Lost Heart in King Manor
Mysteries of a Heart Series
by Celeste Fenton
About Lost Heart in King Manor
Romantic Suspense/Edgy Cozy Mystery
1st in Series Setting - Dost Island (fictional) off the coast of Massachusetts
Publisher: Independently Published
Publication date: April 24, 2025
Hardcover Print length: 347 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8280471207
Paperback ISBN-13: 979-8280071773
Digital ASIN: B0F2ZML3M9
LOST HEART IN KING MANOR Book One in the Mysteries of a Heart Series
At 45, Gabby Heart isn’t looking for drama—just quiet days on Dost Island running her village gift shop, teaching art, and keeping her past tucked safely away. But when her mother suffers a sudden health crisis, Gabby is pulled into a storm of family secrets, betrayal, and a dark legacy buried within the walls of the once-grand King Manor. What was supposed to be a safe place for her mother’s recovery becomes the backdrop for a chilling mystery. Strange incidents begin to unfold, and it becomes clear: someone inside King Manor has a deadly agenda. As a hurricane traps Gabby inside the sprawling estate, she’s forced to work alongside two very different men—her maddeningly attractive officemate and a charming new neighbor, both hiding dark secrets. One man may want her heart. The other may want her dead.
But can she trust her instincts before it's too late?
★ A slow-burn romantic suspense with an edgy cozy mystery twist peppered with humor, Lost Heart in King Manor is perfect for fans of strong women over 40, amateur sleuths, brooding men with buried secrets, and small seaside towns hiding deadly truths. ★
Because some secrets are worth killing for. And some hearts don’t break quietly.
Companion Guide to Lost Heart in King Manor Step deeper into the secrets of Dost Island with this richly illustrated companion to Lost Heart in King Manor, the first book in the Mysteries of a Heart series.
Explore the island’s storm-swept cliffs, charming village life, and shadowy past through exclusive character profiles, behind-the-scenes insights, maps, photographs, and bonus content that brings Gabby Heart’s world to life. Meet the unforgettable residents—from the sharp-witted Jay Laird and enigmatic Rick Payne, to the wise and mysterious women of the Heart family—each with their own stories, scars, and secrets.
This companion is your invitation behind the curtain. But be warned… On Dost Island, even the quietest corners have something to hide.
Click to purchase the book!
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Click to purchase the companion guide!
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Guest Post
Please welcome Celeste Fenton, the author of the featured book, to the blog today!
How Grief and Growth Shaped My Fiction
By Celeste Fenton
I didn’t start writing because life was calm. I started writing because life cracked open.
I had a draft, something I tinkered with now and then, but in 2021 everything changed. That year I became untethered. My beloved husband died unexpectedly. He was my partner, lover, and best friend of nearly thirty years. Both of my cherished dogs passed away. I lost a dear lifelong friend to cancer. And my father faded away from dementia.
I had to sell the home I thought I’d grow old in together with my husband. And I had recently stepped away from a long career in education, a role that had given me both identity and purpose. Suddenly, the quiet was deafening. The days unfamiliar. I had spent a lifetime helping students, colleagues, and communities. And now, I was supposed to... rest? Retire? Reinvent? Alone?
That’s when I went back to writing.
I’ve always loved stories. As a child, I devoured books like lifelines. As an adult, I taught, co-authored an academic text, and ran programs that helped others find their voices. But I hadn’t expected that my own, my creative voice, would emerge from the rubble of grief. And certainly not this late in life.
And yet, it did.
It came through Gabby Heart, the heroine of what became my Mysteries of a Heart series. Gabby wasn’t born from a single idea or outline. She emerged from emotion, grief, confusion, resilience. She’s a woman in midlife whose carefully held-together world begins to unravel, piece by piece. She’s a widow, mother, daughter, artist, teacher, who discovers strengths she didn’t know existed. She’s been hurt and betrayed. She’s carrying guilt that won’t let go. But she keeps moving.
So did I.
Writing Gabby’s story became more than a creative outlet. I could pour my uncertainty into her journey. The ache of rebuilding. The beauty of second chances. The terror of stepping from the known into the unknown. I didn’t set out to write about grief, but the truth is, every page holds echoes of it. Not always the pain itself, but the process: the slow, nonlinear, deeply human work of finding your footing again.
Mystery became the perfect genre for this kind of emotional excavation. On the surface, a mystery is about uncovering secrets, solving puzzles, restoring order. For me, beneath that structure is the need to understand. The hope that, even when life shatters, something meaningful can be put back together. That there is justice, internal or external, worth seeking.
As I wrote, I began to understand something else: fiction doesn’t have to reflect what happened. Sometimes, it gives us a safe place to explore what could happen. What healing might look like. What strength can be, not in the absence of sorrow, but in the face of it.
That’s why Gabby’s world isn’t tidy. It’s layered. She makes mistakes. She pushes people away. She falls for someone even when she’s afraid of opening her heart again. Yes, her journey has danger but isn’t that thrilling! She’s got family. Humor. Sarcasm. Flawed friendships. Small triumphs. Tender hopes. All the things that make life, even after loss, a treasure.
I think many women, especially those of us navigating the middle of life and later in life, are craving these kinds of stories. Ones where the heroine isn’t young and invincible, gorgeous and rich. Reading a story about a woman who is wounded, possessing a certain flawed wisdom, and still wildly curious about the world is therapy! Where change isn’t something to fear, but something to examine. Where love, whether the kind found in romance or family or friendship, doesn’t just save the day but gives us a reason to show up for ourselves, and accept new horizons.
For me, writing has been both anchor and compass. It helped me rediscover not just what I could do, but who I still am. I may no longer lead meetings or write curriculum, but I am still teaching, just in a different way now. Through fiction, I offer what I’ve always believed in: connection, reflection, and a reminder that it’s never too late to shift, transform, and live a life that shimmers with possibilities.
So many of us carry quiet grief. We lose people. Homes. Roles. Routines. Sometimes all at once. Sometimes gradually. These losses don’t define us, they shape us. They stretch us in ways we never asked to. But if we’re lucky, and a little brave, they can also invite us to live something new, exciting, and unexpected.
For me, that “something new” is storytelling. It’s Gabby’s world. And mine. So full of possibilities.
How Grief and Growth Shaped My Fiction
By Celeste Fenton
I didn’t start writing because life was calm. I started writing because life cracked open.
I had a draft, something I tinkered with now and then, but in 2021 everything changed. That year I became untethered. My beloved husband died unexpectedly. He was my partner, lover, and best friend of nearly thirty years. Both of my cherished dogs passed away. I lost a dear lifelong friend to cancer. And my father faded away from dementia.
I had to sell the home I thought I’d grow old in together with my husband. And I had recently stepped away from a long career in education, a role that had given me both identity and purpose. Suddenly, the quiet was deafening. The days unfamiliar. I had spent a lifetime helping students, colleagues, and communities. And now, I was supposed to... rest? Retire? Reinvent? Alone?
That’s when I went back to writing.
I’ve always loved stories. As a child, I devoured books like lifelines. As an adult, I taught, co-authored an academic text, and ran programs that helped others find their voices. But I hadn’t expected that my own, my creative voice, would emerge from the rubble of grief. And certainly not this late in life.
And yet, it did.
It came through Gabby Heart, the heroine of what became my Mysteries of a Heart series. Gabby wasn’t born from a single idea or outline. She emerged from emotion, grief, confusion, resilience. She’s a woman in midlife whose carefully held-together world begins to unravel, piece by piece. She’s a widow, mother, daughter, artist, teacher, who discovers strengths she didn’t know existed. She’s been hurt and betrayed. She’s carrying guilt that won’t let go. But she keeps moving.
So did I.
Writing Gabby’s story became more than a creative outlet. I could pour my uncertainty into her journey. The ache of rebuilding. The beauty of second chances. The terror of stepping from the known into the unknown. I didn’t set out to write about grief, but the truth is, every page holds echoes of it. Not always the pain itself, but the process: the slow, nonlinear, deeply human work of finding your footing again.
Mystery became the perfect genre for this kind of emotional excavation. On the surface, a mystery is about uncovering secrets, solving puzzles, restoring order. For me, beneath that structure is the need to understand. The hope that, even when life shatters, something meaningful can be put back together. That there is justice, internal or external, worth seeking.
As I wrote, I began to understand something else: fiction doesn’t have to reflect what happened. Sometimes, it gives us a safe place to explore what could happen. What healing might look like. What strength can be, not in the absence of sorrow, but in the face of it.
That’s why Gabby’s world isn’t tidy. It’s layered. She makes mistakes. She pushes people away. She falls for someone even when she’s afraid of opening her heart again. Yes, her journey has danger but isn’t that thrilling! She’s got family. Humor. Sarcasm. Flawed friendships. Small triumphs. Tender hopes. All the things that make life, even after loss, a treasure.
I think many women, especially those of us navigating the middle of life and later in life, are craving these kinds of stories. Ones where the heroine isn’t young and invincible, gorgeous and rich. Reading a story about a woman who is wounded, possessing a certain flawed wisdom, and still wildly curious about the world is therapy! Where change isn’t something to fear, but something to examine. Where love, whether the kind found in romance or family or friendship, doesn’t just save the day but gives us a reason to show up for ourselves, and accept new horizons.
For me, writing has been both anchor and compass. It helped me rediscover not just what I could do, but who I still am. I may no longer lead meetings or write curriculum, but I am still teaching, just in a different way now. Through fiction, I offer what I’ve always believed in: connection, reflection, and a reminder that it’s never too late to shift, transform, and live a life that shimmers with possibilities.
So many of us carry quiet grief. We lose people. Homes. Roles. Routines. Sometimes all at once. Sometimes gradually. These losses don’t define us, they shape us. They stretch us in ways we never asked to. But if we’re lucky, and a little brave, they can also invite us to live something new, exciting, and unexpected.
For me, that “something new” is storytelling. It’s Gabby’s world. And mine. So full of possibilities.
About Celeste Fenton
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Thank you so much for spotlighting Lost Heart in King Manor! I’d love to hear what your readers think. Gabby Heart (the protagonist of the story) leads a quiet, independent life before everything changes. What does her response to the unfolding danger say about her character? How does her past influence her decisions throughout the book? Several women in the story take charge of the investigation. How does the novel portray female agency in the face of danger, secrets, and resistance? The storm—both literal and emotional—serves as a turning point. How did the hurricane and tornado affect the characters’ choices and bring hidden truths to light?
ReplyDeleteConnect with me here or on my website blog at https://celestefenton.com