A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna: A Cozy Found Family Magical Romance Book Review

I think Sangu Mandanna must have written this lovely story especially for me. I mean, we’ve never met, but I loved this cozy fantasy so much that I can almost not put it into words. Let me try.

Sera Swan lost her magic after an illicit act of heroism straight from her heart that resurrected her beloved great aunt but cost her nearly all of her immense magical power.

Banished from the Guild and cut off from the repository of magical knowledge that could help her get her power back by a villainous bully of a man that I just know has a punchable face, Sera settles into life without magic and tries really hard (with mixed results) not to be too angry about its loss.

She runs the Batty Hole Inn, which calls to those who need its refuge while repelling those who would threaten its safety or peace.

Along the way, Sera and the Inn assemble the most lovable crew of misfits that need each other, really see each other, and love each other despite (and indeed because of) all the things each member hates most about themselves.

The found family trope is difficult to do well, but Sangu Mandanna has such a gift for it. The characters are quirky but not just for the sake of quirkiness—they feel real and I would go to war for any one of them. There is solid neurodiversity representation that feels natural and authentic.

Sera herself is a bit of a grump, and who could blame her? She suffered the huge loss of her magic that had made her a wunderkind chosen one from the time she was a child, had a lot on her plate running an inn that seemed at times determined to fall to pieces around her, and was generally too hard on herself. I adored her.

The main romance that unfurled through the story was not quite the grumpy and sunshine trope, but I loved that Sera’s curmudgeonly self and Luke’s recovering people-pleaser self could really see each other enough to fall slowly and deeply in love.

The plot was intriguing and compelling without causing me one tiny bit of anxiety, and I really appreciate a story that can do that.

Thank you to Sangu Mandanna for one of my very favorite reads in a long time, and thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advance review copy.