A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a new favorite of mine, creating the perfect combination of fantasy, romance, and conflict that’s both cozy and compelling. I loved the characters, the setting, and all of the little details that made this world, and its inhabitants, so easy to fall in love with. I was a huge fan of Mandanna already and this book has solidified that. If you want a few hours of time spent immersed in a place you wish you could visit with people you wish you could know, this is the book for you. 

The Best Bits

A Few of My Favorite Things

Good Ol’ Batty Hole

Everything about the inn is perfection. A construction that’s all corners and cozy nooks and rooms upon rooms. The cozy meets cluttered feel of a home well loved and looked after. The magic that literally flows through every molecule of the property, making it a magical wonderland of sorts. The wild name that somehow works perfectly. Throw in a supporting cast I couldn’t adore more, a zombie chicken, and constant baking, and I’ve found my ideal setting for any story. It’s the kind of place I would 100% visit for a night and never leave.

All the Love

It’s a love story but so much more than a romance. We see the love between a great niece and her great aunt, the love between friends who found each other in times of need, the love that a well-lived in home provides. There’s romance, of course, for our main character Sera and her grumpy academic Luke, but it’s about more than their love story. At the heart of everything was the love Sera needed to feel for herself, to accept the things about herself she hated and realize there’s more to life than accomplishment and magic spells. And a final shoutout to Matilda and Jasmine’s story – the scene with them dancing in the snow had me a bit teary eyed. 

The Magical Test

I can’t get over the stunning visuals of Sera’s original test to see how powerful her magic was. The description of sunlight bursting from her skin, nearly blinding the judging old men around her is mesmerizing and I found myself continuously going back to it as I kept reading. I’ve read a lot of magical fiction and have never seen it described quite like this. 

Final Thoughts

For me, this was one of those books that I put off reading because I knew how much I’d love it and didn’t want it to end. Just the anticipation of reading it fueled me for a few weeks and when I finally read it, I couldn’t put it down. I love stories like this and am in awe of how well the author was able to incorporate so many characters in such a well-drawn setting, complete with a full magical world and any number of conflicts and problems to solve. It’s somehow better than Mandanna’s other witchy romance, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, which I didn’t think would be possible. I’m honestly upset that it’s over but I love that I got to experience it.