Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

 

It's love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits in this new series from 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.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202102032-haunted-ever-after

********

My Review: 4/5 Stars

Cassie is looking for a change and in doing so she finds herself in Boneyard Key with a house all to herself. What no one told her? That Boneyard Key is rather special. Known to have ghosts all over town, no one told her her house is haunted by a mean old spirit. At first Cassie is skeptical. Her laptop not charging? Faulty wiring. Right? But the longer she is in town, the more she begins to realize that maybe the people here aren’t so crazy. Nick has lived in Boneyard Key his whole life. He currently owns the coffee shop and isn’t phased by the ghost of the original owner who tends to text him when he wants to give Nick tips on the cafe. And when Cassie comes to town, he finds himself teaching her all about the ghosts around town and hoping that she will believe him. And hoping even more that maybe she will stay. Because it’s been a long time since he has had feelings for someone. And Cassie threatens to crumble the walls he has built over the years. The more time they spend together, the more they learn about the truth of Cassie’s new home and the ghost that lives there. Including something that no one expected. This book was a lot of fun! The ghosts were a hoot. And I loved how Cassie learned to roll with it and really embrace it. Her and Nick were a great pairing and it was sweet to see them build up their relationship. A really fun book from this author!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.