I am beyond thrilled to announce that my debut novel, Happily Never Afterlife, is publishing May 15. Pre-Orders are now available on www.JessicaMarrone.com in my store located here.
When I set out to write my first novel six years ago, I had no idea that a random idea for what I originally planned to be a short novella would rise to the forefront and solidify itself as my debut novel. Truthfully, I never envisioned that I would ever write a rom-com, so the irony that my first-ever novel is a rom-com is not lost on me.
Waking up dead was not on 86-year-old Minerva Mae Carmine’s bingo card. After a routine colonoscopy sends Mae into the bureaucratic world of the Afterlife, she wakes up young, disoriented, and wants nothing more than to be reunited with her beloved husband, Harold. She insists Harold must be waiting for her – after all, they were married for 54 years. There’s just one problem.
Harold isn’t her soulmate.
After punching an orderly in the face and being taken into the counselor’s office, Mae is introduced to her assigned soulmate – a shaggy-haired jackass named Mr. Blakely she has never met before!
Insisting there has been an egregious clerical error, Mae sets out to find her husband and make things right. She bolts into the Afterlife, tethered by a red band that will electroshock her and Mr. Blakely if they get too far away from each other, and enlists Mr. Blakely’s help in finding Harold.
But Mae gets more than she bargained for when Mr. Blakely insists they take the long way ‘round through eternity. On the long stretches of road between towns and memories, Mae and Mr. Blakely clash over everything: breakfast foods, cleanliness, and how to live in the Afterlife. He’s a war-toughened optimist with a broken past. She’s a sharp-tongued realist learning to make room for adventure. When truths are revealed, Mae must choose whether to keep holding on to the life she knew or risk loving again.
This is a road-trip romcom with teeth: demons, sinkholes, a dog worth dying for, and an Afterlife that runs on paperwork. Mae’s question is simple and savage: Who will she be if she lets go of Harold? The answer arrives messy, funny, and impossible to forget.
Happily Never Afterlife will be available for purchase online where books are sold: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, and other retailers beginning May 15.
Preorders are available in my shop starting today, April 15. I am offering signed copies as well as special swag bundles full of special themed merch and bookish treats.
Happily Never Afterlife is available on Amazon as an ebook for $2.99, as well as in paperback and hardcover. The hardcover edition features a distinctive cover that sets it apart from the ebook and paperback versions. Both the paperback and hardcover editions are available for preorder in my shop.
The paperback edition retails for $18.99, and the hardcover edition retails for $27.99. Signed copies from my website are retail price plus shipping. Signed copies include a personalized thank you note as well.
Swag bundles are available for $6 more, plus shipping, and include the signed edition of your choice, a special wristband, a custom bookmark, and other story-themed goodies to enjoy while you read Happily Never Afterlife.
Pre-orders will ship on May 15, in time for the global release of Happily Never Afterlife.
I am so excited to share more about this novel with you in the coming weeks as we get closer to its release in one month. It’s truly hard to believe that after two years, this story is finally ready to be out in the world! I truly love the characters I have called family these last two years, and I cannot wait for you to read their story.
There will be more blogs coming over the next few weeks with deeper looks into the characters, the Easter eggs, and all of the little details that came together to make Happily Never Afterlife what it is today.
Thank you all for being on this journey with me. I’m incredibly blessed to be sharing this novel with you very soon.
