Dearly Departed Review: Plants and Grief Come Together for Love

If you’ve been waiting for a romance that delivers laughs, blushes, and a few tears all in the same chapter, Chip Pons’ Dearly Departed is it. Set in Stonevale, New Jersey, this gay romantasy twists the grumpy-sunshine trope. The broody love interest is not merely antisocial but a former god trying to vanish into ordinary life.

Hayden Harlow is a grumpy, reserved funeral director who happens to be Hades in hiding. He’s built his whole existence around routine, because routine is safe — it’s easier than facing the possibility that he might actually deserve an average, happy life.

Enter Levi Wilder, the town’s sunny florist, a man who thrives on community and connection but who’s quietly holding back a grief of his own: the loss of his brother.

The two are thrown together when Levi decides to personalize a funeral arrangement for one of Hayden’s clients, a woman he knew from her weekly visits to his shop. It’s a small act of care that cracks the whole story open.

They clash at first, the way grumpy-sunshine pairings always do, but Levi keeps chipping away at Hayden’s walls until Hayden finally confesses who he really is — fully expecting Levi to run. He doesn’t.

Two People, Two Kinds of Grief

What makes this romance work isn’t just the banter or the slow burn (though there’s plenty of both). It’s that Pons treats Hayden and Levi’s grief as its own love story running parallel to their romance.

Hayden mourns the god he used to be, but the book lets him hold that loss and still choose to become his most authentic self — the two aren’t in competition. Levi’s grief runs quieter, and arguably deeper.

He’s lost the closeness his family once had, but rather than letting that show, he leans harder into his sunshine persona, hoping his relentless positivity will keep his parents from sinking further into their own pain over losing their son. It’s a heartbreaking bit of self-sacrifice dressed up as cheerfulness, and it re-contextualizes every bright, chipper moment he has on the page.

He fills the resulting isolation with trivia nights and community events, but there’s a deeper connection he’s still yearning for underneath it all. It’s a connection he struggles to fully find until Hayden.

Watching two people accept each other exactly as they are, walls and grief and all, is what makes their relationship feel so earned. In the end, it is clear these two men will be together. Their businesses function almost symbiotically, and their approaches to love mirror that.

The Chemistry (Yes, We’re Talking About the Spice)

Pons knows what he’s doing with the steamy scenes. They are sensual without losing emotional weight. Even readers not drawn to spicier romance will likely be won over.

From the very first page, Hayden and Levi share undeniable chemistry. The tension simmers beneath the surface long before any physical moment. This slow burn ensures the payoff feels earned, not rushed.

Pons takes things a step further by ensuring that their physical scenes are unique to them, while also keeping us interested. After all, a former God has bound to have some fun tricks up his sleeves, right? (You’ll have to read to find out exactly what we mean by this.)

Small-Town Charm, Big Feelings

One of the most delightful surprises in Dearly Departed is the Souper Bowl. It is a town-wide event that makes Stonevale feel fully lived-in. Such a cozy, sweater-weather gathering could spark nostalgia for readers’ own hometown traditions.

The supporting cast deserves a mention too. Pons populates the town with a diverse ensemble of characters. They add texture to Hayden and Levi’s story, enriching its portrayal. In fact, readers may want the book to slow and linger with them longer.

Hayden’s brothers, in particular, are so charismatic in their limited page time that they practically demand their own books. We just need to know more about their lives, if Hayden’s rich one is anything to go on, theirs must be too.

At the end of the day, Dearly Departed is a romance that earns both its laughs and its tears. The romance proves that grumpy-sunshine stays fresh when an author crafts strong stakes and thoroughly develop the characters.

It also shows a two-man love story can grieve differently, but together, while still staying swoon worthy and spicy. Fans of small-town charm and found family will enjoy this pair. A love interest with underworld baggage makes Hayden and Levi irresistible to readers.

 

Dearly Departed can be purchased wherever books are sold.

 

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