Jessamine "Jess" Bricker specializes in personalized proposals. When the book opens, she's orchestrating one involving a shark whale and scuba diving. While that's happening, she gets several phone calls. It seems a girl (now woman) she went to school with was just proposed to. According to Diana, the effort was underwhelming. Now her maybe-to-be fiance is putting out a lot of money to pay for Jess to help with a new proposal. He's also paying for a wedding planner, Aubrey. Right now, the ladies, along with Diana's cousin Kiki are at a week-long resort retreat to start planning for the wdding. But it's not running smoothly. Diana is entitled, Aubrey seems to hate Jess for no reason and Kiki... well, actually Kiki seems like a delight. Plus, there's this man on property that Jess immediately feels drawn towards. But she's not really at that stage in her life.
That's all bad enough but one of the other resort members dies and Jess stumbles over the body. There are some unexpected visitors but then, there's another body. (Jess stumbles over that one too.)
I really liked the character development in this one A couple of the characters were a little shallow but we mainly follow Jess around and she's got a little bit of depth to her which sometimes surprise some of the other characters. I really didn't like the ending for a couple of spoiler-y reasons but the rest was a good Harper novel and I generally enjoyed the book.

Three and a half stars
This book came out April 8, 2025
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

💍
A Proposal To Die For
by Molly Harper
💍
This romantic murder mystery was such a wild ride
I went from 🥰 to 😱 and then 🤯
The secrets that get uncovered will have your jaw dropping
But of course, our MC Jess handled all the crazy drama like a boss
💍
Thank you so much Molly Harper and netgally for my copy
💍

Romantic suspense is a difficult subgenre because the author must weave together two distinct plot formulas in order to satisfy the reader. Unfortunately, A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper falls short on both counts. The novel follows engagement planner Jessamine Bricker to an Appalachian retreat, where she’s tasked with planning the Instagram-perfect proposal for her high school nemesis, Diana. The upscale venue is owned by the Osbourne family, one of whom is Dean—a brooding chef with a tragic backstory.

After a seemingly accidental death, Jess finds herself caught up in the investigation while trying to keep her contract with Diana intact.

The novel juggles too many plotlines, which results in a sluggish and meandering first half. In trying to tie everything together, the story ends up feeling messy and, at times, outright silly. A tighter focus on the central mystery and the developing chemistry between Dean and Jess would have gone a long way. Harper has a strong narrative voice and a knack for vivid settings, but this story ultimately buckles under the weight of its own ambition.

Jess is happily living her life as a wedding proposal coordinator. When Diana, an old frenemy from high school crashes back into her life, Jess sees this as an opportunity to finally expand her business and buy the building she loves. Trevor, Diana’s intended, comes from a nut empire and will pay whatever it takes to make Diana’s proposal one for the ages.

Which is how Jess finds herself on a bonding weekend with Diana, her cousin Kiki, and wedding planner Aubrey, who seems to have it out for Jess for some unknown reason. A weekend at the luxurious Golden Ash is supposed to be stress free and relaxing, but then Jess stumbles upon a body. And then another one. Jess is looking like the main suspect and suddenly it’s up to her to clear her name. While also planning the greatest proposal Instagram has ever seen.

I really loved Jess as a main character and found her super relatable. She kind of rolls with the punches as she is dragged into this nightmare wedding proposal/weekend from hell. Everyone she is traveling with is incredibly awful, but she still manages to hold her cool. I don’t read many cozy mysteries, but I ended up really enjoying this one and a large part of that was because I liked Jess so much. The romance between Jess and Dean was a bit rushed I thought, but it did make sense, especially tying into the mystery that was part of the backstory. I loved the whole Osbourne family and I’m glad we got to spend more time with them in the second half than with Diana and company.

This is my first time reading from this author, but hopefully not the last. I really enjoyed my time reading A Proposal to Die For and it has made me rethink my stance on cozy mysteries.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a review copy. 4.5 stars.

This was a fun cozy mystery with a bit of closed-door romance sprinkled in (featuring a hot chef!).

Set primarily at an exclusive spa resort, Jess is stuck trying to plan a proposal for the most delusional and self-centered client, Diana. Thankfully, the staff at this family-operated resort are super friendly, which makes her time dealing with Diana and Aubrey's (Diana's wedding planner) toxicity a bit more tolerable... that is, until she stumbles across a dead body.

This story and its cast of characters were entertaining and chaotic. Everyone's a bit crazy and strange (which is to say, everyone is a suspect).

Posted on Goodreads on 4/20/25:

DNF'd around 40% of the way into it. It's not UNreadable. The writing itself is serviceable enough in that I got through that 40% fairly quickly, but there's something missing from the narrative, because I realized I don't CARE about anything that is going on.

The humor is a bit cheesy but fine. Jess is fine as a main character, and her business is interesting. But watching Jess put up with the self-absorbed bride and rude AF wedding coordinator just to get down-payment money got tiring. The romance is dull (and has barely even started by 40%; they spoken exactly twice and then suddenly the guy's cousin is like, I saw him do more than grunt at you, that means you must be The One; don't break his heart! Uh...okay...).

Essentially, there's too much of the 'nothing' details being described that do not an interesting book make. I put this down 'temporarily' to turn to a different "lighter/mid-level" book that DID end up capturing my interest and I finished that within the day, so now I know it's not me, it's you [book].

I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a quirky mashup of genres. Not really one more than another so I’d call it mostly fiction. It has a dash of mystery and a pinch of romance. And some interesting characters that grabbed my attention.

Jess is a proposal planner. Yes she helps couples plan elaborate proposals. What an interesting premise. Jess is relatable and a little tell it how it is which doesn’t always mesh well with her job.

I liked the unlikable rich people plot line. It played well off of Jess and the owners of the spa.

While not exactly a cozy, it steals the keep finding bodies from that genre.

Amanda Ronconi was a great choice for narrator. She really kept with the vibe of the book and kept me not wanting to put this one down.

If you are looking for a fun book that will keep you on your toes, you should check this one out.

I love Jess' job. What a great concept. This was a good mystery set in a fabulous spot. Almost made me want to go there. I felt the romance moved a little quick. Enjoyed the writing. Made me laugh several times. Great ending.

Thanks to @berkleyromance for inviting me on the blog tour!

This is an entertaining book starring Jess, a former wedding planner who started a business setting up perfect proposals. She works with grooms to ensure memorable, social media worthy, proposals.

She ends up on a mountain spa retreat with a client/acquaintance from school, Diana. Her wealthy boyfriend Trenton proposed but it wasn’t “special” enough so she asks Jess to stage a redo.

Jess soon discovers that Diana is irrationally demanding, and starts hanging out with the Osbournes, the family who owns and operates the resort. She also meets the chef, Dean, who’s grumpy and good looking. They’ve got instant chemistry and start spending time together.

On a walk, Jess finds a man’s dead body. When she discovers the corpse of Trenton’s best friend, she realizes there’s more going behind the scenes and someone at the resort is a killer.

I really enjoyed this book, there are twists and turns to navigate before finding out the identity of the killer. 4.5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Murder confessions aren’t supposed to be funny … but yet A Proposal to Die for exists.

This was such a fun read that I forgot to be sad about people dying. I wasn’t alone in that, one of the side characters, who I’ll describe as a villain of common sense and decency, also regularly forgot about the bodies on the mountain of her temporary home. She needs to plan her surprise wedding proposal with her professional proposal planner of course!

Jess is said professional proposal planner. It’s like a wedding planner (which she used to be) but for over the top wedding proposals. When we meet her, Jess’s livelihood is in jeopardy because the building she runs her business out of, and lives in, is being sold by the children of her recently deceased landlord. They are giving her time to raise money to buy the building but she doesn’t have anywhere near enough collateral for a loan.

That is until she is accosted in a parking lot by Diana, a mean girl from her high school who is very upset that her very rich boyfriend did not give her an over the top proposal worthy of all five hundred or so of her followers. He had the nerve to quietly propose over dinner at the restaurant they first had dinner by reading sweet things about her off an index card. In her rage, she leaves the botched proposal, hunts Diana down on the other side of town and hires her to plan her “surprise” proposal do over.

Jess says yes because this deal comes with what she’s dubbing “real estate money”. She just has to spend a week in a remote mountain spa without cell or internet service, Diana, a wedding planner—another mean girl, and the bride-to-be’s cousin.

The lack of internet sends the influencer bride into a tailspin, and the Osbourne clan, the family that owns the spa, have a lot of fun telling her how much they don’t care about her wifi-less caused discomfort.

Jess has work to do so she finds herself spending more time with the Osbourne's, especially Dean, who generally doesn’t like anyone but has very protective feelings about Jess. Especially when the bodies start dropping all over the resort. Pretty soon it turns into a “what’s next?” type of situation. Whose body will Jess find next? What ridiculous thing will Diana do next? What will Dean or his family do next?

This book is a laugh out loud riot that keeps you turning pages to unveil the mystery, the twist you don’t see coming, with just the perfect kiss of romance.

I had no idea I needed a book about a marriage proposal planner. BUT HERE WE ARE! This book was so fun, goofy, and yet serious with the mystery element and the characters are such great individuals!

Thank you NetGalley, Berkley and the author for the arc!

Welp. You can’t win ‘em all. And unfortunately this one was not a winner for me. I can’t really place my finger on an exact reason why … but I just couldn’t connect with this book. The characters & the story itself was just meh. The whodunnit was fairly predictable, nothing really exciting happened & I felt dragged through to the end. But hey, that’s just my opinion from my personal tastes … you may pick it up and really enjoy it! And I hope you do!

(3.5/5 stars)

A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper is a cozy mystery with a wee bit of romance.

I used some of my monthly Spotify Premium audiobook hours to listen to this one while I followed along in my physical review copy. I had a ton of fun listening to Amanda Ronconi narrate! I pretty much inhaled this book in one sitting.

Our main character, Jessamine, has contingencies for her contingencies. This really made me feel seen! I also loved the mention of will-o-whisps, because I'm a big fan of folklore. The entire family that owned the remote Golden Ash resort was fabulous, and I'd honestly love to read more books featuring them. Doing a tandem read (book + audio) really helped me remember who was who in the large family/staff.

I'm not always a fan of romance arcs where the characters feel an intense connection as soon as they see each other. It's hard for me to really feel the sparks when that's the case, so it did take me a bit to warm up to our main character and the sexy chef at the resort. But I did like them together in the end!

While I did figure out who was planning all the murders, it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the mystery.

I found this mystery, while written in a charming voice from a fun perspective, to be clunky. The mystery itself was clumsy and the romance also belied reality - the human behaviour of the characters didn't track. Also, based on the cover I expected this to be a period mystery (a la Julia Seales "A Most Agreeable Murder"). I felt the design to be incongruous with the contemporary setting. Also, to start the book with a teaser of a murder but then basically retype that exact scenario when the murder actually happens was...odd. Not my favourite.

I have been a long-time fan of Molly Harper. I love her PNR and contemporary stories. Her humor has always made me laugh out loud. SO I was super excited to give her foray into cozy murder mysteries a go. My experience was a mixed bag.

Jess is a proposal planner who helps folks come up with the perfect, memorable marriage proposals. When Diana, mean girl from high school, wants a social-media worthy proposal, she insists her boyfriend get Jess involved. This leads to a bizarre girls spa weekend get away where Jess is berated and beaten up verbally on a constant basis, even after Jess discovers not one, but two dead bodies.

The whodunit part of A Proposal to Die For is pretty good. Like Jess, I picked up on odd behaviors but didn’t quite piece it all together (and in fact, I picked the wrong person). After all the details come out, I felt the motive was on the weak side, but based on the actions of the characters, it is plausible.

What I didn’t like and became annoyed with is the constant bratty behavior of Diana and the wicked pettiness of wedding planner Aubrey. I got so mad on Jess’s behalf, and then I just became irritated with the non-stop abuse. At first it seemed to come from out of nowhere. It would have made more sense and been easier to accept had the author explained the rational for the behavior upfront. But even after their attitudes are explained, it just went on and on, and Jess, feeling stuck just takes it.

A Proposal to Die for is also a romance, complete with an HEA. I enjoyed seeing Jess find solace among the Osbourne family. Here is where one finds the trademark Harper humor and found family bonding. The romance is sweet and slow burn, with any heat off page. But Jess and Dean flirt and build a friendship while both struggle with baggage. I enjoyed the romance and would have loved for it to be a bigger part of the story.

In the end, A Proposal to Die for has some wonderful moments and fun times, but the mean girl and frat bro stereotypes played too heavily for me to completely enjoy this one.

My Rating: C

A Proposal to Die For is a fun little murder mystery featuring Jessamine Bricker, a proposal planner who gets roped into joining a “pre-bridal” retreat for a new client. Between managing Diana’s over-the-top demands and trying to focus on planning the perfect “re-proposal”, Jess has her work cut out for her. Stumbling upon a dead body - or two - was definitely not on her to-do list for the week.

Jess is such a relatable character and I loved her Big Book of Life Plans. Her romance with Dean was sweet and I enjoyed their tension and banter. I loved the bond she forms with the Osborne family and I’m so glad she had them because everyone she was with on the spa trip was insufferable.

The remote mountain spa with no cell service was the perfect setting for a murder mystery and I loved following along as Jess tried to balance her job with solving the murders. The whodunnit was a surprise and I enjoyed the additional reveals at the end.

If you like murder mysteries with a dash of romance, you should definitely pick this up!

A Proposal to Die For is an entertaining mystery with a great premise that immediately draws you in. The characters are, for the most part, well-developed and easy to connect with, which makes the story even more engaging. While some sections move a little too quickly—leaving things feeling slightly discombobulated—it doesn’t take away too much from the overall enjoyment. The pacing might have benefitted from a bit more breathing room in places, but the plot keeps you hooked. What really stands out is the twist—I absolutely loved that I couldn’t guess the killer. It’s rare to be so genuinely surprised in a mystery, and that made the reveal all the more satisfying. Overall, it’s a fun, fast-paced read with plenty of charm and intrigue.

This book was an absolute blast. From the very first chapter, I was hooked. Every chapter ends with something that made me want to keep reading just one more, so the pacing was awesome.

I loved Jessamine as a main character. She’s organized and clever but also really funny and relatable. Her lists and inner thoughts had me laughing out loud more than once. The whole idea of a proposal planner getting caught up in a murder mystery is just so smart and fun. It made everything feel fresh and different from other cozy mysteries I’ve read.

The mystery itself was fun and not too challenging. The setting? A fancy retreat in the mountains with weird spa rules, no cell service and a warning to avoid the woods? Yes please. Total locked room mystery vibes.

Also, Dean the chef was such a great character. Grumpy, mysterious, charming in a quiet way. I loved every scene he was in.

A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper is an enjoyable mix of a thriller with a strong romance, with people dying at a luxurious retreat, that kept me guessing until the very end.

Jessamine Bricker is the owner and mastermind of Bricker Consultants, Inc., a proposal planning business. A workaholic, shed is known for her diligently planned events where the potential groom can ultimately surprise his (or her) future mate with a spectacularly one of its kind proposal. However, planning for her latest client could be the death of her. Jess was approached by a former schoolmate, Diana, who was disappointed by the way her boyfriend Trenton Tillard the Fourth proposed. Believing she’s a social media influencer, Diana didn't find his sincere proposal acceptable to her brand. Despite the fact that Jess has no love for the snobby Diana, the opportunity to make enough money to buy the building where she lives and works tempts her. Diana wants Jess to come up with a high end event that can be viewed by all. Unfortunately for Jess, this planning time includes a week long retreat with Diana, her cousin, Kiki, and her wedding planner at an exclusive spa retreat in the mountains of Tennessee. Jess immediately knows upon arrival that this isn't going to be a relaxing time.

The Golden Ash resort has no internet or cell phone connection, annoying and angering Diana. Jess finds herself trying to stay sane and calm despite Diana's outrageous demands and the wedding planner's complaints; finding refuge with the Osbournes, who own and run the spa. Jess and grumpy executive chef, Dean Osbourne are attracted to each other and becoming involved. She is going to need Dean and his cousins after finding the body of a guest drowned in a meditation pool. When Trenton and his two best buddies arrive at the spa more chaos ensues. Jess then discovers the body of Clay, Trenton's best friend who was going to be the best man, in the sauna room. Jess is starting to think that there might be something much more dangerous going on than just having to deal with Diana's pouting. As deadly secrets unfold, Jess must figure out the mystery before her plans are permanently canceled.

This was an enjoyable story with a wonderful mix of humor, mystery, and suspense. It kept me engaged from start to finish, and I loved how the author balanced the lighthearted moments with the darker twists. If you’re looking for a fun, quick read with a unique mystery, this one is definitely worth picking up.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
#NetGalley #Berkley # AProposalToDieFor

4 1/2 stars

I can’t think of too many things in the book world that I love more than quirky characters. Maybe that’s because they tend to be more human and more like people I would normally hang out with. Which leads me to always being delighted when Molly Harper introduces us to a new world and her trademark quirky characters.

In A Proposal to Die For Jessamine is a marriage proposal planner (Is there such a thing? Of course, there is! 🤨) who specializes in creating memorable, one-of-a-kind proposals. When old school mate Diana’s proposal isn’t up to picture-worthy influencer status, she highjacks Jess, dangles a huge sum of money before her that could allow Jess to secure her future, and drags her to an exclusive mountain spa where a proper proposal could conceivably occur. Murder, some mayhem, and a romance with a sexy, seemingly grumpy, chef ensue.

Harper fills A Proposal to Die For with lots of humor and witty banter while also giving the reader a mystery with turns so twisty that the “bad guy” isn’t immediately obvious, which is exactly what you want in a mystery! While Diana and her influencer status can be a pill, she’s a necessary foil to the earthy, good-humored Jess.

The Osborne family reminds me a bit of the McCready family from one of my favorite Harper series, Southern Eclectic (which I still need to re-read because: *feels* (sigh)) with their multi-generational quirky family and unique way of getting things done while their feet never leave the earth. On that note, I hope that we get to see more of the Osbornes in future books.

If you’re looking for a cozy, funny mystery that’s slightly off-beat, here you go.

Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy.