2.5⭐️
Thank you so much to Berkeley Romance, Netgalley, and PRH Audio for providing free advanced copies of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Wow did this book drag on and on and on and.......

I was so excited for a new series from Jen Deluca. I enjoyed the Well Met series but was really looking forward to a new setting. Especially a paranormal one!

Unfortunately this just didn't deliver on any of the aspects - the paranormal, the small town, the romance... nothing.

This follows Cassie who is looking for a fresh start. She feels like she's grown apart from her friends who are all settling down and having kids. So she buys a house in a small costal town on the other side of Florida. Only to get there and learn that everyone truly believes this small town to be haunted.

After a not-so-great first impression with local coffee shop owner, Cassie finds herself wrapped up in her own haunted ghost story. And needs the help of the locals to find a way to live (or get rid of) her house's ghost.

I think one thing a small town romance relies on is its desirability. I need to fall in love with the town and quirks. But this didn't have any of that... I felt like we saw the same 2 places over and over again and none of them really had any personality. I never had that feeling of wanting to go there. Instead it sounded like an actual nightmare...

But the part that really brought this whole book down was its lack of plot and driving force. The entire story revolves around Cassie learning her house is haunted, coming to terms with the ghost, and then wanting to learn about the ghost's past & potentially help her move on.

All of which was fine. But we followed her doing the same things so many time it became frustrating. The outlets, the coffee shop, the tour, the fridge words... it was so repetitive.

Because I was enjoying the actual plot and pace of the story, the final little twist grated on my nerves even more. Because OBVIOUSLY. It took the MCs so long to come to then conclusion that felt so obvious from the very beginning. And that stacked on top of my lack of enjoyment left me feeling so very unenthused by this entire book.

Unfortunately I don't think this is a series I'll be continuing on with. I have a feeling the next couple will be the tour guide and the librarian and I just.... don't care.

The audio book was well narrated however. So if you're still interested in picking this one up, I highly suggest checking out the audio version.