Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

e-Audio, 10:51:44
Narrated by: Jeannie Shenenman
Release Date: August 13, 2024
Published by: Books on Tape 
Read from: August 11-12, 2024
Boneyard Key, #1
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a copy of this e-audio from the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Death, Domestic Abuse, Infertility, Alcohol, toxic Relationship, Misogyny, Grief, Possession
For Readers Interested In: Paranormal, Ghosts, Contemporary Romance, Small Town, Dual POV, Adult

     It’s love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.
     Small Florida coastal towns often find themselves scrambling for the tourism dollars that the Orlando theme parks leave behind. And within the town limits of Boneyard Key, the residents decided long ago to lean into its ghostliness. Nick Royer, owner of the Hallowed Grounds coffee shop, embraces the ghost tourism that keeps the local economy afloat, as well as his spectral roommate. At least he doesn’t have to run air-conditioning.
     Cassie Rutherford possibly overreacted to all her friends getting married and having kids by leaving Orlando and buying a flipped historic cottage in Boneyard Key. Though there’s something unusual with her new home (her laptop won’t charge in any outlets, and the poetry magnets on her fridge definitely didn’t read “WRONG” and “MY HOUSE” when she put them up), she’s charmed by the colorful history surrounding her. And she’s catching a certain vibe from the grumpy coffee shop owner whenever he slips her a free slice of banana bread along with her coffee order.
     As Nick takes her on a ghost tour, sharing town gossip that tourists don’t get to hear, and they spend nights side-by-side looking into the former owners of her haunted cottage, their connection solidifies into something very real and enticing. But Cassie’s worried she’s in too deep with this whole (haunted) home ownership thing… and Nick’s afraid to get too close in case Cassie gets scared away for good.

*MY THOUGHTS*

I had no idea where this book was going to go, but once I got started I realized it was what I wanted all along lol It had some issues, but it turned out really good and I was excited for that.

Ok so the biggest part of this that I liked was the paranormal ghostie aspect of it. I LOVED it. I was expecting it to take the background to the romance, but it didn’t. DeLuca has a way of creating worlds that make you feel fully immersed into it, and this was no different. First it was the Renaissance Faire and now it’s a small town riddled with ghosts. And I just thought that was the coolest thing. Coming from a coastal town that has a lot of ghosts stories too, this one really felt like home.

I didn’t care for the characters tho. Cassie and Nick were hella basic. Maybe it was me and my beef for the narrator tho, so let me know if you read the book book and think different. But the narrator was terrible. She made everything sound breathy and when it got to them getting busy she didn’t sound like that. So basically when she should have used that sound, she didn’t. Anyway, Cassie was the classic non-believer who just arrived and Nick was the one that lived there the whole time and knows what’s happening. Their romance was ok, but I just thought it was basic too. But when things started happening between them and they had the ghosts interfering in their relationship, that was the part I enjoyed the most.

I loved that the spooky parts were the forefront in this one tho. It was actually a pretty great story. I thought her using the fridge words before the ghosts made itself known was a bit much, but there may be people out there that actually do that lol I’ve only seen letters, but eh. The rest of it was really good. I was hooked trying to figure out what the “real” story was. I just needed to know what actually happened. Things continue to get worse, and at one point it got really creepy. Creepier than I expected for this to be a romance book. I was worried about Nick for a while, but I was glad to see that everyone pulled through.

The spooky bits in this and the town characters sold this book for me. I wasn’t too keen on the romance, but the fact that it wasn’t at the forefront of this really made it for me. Yeah they flirt throughout the story, but my main focus was the ghosts and I loved that they were such a big part of the story.

Overall, I give this