Thank you to Berkeley for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this one more! The premise was intriguing, and I appreciated the paranormal themes explored throughout the book. In the end this book just wasn’t for me. I think what really through me off was the fact that it took place in the summer rather than fall, so I didn’t get the vibes.

**Book Review: *Haunted Ever After* by Jen DeLuca**

Jen DeLuca’s *Haunted Ever After* is a delightful blend of cozy romance, small-town charm, and just the right touch of ghostly intrigue. Set in the quirky coastal town of Boneyard Key — where the residents fully embrace their haunted reputation to keep tourism alive — this story captures both the magic of falling in love and the unsettling thrill of sharing your home with a less-than-quiet spirit.

Cassie Rutherford is an incredibly relatable heroine. Her reaction to the "everyone's getting married and having kids" stage of life feels authentic (who hasn't daydreamed about a fresh start somewhere new?) Her decision to leave Orlando for a fixer-upper cottage in Boneyard Key brings both freedom and unexpected complications. The house may be historic, but its odd quirks (mysteriously malfunctioning outlets and fridge poetry that seems to rewrite itself) quickly hint that Cassie has inherited more than just a bit of old Florida charm.

Nick Royer, the grumpy yet endearing coffee shop owner, is a perfect romantic counterpart. His reluctant softness (hidden behind dark roast blends and sly banana bread offerings) adds depth to his character. Watching Cassie and Nick grow closer, whether through ghost tours full of local lore or late-night research into her haunted home’s past, feels natural and sweet. Their romance is a slow burn, filled with moments that are both heartwarming and lightly humorous, perfectly balancing the supernatural undercurrents of the story.

DeLuca’s writing paints Boneyard Key in vivid detail; the salt-tinged air, the historic streets, and the playful embrace of ghost tourism all make the town feel alive (and maybe a little undead). The supernatural elements never overpower the plot but instead add an extra layer of charm, reinforcing themes of community, history, and belonging.

*Haunted Ever After* is a fun, cozy read with endearing characters, a captivating setting, and a romance that will make you believe in both love and a few friendly ghosts.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

I recognized the author’s name but had not read one of her works yet. This is also the first in her new series. Now that I’ve read this one, I’m definitely willing to read her other stuff.

This has the vibe of those Hallmark movies except it is not Christmas and there is no snow. However, there are ghosts in the town and the townspeople are very much aware of it. This was an interesting storyline with a little spice to keep it interesting. Got a little sad towards the end. But I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for this series.

A romance with a side of haunting!

Cassie Rutherford has left her home in Orlando and moved to Boneyard Key, a coastal town in Florida known for its ghost folklore. She scored a great deal on the historic Hawkins House—one thing the realtor conveniently forgot to mention? It’s haunted!

Cassie doesn’t believe in ghosts, but strange things keep happening—like her laptop refusing to stay charged. With no choice but to head to the nearest coffee shop, Hallowed Grounds, she finds herself frequenting the place. At first, she’s not too fond of the barista, Nick Royer, but the more they interact, the happier she is to see him. There’s just one little problem—Nick believes in ghosts… and he might be right after all!

Having enjoyed the Well Met series by Jen DeLuca, I couldn’t pass up Boneyard Key, and it didn’t disappoint. The town was picturesque, and both the main and secondary characters brought plenty of charm. A delightful romance with just the right touch of paranormal intrigue!

I can't wait to read the next one in this series!

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Berkley via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca!

I had to DNF this one. From the start, I just couldn’t connect it with the characters or the writing. The cover is gorgeous though.

I was so excited for this but something was just off for me. Maybe the pacing? The balance of town-plot to the romance? I made it halfway through the book and was amazed there was still another half left.

The twist was really predictable and with the poorly balanced romance/ghosts plot, I found myself slogging through it.

Haunted Ever After was such a fun read! I enjoyed it from start to finish, Loved the charismatic characters, living and deceased. The chemistry between the main characters was great. I cried, sighed and swooned. I live in FL so I could retate to so many references and stores, like Publix.

I'd highly recommend it. Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really cozy paranormal romance! To be honest, I really didn’t expect this to go the way it did — I’ve never read one of these contemporary paranormal genres before and as a skeptic I was honestly waiting for them to Scooby-Doo us and say, “See! It was never a ghost.” But no, be ready for the spookies to be real!

Haunted Ever After follows Cassie right when she moves to a small town called Boneyard Key, and it looks like the house she’s just bought might actually be haunted. The ghost tours that stop at her front door are annoying, yes, but what worse is that her computer isn’t charging and she has to borrow the internet from the local cafe, where the barista is kinda…cute?

I think the strongest aspect of this book is actually the setting; I would totally be down to read any other books that take place in the same town. By the end of the novel, I totally bought into the small town vibes and I liked how magical the entire community felt.

The plot is decent — a little on-the-nose sometimes, but overall I liked the light-hearted mystery and how the main leads worked together on it. The romance was actually just okay to me though; While I liked some of their banter, I think there’s a bit of insta-love (or insta-attraction for sure). Their backstories are things I’ve seen before, and it just felt low stakes and a little too easy despite the hiccups they had.

Ultimately, though, I still think this one was pretty fun! I’d be interested in seeing Cassie and Nick cameo in future novels for sure, and the writing is a breeze to get through.

Thanks to NetGalley, BerkleyRomance, and BerkleyPub for this copy of "Haunted Ever After."

I've been on a romance book binge and this one was delightful! I devoured all of DeLuca's "Well Met" series so I was very excited to start this one.

Cassie moves to the "Most Haunted Small Town in Florida" where residents just naturally accept that some of their neighbors can see and talk with ghosts. She buys the Hawkins House where people have always wondered if it's haunted by "Mean Mrs. Hawkins."

When her refrigerator magnets spell out words, she's intrigued about the history of house and tries to uncover what the ghost may be trying to tell her.

With a great group of town characters, I'm excited to see who will be featured in the next book in the series. Keeping my fingers crossed for a book about Sophie and Theo!

Haunted Ever After was a DNF for me, which pains me so much to say because I simply adored all four books in Jen's Well Met series. I was looking for her swoony romance, but that took a back seat to the supernatural elements. And I am not so much a fun of supernatural stories, so maybe I chose wrong when I requested to review this. I just love the author so much, and didn't realize how different it would be for me from her other books. The slow romance, plus the third person point of view, prevented me from fully immersing myself in the story and connecting with the characters. The instant attraction/crush wasn't believable for me and I could tell the relationship wasn't going to develop much as soon as Nick latched onto Cassie because he pretty much had no other choice in the town. I did love the small town vibes and the quirky setting. I just didn't like Nick. He seemed like a tool, and jumping into his brain wasn't an enjoyable place to be. If you're in this for the romance, I might suggest something else. If you're interested in ghosties, give this a try. The writing is solid, the story just wasn't what I wanted. I DNFed at about a quarter of the way in.

I loved this one! Mid-read I told my mom she needed to buddy read it with me. I love the mystery element to this one and felt like the love story was so cute. This read like a well written hallmark movie and I was totally here for it!

I'm a big Jen DeLuca fan. Her writing style and characters speak to me. I enjoyed Haunted Ever After but occasionally there were things that took me out of the story, primarily when the ghost effected Nick. I get why it happened but it's hard to come back from hearing your love interest say that to the protagonist. Otherwise a very good read.

This was so cute! I want to move to this hypothetical town. It felt so cozy. I feel like I saw the issue with the house pretty early on but the characters were so great it was worth the wait to see if I was correct.

Haunted houses, sexy coffeeshop owners, protgatonist trying to figure out their life path, and small towns! This book’s got it all. A cute romance with great chemistry between the two main characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

THE 411...

Cassie Rutherford has decided to up and go buy a historic coastal cottage in Boneyard Key Florida after realizing just how much her social circle of friends has matured, married and most have had kids. She ditches Orlando and seeks comfort in a yellow cottage right by the ocean in a town that makes its money off of its haunted ghost tours. Her house seems quaint up until strange things start to happen in her new home. Magnets spelling out words she knows she didn't arrange as part of her morning message on the fridge like "Wrong" and "My House" appear the next morning. She can never get her laptop to charge which really interferes with her work from home career and leads her to seek out a local coffee shop to work from. It's not Publix but they sell coffee and that's all she's looking for...that and WIFI. 

Local coffee shop owner Nick is used to tourists coming by and overstaying their welcome using his wifi connection while sipping on the same cup of Jo for hours on end. He doesn't think Cassie is any different and doesn't hold back from a jab or two at her type. The tourist type. When Cassie informs him she's a Floridian native just not from the coastal side of the state, he is instantly curious as to why anyone from Orlando would move to Boneyard Key. Even more intriguing is just how much Cassie hasn't heard of their ghostly town. So he volunteers to be her tour guide of sorts while holding back some truths about his own connections to the founding families and their ghostly ties. 

THOUGHTS...

The vibeZ Book lovers! I love a beachside read set in a small town with cute coffee shops and town happenings. This time Jen DeLuca gives us some bonus ghost characters who refuse to NOT tell their story with the help of the towns inhabitants. There are 12 prominent families with descendants still living in town, some of which can speak/see their dead ancestors. Nick spends his evenings walking with Cassie along the shore and sharing stories of the towns history and that of her newly purchased home. Cassie starts to piece things together while really enjoying Nick's vibe and attention...until he starts acting differently which throws the story down the path of an unraveling mystery. The ghostly things happening to both Nick and Cassie were at times funny (text messages Nick Received from his ghost) and at others a bit creepy, that's because the righting of wrongs was at the center of this paranormal story. It's cute until you realize the pain behind the haunting of Cassie's home. If you're looking for haunted vibes on a beachside setting, this ones for you. The romance was there but the driving force is the mystery from the very start. We also get introduced to ghost tour guide Sopie and librarian Theo as side characters that I would LOVE to see get their own nerdy ghost story in the next Boneyard Keys installment 🤗

Thank you to Berkley, NetGalley and LibroFM For the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f paranormal romance
-haunted house/town
-small town
-frenemies to lovers

I always need my yearly dose of Jen. I couldn't have adored this cozy and wonderful haunted romance more. The small town vibes, the wonderful chemistry. I cannot wait for more in the world and just more from Jen in general. Highly recommend on audio

This novel was a delightfully cozy spooky time romance. I love my Halloween reads so when a book popped up that offered something softer than my dark romance reads, I scooped it up immediately.

I loved the small town setting and vibes, with all the ghosts and how the main characters were able to interact with them. This cute and quirky novel charmed me with all the neat characters and the world building was pretty vibrant. The author did a great job of describing the town.

I loved the antics and all the fun moments inbetween. This was a great Halloween/fall read.

Haunted Ever After was delightful mix of humor and heart. Cassie is new to town and ends up buying a legit haunted house in what turns out to be a haunted town. Nick is the local coffee shop owner who helps her navigate the new ghostly world she unwittingly entered.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

👻 Paranormal Romance
🏠Small Town
👻Haunted House
🏠Small Town Secrets
👻Ghost Speakers

This was a cozy paranormal romance. I loved the small town vibes. My favorite parts were when the main characters talked to the ghosts that haunted their places.

New to town FMC finds out that her newly purchased house is haunted. She ends up having to go to a local coffee shop for WiFi due to “faulty” outlets at her house. She meets the MMC who happens to be the owner of the coffee shop and learns this town is more than what it seems.

I loved the cozy vibes. I thought there was the right amount of romance and paranormal plot.