This was one of my most anticipated books of 2025 and OH BOY did it deliver!

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping is cozy fantasy with depth and an incredible amount of heart. The characters are a mix of quirky and tragic, the plot is simple yet constantly entertaining and engaging, and the world is absolutely moreish. I couldn't put this book down, yet I found myself wanting to slow down to savour every moment.

The first few pages were a bit bumpy for me as the tone and tense seemed a bit mismatched, but once the time jump happened, everything was smooth sailing. I quickly became immersed and connected with Sera and the gang.

This cast of characters is ridiculous on the surface, yet charming through and through. I loved the oddball chivalry from Nicholas, reveled in the prickly wit of Matilda, was comforted by the steadfast kindness of Jasmine and exasperated by the antics of Clemmie, marvelled at the strength shown by the children... And I felt all the feels when it came to Sera and Luke!

Unlike many cozy fantasy stories, this one has its share of harsher themes that are dealt with much more directly, including poor mental health, death (sort of), childhood trauma, toxic relationships, prejudice, personal sacrifice, inherited power imbalances, and more. It's definitely one that will rip your heart to shreds while also simultaneously wrapping you up in a warm hug.

I could rave about this book all day, but I'll sum it up with this: A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a story that has it all: romance, found family, humour, heartbreak, magical puzzles, a curse, a resurrected rooster... It's everything I could have wanted and more.

(p.s. I'd 10000% be up for a sequel if it was ever in the cards!!!)

rich world-building, vivid and original characters, and an intriguing magical setting. For fantasy lovers who can't resist strong-willed witches, whimsical magic, and a touch of mischief.

The love interest wasn't at the forefront of the story but that's not always a bad thing, a nice cosy read

The wait for this book was so worth it!!! Sangu Mandanna has this way of writing that just feels like a warm hug.

Her stories always bring me this sense of nostalgia, suddenly a portal to my childhood is open and I'm going back to the time I was sitting in front of the tv awed by movies like Nanny Mcphee and Mary Poppins.

I DEVOURED this book, these characters...they feel like a family to me now, my heart was swooning.

Although this is a cozy fantasy, there's so many elements that surround these characters that shed a light and approach so many topics that nowadays you witness in our society/news and I loved how the author was able to balance the fantasy aspect of the story with it.

Many thanks to Hodder&Stoughton and NetGalley for the free e-arc.

I have been waiting for this book for such a long time.
I don’t know if it’s a “me” problem or not. I may have a problem with the second book written by authors (I know that this is not Sangu Mandanna’s second book EVER). This is not the first time when I loved a first book, but I was disappointed by the second one. Of course, reading and enjoying a book are two different things. I did read “A witch’s guide to magical innkeeping”. Did I enjoy it? I guess. I loved it? Not sure. I do know that I loved “The very secret society of irregular witches”.

I will say that I was a tiny bit disappointed by it.
The book has good parts: a found family, one of my all time favourite tropes. It has enjoyable characters and moments, it has funny parts, sad parts. It has romance and friendships and forgiveness. Cozy fantasy is a genre I’m new to, but I love that exists. Reading it makes me feel warm inside. And the book actually made me feel warm. I loved the setting, an inn that has some magical elements in it, with a garden and chicken and a warm kitchen that is probably my favourite place in this inn.
I loved each character and made me happy to see how much they care for each other. I love to see them interact and how welcoming they were.
The romance was a nice plus, but I can’t say that it’s my favourite part in the book.

I can’t say that it’s my favourite though, it had some parts that I didn’t enjoy. While reading it, I realise that I didn’t care so much about the plot. I mean, while I loved the daily life of the characters and their stories, I couldn’t be bothered with the plot. In the end, it has too many twists. They’re not unpredictable, but I wasn’t actually upset about that. At the same time, I couldn’t hear one more “we will love you without magic”, “you’re special without magic”, “it’s ok if you won’t get your magic back”. There’s one in almost every chapter. Of course she’s special anyway, but she wants it back, that’s all that matters.
Also, why a sex scene in a cozy book? I would have enjoyed it more if it was close door romance.

I will continue reading books from this author, I loved the first one and enjoyed this one. It wasn’t the book, if course. It’s me. And that’s ok. I still recommend you to read it and make your own opinion.

My heart feels full and I feel sad that I’ve finished this beautifully written, cosy, heartwarming, magical & thought provoking book!

This was another superb hit from Mandanna. I absolutely fell in love with all the characters in this book - it kept me on my toes, whilst also remaining cosy. I adored Sera and felt so much sympathy for her. Then enter Luke - hottie library nerd.... honestly you could not have given me anything more. The rest of the cast were as charming and amazing as the main two. This book was so cosy and honestly if you loved A Secret Society, this book will do it justice. I am so excited to see what Mandanna has next installed and I am here for it. Especially if its witchy!

This is a cosy fantasy with some loveable characters in an Inn with chaotic magic. From Nicholas the knight (this is set in modern age!) to Jasmine the revived witch, Clemmie the fox, Matilda the older Gardner, Luke who is our literary love interest and his sister Posy - to not even touch on the zombie chicken. At points it does almost feel like there are too many characters especially in the beginning which I found quite confusing to keep everyone straight but it does add to the found family element. This has a really sweet story and a lot of key messages. There were also several points that did make me laugh out loud. This is a book I could see as a perfect read when you need a bit of comfort and magic. Overall, really enjoyed reading this and did enjoy Sera as a character

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

Thank you so much to the publisher Hodderscape for giving me an early earc to review on Netgalley.

This was such a cosy witchy read, perfect for someone looking for a nice, easy to read witchy fantasy romance book.

I especially loved the character relationships in this book and how every character felt so different from each other and came together to be a found family who support, care and love each other.

The only thing that made me not rate this 5 stars is that it did feel a little bit too long and dragged out in areas where some things could have been taken out as they didn’t necessarily add to the overarching plot and could have made it move a bit faster, however it is still a very much satisfying and enjoyable read that felt like quite a palette cleanser from reading some heavier fantasy books.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Hodderscape and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a lovely, cozy read. It has a bit of everything - found family, quests, slow burn (not only between the main characters!), and second chances.

The slow burn was so well written, and seeing Sera and Luke blossom and overcome their fears was so lovely.

I’ve said this about other books too - one of my favourite things is when secondary characters are fully developed in themselves, as it makes the world feel so much more full (instead of them just existing for the purpose of the main characters’ story). In this book, I was just as invested in the side characters because they were so loveable and had their own things going on. I also have to say, Roo-Roo was a unique and hilarious addition, and although Verity was only directly in a couple of scenes, her antics made me laugh out loud.

Overall this book was just like a warm hug and I’m definitely keen to pick up Sangu’s books in the future!

I absolutely adored this book.
There's something wholesome about a found family of different personalities with chaotic tendencies. It's one of my favourite things to read about.
This book felt like a warm, cosy hug, giving you lot of reasons to smile, reasons to think and feel content with what you have around you. I'll treasure my physical copy when it comes out.

I absolutely loved this book. I haven’t read much cosy fantasy before, so I wasn’t expecting it to be so emotional (or to find a little touch of spice!). I definitely didn’t anticipate staying up until 3am to finish it, but I just couldn’t put it down.

At its heart, this is a story about found family and second chances. It’s filled with eccentric, lovable characters, including Clemmie a mischievous fox and the adorable Roo Roo. The story is heartwarming, full of hope and had me both laughing out loud and wiping away a few tears.

Sera’s journey, especially her struggle to accept herself, really resonated with me. Her opposites attract romance with Luke was beautifully done. They just got each other and that connection helped them to see themselves more clearly.

There were so many other little details I loved about this book like the way magic was described, with its unique look and feel for each witch, or the look into guild politics, which added depth and insight into how the witching world operates. It was all intricately and beautifully written.

Overall, this was such a lovely, comforting read. I wanted to stay at the Inn forever! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I couldn’t put this book down. Sera is the perfect MC, her family background, her struggle with how she lost most of her magic and likewise her hope of one day regaining her powers, her every day struggles with the inn, the people inhabiting it. There were so many moments when Sera felt so real to me, I wanted to hug her. I wish I could visit The Batty Hole Inn, meet this wonderful found family, and hug them for all the feels they gave me over the course of about 350 pages.

This was a cosy, sweet little cottage-core magical story about second chances, learning to love yourself, and see yourself as others did. About accepting who you are, and not changing yourself, not pushing yourself into a little box just to please others. About the magic of found family and how very worth it, it really is.

The characters in this are the stand out, but I wish we could have learnt more about them. They are all broken, all delightful but I wanted to know more about Nicolas' life before, wanted to know about the struggles Sera faced for her skin rather than just skirting around the issue and mentioning in only once or twice.

The bigoted people in this book, be they distant parents, scared family, downright cruel or jealous, they all make the blood boil and I really wish some of them could see what they lost in their small, closed minded viewpoints, because all of the family were amazing.

It lost a star from me for the ending, and it was so close to being a five star. Yes, there was poetry there, but personally I hated the ending, I didn't like the 'lesson' it claimed and it made me feel like most of the journey I had been on with this book had been pointless. Maybe I just wasn't the right target for this book, maybe I was just missing the point, but that was not how I wanted the story to end, and I didn't feel uplifted by it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this incredible book.

Sangu just knows how to write incredible cozy fantasy with the best amount of yearning and romance. I’m always a sucker for found family and this book does not dissappoint with that, I would die for Jasmine or Nicholas and even Roo-Roo. The dead rooster that sounds strange writing this but became an important part of this story and left me smiling everytime he came onto page.

If more books could be written with these characters I would be in love, I’m not ready to sya goodbye to them and for it just to be one book.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping was without a doubt my most anticipated read of 2025. Ever since I read Sangu Mandanna’s adult debut back in 2022 (The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches), I’ve been dying for some more cosy fantasy from her. While I didn’t love this one quite as much as I had hoped, this is still a very enjoyable read. One thing that I will point out straight away is that this is not a book 2 or a follow on from The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. I’ve seen many people online saying ‘I can’t wait for book 2’. This is not a book 2, it’s a very separate standalone and I think going in expecting a follow on will lead to some disappointment.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is another found family cosy urban fantasy, filled with cosy vibes, lots of magic and a dash of romance. I don’t know whether I went into this one with too high expectations, but I found it really difficult to get into. I liked the premise of following a witch, who has lost most of her power and has been exiled to running a magical inn with her resurrected aunt. It’s such a quirky and fun concept and I was completely here for it. We have a big cast of side characters in this one, which for me, may be its downfall. I tried really hard not to compare this to ‘Irregular Witches‘ all the time, but I couldn’t help but feel like with Irregular Witches I loved the characters immediately, because there wasn’t actually that many for the ‘found family’. With this one there was so many, and more being added in and I just felt like I didn’t connect with them very much until well past the 50% mark because I didn’t feel like I truly knew any of them.

After the half point mark, I started to really get into this book and absolutely loved the latter half of the book. It picked up in pacing, there were some higher stakes and I started to really root for the romance between the two characters. One thing I absolutely loved about it, is the journey Sera goes through. I feel like the reason I struggled with the first half is that Sera is just going through the motions of her life, without truly thinking or trying to ger her magic back. Once she started attempting to get it back, I felt the pacing picking up. I loved her journey through whether she needs magic to truly be happy. It was a really moving and inspiring storyline that I ended up appreciating it all the more. Due to this, I do feel like this may be one of those books that I just love more on a re-read. I feel like I will appreciate the slower moving first half more now that I know where that character development is going. I will definitely be picking up a physical copy of this one, and I will re-read it again in the future.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping was cute, romantic and a whole lot of fun. I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves cosy fantasy. I would just say don’t go into it expecting it to be similar to The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches as I do think you’ll be very disappointed. I think half of my problem was expecting something similar, and I went in with sky high expectations. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t obsess over this one as much as Irregular Witches but I will still be looking out for more Sangu books, as they are just so cute and wholesome.

I have to start with a negative - this book features my least favourite fantasy trope (largely because it always seems to happen to supremely powerful FMCs) - but that's so you understand just how much I must love the book if I love it anyway! I was a bit worried that this couldn't possibly be as good as Irregular Witches but that was quickly proved wrong. It's a gorgeously cosy hug of a book, with a grumpy but warmhearted former witch, a magical historian, a skeletal rooster, a cursed fox, various misfit long-term inn residents, and a couple of witchy kids, that together equal a found family you can't help but love and want to spend more time with, plus another swoonworthy romance! Sangu Mandanna can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

4.5 stars

After loving The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches I've been dying to read this new story, and once again Sangu didn't disappoint.
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping was another heartwarming book, with wonderful characters, funny moments and cozy settings. I immediately connected with Sera, who was brave and selfless, and more than once I wanted to hug her! But what I loved most was the found family trope, which warmed my heart. They really deserved all the happiness in the world ❤️

Totally recommend this story if you want to read something warm and sweet.

Ich war bereits von dem Buch „The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches“ restlos begeistert und das neue Werk „A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping“ von Autorin Sangu Mandanna, auf 352 Seiten im Verlag Hodder & Stoughton erschienen, konnte da nahtlos anschließen!
Die Bücher können völlig unabhängig voneinander gelesen werden, spielen aber im selben Kosmos.
Zu Beginn der Lektüre war ich fast schon ein wenig überrumpelt, weil man quasi direkt mitten im Geschehen startet, an einem wahren Wendepunkt der Protagonistin Sera Swan. Sie mag insgesamt die Hauptfigur des Buches sein, die Geschichte lebt aber tatsächlich wieder vom Zusammenspiel einer ganzen Reihe bunter Charaktere, die gemeinsam in der magischen Pension leben. Jeder ist etwas ganz Besonderes und macht im Verlauf der Geschichte seine ganz eigene emotionale Entwicklung durch. Mir sind sie alle so sehr ans Herz gewachsen, dass ich beim Lesen sogar die eine oder andere Träne vergossen habe.
Am Anfang dachte ich noch, dass das Buch insgesamt nicht mit der ersten Geschichte aus dieser Welt mithalten können wird, aber ich habe mich geirrt. Es war wieder eine Geschichte über Liebe in allen Facetten und Formen, über die Kraft von Zusammenhalt und Freundschaft, über emotionale Entwicklungen und darüber, dass Familie nicht immer etwas mit Blut zu tun haben muss. Die Lektüre war herzerwärmend, magisch, mitreißend und einfach nur zauberhaft - trotz aller emotionaler Höhen und Tiefen ein absolutes Herzensbuch, das weitaus mehr als „nur“ fünf Sterne verdient hat!

4.5 stars!

SOOOOOO CUTE!! I love a good cozy fantasy, and this made me feel all the warm and wonderful emotions! Count me in as a Sangu Mandanna Witchy Book stan, because I will continue to read them if she continues to write them hehe - I really enjoyed The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, and I knew I'd enjoy this one too!

I love a good romp of a story, and this one was no exception hehe. The story had so much charm and whimsy to it, I had the best time reading this book! There was the perfect mixture of fun and chaos, along with more serious issues and emotions sprinkled throughout, which made it all such a lovely easy read. There was such a fun cast of eccentric characters that made up Sera's chosen family of guests at the magical inn in question - the Batty Hole Inn (yes, that's the name and yes, I laughed every time I read it).

This book honestly has so, so much heart and charm to it - there were all different types of love highlighted in here, and that's one of the things I love the most about books with the found family trope! It was so sweet seeing all the characters interact, especially watching how loyal they were to each other and how welcoming they all were. The romance was SO sweet and burned bright at exactly the right moments, it was a slow-burn romance that tended to sit more as sub-plot, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. I thought it was super fitting for how the rest of the book flows, and I just had such a wonderful time with this book!

I have to dock slight points because I was a little disappointed at how the events played out, I don't want to spoil anything especially since it hasn't released yet - but it's a trope that has been done and I haven't been much of a fan of it in other works either! IYKYK, it didn't ruin the book obviously, just my personal preferences!

Thank you so much to Hodder & Stoughton and Hodderscape for providing me with an e-arc via NetGalley!

My review for A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (5 stars) – Heartfelt, magical and cozy

Thank you NetGalley and Sangu Mandanna for an advance copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a cozy fantasy dream come true. With a wonderfully quirky and diverse cast (including the most original animal companion), Sangu Mandanna crafts a heartfelt story that wraps around you like a warm blanket. The characters are beautifully written, their arcs feel full and satisfying, and the setting is so charming.

The plot is engaging throughout: perfectly paced with a gentle thread of romance (grumpy meets grumpier?) and just a touch of spice. You don’t need to have read her previous book to enjoy this standalone, though I did. And to my surprise, this one outshines it completely. It’s whimsical, cozy, and surprisingly profound.

A must-read for fans of TJ Klune, Travis Baldree, or anyone craving a warm, magical escape.