The Dead Romantics

by Ashley Poston

Hey there,

Welcome to my very first Tropes & Cheese newsletter! As promised, here is a book recommendation, complete with a few ideas to make your reading experience more immersive and enjoyable. Happy reading!

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Book: The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance

Spice Level: 🔥🔥

Content Warning: Death, Grief

Tropes: Small Town, Off-Limits Love

📚👻⚰️💐🪦

This was my first read of 2023 so I thought it was a fitting choice for my first newsletter of 2023!

The Dead Romantics is a charming story about a delightfully chaotic ghostwriter and daughter of an undertaker, Florence, and her way-too-hot-for-the-publishing-world editor, Benji. 

I didn’t know much going into this story, except that ghosts were involved. (I actually joined the waitlist for this book around Halloween and just got it… turns out I’m not the only one loving this book right now!)

I don’t want to give away too much because the way Ashley Poston expertly reveals more about Florence, her idyllic hometown, and exactly how ghosts are involved is a joy to experience. Since I don’t want to take that joy from you, all I’ll say is that I couldn’t put it down.

Content Warning

One quick content warning - grief is discussed often and at length in here. But I have to hand it to Ashley Poston, she writes grief more accurately than anything else I’ve ever read… and that includes books literally meant to help you deal with your grief.

As someone who lost her dad when she was a young woman, there were many moments where I saw myself reflected in the pages. And while I sobbed my eyes out for a lot of those moments, they were really cathartic tears. It’s been almost 17 years since I lost my dad, and somehow, this book did more to help me process my grief than anything else I’ve tried so far.

I really need to write Ashley Poston a thank you note.

Now, how to make your reading experience a bit more fun?

🍹 Drink Pairing: While Florence stays at the B&B in her hometown, she downs Rum & Cokes while she toils away on a manuscript she can’t seem to finish. I’m not even particularly fond of Rum, or Coke for that matter, but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t craving one by the end of this book.

🎶 Playlist Suggestion: Here’s a playlist I put together based on this delightful story. Some songs are directly mentioned in the book, and others just make sense based on it. Featuring Elvis, Dolly Parton (because one of the characters has a cat named… get ready… Dolly Purrton!), and even a little Supremes mixed in, this playlist was a joy to create and even more fun to listen to. Enjoy!

🛍 Etsy Listing: The Waffle House is a frequented location in this story, and I have to admit, I had no idea what “smothered and covered” meant when it was mentioned. But now, after reading this delightful Waffle House translator, I definitely need to try hashbrowns both smothered, AND covered, thank you very much.

Happy Reading!

As always, I encourage you to see if The Dead Romantics is available from your local, indie bookstore. Don’t know where one is? Try this Indie Bookstore Finder! You can also purchase it directly from Ashley Poston’s website. It even looks like there are signed copies available!

Your local library is also a great place to look for this and other books. And, of course, all the big-name booksellers will certainly have what you’re looking for.

Alright, pour yourself a Rum & Coke, see if Waffle House is on Uber Eats, and snuggle in to enjoy The Dead Romantics!

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

---

Happy Reading,

Sarah