I absolutely adored this book from Jen DeLuca! It's set in Florida and features all the things we love (and love to hate) about Florida.

Cassie watched her friends in Orlando move on to new stages in life without her. So she decided to buy a beachside cottage in Boneyard Key and start over in a small town. The town has made its reputation on being the most haunted town in America, but Cassie isn't convinced it is anything more than a marketing scheme to sell more junk to tourists. Until the magnetic poetry on her refrigerator starts rearranging itself and none of the outlets in her house will work to charge her computer.

I was worried this would be too spooky for me, but I promise it is not (and I am the world's biggest scaredy cat!). I actually really loved seeing Cassie make friends with her ghost, Sarah Hawkins, and her quest to learn more about Sarah's life. The romance between Cassie and Nick was a sweet slow burn and I really enjoyed their banter. The town of Boneyard Key is such a great small town setting and I hope to see more from DeLuca in this universe!

I voluntarily read a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

‘Did you drink outside coffee?’

I became an instant fan of this author with this book and can’t wait to dive into her backlist! The world she created in this book, Boneyard Key, captured my imagination right from page one and didn’t let go even after the final page was read. I was so happy to see that it’s listed as book 1 because there are still so many tales waiting to be told in this haunted town! I can’t wait if they’re all as fun and entertaining as Cassie (And Rachel) and Nick (And the mean guy’s) story is. And I really need to head south to try one of those Publix subs!

Haunted Ever After - ARC Review
⭐⭐⭐/5
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WHAT I LIKED:
-Sarah Hawkins’ story/the ghost mystery
-The relationships the leads had with the ghosts
-The ghost vibes and mystery without it being scary/spooky
-The town history and the efforts to correct it
-The twists about Mr. Hawkins
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WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
-Insta-Love: Nick and Cassie did not have very many scenes in which the were actually getting to know each other and then suddenly they said “I love you”
-Cassie's character Development was lacking: Not much is shared about her job, hobbies, or even personality. Anything about her past is really brief. I don't feel like I really know who she is.
-Poor endometriosis rep: Cassie mentions having endo once as a reason for not being able to have kids. It is never mentioned again - no symptoms, no grief…nothing. This is honestly terrible rep of endo. Not being able to have kids is only one part of this nasty chronic illness. It was not represented well at all. Many people have loads of symptoms and go years without a diagnosis. It is not something only deserving of one sentence. It takes over people's lives and is not just about fertility issues.
-Inner monologue and dialogue: both very repetitive
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Thank you @netgalley for my eARC copy. I was given this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

GHOSTS AND GIRLBOSSES!!!
Picture a small Stars Hollow like beach town centered around the tourism of their beloved ghosts. Everyone in town knows the history until a city girl buys an old haunted house and finds out the real truth of Boneyard Key.
We got ghosts, cozy beach town vibes, rich history, a paranormal mystery, and last but not least- a super single super hot coffee shop owner who takes after Luke Danes himself!!

Language: R (254+ swears, 22+ "f"); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG+
I quit reading at the sex scene, which happens near the end of the book after the big battle with the ghost.
The mature content rating is for alcohol use, some intense kissing scenes, groping, nudity, and sex. The violence rating is for mild scary ghost elements (hauntings, possession, exorcism, et cetera) and mentions of corpses, murder, and domestic violence.

Cassie arrives in Boneyard Key looking for a new start. Her friends in Orlando are getting married and having babies and she...is not. She got a steal on a house in a seemingly charming little town because, well, it's haunted. The whole town is haunted in fact (if the name Boneyard Key wasn't enough to give her a clue). Cassie becomes a regular at Haunted Grounds coffee shop and meets NIck, the owner, and an enemies to lovers relationship is (kind of) born. The town is full of charming characters (both alive and of the spiritual sort) and the setting is very fun. Less fun was the romance between Nick and Cassie. It felt a little half-baked and I did not care about them at all, it was much more fun hanging out with the ghosts. If you're looking to add a Halloweeny book to your TBR but don't really need the story to have a well developed romance, then I'd recommend this one.

Many thanks to Berkley & Netgalley for the ARC.

This first book in a new series by Jen DeLuca is a complete departure from her Renaissance Faire series, which I really enjoyed--and I'm here for it! Set in a fictional, small Florida coastal town, this grumpy-sunshine romance brings two wounded but likeable characters together: Nick, the hometown-boy-turned-coffee shop owner, and Cassie, the big-city newcomer who buys a historic home as she tries to find a new beginning for herself. This is a gentle ghost story with a cast of engaging supporting characters, mixed with flirty banter, meddling ghosts, and just the right amount of spice. I look forward to following this series!

I enjoyed this book. I did like the two plot lines with the romance and the ghost aspect. It's done very well and interwoven within the story that it helps push the story along without feeling out of place. The romance is also very sweet. I did feel like some of the aspects like Nick and him wanting to be in a relationship with Cassie felt rushed. As someone who is demiromantic, I feel like the friendship/connection they had wasn't established enough for my liking, but I still enjoyed their relationship nonetheless. The ghost aspect is done very well and they feel very poignant and integral with the story. The Florida setting is also beautiful! I love this little small town and the people who live in it. Overall, this is a very sweet story and I would recommend it to people who are fans of Ghost Whisperer but want a more romance aspect.

3/5 ⭐ 1.5 🌶️

Cassie Rutherford is tired of Orlando. She's tired of her friends getting married and having kids and little by little, she doesn't fit in their lives anymore. After settling down in the tourist town of Boneyard Key, Cassie is charmed by the entire towns commitment to the "haunted" rumors. With ghost tours, an eerie island and themed shops galore, what's not to love?

Except, when Cassie's new house, deemed the infamous, Hawkins House, seems to playing tricks on her. Her laptop (a work from home staple) won't charge. Everything else seems to be fine in the house, but she seeks wifi and electricity at Nick Royer's coffee shop, Haunted Grounds. Soon, Cassie and Nick strike up a friendship. Cassie uses Nick's shop to work and Nick helps get Cassie used to town. But soon, Cassie realizes that her troubles with charging her laptop aren't faulty electrical outlets, but the manifestation of a spirit in her home. Sarah Hawkins' home.

I didn't particularly love or hate this book. It was kitschy and I feel like I would have liked it a lot more around Halloween maybe? It all seemed a little ridiculous to me and I just overall didn't feel like this was the book for me. I do love a kitschy ghost/haunting story, but Nick and Cassie's relationship was so bleh to me. There wasn't much of a basis other than that they found each other attractive.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Romance, Paranormal Romance
Spice Level: Sex on the page (Honestly, enough that I skipped a few pages.)
Language: A lot of profanity

*HAUNTED EVER AFTER* has such a fun premise. I loved the ghostly aspect—one has a curmudgeonly attitude, another is a mystery, and there are more.

I enjoyed Cassie and felt for her. Moving to a new town as an adult and feeling pushed away from her friends is rough. I loved about 95% of Nick. I was really fine with him as he worked at the coffee shop and put up with his ghost. And I love a good grump in a novel. The 5% that turned me off of him was when he completely consciously referred to a woman as a b—. It really made me mad at him. There were a couple of other comments that were off for a guy who respects women, and he seems to respect Cassie (which is what she expects from a man).

The mystery and paranormal element made this book enjoyable. I predicted part of the ending, but not quite all the nuance.

I think romance readers who enjoy spice will want to read this book.

Happy reading!

Cassie Rutherford, a 31 yrs old, single woman is feeling out of place in Orlando, FL. All of her friends are married with kids and just don't have time for her anymore. Cassie decides to buy an old house in the city of Boneyard Key, noted as the Most Haunted Small Town in Florida. Upon moving in she finds all kinds of weird things happening, like her laptop will not charge and her letter magnets on her fridge that she uses for magnetic poetry keep spelling out different words.

Frustrated at having a dead laptop, Cassie heads into town at the local coffee shop, The Hallowed Grounds where she meets Nick Royer, the 30 years old owner. They are both instantly smitten with each other. Nick quickly realizes that she is the person who bought the old Hawkins House. He is curious if she has witnessed any weird things happening. Having grown up in the town, Nick is used to all the ghostly things that happen....heck he even lives with a ghost, Elmer Buchann, the man who used to own the coffee shop!

As Nick and Cassie spend more time together, he convinces the skeptical Cassie that these ghosts are real and even encourages her to hire Libby and her grandma Nan, a person who can communicate with the ghosts. Nan realizes that the ghost in Cassie's house is Sarah, the lady who used to live in the house and she is nice and sweet. Cassie feels relieved and not scared. But when bad things start happening she decides she has to take drastic actions. After a big confrontation, the negativity is gone and Nick and Cassie are free to continue with their relationship.

I really enjoyed this sweet, fun and entertaining story about a cute little town and their friendly, quirky ghosts. Nick had some reservations about getting involved with Cassie because of his pat, but in the end these two do find their happy ending. Overall this was an enjoyable read.

This was a cozy read. Cassie moves to the touristy town of Boneyard Key not realizing the haunted theme is more than a tourist gimmick. Nick has lived in Boneyard Key his whole life. When the two meet, there are definitely sparks of attraction, but some paranormal obstacles stand in this couple’s way.
I liked meeting the other Boneyard Key residents and I am interested in reading more from these characters.

If you’re looking for a cozy, small town cute and feel good spooky season read this romance might be for you. Jen DeLuca’s newest book / start to a series introduces us to Boneyard Key - a small, quirky Florida town known for its “otherworldly” residents.

In Haunted Ever After, we follow the story of Cassie Rutherford, new to town and home ownership and Nick Royer, long time resident. Cassie has acquired a home that unbeknownst to her, came with a ghostly roommate— and a bit of a mystery too. The story follows the connection of Cassie and Nick, with a side of ghostly mystery solving and an HEA.

The story was a cute, easy read and definitely hits that fun cozy, spooky fall vibes. Nothing scary, but more of a fun friendly ghost vibe. Fans of reads like Megan Cabot’s Mediator series will likely appreciate the ghost vibe here.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the opportunity to read an early copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely offered.

3.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this one! I've been on a bit of a romance kick, and this was everything I'd expected and more. I <i>loved</i> the ghostly aspects. While I wouldn't describe this one as spooky, at all, it would be the perfect read for a pumpkin patch. In all honestly, the ghosts were probably my favorite aspect of the story. I loved the steadily building mystery of Ms. Hawkins, and Elmer was just a fun addition. As for Cassie and Nick, I thought they were adorable. Nick did lose a bit of my love after a certain event in the middle, but it's explanation clears him. I'd definitely recommend Haunted Ever After!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks so much to Berkley and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book!v

I adored Jen Deluca's Ren Faire series, and this was a huge departure from that. It really showcased how fantastic Deluca's writing is; she's become an absolute must-read author for me!

Cassie and Nick's story in Boneyard Key was adorable, but I have to admit I was more caught up in the ghost story. I liked that Deluca didn't feel the need to explain how the ghosts worked; for the most part, they just existed and had ways of communicating.

I thought Sarah's story was particularly compelling as she was experiencing misogyny even decades after her death; Deluca captured how the "mean old lady" stereotype can often come from a harmful place. By exorcising her husband, Sarah finally had peace in her house, and I appreciated that she didn't move on but got to appreciate her home.

Cassie and Nick had a pretty low stakes romance for the most part, with the book being more about both of them solidifying their place in Boneyard Key and finding a true home with each other, which I thought worked really well.

I hope we get more of this series!

I love Jen DeLuca's Well Met series, but when she announced that her next contemporary romance series had GHOSTS? I was done for, I knew that I would absolutely adore Haunted Ever After and I did! Everything was thought out and paced in such a way that putting it down was near impossible!

Haunted Ever After is the first in a new series called Boneyard Key, which is where the novel takes place. Boneyard Key is a typical tourist town that has made a niche for itself. You can't go three feet in Salem, MA without seeing a witch and in Boneyard Key you can't help but notice all the ghosts! Except these ghosts aren't just to lure in the tourists, they're real! Boneyard Key felt like I could book a flight there tomorrow. DeLuca completely nailed the atmospheric vibe of a small touristy town! There's the locals who gossip like all small towners mixed perfectly with the tourist angle where everything is themed. There's a fine line between the two and if one is too heavy handed the atmosphere could fall apart but this was so well written!

As for characters? Both the living and the dead were fantastic! I thought Cassie and Nick had amazing chemistry and their story felt natural to me! Even with a lot happening plot wise, I was impressed by how much the reader learned about each of them and how developed they were. As with the Well Met series, the secondary characters are fleshed out enough that readers wish for their stories as well and I truly hope we get more books! From my completely biased POV being a ghost lover, the dead characters were the highlight of the book. Without any spoilers, both the main ghost characters were my favorite and I cried both happy and sad tears at the end. Edgar is my all time favorite forever and I'd like an Edgar novella spin off, please and thank you!

Sadly this didn’t work from the start, and no matter how hard I tried to convince myself it would turn around, it never did.

It felt like this book didn’t know what it wanted to be or how to balance the spooky element with the romance story. It felt like both elements were volleying for attention on the page and never really melded together.

Each MC felt way too surface level with slight tidbits about background given to explain their usually bad behavior or hesitation, but not really serving to further their arc or provide a solid understanding of their motivations.

Add to that a confrontation that occurs around the middle mark where the MMC says some truly asinine misogynistic things and I just couldn’t stomach this. There’s a supernatural explanation as well as a half ass “bad breakup” that allegedly fuels his actions but honestly it’s pretty flimsy. I’d absolutely never give another man a chance the moment they started spouting off about my career or whether to have kids.

There was zero swoonworthy about each MC and their banter was the equivalent of grunts and just not really there.

Sadly, a dud that I’m not sure I’ll get over to try the next books in this series.

The story revolves around Cassie Rutherford, a resident of Orlando, Florida, who is seeking a change in her life. Cassie decides to purchase a house in a quaint coastal town in Florida known as Boneyard Key.

True to its name, Boneyard Key is known for its nightly ghost tours and the ghostly theme in all of the town's shops. The local coffee shop, Hallowed Ground, is owned by Nick Royer, who gave me immediate Luke Danes vibes from Gilmore Girls, which I absolutely loved!

Cassie frequents Hallowed Grounds to work, she has nothing but issues while trying to charge her laptop at home. Eventually, she discovers that there is a ghost named Sarah living in the house with her.

Nick and Cassie's friendship blossoms into a romantic relationship over time. I particularly enjoyed the picnic date that Nick arranged, complete with Publix subs, knowing how much Cassie missed them.

All the characters in the book, including the ghosts Elmer and Sarah, are extremely likable. Elmer's humorous text messages and Sarah's love for reality TV were delightful.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's a perfect read for the fall and Halloween season, featuring elements of small-town romance, paranormal activity, and a sense of belonging.

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Jen DeLuca is an author I’ve always wanted to like, because not only does she seem like a solid person based on her social media presence, but conceptually, her books sound right up my alley. But Well Met put me off for a reason I now forget, but I think it had to do with the writing. And while Haunted Ever After was more tolerable in that department, I found myself similarly underwhelmed.
To be fair, the things I expected to love drew me in, and were what made me stick with it instead of putting it down. The cozy small town setting is cute, with a quirky twist in how it embraces the ghost aesthetic. And as I got deeper into the book, the lore of the haunted house and ghosts themselves also intrigued me.
The characters were all right. Cassie’s journey is very relatable, with her feeling in a rut and worrying about all her friends getting married, starting families and moving on without her. Nick was also pretty cool, especially in his connection with the ghosts that played a role throughout the book.
But as a romance, it felt very bland. I don’t mind well-written instalove, but these two just didn’t have the chemistry to really justify it. There was enough going on that they were mostly tolerable after a while, but still not particularly memorable. And with them not being particularly deep, no one else stood out all that much either, so I’m not likely to continue the series.
This was an ok read, but I don’t think Jen DeLuca writes the books I’m interested in. However, I objectively have few complaints, and can see why other readers with different tastes do like her work. If this title piques your interest, especially if you’ve read her work before and had good experiences, I’d recommend you give a try for yourself to see what you think.

Thank you Berkley Romance and PRH Audio for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

This was such a fun unique read! I’m a huge Jen DeLuca fan and am so excited for her to start a new series!

Cassie recently moved to Boneyard Key and some weird things Lee happening like her laptop refusing to charge. She meets Nick at his coffee shop where she goes to work and they have a not so meet cute. Nick apologizes and they develop a bit of a friendship. Enough so that Cassie turns to him when she finds an eerie message on her fridge and finds out her house is haunted.

I loved the history of the house and how Cassie dug into to find out the truth. The romance took a bit of a backseat for me over the ghostly elements, but I still really enjoyed it. Jeannie Sheneman is a new to me narrator, but I thought she did a fantastic job. I hope we get more books set in Boneyard Key!