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Haunted Ever After: 09/11/24
Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca and Jeannie Sheneman (Narrator) (2024) is the start of the Boneyard Key romance series. Cassie Rutherford has bought the Hawkins house, a place that was recently repaired and updated after sitting abandoned for eight decades. Meanwhile, Nick Royer who runs the local coffee shop is hoping to convince Cass to stick around and start something lasting with him. That is if both can avoid been cock-blocked by the ghosts in their homes. As it's set in a haunted coastal Florida town, I mistook the book for the next in the Haunted Haven cozy mystery series by Carol J. Perry. Both had summer releases and in my confusion, I purchased the audiobook version of this book. I normally avoid romances as audios because I don't wear headphones when I listen to books. So this time around I had to plan my listening times when I knew I wouldn't be interrupted. As with her Well Met series, her main characters aren't perfect. They're flawed. They're scared. They have messy histories. But they are still true to themselves and willing to be descent and open to those who do the same. Although this is a romance first and foremost, between two living human beings, it does have a paranormal twist. The town really is haunted and through the ghost tour Cass takes and later through her research we get to learn the lore of the town. I hope in future volumes we get to learn more. I am here for the lore! Besides the history, there's the matter of fact way that the living coexist with the dead. Not everyone can communicate with the dead but some can. Nick does it through texting. Cass does it through refrigerator poetry. Along with the history and the modern day romance, there is a paranormal mystery. It hinges on Cass not being able to charge her laptop at home. Further clues are revealed as Nick feels incredibly uncomfortable in Cass's house. Since I went into the book expecting a mystery, this B plot helped scratch that itch. This first volume also clearly sets up couple for the second romance. At the time of writing this review a second title or publishing date hasn't been announced. That said, I am looking forward to more books in this series. Five stars Comments (0) |