Such a cute fun fall read!! A little slow in the beginning but picked up pretty quickly. I loved the FMC even if she was a little grumpy, she had every right to be, so I don’t blame her 😂

I love the cozy fantasy vibes! It’s been a while since I had read such a fantasy, and this quirky cast of characters really made me feel like I lived here with them! I never felt lacking in the humor or the romance, and the mystery to figure out was light, but still fun to read the characters solve. This found family will keep you smiling the whole way through!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f contemporary paranormal romance
-cozy
-forced proximity
-found family
-a resurrected rooster
-a magical inn

An absolutely beautiful book. Of finding your home, acceptance. Romantic, cozy, and just so enitrely heartwearming I can't say enough good things about this book other than you need to read it.

4.5 stars (rounding up!)

My first witchy read of the season and starting out strong! 🤩 After absolutely loving TVSSOIW, I was soo excited to read this one and even more excited that Berkley sent me a finished copy - thank you!!

This is the cozy fantasy your fall reading list needs! We have a magical inn, a bewitched fox, a noble knight, the best found family ever and a little love. Ugh, what more could you want? Except also a little spice and a little dark magic too!

I will forever read anything Sangu writes. I really needed to get lost in a book this week and I am so happy this is the one I chose. 🤍

I absolutely loved The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, so this was one of my most anticipated releases. Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with this story or these characters. I didn't get all the cozy found family feelings that I got from the first book. I am hoping that this was just me, and I still recommend you read this if you are a lover of cozy fantasy. I hope you love it! Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an e-arc of this book.

Grumpy ex-witch, snarky fox, magical inn chaos… oh, and maybe a brooding historian who’s allergic to feelings.

First Line: It was hardly ideal weather for the resurrection of one’s great-aunt, but Sera Swan’s magical power, while impressive, hadn’t the slightest influence over the obnoxiously blue skies.

Reasons to Read:
Enchanted Inn 🏨 - Sera Swan juggles eccentric guests, chaotic magic, and a semi-villainous talking fox while running her aunt’s inn.


Lost Magic 🔮 - Once a powerful witch, Sera risks everything to uncover an old spell that could restore her power.


Slow-Burn Spark ❄️❤️ - Enter Luke, a frosty historian who wants nothing to do with Sera—until he can’t seem to stay away.



Would you risk everything to get your magic back—or discover the family you’ve built is the greatest magic of all?


Rating: 🏨🏨🏨🏨

Thoughts: Reading this book was a long time coming for me. I thought it came out last year, then I had to wait a few months to read it this year. If you like cozy fantasy books about found family, then this is one you will want to pick up. The characters are so cute and heartwarming and quirky. This is the type of book you just want to lose yourself in for a day and be part of their world. It also has very fall vibes to me. Don’t go into this expecting a romance, because it’s not totally that. There is also magic and a little mystery!

It felt like we had been waiting forever for another book from Mandanna! I loved the cozy witchy vibes of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches so much and was so excited for this new witchy read.

Sera is a witch who lost most of her powers after performing a forbidden spell years ago. She now runs an inn with a menagerie of quirky characters, and is determined to find a way to get her magic back.

Mandanna excels at writing cozy found family. If you are craving magic, whimsy, a read that feels like a fairy tale, a small touch of romance, and animal sidekicks, this book would be perfect to add to your fall TBR. It made me laugh, had some touching moments about finding your place and your people, and was just such a feel good read!

Magical, cozy, and lovely.
Sangu Mandanna can write a great magical story! Much like her first book this one had relatable characters, a fun magical plot and amazing side characters!

Read if you like:

Cozy fantasy
Mischievous talking foxes
Magical hijinks
Found family
Grumpy, relatable heroines

My thoughts:

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a thoroughly heartwarming, utterly charming tale of magic, mayhem, and a mischievous cast of characters. Sangu Mandanna stole my heart with this book.

If you're looking to try cozy fantasy (as I was), this is the perfect place to start. While there are magical hijinks and a quest to restore Sera's lost magic, it's a very low stress story. It had me laughing most of the way and even though I did tear up a few times, they were more cathartic tears with some happy ones thrown in too. And though it is low stakes, the story is extremely captivating and the pacing is perfect. I was hooked from the start and read almost straight through.

The story may have been the initial draw for me (who wouldn't want to read about a woman who owns a magical inn?) but the characters are what really grabbed me. Sera is a bit crotchety (to put it nicely) but she's a complete teddy bear underneath the rough exterior. It's impossible not to love her. She's a very relatable character that is so easy to empathize. Luke is a bit harder to read but just as easy to love. He cares so deeply for the people that truly matter to him (just like Sera), he just doesn't always know how to show it. The romance between him and Sera felt so organic. Once they started to let each other in, it was obvious how similar they were. The love between them kind of snuck up on them but it felt so natural and worked so well.

The other residents of the inn were a fun, quirky bunch. There's a cursed witch trapped in the body of a fox, an undead rooster, two young witches, Sera's aunt (who she brought back from the dead), and two rather unique mortals who stumbled upon the inn when they most needed it and just never left. I could honestly ramble on for days about all of these characters. The found family in this book might just be the best I've ever read. Their deep love for each other was almost tangible. Very few of them actually shared blood but that made no difference when it came to the bonds between them all.

The other bond in this was between Sera and the inn itself. The Batty Hole Inn felt like a character more than a setting. The inn had a personality and quirks all it's own. It made itself into the home that Sera and her family needed and they loved it just as much as they loved each other. A running theme throughout the book is finding where you belong and the inn made itself a home for this group of people that felt like outcasts everywhere else. 

Overall, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a book that I know I'll return to many times in the future. The story, the characters, the setting; all are wholly original and entirely wonderful. This book is the definition of a comfort read. It will leave you with a smile on your face and a sense of contentment in your heart. Needless to say, I'll be adding all of Sangu Mandanna's other books to my to-read list immediately.

TL;DR

An utterly charming read, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping is the epitome of a comfort read. Once you pick this one up, you won't be able to put it down. Sangu Mandanna has crafted the perfect cozy fantasy, full of quirky characters, magical hijinks, and a heartwarming romance. I cannot recommend this book enough!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I’ve realized I’m a total sucker for endearing side characters, I almost always like them more than the main character. People often say that’s because MCs are written with flaws, while side characters come across as more complete. But with Mandanna’s books, that’s never the case. Her characters (whether they’re resurrected aunties or skeleton chickens) are all on their own journeys of self-discovery within their found family. That theme always gets me, and this story was no exception. Note to self: I would protect Nicholas (the knight) with my whole heart, just as he would protect anyone else’s.

I really enjoyed this, it was cute and funny. The romance was great! The story was great. The characters were charming and unique. All in all it was really magical (literally and figuratively). I enjoyed book one just a tiny bit more, but this was a real winner during a summer book slump for me.

Sera spends so much time caring for others, that I spent a good portion of the book wanting to wrap her in a blanket and give her hot chocolate and a cozy book. I loved all of the folks who lived at the Inn and really loved how dedicated Mandanna is to making sure that her characters' worlds are filled with diverse characters that reflect real-world communities. The ending, while something I expected, did leave me a little sad. I am still processing how I feel about that, but overall, I enjoyed the book a lot.

‘Tis the season for…witchy reads! Thank you @prhaudio & @berkleyromance #berkleypartner #berkley for my copy! (Ok, I read witchy/paranormal reads year round!)

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping had the cozy, found family, magical vibes of Irregular Witches, but with more emotional depth. (Still cozy and whimsical though!) You’ll laugh a ton at the antics of the diverse cast, and you’ll also feel deeply for Sera’s backstory.

🎧Samara MacLaren’s narration was lovely and made each character come to life! This book was easy to follow along with by audio, although I read most of it with my eyes and ears.

**Many thanks to Berkley and Sangu Mandanna for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**

Have you ever walked into a room where two friends were having a conversation about a situation you knew NOTHING about...but since you all were in the same friend group with one another you figured, "Well, this isn't a private conversation...they aren't giving me 'the look'...and EVENTUALLY this will all make sense and possibly become interesting to me, even without context?"

(I know this is a bit of a complicated setup...but bear with me!)

...And yet, 25 minutes later, you realize that not having context not only makes the story sort of boring, but try as you might you just CANNOT get mentally or emotionally invested whatsoever?

THAT is the way I felt jumping into this book...and the aforementioned frustration had reached a BOILING point by the time I reached the final pages.

In terms of a premise, witch Sera is on the naughty list after using her magic to reanimate her aunt Jasmine...oh, and she's also friends with a talking fox. (Not sure if this is ALSO problematic? Even after reading this book I can't really answer that question.) Amidst her exile, she's tried to take up inn-keeping alongside her aunt (I think? This again didn't REALLY seem like the focus of the book....even though it's in the title!) One of the visitors to the inn is none other than the handsome yet stonily inaccessible Luke Larsen, a historian who just might have the key to unlock Sera's powers once again....and get her back in good stead with the witch's Guild while he's at it. But will Sera be able to charm her way into getting him to give up the goods? (Yep, in more ways than one, of course) OR has Sera gone a step too far in trying to reclaim her magic...and has she genuinely lost it for good?

I'll be honest, I had to go back and try to piece together parts of the publisher's synopsis to supplement my own foggy memories to even come up with the aforementioned description...and as you can tell, even THAT doesn't feel entirely 'right.' My number one issue with this book and the main reason for a less than stellar rating is that this book FEELS like a solid book two in a series, where reading book one is ESSENTIAL for understanding and clarity.

And yet...it ISN'T supposed to be that: this is SUPPOSEDLY a standalone novel.

But unfortunately, I felt like I was missing an entire MYTHOLOGY to get me up to speed on the characters, their relationships, what was good and bad in terms of 'allowed' magic, the Guild etc....and NONE of that information was ever provided in a clear way. At first, I figured it was just a bit of a bumpy start and the author would start filling in the blanks...but this simply never came to pass. Once I got about 20-30% of the way through, I knew that unfortunately I was going to be on my own...and no witch's spell was going to come and save me. At this point, I started skimming more often than I liked, and as much as I tried to stay focused, it was next to impossible.

Aside from that, I wasn't particularly intrigued or interested by the budding relationships, wasn't wowed by the characters (even the cute ones!), and apparently zoned out entirely during the spicy scene. I'd hoped this read would get entice me to pick up the first one, but I have little desire to go back in time (so to speak) after finishing this one. I also believe that I am the absolute WRONG reader for this one, and I acknowledge that has absolutely colored my opinion as well. I wanted to get whisked away by the whimsy, but I felt like someone had snapped my wand in half instead.

And although I know this read was supposed to feel snuggly, charming, and cozy...try as I might, I just couldn't manage to get warm.

3 stars

3.5 ⭐️ This was such an adorable book, I fell in love so quickly with the way Mandanna writes a found family narrative. I do know this is a romance book but I do wish it was a closed door or a slower burn then it was, the romance felt a little too forced because I saw the FMC and MMC as friends rather then lovers. Overall a great little cozy spooky book!

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC

A super cozy and fun read for fall! I’ve already been handselling this title in-store because of how much I enjoyed the cozy atmosphere, the quirky characters and Sera’s personal growth. Delivered on the heart-warming vibes and I loved each character so much!

Well, this book completely stole my heart. 💜

I went in expecting a fun, witchy escape, but what I got was something so much more—a story that felt like being wrapped in the coziest blanket while sipping tea in front of a fire. Honestly? I loved it even more than her last book.

The cast of characters is delightful from start to finish, each one adding their own sparkle to the story. And our FMC? She’s absolutely unforgettable—warm, witty, strong in quiet ways, and just the kind of heroine you root for with your whole heart. Watching her journey unfold was such a joy, and I didn’t want to say goodbye when it ended.

If you’re in the mood for a book that blends magic, whimsy, and found-family vibes, this one delivers. It’s charming, hopeful, and cozy in the best possible way. Definitely one for the Fall TBR.

I really liked this story! It did have some up and downs (I'll most likely read again to ensure I didnt miss anything while sick) because I felt like I missed some scenes. But I dis enjoy what I did read and the characters ^_^

My favorite thing about these books are the characters. Sangu Mandanna creates the most whimsical, comical, and lovely characters that I read and read about forever. Sera was relatable, enjoyable, selfless. Every interaction she had was entertaining and the banter between characters really uplift this book. I would say that I forgot about the plot and main conflict for the majority of the book because I just enjoyed seeing how everyone interacted. The ending was unexpected but satisfying. I will enjoy even more books in this world of witchcraft!