Spotlight & Giveaway: Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jen DeLuca to HJ!

Hi Jen and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Ghost Business!

Hi, HJ! Thanks so much for having me!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

In Boneyard Key, a beachside tourist town where ghosts are more than just a tourist gimmick, Sophie spends her weekends running a ghost tour, focused on the true stories of the ghosts that stick around her hometown. But she finds herself defending her tour against Tristan, owner of a ghost tour conglomerate looking to establish a branch in her town. When a mid-tour confrontation goes viral, they establish a contest, with the most successful tour in town allowed to stay, and the loser forced to shut down. Sophie hates Tristan. She’s definitely not having dirty dreams about kissing him. Tristan meanwhile is lightly obsessed with Sophie and regrets that he has to crush her professionally when all he wants to do is kiss her.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

There’s a moment where Tristan (who’s not quite sure if he believes in ghosts) is introduced to Sarah Hawkins, a ghost who communicates with another character, Cassie, via magnetic poetry on Cassie’s fridge:

She gestured towards the fridge. “Tristan, I’d like you to meet Sarah Hawkins.”
“Your refrigerator is named Sarah Hawkins?”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The working title was pretty much always The Ghost Tour Book. When it was time to talk real titles, my suggestion was There’s No Business Like Ghost Business, which finally became Ghost Business.
• Even though I lived in Florida for twenty-five years and rode out several hurricanes in that time, I spent way too much time researching the travel paths of hurricanes. Mostly so I could make a “dirty side of the hurricane” joke.
• The playlist for this novel include songs by Jimmy Buffett (“Tin Cup Chalice,” “I Have Found Me a Home,” “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season”) as well as Taylor Swift (“Guilty as Sin?,” “Florida!!!,”) and even a couple show tunes (“On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady and “Lily’s Eyes” from The Secret Garden).
• There’s a moment where Tristan (a former theatre kid) sings “On the Street Where You Live” backed by a steel drum band. This was inspired by a time I was in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and walked past a steel drum band playing “Get Me to the Church on Time” from the same musical. It was a bizarre, delightful moment I’ve never forgotten.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Sophie and Tristan have a good old-fashioned meet cute in a bar. They’re instantly attracted to each other and quickly establish an easy, flirty rapport. So of course less than an hour later Tristan finds out she’s a business rival that he has to crush, and that rapport fizzles out FAST.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

Sophie and Tristan end up together in her apartment during a hurricane (I’m calling this trope “Only One Hurricane”), and they go from worrying about the potential damage outside to talking about their feelings, but in the guise of still talking about the town of Boneyard Key:

Sophie shifted in her seat, leaning closer, bringing her forehead close to his. “Let’s just say I like this town a lot.”

“Oh, God, so do I.” The words burst from his chest, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He reached for her, cupping her face in his hands. “I’ve really, really fallen for this town.” Her skin was so smooth, her hair curling around his fingers as he slid one hand back to grip the base of her skull. “Sophie. God.” He leaned closer, impossibly closer, his mouth hovering a breath away from hers. “You have no idea … the things I want to do to this town.”

Readers should read this book….

…to escape to a beachside Florida tourist town, go on a couple of ghost tours, watch a couple of bickering people fall in love, and witness a small town come together in the aftermath of a hurricane.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

My next release is the fifth installment in my Ren Faire Romance series, that began with WELL MET, due to publish in the fall of 2026.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 giveaway copy of GHOST BUSINESS by Jen DeLuca, U.S. only

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Would you rather go on a ghost tour that tells factual stories about the town you’re in, or one that tells fun, familiar, spooky tales, geared towards entertainment?

 
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Book Info:

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?
 
 

Meet the Author:

Jen DeLuca is the USA Today bestselling author of the Well Met series, which was inspired by her time volunteering as a pub wench with her local Renaissance Faire. She loves Publix chicken tender subs, cold brew coffee, and the Oxford comma. Jen lives in the Arizona desert with her husband, their rescue dog, and almost too many cats.