NetGalley Review: Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca
Hey all, Sam here.
Welcome back to the blog. Today I have a book review for you, and for once I’m actually on top of things and getting this review posted BEFORE the book releases. But don’t worry, you don’t have to wait much longer for this one. The release date is September 9th, 2025, so just over a week away.
I’ve already read and reviewed the first book in this series, so you can check out my thoughts on Haunted Ever After in a previous post.
All right, I don’t want to take too much longer to jump into the post, so I’ll just say that I’m glad we’re getting into spooky season, and hopefully I have a bunch more content coming for you over the next couple months. Let’s get into this.
My Thoughts
Clashing ghost tours lead to a sizzling romantic rivalry in the second romance in the new series from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.
Boneyard Key, Florida, is the only home Sophie has ever known. Her love for its supernatural history has flourished into a career, as she guides the one and only ghost tour through the town’s can’t-miss haunted spots. And while her bank account isn’t full by any means, her heart is. Or at least, it was.
But there’s a newcomer in town. The son of a Fortune 500 businessman, former theater kid Tristan has grown his tours from a fraternity fundraiser to a multicity ghost tour conglomerate. It’s doing well, but not well enough—if he can’t prove that he’s solidly in the black by the fall, Dad’s going to pull his funding, spelling the end of his career. Boneyard Key, with its haunted reputation, seems like the perfect place to boost his bottom line.
When the two ghost tours clash, Sophie’s expletive-filled rant goes viral, and the rivals strike up a deal. Whoever has the most successful business by summer’s end stays, while the loser must ghost. But the more Tristan comes to appreciate Boneyard Key, the more Sophie comes to appreciate Tristan, and what starts as begrudging respect becomes something spicier. Can they put their feuding businesses aside to make room for a chance at love, or is Boneyard Key too small for two ghost tours?
Rating: 5 stars
The first thing I should note is that while Ghost Business is the second book in the series, you don’t necessarily have to read Haunted Ever After first. Each book has a different duo as the main two characters, and as this is a romance leaning series, it comes with the understanding that the couple will have a HEA/HFN. (That’s Happily Ever After or Happy For Now for any who aren’t aware). What I will say is that we meet Sophie and a lot of the other residents of Boneyard Key in the first book, so I would recommend reading them in order, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.
There was another character introduced in the first book that myself and apparently many others had hoped to be partnered up with Sophie in a future installment, but I will say that after reading this book, perhaps they are better off as friends and there is hope for another future book with this other person. And yes, I’m trying to be vague on this one to not ruin the fun but if you read book one then you know who I’m talking about.
Anyway, I loved getting to learn more about Sophie and seeing how much she cares about her ghost tour passion project, bringing the stories of the former residents (some of whom are still there in spirit) to some semblance of spotlight. It was nice to see how much the residents of Boneyard Key support and take care of each other.
Then enters Tristan, a son of wealth and privilege, a theater boy with business dreams of his own. He has his own ghost tour company…and is more interested in giving those on the tour an entertaining time than a factual one.
Naturally this causes some friction with Sophie and with the rest of the town. A viral video moment of Sophie going off on Tristan goes viral, and of course, Tristan thinks he can use this to boost his business profits, which leads to a competition between the two ghost tours.
As they run into each other more and more, both during the ghost tours and not, it’s clear that there’s some sparks between Sophie and Tristan. This one had a lot of tension and lead-up before either character actually made a move, but when it happened it was absolutely delightful.
I loved the romance. I loved learning even more about Boneyard Key. If you’re a fan of twists to the “just one bed” trope, this book features “just one hurricane” because a certain pretty boy out-of-towner is definitely not ready when that happens. Oh, and after I finished reading this book, I saw where author Jen DeLuca was comparing Tristan to Logan Huntzberger from “Gilmore Girls,” you know, if Logan was a theater kid as well as a rich charismatic party boy….and honestly, that is completely accurate.
Anyway, I read this book very quickly and had a blast doing it. I can’t wait to have a finished copy on my shelf with all of my other Jen DeLuca books. But I guess now I have to wait for the release of Ren Faire book 5 or the announcement of Boneyard Key book 3. Jen DeLuca is basically an auto-buy author for me at this point. I’ve loved all of her books so far.
All righty, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
