A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Sangu Mandanna, according to her biography, wrote her first story at four years old after being chased by an elephant. I've not read that one, but I did read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and was absolutely charmed by it. So charmed that I put A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping on my list before I was done with Irregular Witches and months before Innkeeping was published. And I have been eagerly awaiting it for this whole time! It was released in July and is already a New York Times Bestseller as well as an Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Romance. I felt like it would be perfect for moving into the cozy fall weather. It deals with bullying, death, racism, grief, abandonment, and colonization.

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in England. That was before her aunt died and the teenaged Sera (whose parents left her with Aunt Jasmine to go gallivant across the globe) risked everything to bring Jasmine back. It worked... too well - she now has a skeletal rooster larking about, but Sera lost most of her magic in the process. Then she was expelled from the Guild for resurrecting the dead and now spends her life helping Jasmine to run an ensorcelled inn for wayward travelers, dodging chivalric proclamations of loyalty from a knight, keeping her tenant Matilda's vegetables from dying, and trying to hide the reanimated rooster skeleton, the impertinent talking fox, and the wayward magic of a young witch from the general public. Enter Luke Larsen, who is just looking for a safe place where his sister Posey will not be judged, looked down on, or punished for not understanding she needs to hide her magic better. It just so happens that Luke may be who Sera is waiting for, someone who can translate the spell that may restore her magic. In helping each other, Sera realizes that she doesn't have to do it all alone.

This book was such a delight. I adore a cozy story with an actual plot. The setting in this story is phenomenal, the inn is almost another character in the story with a personality and the desire to protect the people who reside within. The characters are absolutely marvelous. Are they a little extra - absolutely. But you can see what motivates them and they each have their own hang-ups that make them feel realistic instead of pantomimes. We have Roo-Roo, the rooster who is nothing but a menace and doesn't add much to the story except charm and shows a surprising amount of loyalty at the end considering it's the literal skeleton of an animal not particularly well known for loyalty when they're alive. It has a real villain that was a little bit scarier than I expected for a cozy fall book. It was fun to try to unravel the spell that Sera uses as she tries to regain her magic and although the plot didn't do much to surprise you, it didn't feel derivative and it kept the story moving at a good pace. But the real point is the character development in both Sera and Luke as they start to unpack and work through their baggage. I even cried once. Just a few little tears, but they were there. And I could not have asked for a better ending.

I'm giving A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna 4.5 stars out of 5. Was it a revelatory experience, no. But it was an excellent cozy fall romance and the vibes were all vibing as advertised. It was exactly what I wanted it to be and a delight to read. Prepare to be supremely charmed. Sangu Mandanna has also written several children's books and I cannot wait for my own daughter to get a little bit older so I can read those with her as well.

For more from the author, check out https://sangumandanna.com/

Pairs well with cinnamon rolls (or buns, as they call them in the book) and knowing that you can't plant peppers and cabbages next to each other!

Favorite Quotes: "What she saw, for the first time, was not ugliness at all but pain so enormous and consuming that it had felt like dying."

"...if you know where to look for it, there is always a little magic in the heart of a person who loves it."

Review of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna