Chip Pons is delivering a love story to die for.

Months after releasing Winging It With You , the bookstagrammer-turned author is back with his new Hades-inspired gay rom-com, Dearly Departed, set for release June 16, 2026. And E! News can exclusively debut the book’s cover as well as a glimpse at the novel’s first chapter.

In the novel, Pons takes readers to the fictional town of Stonevale, New Jersey, a place where Hayden Harlow, the former god of the Underworld turned grumpy funeral director must find a loophole in the Immortal Retirement Act that banished him to Earth, but only until Levi Wilder, the florist next door, who sees life in full bloom begins to unravel all his carefully laid plans.

The author puts queer love on full display with the cover Dearly Departed —agai

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