Jen Deluca follows up her debut series set in a small town in Maryland that hosts a Renaissance Faire every year. HAUNTED EVER AFTER is the first in a new series set in a small town on the West Coast in Florida with an unusual tourist draw, ghosts. Boneyard Key, dubbed the Most Haunted Small Town in Florida, is where Cassie Rutherford found a flipped historic cottage she could actually buy and still work remotely at her job based in Orlando. She figures she can handle the cheesy moniker and the tourists that come with it if it means she can afford a house and enjoy a fabulous holiday iced hazelnut latte at Hallowed Grounds, the local coffee shop owned by hot, grumpy barista Nick Royer. Once she learns the town really is haunted with the former owner of the coffee shop constantly texting suggestions to Nick and someone in her cottage leaving messages on the refrigerator, Cassie must decide whether she wants a life with Nick in Boneyard Key with all its spirits or flee back to her lonely life in Orlando. This is a sweet, slow-burn romance with lots of interesting secondary characters that gets steamy in the last few chapters. The paranormal aspect is cute. I can’t wait for the next one.
It's love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits in this new series 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.
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