Review: Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

 

Haunted Ever After (Boneyard Key #1) by Jen Deluca

Publication Date: August 13th  2024 by Berkley & Penguin Audio

Pages: 352

Audio Book Length: 10hrs 51min

Narrators: Jeannie Sheneman

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Cassie moves to Bonyard Key, Florida after her search for an affordable house in Orlando doesn’t work out. Also, she now feels like an outsider to her original friend group when they’ve moved onto marriage and kids while she remains single. It quickly becomes apparent that the ghost hauntings the town is famous for are real, and one of those ghosts seems to inhabit her cute, historic cottage. She’s freaked out, but with the help of Nick, the town’s coffee shop owner, Cassie starts to get used to the idea. It becomes clear that her ghost has a few things to clear up.

 

Nick is used to the ghosts in Boneyard Key, after all he’s a descendant of the “Founding Fifteen” the group of families that originally settled there. Nick has an affinity with ghosts and so he helps introduce Cassie to the oddities of the town and show her some of the wonderful things about living there.

 

I enjoyed this romance with a side of paranormal mystery! It was easy to figure out most of what was going on and I did wonder at how Cassie and Nick didn’t sooner, but I had fun “exploring” the town, getting its history as they sorted things out. Cassie and Nick had some relationship hangups they had to get over on their way to a HEA. It was a low romance drama read that I thoroughly enjoyed!

 

I alternately read and listened to an audio copy of Haunted Ever After and can recommend either version. Jeannie Sheneman did a wonderful job with all voices, male and female, brining each character to life. I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed. 

4 Stars

Book Description:

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

About the Author

Jen DeLuca was born and raised near Richmond, Virginia, but now lives in Arizona with her husband and a houseful of rescue pets. She loves latte-flavored lattes, Hokies football, and the Oxford comma. Her novels, Well Met, Well Played, Well Matched, and Well Traveled were inspired by her time volunteering as a pub wench with her local Renaissance Faire.

Mini Review: Well Matched by Jen DeLuca

 

Well Matched (Well Met #3) by Jen DeLuca

Publication Date: October 19th 2021 by Berkley

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Loved Mitch and this was unexpectedly hot in places, but April was frustrating, and not only with Mitch. 

I can understand being a little hesitant about the age difference, especially if she was worried about Mitch eventually wanting kids, but ten years isn’t hardly anything especially when he’s thirty and you’re forty. I didn’t like that April was so closed off, even with her family and the other women she was in book club with. And come on, you can’t stock beer in the fridge for the guy helping you renovate your house? That really got to me because it was such a small thing to show gratefulness and she wouldn’t do it.

I sounds like I didn’t enjoy the story at all, but there was a lot to like as well: Mitch and April in a fake romance that was clearly more, and they were deliciously hot together! Fun times at the Ren Faire, seeing Emily and Simon happy and in love. 

3.5 Stars

Review: Well Played by Jen Deluca

Well Played (Well Met #2) by Jen DeLuca

Publication Date: September 22nd 2020 by Berkley

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

In Well Played we’re brought back into the Renaissance Faire life and this time Stacey, Emily’s friend, takes center stage.   She helped Emily navigate all things Ren Faire as a longtime Faire participant, both as an actor in the events and helper behind the scenes.

Stacey finds out her best friend, Emily, is getting married, and that combined with the Faire ending and the regulars packing it up and moving on stirs up a bit of melancholy. Stacey needs a change. In a drunken moment she messages her Faire hookup, hottie, and star of the Dueling Kilts, Dex, and to her surprise, he messages back. She didn’t remember Dex being so insightful and easy to talk to, but soon they’re emailing and texting back and forth, getting to know each other, and Stacey finds herself falling for Dex’s mind, not just his looks. Unfortunately, it’s not Dex emailing and texting.

Falling in love through emails and texts was fun, even though Stacey didn’t realize who she was talking to for some time. I’m happy it didn’t take long for the truth to come out and that there wasn’t much drama when it did.

Really enjoyed Stacey and our hero’s story! He was such a sweetheart, and a hottie in his own right! Confession: Highlight for spoiler: I’ve always had a thing for redheads! End of spoiler.

 4 Suns

Goodreads Description:

Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story.

Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it's been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she'll even find The One.

When Stacey imagined "The One," it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she's not sure what to make of it.

Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey's shock, it isn't Dex—she's been falling in love with a man she barely knows.

Review: Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Publication Date: September 3rd 2019 by Berkley

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About the book:

All's faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

My Thoughts:

Well Met was a wonderful debut!  A swoony romance in the magical setting of a Renaissance Faire, with all the delights that go along with it. I loved the romance!  The connection between Simon and Emily once the ice melted between them was deliciously hot! The kisses alone were so steamy and dreamy, but when they finally got together…oh my! I also loved Emily’s relationship with her sister, April, and her niece, Caitlin. Even though they weren’t super close growing up (twelve-year age gap and all that) Emily was there for them, putting her whole life on hold, when they needed her.  And it wasn’t one sided either, April was supportive of Emily when she needed it, too.

The faire was a lot of fun, too. Having never gone to a Renaissance Faire I got to experience it through Ms. DeLuca’s vivid writing.  

I really enjoyed Well Met, with some minor quibbles. I wasn’t thrilled with Emily’s quick judgmental assumptions about Simon at first, and I wasn’t a fan of Emily’s self-doubt in her relationship with Simon, especially since he seemed clear on things, also with Chris from the coffee shop. I guess some of it was understandable considering her previous relationship, but it was a little frustrating.

All in all, Well Met was a delight, and I look forward to whatever Jen DeLuca’s decides to come up with next!

3.5-4 Suns