Please tell me there is going to be another book in this series! I need another book! I loved every second of this book...the characters, the world, the romance. I'm actually kind of surprised at the average rating of this book, but I can see how this book could only be for certain people. I think one of the problems was that there was too many POV's (6 in all), and yes, I would have been more than happy with just reading Nora and Bram, but I think one of the things that make this series special is that the reader is able to experience everything in the world; see everything, but still be surprised in the end. 
 So let's start with the characters. There are some new characters, mainly Laura (since chapters are written from her POV). Her story was absolutely heartbreaking, but very interesting to read. I loved being able to have an inside view of what was going on with the Changed. In my opinion, Laura's POV was very effective, and helped the story move along. We also get to hear from Vespertine and Michael. Even though I really can't stand these characters, and I could have done without Vespertine's POV, I still enjoyed reading them. Michael is obsessed with Nora, and will do anything to get her. I think his story, along with his father's, is going in a very interesting direction, and am excited to see how it plays out. 
 Bram...I don't even have words to describe how much I love Bram. He is a hunkalicious dead guy/zombie, and such a gentleman. You could tell with every word about Nora, how much he loved her. Nora was amazing to read again. I love how strong and caring she is. She just jumps right in to a situation if someone she cares about is in danger. She doesn't give a second thought to what might happen to her. I seriously loved reading from Nora's POV; I couldn't ask for a better heroine. The one thing I liked about Bram and Nora's relationship was that it was slow, and not full of drama. Usually an author will add in drama that is silly and tears the couple apart for a couple books. But not here. Ms. Habel gave us a sweet romance that was is made much sweeter by the ending. There is a certain "race against time" because Bram doesn't have long until he's gone forever, but that doesn't get in Nora's way. I have to admit, the ending of this book was one of the funniest, sweetest, and most romantic endings I have ever read. (view spoiler)[I loved how the witnesses to Nora and Bram's wedding were cats, and that she got married in a white robe because that was the only white thing she had (hide spoiler)]. 
 This is an amazing series, and I sincerely hope there is another in the series because I would read it in a heartbeat. 
 Dearly, Departed was one of the first zombie books I ever read, and I'm happy to say that few compare to the world that Ms. Habel has introduced to readers. Plus, the cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous, just like the first one. 
 5+++ stars!