When I start a new book, two things are essential to the process. First, a Pinterest board with images that I turn into a wallpaper collage for my desktop/laptop, and secondly a playlist. While I don’t necessarily listen to the playlist while I’m drafting, I listen while I’m doing other things (dishes, laundry), to keep my brain in the world of the story and puzzle out any plot problems I may have.
Here’s a selection of songs from the GHOST BUSINESS playlist!
“Cool Little Bars” by Ashley McBryde
Sophie meets Tristan at The Haunt, Boneyard Key’s local watering hole/oyster bar/steel drum karaoke venue. They build a flirty rapport that would be great if Tristan didn’t find out later that night that they’re business rivals.
There’s still a cigarette machine by the shuffleboard
A coin-drop jukebox full of songs you don’t hear much anymore
Names and dates carved right into the tabletops
An old pickle jar sittin’ on the bar where your money goes
“Guilty as Sin?” by Taylor Swift
The only thing worse than having some stranger come to town to try and steal Sophie’s livelihood? Having dirty dreams about him. Dreams that linger the next day, making it super awkward when she runs into him. And worse still when she learns he’s her next-door neighbor.
My bed sheets are ablaze
I’ve screamed his name
Buildin’ up like waves crashin’ over my grave
Without ever touchin’ his skin
How can I be guilty as sin?
“Just Want You” by Never Ending Fall. (Yes, these are the “Can it Kirkland?” guys on TikTok)
There’s a certain dreaminess this song embodies that matches the stolen moments where Sophie and Tristan are falling in love. Even though they shouldn’t, they confide their deepest hurts to each other and understand each other the way no one else does. In those moments they’re able to take in a sunset together, enjoy a slow walk home, and let themselves forget that a way forward for them together is all but impossible.
I just want you to walk a little slower tonight
You’re beautiful when we’re beneath the resting city street lights
I just found you so why don’t you come and spend forever with me?
I just want you, do you want me too?
I wanna feel your heart beat softly alongside of mine
Listen to the wind sing, the rain drip and looking at light
“On the Street Where You Live” from the Lerner & Loewe musical My Fair Lady
Tristan is a former theatre kid; he once played Freddy Eynsford-Hill in college. Tristan still has the top hat he wore as that character—a touchstone to the performer he still wants to be when he runs his ghost tours while wearing a Dickensian-style outfit. But he’d never paid much attention to the lyrics of this song until he sings it, backed by a steel-drum band, in front of Sophie at The Haunt. He’s supposed to be focused on taking her down, but once he learns she lives next door, all he can think about is her, how she’s right there next door, and when he might get to kiss her again.
I have often walked down this street before
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before
All at once am I several stories high
Knowing I’m on the street where you live
“I Want You Now” by Depeche Mode
You’re locked in your condo with your business rival/guy you’ve been secretly kissing for weeks, safe behind hurricane shutters, while a storm rages outside. Whatever should you do to pass the time?
My heart is aching, my body is burning
My hands are shaking, my head is turning
You understand it’s so easy to choose
We’ve got time to kill, we’ve got nothing to lose
I want you now
Bonus Song: “I Have Found Me a Home” by Jimmy Buffett (Because you can’t have a Boneyard Key playlist that doesn’t include Jimmy Buffett! This playlist has several)
Tristan isn’t a guy who settles down in one place. As he builds his ghost tour business, he’s always got one eye on the next location while he’s still in this one. He wasn’t looking for a home, but the longer he spends with Sophie in Boneyard Key, the more he realizes he’s found one, and none of the rest of it matters.
The days drift by
They don’t have names
None of the streets here look the same
And there’re so many quiet places
And smilin’ eyes match the smilin’ faces
And I have found me a home
I have found me a home
You can have the rest of everything I own
‘Cause I have found me a home
GHOST BUSINESS by Jen DeLuca
Boneyard Key #2
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?
Audiobook Narrator- Jeannie Sheneman.
Romance Paranormal [Berkley, On Sale: September 9, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593641231 / eISBN: 9780593641248]
Buy GHOST BUSINESS: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Target.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Jen DeLuca
Jen DeLuca is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Well Met series (Ren Faire Romance!) with Berkley Romance.
A native Virginian, Jen lives in the Arizona desert with her husband and almost too many cats.
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