DEARLY DEPARTED

Can a happy-go-lucky florist help the curmudgeonly former god of the underworld finally bloom?

Hayden Harlow used to be the powerful Hades—until the Immortal Retirement Act forced him to reinvent himself as an earthbound funeral home director in Stonevale, New Jersey. He appreciates the stability of death, and outside of work, his most significant relationships hinge on his weekly visits to the Fates who work at City Hall, where he looks for a loophole in the Act. When, one day, a local florist delivers sunflowers instead of lilies for a funeral, Hayden marches over to confront the man he assumes is making a spectacle of the event. Enter Levi Wilder, a redheaded, freckle-faced optimist who slowly chisels away at Hayden’s cynicism. Levi loves his community, his fierce friendships, and the parents he sees when their RV-inspired adventures bring them through town. As the two men grow closer, Hayden reveals the truth of his supernatural situation to Levi, who accepts him totally and without question. In turn, when the anniversary of Levi’s brother’s death approaches, Hayden sees Levi’s grief and helps him carry the heavy burden he has been staggering under for years, all alone. Their relationship blooms as easily and intimately as one of Levi’s flowers, but Hayden will have to decide whether it’s worth giving up on immortality. This supernatural take on the opposites-attract trope is unexpectedly sweet, spicy, and touching. While the primary couple is incredible, the secondary characters are just as nuanced and lovable, and Pons handles heavy subjects with a light and subtle hand. The queer joy is as profoundly well handled as the loneliness and grief, and both factors work together to help Hayden and Levi find connection and comfort amid the chaos surrounding them.

Tender and sexy; readers will want to return to this world and these characters over and over again.