A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

One of my most anticipated reads for this year, Sangu Mandanna’s follow-up to The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches was well worth the wait!

Though they share a witchy theme and a focus on magic and found family, these are two standalone books with separate characters. The biggest thing they shared though? Charm.

Synopsis:

Sera Swan was a fifteen-year-old prodigy discovered by the most powerful witch in the British Guild of Sorcery, Albert Grey, when he saw the powerful magic she used to enchant her parents’ inn. Perceiving her as a threat, he mentored her to control how much she could learn.

After using a resurrection spell one day to bring her beloved great aunt Jasmine back to life (and oops ... a dead rooster!), Sera loses most of her magic and is exiled from the Guild and its resources, allowing Albert to exert his influence unfettered.

Fifteen years later, Sera is running the inn with Jasmine and using what little magic she has left to maintain it. Her long-ago enchantments ensure that the inn will only appear to good people who genuinely need something. 

The inn’s non-magical tenants are a young wannabe knight named Nicholas whose ardent devotion to Sera is hilarious and Matlida, an outspoken 50s-ish woman who loves gardening and just can’t resist well-intentioned meddling! The magical tenants are Sera’s bright young nephew Theo, Clemmie - a witch whose rebounded curse on Albert Grey turned her into a petulant talking fox, and Roo Roo, the skeletal resurrected rooster!

When Sera’s inn attracts an old crush from her school days, magical historian Luke and his adorable nine year-old autistic sister Posy, she finds out that her magic may be bringing her what SHE needs too, and possibly some romance on the side!

After she acquires a spell that can restore her magic and allow her to undo Clemmie’s curse, she needs help to make it work. Can she trust Luke and the others to help her get back the magic she loves and to put Albert Grey’s unchecked power back in its place?

My takeaway:

If you love a heartwarming ‘found family’ story with an overarching theme of magic and the things we sacrifice for those we love, this is a wonderful choice. There’s a touch of romance, but it’s the love between these characters that have chosen each other that really shines, and they were an absolute joy to spend time with. Even the inn with its magical misbehavior was a delightful character! Put them all together and you have a group that’s in turns quirky, awkward, hilarious, sarcastic, bumbling, sweet, humble and clever! 

The autism rep with Posy was so refreshing since it brought back memories of my son when he was that age. Everyone’s gentleness with her was so sweet.  It also had nice LGBTQ rep with two same-sex relationships (both MM and FF) and a non-stereotypical FMC with Sera who was half-Indian and half-Icelandic (and thank heavens, no MCs with red hair and green eyes, unless you count Clemmie the red fox! 😆) 

This was an immersion read for me with my Kindle and the audio narrated by Samara MacLaren, which was the *chef’s kiss*! She differentiated the character’s accents and personalities with so much skill and humor. Whether by itself or along with the book, I strongly recommend the audio for this, as it’s a story whose characters almost demand to be brought to life with a voice! 

My only complaints, which is why this is four stars rather than five, is that there was one brief sex scene whose tone didn’t match the more innocent feel of the rest of the book and the ending which can only be described as bittersweet and left me feeling a little divided. All-in-all I loved it and will again wait patiently for Sangu Mandanna’s next book!

★★★★ ½ 

Thanks to Berkley Publishing, NetGalley and author Sangu Mandanna for this digital ARC to honestly review and to my library/Libby for the audio. This is out now.