Review & Giveaway: How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

 

How to Seal Your Own Fate (Castle Knoll Files #2) by Kristen Perrin

Publication Date: April 29th 2025 by Dutton

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Annie is a bit out of sorts settling into Gravesdown Hall, not quite feeling like she fits into the town of Castle Knoll. However, she’s making an effort and trying to get back to her writing.

 

Running into the infamous Peony Lane, the woman who unsettled Aunt Frances’ entire future with her fortune, is a shock. Peony has a bizarre message for Annie and then turns up murdered inside Gravesdown, initially casting some suspicions on Annie. With a renewed purpose, Annie goes about trying to find out who murdered Peony and why which has her once again delving into her Aunt Frances’ past. This time she has a bit of help from Detective Crane an ally, and possibly *fingers crossed* a romantic interest for Annie.

 

There are two timelines and POVs with Annie in the present trying to work out Peony’s murder and then Aunt Frances’ POV in 1967 partnered with Archie Foyle looking into the crash that killed Ford Gravedown’s father, brother and sister-in-law. There are rumors that it wasn’t an accident at all.

 

It’s a web of secrets to untangle with a lot of twists!  The mysteries intersect and come together by the end, and I was completely riveted! I recommend reading the previous story first, How to Solve Your Own Murder, as the stories connect. I went back and reread parts to refresh my memory and I’m glad I did!  

 

How to Seal Your Own Fate was a clever, cozy mystery that grabbed my attention from page one! The mystery was solved, but the ending hinted at more books to come, and I’m thrilled! I look forward to the next one!

5 Stars

Book Description:

Kristen Perrin is back with the second novel in her Castle Knoll series. Annie Adams is caught in a new web of murder that spans decades, returning us to the idyllic English village that holds layers of secrets.

Present Annie Adams is just settling into life in Castle Knoll when local fortune teller Peony Lane crosses her path and shares a cryptic message. When Peony Lane is found dead only hours later inside the locked Gravesdown Estate, Annie quickly realizes that someone is out to make her look guilty while silencing Peony at the same time. Annie has no choice but to delve into the dark secrets of Castle Knoll in order to find out just what Peony Lane was trying to warn her about, before the new life she’s just begun to build comes crashing down around her.

1967: A year has passed since her friend Emily disappeared, and teenage Frances Adams finds herself caught between two men. Ford Gravesdown is one of the only remaining members of a family known for its wealth and dubious uses of power. Archie Foyle is a local who can’t hold down a job and lives above the village pub. But when Frances teams up with Archie to investigate the car crash that claimed the lives of Ford's family, it quickly becomes clear that this was no accident—hints of cover-ups, lies, and betrayals abound. The question is, just how far does the blackness creep through the heart of Castle Knoll? When Frances uncovers secrets kept by both Ford and Archie, she starts to What exactly has she gotten herself into?

Dutton generously provided a Paperback copy of the first book: How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin to giveaway to one lucky reader! Giveaway is open to US Residents only. Fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win. Good luck!

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Review: Suitor Armor Volume 1 by Purpah

 

Suitor Armor Volume 1 by Purpah

Publication Date: November 12th 2024 by Ten Speed Graphic

Pages: 224

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I’ve only read one graphic novel, but Suitor Armor appealed to me. The story of a Lucia, a lady-in-waiting, falling for a magically enchanted suit of armor was intriguing!

Lucia’s hiding her true identity, because being a fairy in her kingdom could get her killed since they’re at war.

This novel reads like a romantasy fairytale with mystery, secrets and danger! The pictures are beautifully illustrated and colored; the characters’ emotions spark off the page!

I look forward to finding out what happens next in Volume 2!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Secrets hide behind every corner of the castle walls in the first volume of an exciting Webtoon romantasy graphic novel that follows the budding romance between a lady-in-waiting and an enchanted suit of armor.

While humans and fairies are at war beyond the castle walls, Lucia’s life is dedicated to helping prepare Lady Kirsi for her upcoming wedding to King Reimund.

Lucia’s time at court takes a dazzling turn when she accompanies Lady Kirsi to a royal tournament that calls together all of the kingdom's brave knights for a competition of strength and wit. A magically animated suit of armor, brought to life by Norrix the court mage's complicated enchantment spell, enters the ring and challenges the winning knight. Lucia is immediately attracted to the armor's dark, mysterious charm and lovingly names him Modeus. Bonded by their mutual status as outcasts within the kingdom, the two begin to develop an unlikely yet thrilling connection and sparks (both metaphorical and magical) fly.

The truth is, Lucia is hiding a dangerous secret about her own identity. She is the enemy: a fairy. She fears being exposed to the whole human kingdom, but she desperately desires to learn more about herself—especially with the arrival of a winged visitor who has infiltrated the castle walls for reasons still unknown...

Complete with original behind-the-scenes content and a bonus storyline exclusive to the book, this first volume includes episodes 1–17 of the greatly successful Webtoon webcomic Suitor Armor and sets the stage for a grand adventure in magic, romance, mystery, fantasy creatures, friendship, self-discovery, and more!

Review: The Geographer's Map to Romance by India Holton

 

The Geographer's Map to Romance (Love's Academic #2) by India Holton

Publication Date: April 8th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Elodie and Gabriel are both professors at Oxford 1890s, in this alternate magical reality. They’re also married, but it was a marriage of convenience when it should’ve been the real thing, because they were both actually besotted. A misunderstanding had them estranged shortly after a couple of passion-filled nights.

 

Now Elodie and Gabriel are both sent to the same location to manage a magical disaster in the making, determine its source and prevent a full-on catastrophe.  This was fortuitous as it forced them together to work things out in between investigating and managing the locals.

 

The Geographer’s Map to Romance was a fun magical mystery/romance. Elodie was a hoot, a brilliant scatterbrain always seeing the positives in things. Gabriel was the broody, silent type but so devoted and protective of Elodie. They both needed to get out of their own way to realize the obvious: they were so in love! There were a lot of clever banter and laugh-out-loud moments. A pure delight!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission in this swoony historical-fantasy rom-com.

Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her--except her own personal disaster, that is: Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves.

Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either--except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They've been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn't stopped him from stoically pining for her.

When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of England, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there's no navigational guide for the geography of the heart.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books with "Dead" in the Title

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

The topic this week: Ten Books with "Dead" in the Title. 

It was a little harder than I thought to chose the one word because I wanted them all to be books I read and enjoyed. 

Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot #35) by Agatha Christie

Dead Man's List (San Diego #3) by Karen Rose

Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Dead Man's Wake (Mike Bowditch #14) by Paul Doiron

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates

Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James

Dead Heat (Alpha & Omega #4) by Patricia Briggs

Donners of the Dead by Karina Halle

Deeper Than the Dead (Oak Knoll #1) by Tami Hoag

Deadline by Sandra Brown

Have you read any of these? What word did you choose for your TTT? 

Sunday Post #292

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday!

Nothing exciting to report this week. We had my sister and her husband over for dinner and enjoyed catching up. I made comfort food, a chicken casserole with carrots, celery, onion in a cheesy sauce topped with cream cheese and chive rolled biscuits and apple pie for dessert. 

I watched the new film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Towards Zero with Matthew Rhys. It was good with a beautiful setting and costumes. Better than some of the more recent adaptations. Almost down with Downton Abbey and will start in on the movies as soon as we finish.

It's been cold and rainy today will be the same for tomorrow. It's so green and so many things are blooming: dogwood, lilac and our front field is full of yellow flowers. I did chores and a puzzle while listening to an audiobook. 

Lilacs

Cold and rainy but so green!

Puzzle: Pinch Penny Square by Charles Wysocki

Puzzle from Filoli Gardens: Wildflowers

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads listing)

Fate's Edge (The Edge #3) by Ilona Andrews 4.5 Stars

The Geographer's Map to Romance (Love's Academic #2) by India Holton 3.5 Stars

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler 4 Stars

Received:

Thank you to Berkley!

Instagram:

Had to use my flowering dogwood for a backdrop!

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How was your week?

Review: A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper

 

A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper

Publication Date: April 8th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 343

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Jessamine Bricker organizes unique proposals, and her business is doing well. However, her apartment along with its office space is about to be sold and rent in Nashville could put her under. So, when Diana, an acquaintance from high school, wants to hire her so that her boyfriend, Trenton Tillard the Fourth, can get his proposal right she reluctantly agrees. Jess would rather have said no since Diana was part of the mean-girl crowd, but the money could give her the down payment she needs to buy the building.

 

Trenton decides he wants a destination proposal and so they head up to the Golden Ash, a remote Appalachia spa. The place is beautiful and luxurious with private villas and spa treatments, but Diana and her wedding planner are less than desirable company. Diana is a lot of drama and then to add to Jess’s troubles, she discovers one of the guests dead on the property. Was it an accident or murder? Is Jess or her party in danger?

 

Jess sets about doing some amateur sleuthing while tending to Diana’s never-ending drama. Along the way she makes friends with the Osbournes, the family that runs the spa. Jess ends up running into Dean Osbourne, the brilliant but prickly chef over and over.

 

A Proposal to Die For was an entertaining cozy mystery with Molly Harper’s signature fun shenanigans, but I was a little frustrated with Jess in parts. I wish she would’ve stood up for herself with Diana more, taken less risks and been less dense in the end. Still, things wrap up satisfyingly and there was even a bit of romance that made me smile. 

3.5 Stars

Book Description:

A fast-paced, witty, and delightful new mystery about a marriage proposal planner whose biggest job yet is threatened by a dead body (or two).

Jessamine Bricker loves a plan. Contingency plans and pros-and-cons lists are her love language, and because of that, her proposal planning business is thriving. But with rent costs rising at her office building, Jess jumps at the chance to plan a proposal between her snobby high school classmate, Diana, and her very wealthy boyfriend, Trenton Tillard…the Fourth.

Roped into joining Diana’s ”pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort, Jess hopes to fade into the background, get some work done, and maybe find some time to unwind. Their first day is anything but relaxing: Diana is furious about the mountain spa’s lack of cell phone reception, the couple next door argues constantly, and Jess swears she just saw a drug deal go down. To top it all off, she’s warned to stay out of the woods by the gruff and sexy chef, Dean Osbourne. Is this a retreat or a horror movie?

As Jess tries to do her job while placating the bride-to-be and her increasingly over-the-top demands, she spends more and more time with the resort owners, finding herself much more in tune with the laid-back Osbourne family than her social climbing “boss.” Between a meditation garden-related drowning and Jess’s discovery of a body in a sauna, it's clear that deadly secrets abound at the Golden Ash. Now it’s up to Jess to unravel the mysteries here in the mountains—before all her plans are cancelled…permanently.

Giveaway: 6 Books from Addicted & Calloway Series by Krista & Becca Ritchie

 As usual my bookshelves are bursting at the seams so I'm running another giveaway:

These are the special editions with bonus material:

Addicted to You

Ricochet

Addicted for Now

Addicted After All

Kiss the Sky

Hothouse Flower

 

The giveaway is open to US Residents only. Fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win. Good luck!

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