A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

[Cover of A Witche's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna. Showing a pastel cozy looking in with a dark haired lady with a fox and book, and a blonde guy wuth a steaming mug]

Sera was a genuine magical protege, with power rivaling that of the head of the witches college. Needless to say, he did not appreciate this. When she loses most of her magic from resurrecting her aunt, he exiles her so she cannot regain it.

Okay, folx. I am not okay. This is cozy fantasy, yes, but the author pulls no punches with her characters's pasts. We have depression and honest mention of therapy and meds, parental neglect, fitting in as a "foreigner", and a character with an autistic little sister he is taking care of--who, being magical, has some show more extra issues fitting in. In the end, the entire book is about growth, found family, and acceptance and is absolutely delightful. Even the darn chicken.

It made me tear up repeatedly, which is rare...and then usually tempered it with a surprised laugh. Highly recommend.
Pair with; whatever cozy music you like, good aged rum (or a pint of bitter if you're lucky), sweet chai, and cinnamon rolls. show less

I had low expectations based on previous real-world witch novels I’ve read. But I was hooked in the opening chapter and mostly loved this. The inn had such cozy vibes and fall/winter was the perfect time of year to read it. The book is set in the real world but mostly takes place in the inn, so it felt like a fantasy world.

Teenage Sera uses an illegal spell to bring back her dead Aunt Jasmine, but the spell is too much for her and causes her to lose most of her magic. The head of the British magic guild, her mentor who’s been jealous of her power and secretly holding her back, exiles her. The villain was so well done with palpable insecurity, and I was able to care about Sera based on her being wronged as a young person.

We also show more find out that Sera accidentally cast a spell over the inn that leads people who need help or shelter to find it, and the spell has kept working for 15 years since she lost her magic. The spell gave the book a safe feeling, as if the magic would help everything work out as it should. The descriptions of the magic and how it works were beautiful.

About halfway through, the story started to lose me. Luke is the love interest who arrives at the inn, and Luke and Sera’s relationship didn’t work for me—it didn’t make sense to me. It becomes obvious to all the cast at the inn that they are meant to get together but somehow Sera is oblivious, until suddenly Luke is pressing her into a door to aggressively kiss her. I wondered if this should have been a story about magic with a romantic subplot, but the publisher wanted to market it as a romance novel so they added a sex scene.

I coasted through the bumpy middle on how much I already liked it, and the ending was wonderful. I loved the themes about finding what is important in life and having experiences instead of being handed gifts. show less

*E-ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss Plus for an honest review - thank you!*

Sera Swan has more power than any witch in a generation, but when she uses a resurrection spell to bring her great-aunt Jasmine back to life (and, less intentionally, reanimate the year-long dead rooster's bones), her magic is fractured and she's exiled from the Guild. Fifteen years later, she has made a home for herself and a found family of her great-aunt, Clemmie the talking fox/cursed witch, teenager Theo, and a few guests at their inn who never left. She learns that there is a restoration spell she may be able to use to heal her magic. Meanwhile, Luke and his sister Posy arrive with challenges of their own but possibly the ability to help Sera show more with the spell. And though Luke and Sera first start at odds, then tentatively friends, they can't let their growing feelings go anywhere since Luke's not planning on staying forever.

I was really excited to see a new book coming out by the author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. This is a standalone, where a Guild of witches has their own school and library, but it does keep that similar cozy feel even while touching on serious issues. Luke and Sera have both felt like outsiders for various reasons, as Sera is an immigrant and not from a magical family. I love the inn's found family and acceptance, and Sera's really coming in to her own of knowing and accepting herself. A nice, warm blanket of a read I'd return to again in a heartbeat. show less

Sera Swan was one of the most powerful witches in recent history, up until her great-aunt died and teenaged Sera used her magic to bring her aunt back to life. That act of love drained her of most of her magic and led to her being an outcast from the magical establishment for transgressing one of their core rules. Now an adult, Sera runs a small inn that is enchanted to only be found by kind people who need its refuge. This, of course, leads to it having an eclectic but goodhearted group of residents. When Sera receives news that there's a spell that might just help her recover her magic, she's excited but to use it she'll need the help of one of the newest guests at the inn, who really just wants to be left alone to work on his magical show more history research.

Oh this is a delightful cream puff of a book. Full of charming magic and a cast of eccentric but endearing characters, reading it was a delightful escape. I devoured it in a few sittings over the course of a little more than 24 hours and enjoyed every second. If you're looking for a book with found family who are kind and accepting with a dollop of romance and a dash of a fun magical world, I can't recommend this one enough. show less

Adorable, and just as satisfying as I hoped it would be. I love a grumpy protagonist. I love an underdog coming out on top. And I love that the found family in this book -- from the armored knight to the autistic, floating child, to the surprising background romantics and the deeply irritating transformed fox. It's a wild ride, but a lovely, satisfying one. Great heart, great magic, great romance.

Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Edelweiss.

After resurrected her great aunt Jasmine (by accident, a long dead rooster) under the instruction of a semi-villainous talking fox, Sera Swan, one of the most powerful witches in Britain, lost most of her magic. She was exiled from her Guild. She (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps Jasmine run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check.

But then her nephew and the fox concocted a plan to stole an old book about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power. With her hope reignited, and the help of Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, and her quirky guests and family, the spell's secret was unlocked. She gained her show more power back only to lost it at the end (spoiler alert). However, the magic of life is really on the life she build, and the weird, wonderful family she’s made are the best magic of all. show less

I had assumed this was a sequel to The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches so I was confused at first when I didn't see any connections to the characters or world of that book. Then I realized it was using the same premise of oddball characters that didn't fit anywhere else and the need to hide witchcraft from that book, but using it to look at issues of loss and identity. Sera is a character who to prevent one great loss creates another and her wrestling with that loss creates a fascinating, multi-dimension core of the story. Luke is someone who is all about protection, which we see in his relationship with his sister Posy. I loved how their romance slowly unfurled.

The cast of characters around them were also delightful and I show more liked how magic was described and used in the book. Definitely worth reading. show less