Bargain With Fate by Annabel Chase:

5 stars

Maya Augustine is back and dealing with even more magical senior citizen shenanigans. Money disappears, frightening harbingers scare the locals, and a woman is murdered…by an invisible man? And we haven’t even gotten to Maya’s relationship dilemmas.

Bargain With Fate is a light, lively story filled with colorful characters (literally and figuratively) with far more energy than most folks half their age. Evermore is a fascinating island—at once a paradise and a ripe setting for forced proximity. For Maya, it’s a refuge, but also potentially a trap.

Ms. Chase feeds us crumbs of our heroine’s horrific past, using it to increase Maya’s bonds with Neighbors, create intrigue, and add friction with the various romantic options. Meemaw and Margie return, as well as a few other favorites—Zachariah, I’m looking at you.

The story structure fascinates me because there are several seemingly unrelated threads, such as you would expect a security officer on a magical retirement island to encounter, that converge. Some are misinterpreted. Some are related. Some remain unanswered, leaving a residue of mystery. The pacing kept me engaged, and then there’s the ending. After a brief but intense buildup, we’re left to madly theorize over what it means!

And theorize, I shall.

Bargain With Fate is an electric addition to an already fun and absorbing series. It will appeal to contemporary fantasy readers who like ornery, jaded, and mischievous supporting characters; a dynamic world chock full of legendary beings; and a strong heroine who has to focus on survival before anything else—even happiness. So grab a cocktail and take a mental vacation on Evermore!