one. However, I didn’t give up listening to the audio book and I freaking loved it! Definitely relatable if you’ve had your heart broken a couple of times and then there’s that last heartbreak that changes you. Erasing any hope in love which, this author knows how to convey. Recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a good, funny romance book.

Not my typical book, happy I branched out

I was hesitant when I begin this book but got hooked after only a couple of chapters. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up loving it. It landed in my top five for 2022!