I’m collaborating with The Coffee Pot Book Club for this book promotion.
The Boat on the Lake of Regret blog tour includes an exclusive snippet for Sarandipity’s subscribers. Read, share, comment, and subscribe to Sarandipity’s.
Book Details
October 13th – 15th, 2025
Publication Date: July 15th, 2025
Series: The Castle in Kilkenny: Fairy Tales Book #6
Publisher: Buttercup Books
Pages: 210
Genre: Historical Fantasy / Fairytale Retelling
He has one last chance to be a fairy tale hero.
But she didn’t agree to be the damsel in distress.
When her longtime boyfriend unexpectedly slides a ring on her finger, Hannah is whisked from her everyday bedroom to a medieval ball. Hannah knew that Dylan would do anything to prove to her parents that he’s husband material, including going into the Fae world—but she never agreed to go through the Veil herself.
Now one of three princess sisters, Hannah is paired with now-Prince Dylan. But, homesick and blindsided, she pretends the Veil has wiped him from her memory.
As her prince scrambles in vain to be the right kind of hero, Hannah ignores her instincts and follows her new sisters onto a mysterious boat—which promptly sails them into a land of giants, magical traps, and enchanted pianos…and away from Dylan.
Read now to journey back to medieval Ireland, complete with the Fae and mythological monsters, in this fairy tale adventure and sweet “it was always you” romance.
Snippet 2:
Piano:
As soon as she turns away, Nuala makes a face at Mór, who rolls her eyes. It is such a sisterly thing, like I used to imagine with my dolls.
It hits me then. This is more than a history lesson put on for tourists. Their banter feels very real—two sisters and a long-standing argument…About whether the Protestant Reformation happened.
Because it hasn’t yet. Because I’m in an Irish castle in 1536. There is no audience, no tourists, no wires camouflaged against the wall to power security cameras and an automatic sprinkler system.
There is a piano, though.
How did that get here? Maybe I noticed it wrong, because pianos aren’t even invented yet. Maybe it’s…an organ. Or a black shiny swoop-shaped cabinet.
It might be rude, but I need to walk over for a closer look. It’s not a piano, it can’t be—but if it was, everything would be better. If there is a piano here, I could belong. I could make it through the evening—or however long I’m stuck here.
I duck and weave through the people gathered around the king and his family. It is! The piano is a little off to the side, and once I reach it, I finally take a real breath. I open the fallboard, and the familiar pattern of black and white soothes me. I adjust the bench, shaking back yards and yards of linen so my feet can emerge for the pedals.
I’m not thinking, and …when my mind stops working, my hands and heart know what to do.
I go straight into a Schubert impromptu, the notes rippling out. I take it a little too fast, my whole attention pulled in as the patterns whirl under my fingers, putting more dramatic ritardando into the cadences than my professor likes. I can sense the group turning to me, their collective pleasure, and the melody sings even more powerfully under my flying fingers.
My left hand fourth finger sparkles. Dylan’s ring. I will examine that later, but for right now, I just play.
Buy Link:
About Author
Characters you connect with. Adventure. Love. Family… And endings that are more than a sugar rush.
When Christy Matheson is not throwing ordinary characters into fairy tales, she is busy raising five children. (Very busy.) She writes character-driven historical fiction with and without fantasy elements, and her “fresh, smart, and totally charming” stories have won multiple awards.
Christy is also an embroidery artist, classically trained pianist, and sews all of her own clothes. She lives in Oregon, on a country property that fondly reminds her of a Regency estate (except with a swing set instead of faux Greek ruins), with her husband, five children, three Shelties, one bunny, and an improbable quantity of art supplies.
Author Links:
Website • Facebook • Twitter / X • Instagram • Bluesky • TikTok
Amazon Author Page • BookBub • Substack • GoodReads
Tour Schedule
October 13th
October 14th
When Angels Fly
MJ Porter’s Official Blog
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd
October 15th
Mary’s Bookcase
Oh look, another book!
Books + Coffee = Happiness
Linnea Tanner’s Official Blog
The Historical Fiction Company
Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots
Yarde Reviews & Book Promotion
The Whispering Bookworm
Let Your Words Shine
