“In life I had suffered a thousand deaths, and in the midst of death I encountered true life. I had looked in all the wrong places, until there, on a hill of ivy, I was found.”

 Driving aimlessly through the stormy suburbs of San Francisco, Casey Wheeler is fleeing from her abusive and unfaithful husband with her five year old daughter Maddy asleep in the backseat. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Casey loses control of her emotions and her car, crashing into a hillside below a mortuary. Desperately seeking shelter, and more so independence, she finds herself taken in by the mortuary director who apprehensively offers her a job and a place to live. As she stumbles through the ins and outs of her new and morbid surroundings, Casey is forced into a hostile custody battle with her relentless and increasingly violent husband. In the midst of all the chaos, she finds a new family and even love in the eccentric and protective people of Golden Oaks Funeral Home. But just when she has found all she could hope for, she will have to fight to the death to protect it.

This semiautobiographical story of a single-mother and her journey to self-discovery, independence and a true understanding of love will keep readers captivated and yearning for more.





I was trying to follow the rhythm of his breathing. It was all I could hear anymore. His gentle hands held my face, and then one moved to my wrist, keeping time. My breathing started to slow, and I could smell him, the musky and insanely sexy smell of cologne and sweat. I could feel the warmth of his breath, and I knew he was just inches away. I didn’t want to move, and not because these episodes drained me of all energy, but because I wanted nothing more than to stay right there, with Oliver close enough to breathe in.








This book is very well written and full of detail. It places you right there with Casey Wheeler as she discovers that there are people who care for her and will fight for her. Rebecca Fisher writes about a mothers struggle to protect her child and fight for their freedom form the awful life they have been living. Casey starts a new journey in her life where people do want to help her if she will let them.

There are times I did get lost in all the wording and wished it would get to the next part.I am an emotional reader and need to stay connected to the leads when I read a story.  But for the most part I really enjoyed this story.

Casey Wheeler has had it hard her entire life. She had an overbearing father who controlled her every move until she married her worthless husband at nineteen.. Both men never cared for Casey but for themselves and what they could gain. I wanted to Throttle Jerry her crazy husband throughout this book.

Casey Wheeler ends up stuck in the ivy by the Golden Oaks Funeral Home. Casey must get over her fears and calm down enough to let Merman in to help her. I loved her first meeting with Merman Patterson. Merman is one of those characters you will just never forget. He loves life and wants to make sure Casey and Maddy are protected.

Merman is the first person to show Casey love without strings attached.

Then enters Oliver a sweet surgeon who comes to the funeral home to help out when he is not at work. He likes Casey from the moment he meets her but does not push her into anything. He knows she has had a rough life and does not want to add to her troubles. I loved when Oliver would protect her and let her know that she deserved better than Jerry. Oliver won my heart from the beginning. He supported Casey and didn’t care what anyone else thought.

Maddy Wheeler is a little girl who is full of life. This little one tells them how it is and shows them that what they may think is bad is not all that bad. This little one had me teary more than once. Life through a child’s eyes is always so much sweeter.

This novel is full of characters that will have you laughing and growling. There are so many characters you learn to love.



Rebecca Fisher graduated with a B.A. in English and an M.S. in Education, and teaches High School English. Her own experiences living in a mortuary in Northern California and raising her daughter on her own serve as the inspiration for the many macabre and candid encounters in her novel. She lives in California with her husband and two daughters.