{"product_id":"casket-case-isbn-9780593873755","title":"Casket Case","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this warm-hearted debut rom-com, a young woman returns home to run her family’s casket business and falls in love with a seemingly perfect stranger. But there’s just one problem . . . he works for Death.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A charming, original love story about grief. I loved it.”—Sophie Cousens, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThis Time Next Year\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNora thought she was finished with Rabbittown, Alabama, for good. But an unexpected tragedy turned her life upside down, and she’s found herself back in her tiny hometown running the family casket business.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere aren’t exactly a lot of prospects for a single woman in her thirties in a place like Rabbittown. Until Nora Clanton’s ordinary, casket-selling day is interrupted by a handsome stranger wandering into her shop and asking for directions—as well as a date.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGarrett Bishop seems like the ideal guy. He’s thoughtful, he’s kind, and he has a lucrative job as a logistics coordinator, for which he seems to have a passion. She’s not totally sure what “logistics” entails, but she knows it means long hours, lots of travel, and urgent calls in the middle of the night.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen a few of Rabbittown’s residents suddenly pass away—a heart attack here, a car crash there—and Garrett is spotted at the scenes of, well, \u003ci\u003eall \u003c\/i\u003eof the deaths, his frustratingly vague job description starts to become increasingly . . . suspicious. What is it that Garrett actually \u003ci\u003edoes \u003c\/i\u003efor a living?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe’s a logistics coordinator for Death.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Nora discovers the truth, she is unable to reconcile the wonderful man she knows with the unthinkably cruel job he loves. Will she ever be able to understand how he can do what he does, or will she have to lay her best chance at love to rest?\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCasket Case\u003c\/i\u003e is the heartfelt story of a small-town girl who feels surrounded by death—literally and figuratively. This clever, endearing, and romantic debut explores how love and loss are forever intertwined . . . but death might not be as scary as it seems.“A charming, original love story about grief.  I loved it.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—\u003c\/i\u003eSophie Cousens,\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThis Time Next Year\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A modern take on\u003ci\u003e Meet Joe Black, Casket Case\u003c\/i\u003e is an original, witty, and heartfelt view into love in all its forms.”\u003cb\u003e—Neely Tubati Alexander, author of \u003ci\u003eIn a Not So Perfect World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eCasket Case \u003c\/i\u003eis a tender, sweet romance coupled with a poignant exploration of grief . . . A moving story of loss and love.”\u003cb\u003e—Jamie Harrow, author of \u003ci\u003eOne on One\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Quirky and delightfully macabre, with the most unique rom-com premise I’ve read in ages. All the small-town feels really got me.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—\u003c\/i\u003eCarlie Walker,\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Takedown\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I laughed, swooned hard, and—of course—I cried! Such a tender and romantic book, and one that makes you face death head on but holds your hand while it does . . . Nora and Garrett are wonderful. Did I mention that I cried?”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—\u003c\/i\u003eCressida McLaughlin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Cornish Cream Tea Bus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“By turns melancholic and sweet, this is a warmhearted tribute to moving forward after loss and the healing power of steadfast love. Evans should win plenty of fans.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e​\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eLauren Evans\u003c\/b\u003e holds a BA in English from The University of Alabama and an MA in Liberal Studies from The University of North Carolina Wilmington. She now works in higher education in Atlanta and writes in her spare time, whenever her beagle Lucy allows. \u003ci\u003eCasket Case\u003c\/i\u003e was longlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize in 2022 and is her debut novel.\u003cb\u003eChapter  1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The bell over the door tolls for Mrs. Atkins, Nora’s first customer of the day. She marches through the showroom, past the dusty model merchandise dying for her attention, for her affection, for the sinking weight of a decaying body.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mrs. Atkins hefts her designer handbag onto the counter, ready to be assisted. “Lord, Eleanora, you look just like your mother standing back there.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To be fair, Nora’s mother did spend a lot of time behind that counter. She had helped Nora’s father paint and install the counter after they found it at a yard sale, freshly ripped from someone else’s kitchen to make room for the new and improved. That was the year they painted the walls a blue-­tinged eggshell and installed the track lighting to properly show off their new caskets.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “No one wants to buy them if they can’t see them,” Billy Clanton had said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Anita Clanton wanted to tell her husband that the models were a bad idea, that this was one of the few retail situations where customers did not want to be near the merchandise. She told him the same thing when he brought in urns and cremation jewelry to display.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nora Clanton doesn’t have an opinion. Not yet anyway.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “How can I help you?” She tries to use her best salesperson tone, but some people don’t have one of those.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I went to Jim Anderson’s funeral last week,” Mrs. Atkins begins. “And his daughter-­in-­law, bless her heart, had picked out the ugliest gold casket I’ve ever seen. When I saw it, I knew I had to pick out my own for when the time comes.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Most customers can describe caskets only in subjective terms. They want it to feel peaceful. They want it to match a personality. They’re worried it will clash with a certain outfit. Jim Anderson’s daughter-­in-­law thought the gold was a classy touch.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Marilyn Atkins sings soprano in the choir at the First Baptist Church and never misses a Sunday. She’s also healthy as a horse. Some customers are so bothered by the macabre that they choose a casket in the first ten minutes, but not Mrs. Atkins. Nora spends a hefty chunk of her day (one hour and seventeen minutes) pointing out the most tasteful options and listening to Mrs. Atkins’s gold bracelets clang against the counter as she finds something wrong with all of them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Something like this,” Mrs. Atkins says, shoving a stack of printouts in front of Nora’s face. The first page has a casket circled in red.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nora releases a breath from her body, and she wishes she could go with it. “That’s mahogany. Just like this one.” She flips wearily to the very first casket she showed Mrs. Atkins, back when she still had an ounce of patience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Is that one mahogany, too?” Mrs. Atkins squints at both pictures.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “It’s the same model. See?” Nora points out the number on both caskets.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Well, I’m glad I brought these pictures. Otherwise, we never would have found it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nora considers the model caskets lining the showroom and if crawling into one might allow her into another world or dimension or place that is not here. But she needs Mrs. Atkins’s business, so she leaves that adventure for another day while she finishes the sale.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As she signs her name to the paperwork for a solid mahogany casket with cream satin lining, Mrs. Atkins asks, “Are you still living in that house?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Yes, ma’am.” Her parents’ house has been in Nora’s family for a couple of generations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mrs. Atkins’s family would never be on that side of Rabbit­town, but she hears things like everybody else. “It must feel so empty! That house is meant for a family.” She slides the paperwork across the counter and gathers her purse to leave. “You haven’t found any nice men since you’ve been back?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “None that stick.” She can’t be sure what Mrs. Atkins will say next, but she knows it will be one of the three types of responses everyone says to single women over thirty:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 1. You’re lucky. Husbands are the worst.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 2. It will happen when you least expect it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 3. Don’t forget your biological clock.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “It will happen when you least expect it,” Mrs. Atkins says. “That’s how these things go.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “So I’ve been told.” She stacks the paperwork together with a touch of aggression and attempts to smile in Mrs. Atkins’s direction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mrs. Atkins doesn’t notice; she hasn’t noticed other people in years. “You aren’t getting any younger,” she says, wagging her finger as if scolding a child.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Thank you for coming in,” Nora says, making her way around the counter to shoo Mrs. Atkins out the door. “See you at church.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mrs. Atkins walks toward the door but stops short in front of the light blue casket at the front of the showroom to run her finger across the top. “You might have a word with your cleaning staff, Eleanora. There’s an inch of dust on this one.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be sure to do that.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “You know, I went to a visitation at one of those Prestige Funeral Homes up in Huntsville, and you might want to stop by one of them.” She glances around the showroom, which hasn’t changed much since it was first built. “You could use some updating. I’d never buy from a company like that after knowing your mama for my whole life, but it wouldn’t hurt to borrow an idea or two from them.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nora stares at the blue casket as hard as she can to keep from rolling her eyes. Prestige has made a fortune buying up funeral homes and related suppliers in the area. They convince the small businesses that they have their best interests in mind, taking over the “boring” parts of running a business so that the staff can do more to serve customers. In reality, once the sale goes through, Prestige fires most of the staff. Pooling resources is great for the business and not so great for the family who just sold their life’s work to someone who turned around and axed them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I’ll keep that in mind.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mrs. Atkins nods briskly, and the bell tolls again as she marches out onto the sidewalk.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The administrative part of running Rabbittown Casket Company takes about ten minutes as long as Nora is caught up, and Nora doesn’t have much else to do, so she’s always caught up. Customers rarely come in without warning, except for the occasional high school kid on a dare.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The store used to be open six days a week, so her parents had mounted a television to the wall to watch Alabama football. Once Nora left for college, her parents decided they might like to have a social life, so they stopped opening on Saturdays, but the television stayed. That television is the reason Nora is now addicted to \u003ci\u003eGeneral Hospital.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nora is sitting with her legs propped up on the desk, watching Carly yell at Sonny for what has to be the millionth time, when a tall man in a suit appears in front of the counter. She jumps, and not gracefully.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I didn’t mean to scare you,” the stranger says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I should have been paying more attention.” Nora’s bare feet fumble around underneath the desk to find the shoes they’d ditched. She sinks lower in the chair until her toes hit the fake leather. “I didn’t hear you come in.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Whatever you’re watching must be good.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nora starts to apologize more thoroughly, but he stops her with something close to a smile. Nora notices that his nose is a little crooked, and he has a faded scar on one cheek. “I get sucked into these shows.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “My grandmother used to record them on VHS in case she missed anything.” He gestures to Sonny Corinthos on the screen. “He looks exactly the same.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A mobster points a gun at Sonny, and Carly screams, but Sonny doesn’t flinch. Nora hits the power button on the remote.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “You don’t have to turn it off on my account.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I can watch it later. Besides, Sonny will never die.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Everyone dies. I would think you know that better than most.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nora is about to ask how he knows about her family, but then she remembers they’re standing in her casket store. “I’m sure you didn’t come in here to talk about \u003ci\u003eGeneral Hospital.\u003c\/i\u003e May I help you with something?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I’m not really a customer. I’m looking for Pearl Drive, and Google Maps brought me here.” He holds his phone out to Nora, but she doesn’t need it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “You’re close,” Nora says, as she walks around the desk and takes in his height and his expensive suit. She can’t decide if he’s actually handsome or if it’s been too long since she’s seen a breathing man in a tailored suit. “It’s more of a driveway than a road, though. Are you sure you have the right address?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I’m looking for Pearl Café.”","brand":"Dell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302699782373,"sku":"NP9780593873755","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593873755.jpg?v=1767723457","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/casket-case-isbn-9780593873755","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}