Animation director and recent-ish widow relocates for a contract job at an Irish animation study to run away from her grief. Leaving Texas behind is difficult, but Lark Thompson is immediately charmed by Galway and her sparse sublet. She also believes the home next door is a B&B, but when she accidentally receives a package for the business and it turns out to be an order of ... body bags, Lark discovers her neighbors is actually just neighbor. and he's a mortician. and the house is a funeral home.

Callum Flannelly is used to being misjudged, both in his profession and by his romantic interests, so he isn't surprised when Lark at first expresses horror that he's her neighbor, but is shocked when they immediately strike up a friendship and she quickly finds the value in his work...and in him. Callum also needs a wife in order to keep his family's business and legacy out of the clutches of his terrible absentee father, but Lark only seems to be interested in helping him date other women.

What follows is a lovely romance that made me giggle and made me swoon a whole lot. this is a truly nice debut, and i so appreciated the author's content notes in the front matter. Just because some of the topics were heavy, they didn't detract from the romance itself. I thought grief, death, and love were all tenderly handled. PLUS Callum's demi-sexuality, his stutter, and Lark's grief.

What kept me from giving this solid debut five stars was the sub plot about Lark's toxic coworker. While realistic (shitty men keep being shitty), it didn't feel necessary to the story when the need for more than one reason for Lark not to stay in Ireland could have just ... not been this jerk. Sadly, sexual harassment and intellectual theft and micro aggressions are all too real. I just felt bad for Lark having so much to deal with (however realistic it was).

Other than that, I loved, and will be back for more from the author.

content notes are included in the front matter of this book, provided by the author.