I am still here but in my own rushed interpretation of the SuperWendy’s TBR challenge, I am posting super-late (so late that it is February). I have also decided to change up my book review template this year, including a discussion of each book’s metadata, so it may get a bit technical in my tiny corner of the internet. And just a tad ranty and sweary.

Sangu Mandanna’s A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

Blurb: “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 great-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, a 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”.

I felt like I waited forever for my library hold to come through to me. I placed it in July 2025 just to receive it in January 2026. I really enjoy magic (and witch) books set in the real world. I have no patience for trying to read through other worlds being built while also trying to understand a plot. Set in very pretty Lancashire in the UK, the titular inn is quaint with splendid gardens in abundance.

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