BOOKS | Review: A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Name: A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping 

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Publisher: Hodderscape

Date published: July 2025

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance, cosy, witches 

Pages: 340

Rating: 5/5

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps her aunt run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her. But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power...
Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and might just know how to unlock the spell’s secrets. Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain bewitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell. Worse, he might actually be thawing.
Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera Swan is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone... and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.

- From Goodreads. 

This was truly such a wonderful story, so comforting and with lovely meaning. Despite it being of course fantastical and delightfully magical, it still felt very real and relatable, and had me feeling quite emotional in some moments.

Luke and Sera were such loveable characters, the fact that they had both had such difficult pasts but both ended up finding family and a sense of belonging at the inn was so heartwarming. 

The setting of the inn was so charming and very creative and fun, all the characters that lived there and all the quirks of the place really made for some entertaining moments in the story.

I definitely recommend this if you enjoyed The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, it has the same wholesome feeling, brilliant humour, characters you just have to care about, and a well-done and thoughtful message.