What an absolutely adorable read! Sometimes you just need a book that envelopes you in a warm hug and this was that!

I loved The very secret society of irregular witches, so jumped at the chance to read this one.

And yet again the author has created a magical world I easily fell into. It was a perfect cosy vibes witchy read.

The inn was just super cute and I absolutely loved the mix of characters in the book. A Knight, a fox that talks, the Inn (because yes that was a character all on it's own!) and the slow burn relationships in the book.

Bring on grumpy/ sunshine vibes, an older generation queen romance and a quest to get magic back and this was everything I wanted in a book.

I spent the weekend enveloped in the world the author created and was quite frankly very sad to leave at the end.

If you are looking for a cosy vibes magical read, this is it. This book definitely has a place on my read again often cosy picks pile.

Thank you so much to Hodderscape and Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was very excited to receive this ARC and come back to another cosy and witchy romance by Sangu Mandanna! While I didn't feel super invested in the plot, I enjoyed reading this book and found it entertaining. This book has the usual elements of cosy fantasy to escape into: quirkiness, lovable characters, found family, adorable romance and lots of adventures. My favourite aspect was the uniqueness of the characters and the messages of acceptance throughout the book. I would definitely recommend picking it up if you think you'd be into a cosy witchy book with the themes above!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodderscape and Sangu Mandanna for sending me an eARC of A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping in exchange for an honest review! I read A Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches last year and loved it, so I was very excited when I got this!

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a magical, wholesome story with a wonderful and magical found family.

It’s an easy read, with simple worldbuilding and a lot of funny moments, but with incredibly important messages - it comments on huge aspects of society, including racism and the (appalling) treatment of immigrants and neurodiverse people. It also reminds you that magic is everywhere around us - and so is love, in all of its forms. It explores mental health and neurodiversity, and has a wonderfully diverse cast of characters (and a zombie rooster, who is adorable).

I’d recommend this if you liked A Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and witchy, cosy stories (with some stakes), or generally if you fancy a warm hug in a book. (but it may make you want your own magical inn).


‘A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is due out on 17 July in the UK! Let me know if you plan on reading it!

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a warm, whimsical tale that blends gentle magic with heartfelt storytelling, a true comfort read for anyone who loves stories filled with charm, love, and the kind of family you find along the way.

The novel centres on Sera Swan, a once-powerful witch whose life has gone a bit off-script. After a string of magical mishaps, including accidentally resurrecting her formidable great-aunt Jasmine, losing most of her powers, and adopting a cheeky talking fox, Sera ends up running a magical inn nestled in the idyllic Lancashire countryside. When she stumbles across a mysterious spell book that might help her reclaim her lost magic, she teams up with Luke Larsen, a quiet historian with secrets of his own. But as they uncover the book’s hidden truths, Sera begins to discover that real magic might lie not in spells, but in the people she’s come to love.

From the first page, this book radiates cosiness. The Batty Hole Inn is the kind of place you wish were real, filled with eccentric guests, gentle magic, and delightfully odd details, like wildflowers blooming from teacups and apple blossom tea that rains from the ceiling of one room every Sunday. It’s a setting that wraps you up like a patchwork quilt and invites you to stay a while.

More than just a magical mystery, this is a story about building a life from the broken pieces, and finding your people along the way. Sera's journey is one of healing and belonging, surrounded by a wonderfully diverse cast that includes LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent characters, each adding depth and warmth to the story.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a celebration of love, community, and the quiet, everyday kind of magic that transforms lives. It’s a hug in book form, perfect for fans of cosy fantasy, found family, and just the right amount of spell work.

Thank you to Hodderscape and Netgalley for this eARC to review.

Reading A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping felt like sinking into a warm cup of tea laced with stardust — comforting, quirky, and just a little bit spellbinding. Sera Swan is the kind of heroine I adore: slightly chaotic, secretly heartbroken, and wholly determined to reclaim the pieces of herself that magic (and life) took away. Her journey from exile to empowerment is a gentle, magical joy to witness.

The enchanted inn setting is its own kind of magic — full of creaky charm, enchanted mischief, and guests with secrets of their own. Add in a sardonic, semi-reformed talking fox (easily one of my favorite sidekicks in recent memory), a curmudgeonly magical historian with hidden depths, and a heavy dose of found family vibes, and you’ve got a story that glows with warmth.

While there’s a sweet undercurrent of romance, the real heart of this book is healing: from grief, from lost purpose, from the idea that we have to do everything alone. Mandanna has a real gift for mixing whimsy with sincerity — and just enough bite to keep it from being saccharine.

If you loved The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, this one might be even better. It’s cozy fantasy at its finest: hopeful, heartfelt, and quietly magical.

“It seemed at first glance like ridiculous theatre, unneccessary and a bit silly, but at the heart of it, weren’t they just a handful of people trying to be good to one another?”

This book was everything I needed and more. Reading it felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket while the rain is pouring outside. I love the found family trope, and here it was so well executed, each character has its own past and story of how they ended up at the Inn, but they all chose to stay and create their happy place, tolerating each other’s quirks and genuinely caring for one another. I fell in love with Sera, her strength, her resilience, and overall her love and willingness to do everything for her family. I almost cried at one point, and I was so proud of her by the end! The cast of characters is diverse, the setting is whimsical, the writing flows nicely and I soon found that I couldn’t put this book down, I was enjoying it so much.

If you want a cozy read, with a dash of romance, and a lot of peculiar, funny and loveable characters this is the book for you! Also, bonus points for the zombie chicken, which was the perfect comic relief! I will definitely be recommending this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodderscape, and the author for the arc.

I loved this book! It’s a charming blend of whimsical and emotional that remind us that magic is more than spells. The found family of quirky characters is devine and the self discovery is bound to crack your heart wide open. I can see this becoming a comfort re-read for me for sure.

I was excitedly awaiting the release of ‘A witch’s guide to magical innkeeping’ after reading ‘The very secret society of irregular witches’ and absolutely loving its quirky characters. Unfortunately the characters in AWGTMI was what let me down this time as I just could not connect to them at all.

I can’t put my finger on what didn’t work for me, these characters should have been my favourites… a quirky found family which includes a bitchy witch stuck in a fox body, a powerful witch who lost her powers and deals with it with a sarcastic snark and a broody magic historian. I really wanted to love them but I kept forcing myself to read and just didn’t care what was happening.

The setting was definitely cosy and soft with a low stakes adventure filled with messages of hope and being yourself. I think many will love this book, it just didn’t hit the spot for me.

I have no notes. this was a such a cute little cosy fantasy, with a dash of romance. I loved that the theme of found family was more important than the main romance. It was such a fun ride with a bittersweet ending for me.
While it was simple in it's world building, it was done very well, and really focused on a great cast of characters.
I'm not sure if I want my own magical inn or to live in Sera's, but it just sounds so perfect and exactly what I need. For now I'll settle through experiencing it via this book.

Thank-you NetGalley and Hodderscape for allowing me to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was the perfect level of cosy, and just what I needed! I tore through this book in a day, and if anything, I loved it even more than her first.

Sera's search to rediscover her lost magic - with a strange and sometimes supernatural family by her side - makes her a compelling and likeable protagonist. I loved watching her grow throughout the novel, particularly seeing how her time with Luke helps each bring out the best in the other.

The story expertly balances moments of lighthearted humour with raw emotional truths, all within a comforting and magical world. Just as in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna uses fantasy to explore questions of identity, exclusion and belonging, creating a story that is both charming, and encourages the reader to reflect. If you're looking for a sweet fantasy, with a found family bond, I would definitely recommend.

Books with similar vibes - The Honey Witch by Sydney Shields, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, The Binding by Bridget Collins, and Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things by Breanne Randall.

I was lucky enough to receive a proof copy of A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping through NetGalley, and it completely stole my heart. This is exactly what cosy fantasy should be - warm, sweet, a little bit magical, and full of heart.

The idea of a magical inn that quietly attracts those who need it most is just so comforting, and I absolutely adored the eclectic cast of characters. I'm such a sucker for found family stories, and this one had that in abundance.

Also - the romance?! Grumpy x grumpy in the best way, with just the right amount of tension and softness. It’s easy to underestimate cosy books, but this one has surprising emotional depth too. It made me feel things I wasn’t expecting, in the best possible way.

A five star read. I didn’t want to leave this world.

I absolutely adored The Secret Society of Irregular Witches, and so jumped at the chance to read an advance copy of Sangu’s new book. And reader, it did not disappoint! All the wonderful characters and cosy setting from the last book were there, and I particularly enjoyed the found family aspects of this. For me, the first section felt a little jumbly, but after Luke appeared, it seemed to find its stride and was off. I didn’t think it needed the added spice either, and I felt this was included more for the sake of current trends than anything it brought to the book or its characters. The scene almost seemed a little embarrassed by itself as if the author really didn’t want to write it that way, but that being said, it was a wonderful read, which I greatly enjoyed and would have no hesitation in recommending. Many thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is the perfect blend of cozy fantasy, charming humor, wholesome (yet delightfully flawed) characters, and a heartwarming found family. If, like me, you adored The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, you’ll likely appreciate the same enchanting, character-driven storytelling in this book. While nothing quite matches TVSSOFW, this was a light, funny read that I couldn’t put down.

The story follows Sera Swan, a witch exiled from her community after losing her magical powers due to performing forbidden magic—resurrecting her great-aunt, the only family she has left. Years pass, and Sera finds solace in running a magical inn with her aunt, an inn that only appears to those who truly need it. Enter a cast of lovable, chaotic, and complex characters who turn the inn into a true home.
Sera never truly gave up on her magic, so when Luke arrives at the inn—driven by his desire to give his extraordinary little sister a place to belong—things take a turn for the unpredictable.

Nowadays, many books strive for diversity (which I wholeheartedly support), but at times representation can feel forced or tokenized. That’s not the case here. The inclusion of neurodivergent and disabled characters feels natural and well-integrated, adding authenticity and depth to the story rather than ticking a box.

While the pacing could have been smoother—starting off slowly before rushing into the conclusion—this didn’t take much away from my overall enjoyment. Some pivotal moments, especially in relation to the magical system, could have benefitted from a more balanced buildup.
Still, claiming your power and embracing your chosen family remains an emotional and resonant theme throughout the book.

In the end, A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a cozy, heartwarming read filled with humor and love. It’s perfect for fans of light fantasy who are looking for a story about second chances, self-acceptance, and the magic of finding a home—whether through magic or the people who make a place feel like one.

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton & NetGalley for the ARC!

I don’t usually read fantasy or romance but unexpectedly enjoyed The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches after receiving it in a book swap a couple of years ago.

While not a sequel, this is every bit as cute, cosy and heartwarming as TVSSOIW. It features a similarly diverse cast of characters and explores themes of found family, belonging and self-acceptance.

The magic system isn’t super developed and may not satisfy hardcore fans, but this would be perfect for those who enjoy cosy, low-stakes fantasy like Legends & Lattes.

I still can’t say I’m converted to fantasy or romance but this was an enjoyable read and it’s good to read something different every once in a while. It’s also great to see a writer in this space who isn’t a zionist or transphobe 👏🏻

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodderscape for the eARC.

I loved The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches so I was very excited to read this book and, although I did prefer that book, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping was still such a sweet and cosy read.

The found family in this book was fantastic. I loved all of the characters and their individual personalities were so interesting and their dynamic was great to read! I loved how they all had such distinct personalities and were all well established as individuals, but they worked so well together as a unit. The setting of the inn was also so magical!

I liked the romance in this book, but at times it did feel like the pacing was off. The romance isn't the main feature of the book though so this didn't bother me too much.

I really liked the Sangu's adult debut, but reading that was sufficient. Same formula, different characters and setting. It would work if I were specifically looking for this exact kind of read or at the airport but that's not how I read it, so I suppose it's a hard one to sell.

Full review to come

This book was everything I hoped for after TVSSOIW, warm, whimsical, and absolutely adorable. We follow Sera, an exiled witch who has lost most of her magic, as she tries to juggle running a cozy little inn, managing her wonderfully weird found family, and dealing with the unexpected arrival of Luke and Posy.

The real star of the show however has to be Roo-Roo, the undead rooster. Yes, you read that right and yes, he's perfect!!

The whole story has major warm and fuzzy winter vibes. It’s one of those books you can curl up with and fly through in no time. Light, charming, and totally comforting.

After I loved the author’s previous witch book, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, I was definitely looking forward to this title. I am incredibly grateful to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC!

In her childhood, Sera Swan was the most powerful witch of her generation. Unfortunately, she lost most of her magic after the successful resurrection of her greataunt. Ever since then, she lives in exile in a magical inn hosting a colorful mix of guests. When the inn’s magic spell leads the grumpy witch historian Luke to her door, it rekindles Sera’s hope to find and decipher a spell that could restore her magic.

The story immediately charmed me. Sera is a complex protagonist, who has had many experiences even before the beginning of the story. She longs for her magic and tries not to let it get to her, even though it is a constant of her character. It stays pervasive despite the loving found family around her. Luke is similarly lonely, even though he seems to have his life under control. It is hard for him to admit that looking for a new apartment to live in for him and his sister are not the only reasons why he is staying at the inn.

The characters give this book so much life. The inn’s guests form a bizarre but loving constellation next to Sera and Luke, and are always present with their humor and unconditional support. Sera’s resurrected greataunt Jasmine with her accidentally also resurrected pet rooster, the cursed speaking fox Clemmie, the determined yet slightly misled gardener Mathilda, the constantly armor-wearing knight Nicholas or Sera’s younger cousin Theo, who is also a witch - they all add so much to the story. Even the spelled inn itself seems alive in its continous effort to protect everyone. The breadth of characters does not mean that they stay shallow: everyone gets enough time to overcome their own struggles.

The plot follows Sera’s attempts at finding and translating the rare restoration spell, and at obtaining its obscure ingredients. The label “cozy fantasy” fits completely - there is little direct action and the suspense stems mostly from character develpoments. The pages seem to fly by as Sera has to not only learn to understand her magic, but also herself.

Despite all the magic, the book is quite realistic in regard to its modern relationships and the effects of trauma. It can be painful to read about the characters’ efforts, their need for closeness and fear of rejection. Those parts are given a lot of care, they feel so authentic that I almost forgot I was reading fantasy at times. That makes it even more rewarding to spend this story following Sera along and finding a satisfying conclusion.

And what a beautiful ending it was! I was laughing and crying even while riding the train. The community of all those different people and their mutual acceptance, a magical house, a well-written romance (even as someone who is rather allergic to romance, I could entirely enjoy this one), a lot of fun and a bit of heartbreak that is healed with cinnamon rolls and pancakes. How could I not recommend this book to everyone?

When Sera was fifteen, she was possibly one of the most powerful witches in UK. But when great-aunt died, Sera decided to resurrect her and due to this, lost almost all of her powers, was betrayed by her best friend and became excluded out of which community. Fifteen years later, she is still mostly powerless, runs an inn with her grand-aunt and quirky guests, but she still misses the time where she had all her powers. So when a chance of getting them back appears in her hands, Sera doesn't hesitate before doing everything she can to achieve her goal.

This is a cozy, warm novel with charming characters, that take you on a spectacular adventure and make you think how your past actions have affected your present. Each character is significant and diverse, making all of them a found-family with their own quirks and different, precious relationships. Although the plot was mostly predictable (especially when it came to romance), I honestly didn't mind it at all. It was an easy read, which I could take out during rainy days, when I wanted to relax after work or on the weekends. I read another book by Mandanna previously (The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches), which I adored and A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping was quite similar to it, although I still prefer Society to the Inn. All in all, this was a nice, cozy read which I would recommend to people, who usually enjoy these kind of books (especially the ones with quirky witch stuff).

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

What a wonderful story! This book is like a warm hug on a cold winter's morning. I'm definitely in my cozy fantasy era.

I absolutely adored the found family trope in this book and all the secondary characters were amazing too. I also admire Sangu's ability to write in real world issues like bigotry, racism and immigrants navigating the world into the story but manages to still retain the joy of the book. I loved Sera and Luke's relationship. I loved the fact that the romance was almost secondary in the book, in lieu of protecting those you have chosen as your family.

Ultimately, this book is about sacrificing for those you love and doing the right thing even if it means giving up something that you thought meant the world to you. Sangu made me laugh and cry as is her style. She weaves magic in her story telling and I would read anything she writes.