I was so excited to head back to Castle Knoll! I thoroughly enjoyed the first book. I loved the flashbacks to the past of Aunt Frances and I enjoyed the differences between Annie and her investigative styles. I cannot wait to read the next one!

Annie has settled into her new home in Castle Knoll when another murder strikes down a key person from her great-aunt’s past in the very house Annie has just made her home. Luckily Annie is not alone; her friend Jenny is visiting, and together they work to uncover the murderer before Annie takes the blame for what happened.

Thank you Kristen Perrin and Dutton, Plume, Tiny Reparations Books for the eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions here are mine and mine alone.

Once again, Perrin writes a gripping mystery full of drama and suspense. I enjoyed learning more about Frances’ past in her POV chapters. The massive secrets and lies from her past were shocking to say the least. Be sure to get your hands on this one when it comes out!

How to Seal Your Own Fate is a continuation of the story started in How to Solve Your Own Murder. Annie Adams has now settled into life at the Gravesdown estate and Castle Knoll, but all is not what it seems when she crosses paths with Peony Lane, the fortune teller who told her great aunt about how she would die one day. After their encounter, Peony ends up dead at the Gravesdown estate and much like the first story, there is buried secrets galore to discover.

This story was just as good as the first installment. The pacing of the story and some potential red herrings were well placed. It kept me guessing, and always all the characters of Castle Knoll are full of history and secrets. The use of alternating timelines was well done and propelled the story forward well instead of slowing it down. I highly recommend this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Yet again I thoroughly enjoyed this!! I love how early on I get attached to the plot. And I’m impressed that the sequel was just as good!!

I love the romance subplot so much and I really hope there will be a third because the ending had me needing more (both mystery and romance!!!) love this series.

I read this book as a standalone, not knowing it was a sequel. I do think I missed a lot of context and information from not reading book 1, so my review is biased based off of that. It was an okay book, but I would not read it as a standalone book, I would follow the order of the series!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

I loved Kristen Perrin’s debut novel and her second book did not disappoint! Perrin’s unique and well-developed characters are my favorite part of her writing, and “How to Seal Your Own Fate” includes several new and interesting people from Castle Knoll. The start of the book was a little slow for me, but once the story picked up I was hooked! Annie Adams dives deeper into the lives of her great-aunt Frances, Archie Foyle, the Gravesdowns, and the mysterious fortune-teller who set Aunt Frances’ life of paranoia in motion, Peony Lane. This book was excellent and I am now going to wait impatiently for the next installment of the Castle Knoll series! (I have to know if Annie and Crane are finally going to get together!)

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first in the series, maybe because I had a hard time keeping all the characters straight. It was an interesting premise and well-executed, I just wasn't quite as drawn in this time. I'd like some more character development for our main protagonist -- maybe in the next one?

This was book two of the Castle Knoll series. Now that Annie has solved her Great Aunt’s murder and moved into Gravesdown Hall, she continues to discover more secrets and more murders. Banding together with her best friend Jenny, potential love interest Detective Crane, and Aunt Frances’ files of secrets, Annie is now looking into the life of Peony Lane, Frances’ cryptic fortune teller.

This book was filled with the same cast of characters we grew to know and love in How to Solve Your Own Murder. I enjoyed continuing to learn more about each of them and their pasts. The mystery keeps you guessing until the end sets things up well for the next book in the series.

My main complaint with this second book was that the characters and what happened to them in the first book is vital to the plot of the second book, and I had a hard time remembering all the details from book one. Kristen Perrin did write in some reminders throughout the book, but I felt like a needed a season recap and a family tree at a few points. Regardless, I sped through the read and will eagerly await the next in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I love a good cozy mystery, and this one had some unexpected twists that I did not expect. I did catch myself having trouble putting it down at night because I wanted the mystery to be solved. I enjoyed the chapters that are passages from Frances’ journal, and learning more about her past and her relationship with Archie.

However, there were a lot of involved characters in this book, and it got difficult to keep all the names straight, and how each person was involved. I started having to take notes just to keep things straight. There are also a few loose ends I wish were resolved at the end.

I am curious about how Ford and Frances eventually come together, so I will be reading the sequel!

I loved the first book in this series and was so excited to get a chance to read the second installment. This book had all the cozy mystery elements that I loved so much in the first one, but for some reason it fell a little flat for me. I wish I had read them back-to-back because I had forgotten a lot of the characters and plot points. With little to no exposition, I felt lost in the world. With that said, I had fun reading this book and would recommend the series to others once it is complete.

Get ready for a thrilling ride with Kristen Perrin's How to Seal Your Own Fate! The second book in her captivating Castle Knoll series, this novel takes us back to the quaint English village that harbors dark secrets beneath its idyllic surface. When Annie Adams finds herself entangled in a web of mystery and murder, she must race against time to uncover the truth behind Peony Lane's cryptic warning before it's too late.

As we're transported between present-day Castle Knoll and the village in 1967, we find ourselves piecing together the clues that connect a tragic car accident from the past to the ominous events unfolding in Annie's life. With an engaging plot that'll keep you guessing until the very end, How to Seal Your Own Fate is perfect for fans of cozy, suspenseful mysteries and well-crafted characters.

Another fantastic installment in The Castle Knoll Files! There’s something about Kristen Perrin’s writing that feels like it’s from another era—and I mean that in the best way possible. Both books in this series have a good ol’ classic mystery vibe, and the way she crafts the characters and their voices just pulls me right in!

Once again, we get to dive into both Annie’s mind and Frances’ journals to piece together the mystery, which I really enjoy. However, the slow-burn romance is really taking its time… book three, I’m counting on you! 🤞

My only gripe? The ending didn’t totally land for me. The killer’s confession felt a little far-fetched, which took away some of the satisfaction of the reveal. But overall, I’m still hooked on this series and will definitely be back for more Castle Knoll mysteries!

Huge thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the gifted eARC! ❤️

Did you read How to Solve Your Own Murder and wonder what happened in the years between Emily’s disappearance and Frances and Ford’s marriage? How to Seal Your Own Fate dives into those years more, filling in the story of Frances’s late teenage years, the history and dynamics of the Foyle family, and the mystery surrounding the crash that killed Ford and Saxon’s family.

I read both books back to back and the charm and mystery of the first book really come alive again in How to Seal Your Own Fate. Annie is a delightful sleuth to follow - she has a heart for the people of Castle Knoll while wanting to solve the case and bring justice. Frances’s story was also developed in interesting ways in How to Seal Your Own Fate - her diary entries feel believable for an 18/19 year old woman. She isn’t trying to seem older and more mature to impress Ford Gravesdown in this book - she’s able to let loose and be young and free. I’m still left wondering how and why she trades that in for a life with Ford, but I’m assuming that will be in a future book (which I can’t wait to read!)

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group, Dutton, and Kristen Perrin for this gripping ARC!

I really liked the first Castle Knoll book and was looking forward to this sequel, but I found myself lost and wandering in the dark so quickly, that I was disappointed... It's been a year since the last book. There were so many references to the characters and events that this felt more like a "part II" than a second-in-series - and I could not keep everything straight as a result. There are a LOT of characters. There are multiple timelines. And there are a lot of mysteries - some solved previously, some unsolved, some brand new. The combination of those three things meant that I constantly felt like I was behind the 8 ball and really struggled to hold all the threads together.

I understand there is going to be another book - at this point I think I will have to save these and read them when they are all available so I can go sequentially without any breaks in between. I'm hoping that will help me hold all the pieces together in my head such that I can enjoy the interrelated and overlapping mysteries rather than be frustrated by them. I did really enjoy book one, so am definitely not counting this one out - but don't want to reread book one now for this one, and then have to go back and pick up one and two again in a year!

I really enjoyed this follow up to How To Solve Your Own Murder. The writing is addictive and always makes you want to keep going to see what will happen next. I loved that this one continued as a dual timeline as well. I will say I was slightly more invested in the first one, but overall a great sequel. Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for this advanced copy. Can't wait to read the next one.

How to Seal Your Own Fate was as delightful as the first one. This was cozy and kept me trying to guess the twists and unable to put the book down.

"I can see how thinking that every aspect of daily life might relate to a crime can warp your sense of self."

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another super fun read in the Castle Knoll Files! There is something about Kristen Perrin's writing that feels like it's from another time - in a wonderful way. Both of the books in this series feel like old timey mysteries and the voices of the characters and language choices just transport me. I love it and find her writing very enthralling.

Once again, the reader gets to live in both Annie's mind and Frances' journals to try to solve the mystery. I think I enjoyed the first in the series a bit more, mostly because I was more invested in the premise, and the hint of romance might be burning a bit too slow - c'mon book 3🤞🤞🤞 - but I definitely will keep coming back for future mysteries in Castle Knoll. 

Publishing April 29th! Thank you so much to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for the gifted eARC! ❤️

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so I had high hopes for its successor. Alas, it was not to be. Some authors think that since the first book was successful, they can write the second book the same way. They then create a formula that the series follows, with each rendition being inferior to its predecessor. The readers want novelty! We don’t want to read the same book over and over (well, maybe some people do, but not I).

That isn’t to say this sequel wasn’t enjoyable. I liked seeing more of Castle Knoll & getting to know its inhabitants a bit better. I liked the flashbacks vis à vis Frances’ journal entries. I liked how the dynamic changes a bit now that Annie actually lives in Castle Knoll. Overall, this book was fun to read. However, it lacked that je ne sais quoi that made the first one sparkle. I doubt I will read any more in this series.

thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

3.5⭐️, rounded down

Annie Adams is back with another small town mystery. Using clues from her Aunt Frances’ diary and notes Annie looks into a family car crash in the 1960s. How to Seal Your Fate was a well written cozy mystery. Just a few too many characters that has you wondering who certain people are.

I enjoyed this book a great deal, but must suggest reading the first book, if you can, just to refresh yourself
within the characters and the general theme.
When Annie solved the murder of her Great Aunt Frances, she inherited the huge estate, Gravesdown Hall,
along with the surrounding forested land.
We now have ‘Peony Lane,’ formerly Ellen Jones, who could be responsible for one or more murders~ by
suggestion or prediction, Possibly her own death as well.
This is a fanciful murder, with more in the works, I’d surely think! I look forward to the next installment
along with the gang we are getting to know. Annie is becoming quite the sleuth and the Author does
a masterful job with the time periods and the rural setting.
My thanks to Quercus Publishing via NetGalley for the download copy of this book for review purposes.