I had such a great time reading this book! As a Florida native who got the heck out of dodge, I was pretty apprehensive. But Jen DeLuca is stellar and so of course I was going to give "Haunted Ever After" a fair shot. And thank God I did!! Cassie and Nick were such fun characters. Their banter was hilarious. Several times I found myself laughing out loud and running to my friends with "you won't believe what Nick just did for Cassie," or "guess what Elmer just said!" Because make no mistake—Elmer was my favorite. The entire cast was well-detailed, and I felt completely immersed while reading. I'll definitely be sticking around for the sequel!

Cassie moves to Boneyard Key to fulfill the American dream of owning her own home. She’s ill prepared for the grump she’s forced to deal with to secure a daily coffee nor the antics of the locals and their claim to fame: ghosts in residence. Her new home is supposedly haunted and the faulty wiring is the least of her problems.
The cozy small town setting is fantastic and I really enjoyed the supporting cast of characters. It feels quaint without being to kitschy, the right amount of spooky balancing the fun. The romance was a bit too insta-love for me and there’s a scene that absolutely made me cringe, but I’m invested and looking forward to more in a spin off or two.
Thank you to Berkley Besties and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

It pains me to rate this book as one star, but, this wasn't a romance novel. I really enjoyed DeLuca's previous series, so I was looking forward to reading this, but it was a complete disappointment for me. I finally had to give up near the end and start skimming because I just didn't care about a single one of the characters. The story had potential, but I think (for me) the ghost aspect overwhelmed everything else, and the book came off as cheesy and tiresome. I don't think I will be continuing this series.

Haunted Ever After is a cozy paranormal rom-com about a woman who moves to a small town where there are almost as many ghosts as people. Of course she moved into the most haunted house in the area, the one even the locals were a little nervous about, and she enlists the help of the local coffee shop owner to help her figure out the story behind her house and its former occupant.

I think there is definitely an audience for this book, but it isn't really me. This is cozy to the extreme, and I need higher stakes and more laughs out of my rom-coms. I was drawn to this book more because of the author since I loved Well Met, but this doesn't quite live up to the other series in my opinion. The romance lacked any tension or chemistry and fell flat for me, since there were no stakes and no hurdles for the couple to overcome. The dialogue wasn't strong, and I was disappointed there just wasn't much to the story. Even the ghost haunting the house, as it turns out (spoiler!) isn't actually malevolent at all.

But this might be great for someone looking for a low stakes read!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

This is the cutest spooky rom-com I’ve ever read!

Cassie makes a big change when she buys a home away from her friends in a place known to be haunted. It’s the biggest tourist attraction in town but when her home also has a resident ghost and she isn’t happy.. Cassie wonders if she made a big mistake!!

Cassie is great! She really puts up with a lot with her new house and because she can’t charge her laptop in her house, she has to go to the local coffee place where she meets the handsome hunk Nick. Sparks fly! I love the chemistry between them! Her house though and her ghost.. seems to have a weird effect on Nick!

I loved the spooky town and all the ghosts! I want to visit. It was my favorite read of August!

Small town romance is the best and this one is perfect for Halloween!

5 stars

This is a super cozy/ spooky, perfect for fall, romance book! Set in Florida of a haunted town, the two MC’s need to come together to fix the ghost problem in Cassie’s house. I saw it’s a series, and I’m so excited to get some other stories from this sweet town.

Oh my gosh, I love this ghosty rom-com so much! I’m so glad this is book 1 of a planned series all set in the same spooky town. Jeannie Sheneman did such a good job with the narration and she made it so easy to binge in an afternoon!

What you’ll find:

- Grumpy coffee shop owner
- A banana bread obsessed ghost who can text
- A house ghost who sends messages with poetry magnets
- A mystery to solve
- Ghost tours
- Insta-attraction
- Iced coffee addiction

This book definitely got me in the mood for spooky season and I could not get enough of it!

This book was so fun! I love a quirky little small town and especially if it's known for having ghosts! I wish this place was real because I would love to visit and have a vacay there. Also the town's name is Boneyard Key...adorable.

Our main character Cassie is super relatable when she finds out that the town she uproots her life to is supposedly haunted, oh and also the house she just bought is too. I would have reacted the same way as her if I found out my new house had ghosts in it. I don't really believe in ghosts, but maybe I'd change my mind if I had some experience with them, and unfortunately I don't.

I also appreciated how Jen DeLuca portrayed Cassie's struggle with her old friends. I found it very relatable as someone who doesn't have children to feel a little left out of some of my old friend groups now that they're all moms, and I'm not. I was so glad to see her create new friendships and have a found family within the little community, and also with her relationship with Nick.

I would highly recommend this one! There's really only one spicy scene in the book and the rest is kissing, but technically this is open-door so don't be fooled about this little spooky romcom book!

A read perfect for spooky season. The writing was a good pace and kept your attention. There weren't any points in the story that felt like they were dragging or needed to be quickened. I really enjoyed every minute of it. It was interesting to see the clear setups of other potential love matches in the town that can lead to more books in the same universe. My only criticism was everything that happened was rather predictable, I could see a lot of the "plot twists" coming from the context clues of the story. But there were still a few surprises for me. Overall a great read and a fun romance. I love seeing books from DeLuca and can't wait for more, hopefully in Boneyard Key.

TY for the free book @berkleyromance @netgalley #berkleypartner #berkleybooks #berkleyinfluencer !!

I’m back!

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did, given the premise: Cassie uproots her life in Orlando and buys (almost an impulse buy even) a house in Boneyard Key, Florida, which is, unbeknownst to her, a haunted town. Nick is the owner of the only good coffee shop, and a Boneyard Key lifer with a ghostly roommate. Cassie meets Nick because her haunted house won’t let her charge her laptop for remote work. After a bit of a call her a tourist kerfuffle, Cassie and Nick are no longer enemies to lovers and are instead friends who would have benefits but the ghosts don’t let them. Literally, the ghosts cockblock them.

They have to solve a mystery involving Cassie’s haunted house and its ghostly inhabitant, Mrs. Hawkins. This takes up the majority of the book, and creates a conflict between Nick and Cassie, who otherwise have no conflicts except some nonsense about Nick wanting Cassie to stay in Boenyard Key and just get over her ghost problem to be with him, which is the opposite of what his ex-girlfriend Madison did a few years ago. Nick hits it and quits it, normally, but his ghostly grandpa type wants him to be with Cassie long term.

Ultimately, there was too much going on with the ghost house (and it wasn’t scary in the slightest). Nick was described as a nice guy but he felt a bit underdeveloped. Their relationship was instalust-style, so I didn’t feel they worked for it. I liked his relationship with Elmer more than I cared about what happened with Cassie, and that’s not great. I liked Cassie though, and I related to her feelings that she was moving past her friends in Orlando and their mama group chat.

Overall it was okay.

Cassie recently bought a haunted (unbeknownst to her) house in Boneyard Key, FL. It's lovely and she thinks she will be happy there, until she finds out that her house is haunted by Mean Mrs. Hawkins. Everyone in town is talking about the fact that she owns the Hawkins House, including Nick Royer, the owner of the best coffee shop in town, Hallowed Grounds. They do not hit it off at first meeting, but it's pretty clear to both of them that there's potential for the two of them. The only trouble is that Mean Mrs. Hawkins does NOT want Nick inside her house...and Nick has a ghost roommate who doesn't want to give them any privacy.

This romance is such a charming story-I immediately loved Nick and Cassie. The peripheral characters are so interesting, whether we're talking about Sophie, who leads ghost tours, Vince, the retired punk rocker who owns a bar, or the ghosts that "live" in town. It looks like this is the start of a new series, and I cannot wait for what happens next.

Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for the advanced reader's copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This book is unlike anything I've read before, and I was pleasantly surprised! I've read one other book by Jen DeLuca and it was Well Met, and that wasn't my style of book. I'm glad that I gave this author another chance, because I did really like this one!

I loved this book. I can't wait to read more of this new series. I love the town of Boneyard Keys. Cassie and Nick were great, but so we're all the background characters. DeLuca is amazing at building these communities within her books.

A delightful blend of romance with a hint of supernatural charm, perfect for anyone looking to get into the spooky season spirit without veering into horror. DeLuca, known for her whimsical romances set against the backdrop of Renaissance Faires, brings her signature warmth and humor to this Halloween-themed tale.

The story centers on Cassie, a woman who's looking for a fresh start after a tough breakup. She finds herself moving into an old, possibly haunted inn. Strange occurrences begin to unfold, but rather than diving into full-on scares, DeLuca keeps the tone light and playful, never straying far from the romance genre. The spooky elements add a fun, atmospheric layer to the story, but they never overshadow the central romance.

Cassie’s budding relationship with Nick, a charming local coffee shop owner, is filled with the kind of chemistry and witty banter that fans of DeLuca will recognize and love. Their romance is sweet and engaging, and while the plot takes some predictable turns, it's the kind of predictability that feels comforting and satisfying.

One of the highlights of the novel is the development of the relationship between Cassie and Sarah. Initially, their friendship is put to the test due to the fact that Sarah is a ghost and “haunting” the house that Cassie now owns. However, by the end of the book, they’ve grown closer, and their bond becomes one of the story's most heartwarming aspects.

In summary, *Haunted Ever After* is a cozy, feel-good read that perfectly captures the essence of the Halloween season without ever becoming truly scary. It’s a charming tale of love, friendship, and a little bit of ghostly mischief. Fans of light-hearted romance with a dash of spooky fun will find this book to be a delightful addition to their fall reading list.

I loved this! I missed Jen DeLuca's previous series, but I definitely want to try to get back to it since I enjoyed this one so much.

The cover kind of makes it look like it would be a Halloween read but the story actually takes place in Florida during the summer. The ghosts that haunt the town are (mostly) friendly and playful, and there are plenty of comedic moments associated with them. The romance between Cassie and Nick is really nice and never overshadows the mystery of the ghost that inhabits Cassie‘s house. I‘ll definitely be looking for the next book in this series. Lots of fun.

Cassie decided to try life in a small, coastal Florida town. When strange things start happening around her house, she’s not sure if this is the town for her or not.

Nick is a lifelong resident who runs a local coffee shop. He is used to everyone he cares about leaving him so he is not one to commit, but then he starts having feelings for Cassie.

Cozy small town, slow burn romance, and ghosts. This was a great read to put me in the mood for fall. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

Haunted Ever After was super cute and only a tiny bit spooky. The love story between Nick and Cassie was gentle and fast flowing. I absolutely adored the ghosts in town and how sweet they all were! Overall, despite not much actually happening, it was a cute story.

Cassie leaves the bigger city of Orlando to a small town closer to the coast after she has just purchased her new home. She left all she knew behind and is met with a tourist attraction town known to be haunted. Cassie wasn’t expecting much, but found herself to be smack in the middle of the town’s shenanigans.

The cozy mystery was a cute read. Enjoyed the paranormal and romcom vibes. It really worked well in this story. DeLuca writes unique and memorable books and this was no different. If anything to build on this book, I would’ve enjoyed more depth to the characters as this read felt more of a quick surface level read.

Rating: 4/5
Steam: 2.5/5
Warnings: misogyny, difficult family dynamics

Thank you to Berkley Romance for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

First off…this was quite a transition for Jen DeLuca, and I was a fan! Haunted Ever After was whimsical and entertaining, set in a small Florida town. DeLuca did a great job capturing the essence of Florida while setting the stage for a new series.

Things I loved: Hazelnut lattes and banana bread. PubSubs and all things Publix. Quirky ghosts and townspeople. Fridge magnets and texting. The house mystery surprised me in the end, but also felt fitting. Nick and Cassie had great tension from the beginning, and they communicated like mature adults. In many ways, Nick and Cassie felt like a Luke and Lorelai dynamic. I also loved the relatable friend group dynamics and how they evolved.

Things I didn’t love: The speed at which the relationship progressed—from no strings attached to love—felt rushed, even for a romance book. I would have liked to see more development of Cassie’s family or some resolution for Nick’s family dynamics.

I've been in the worst slump lately and apparently Haunted Ever After was exactly what needed to get back to reading! I read this book in one day, I loved it from page one through the very end. It's a super cute concept, adorable small town concept full of quirky characters that I just couldn't resist. I love Jen DeLuca and I am so thankful I got a chance to read this!