Hold My Place by Cassondra Windwalker ~ a Review

by MK French

Librarian Sigrun falls for married Edgar Leyward, but his wife Octavia soon dies from a sudden illness. Their illicit affair soon becomes a whirlwind romance, but the shadow of Edgar's former loves hangs over them. Three women met early deaths, and Sigrun feels the edges of her own identity fade as she reads through their letters. She doesn't think dark magic is real, but shadows stalk the halls of the Leyward house, and the lines between the past and present blur.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

January 2022; Black Spot Books; 978-1645481003
ebook, print (169 pages); gothic

The tagline is "Obsession never dies," and that's certainly true. I'm not a fan of cheating in stories, so it helps that nothing physical happens until after Octavia died of COVID. It's still emotional cheating, but Sigrun maintains a distance until he falls apart in the wake of Octavia's death. She's a goth librarian and he's a gourmet chef and learns of his losses quickly when she comforts him in his grief. It's a rapid whirlwind of emotion, leading to moving in three weeks after the funeral. As the pandemic raged in early 2020, there's only Sigrun and Edgar in his Art Deco house; it's the perfect setting for a Gothic, Blackbeard's wife kind of story.

The opening prologue gives an impending sense of doom to the entire beginning of the book. It was a fast read for me, the end coming quickly and not quite what I expected it to be. It definitely sparks questions, and the ending is reminiscent of psychological horror or ghost story movies. If you enjoy those kinds of movies and stories, this is definitely the book for you. 

Buy Hold My Place at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever. 

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