The Final Countdown - Choosing a Title

I'm closing in on The End of the next book. I'd love to tell you the title, but this is one of the struggles of writing a book - giving it a name that screams "pick me up!" In the push to get it finished, I've been putting the title on the back burner, devoting only random thoughts to it. We're getting down to the wire now. I need to decide on something soon. I'm thinking this week, since I'm editing and reviewing.

Some of the ideas that have resonated with me are "Funeral for a Friend" and "Reaper Cushions." Neither of those scream romance, although both of them address the theme of the book. Reaper Cushions is a play on the word repercussions and reflects my hero's penchant for "dad" jokes. The joke goes, "Why shouldn't you get into a pillow fight with Death? Because it has Reaper Cushions." Lame? Yep. But it made me laugh. My sense of humor is bent that way. As the story opens, we discover one of the friends has died. That affects the heroine. Then we discover that the hero's former roommate also died, which means both main characters are dealing with grief in very different ways. Harold and Maude came to mind (although that was the title of the movie, not the book). Is the book dark? Macabre? Not really, although when dealing with death, there are obviously moments. 

I spent some time looking at the titles of other new releases, and I have to say I'm largely unimpressed. I don't want to write a title like "Carrying the Billionaire Boss's Love Child." I'm sorry, those are just unimaginative to me. On the other hand, I have seen some fun turns of a phrase (which is what I'm hoping to stumble on). Things like "Miss Belief" and "Miss Understanding." 

The new release is expected in July, so I'd better get with it, eh? Stay tuned...