ARC Review--The Sweetest Kind of Fate by Crystal Cestari

GREAT. I’ve somehow found myself tangled up with a siren, a mermaid, and a homicidal wicked witch who once tried to strangle me to death. Way to go, Amber!

Amber Sand, legendary matchmaker, couldn’t be more surprised when her arch nemesis, Ivy, comes asking for her help. Ivy’s sister, Iris, is getting married, and Ivy wants to prove her sister is making a huge mistake. But as Amber looks into Iris's eyes, there doesn’t seem to be a problem—Iris has clearly found her match.

It seems happily ever after is in the cards, but when Iris seeks out a dangerous, life-altering spell, it’s up to Amber and Ivy to set aside their rivalry and save the day.

While Iris is willing to put everything on the line for love, Amber continues to wrestle with her own romantic future. Her boyfriend, Charlie, is still destined for another, and no matter how hard she clings to him, fear over their inevitable breakup shakes her belief system to the core.

Because the Fates are never wrong—right?

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.


The Sweetest Kind of Fate is Crystal Cestari’s second installment in the Windy City Magic series. It continues Amber’s adventures in matchmaking although this time around, her nemesis, Ivy, comes to her and asks her to check out her sister and see if her true love is really her match. And when Amber complies the answer is not to Ivy’s liking and so begins the tale of the mermaids!

So I got ahead of myself there, as we know already, Ivy is a siren as is her sister, Iris. Ivy loves to use the power of her voice to get what she wants. When her sister falls in love with a mermaid and wants to find a spell that will allow her to turn into a mermaid as well, Ivy wants to put a stop to it in any way possible. For Iris will basically be leaving land, never to return.

But Ivy’s family drama is only the beginning of Amber’s problems. Lately, she’s been trying to be nice to Kim, the new girl in school who also happens to be Charlie’s soulmate, the girl she sees him with in his happily ever after future. She sees Charlie within Kim’s eyes as well, and it puts a strain on the friendship she has with Kim for she is genuinely a great person and super nice. When it seems Charlie is spending an ample amount of time with Kim lately, Amber goes off the fritz.

But this story doesn’t just focus on possible romances all around, there’s still some good old fashion mystery elements in here too! Amber is looking into her mother’s past through her old grimoires. Add in the return of the wicked witch Victoria and you got on your hands quite the page turning read!

This book series is really turning out to be a cute read! The humor is so quirky! It’s definitely the lighter side of paranormal reads if you’ve ever wanted to read one but didn’t want it to be all dark and doom like! It surprises me that I enjoy it so much since nearly all my paranormal reads are dark and doom filled! Lol! Guess we all gotta take a bit of a break once in a while! Like switching from white cake to yellow cake! I’m sure Amber would appreciate that sentiment!

There’s not a great deal of kissing in this one. Things are light and fluffy in the beginning but by the middle, things are on the rocks. But there are still a few surprises thrown our way that doesn’t totally throw romance out of the book! It’s just not the romances you’d expect to see after everything that’s happened!

The ending to this one leaves me befuddled. While the first one didn’t quite end on a cliffhanger, it did end in a way that leads you to believe the story is far from over. While I can’t say that the story ends all happily ever after like, it does end in a fairly decent place. Nothing to really worrywart over, perhaps a one or two straggling questions. That’s what makes me wonder if there might be at least one more book! I feel like the characters were just starting to make some progress when I realized I came upon the last page! So much harder to tell when that happens when reading on a kindle! The Sweetest Kind of Fate will sweep you up with its tale of magic, love, and friendships…throw in some decent humor and a healthy dose of action and you’ve got quite the read in your hands!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars


The Sweetest Kind of Fate releases February 13, 2018