Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore, a trans and Jewish m/m contemporary releasing August 20, 2024 from Dell/PRH! Here’s the story:

To save his family’s failing funeral home—and his own chance at a queer love story—a reluctant clairvoyant must embrace the gift he long ignored in this poignant and tender debut, for fans of the swoonworthy romance and queer community of One Last Stop and the macabre humor and family dysfunction of Mostly Dead Things.

Rule #1: They can’t speak.
Rule #2: They can’t move.
Rule #3: They can’t hurt you.

Ezra Friedman sees ghosts—which made growing up in a funeral home absolutely miserable. It might have been better if his grandfather’s ghost didn’t give him stabbing looks of disapproval as he went through a second, HRT-induced puberty, or if he didn’t have the pressure of all those relatives—living and dead—judging every choice he makes. It’s no wonder that Ezra runs as far away from the family business as humanly possible.

But when the ceiling of his dream job caves in and his mother uses the family Passover seder to tell the family that she’s running away with the rabbi’s wife, Ezra finds himself back in the thick of it. With his parents’ marriage imploding and the Friedman Family Memorial Chapel on the brink of financial ruin, Ezra agrees to step into his mother’s shoes and help out . . . which means long days surrounded by ghosts that no one else can see.

And then there’s his unfortunate crush on Jonathan, the handsome funeral home volunteer who just happens to live downstairs from Ezra’s new apartment . . . and the appearance of the ghost of Jonathan’s gone-too-soon husband, Ben, who is breaking every spectral rule Ezra knows.

Because Ben can speak. He can move. And as Ezra tries to keep his family together and his heart from getting broken, he quickly realizes that there’s more than one way to be haunted—and more than one way to become a ghost.

And here’s the gorgeous cover, illustrated by Amy Perez!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Shelly Jay Shore (she/they) is a writer, digital strategist, and nonprofit fundraiser. Her writing on queer Jewish identity has been published by Autostraddle, Hey Alma, and the Bisexual Resource Center. She lives with her partner in New York, where she attempts to wrangle two large dogs and two small children while single-handedly sustaining her local Dunkin’ Donuts with year-round iced coffee orders. Rules for Ghosting is her debut novel.