A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping
by Sangu Mandanna
read by Samara MacLaren
Books on Tape, 2025. 9 hours, 53 minutes.
Review written February 23, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
I think this audiobook was suggested to me after I finished Sarah Beth Durst’s latest. If so, the recommendation was spot-on. This is also a cozy fantasy story with all kinds of feel-good vibes.
At 15 years old, Sera Swan was one of the two most powerful witches in Britain. But she was an outsider because she wasn’t from a long-standing British magical family. So when she uses up her magic to bring her great-aunt back from death, instead of other witches helping her get it back, she’s put in exile from all magic society.
Fifteen years later, Sera is making do with only a tiny bit of magic. She’s running the inn with her great-aunt, protected by the spell she performed as a child – only allowing those who truly need the inn to find it. They’ve assembled a hodge-podge family of sorts – an overeager elderly lady, a young man who works at the Renaissance Fair and calls himself her knight, and Sera’s young cousin Theo who is learning the fundamentals of magic – and letting Sera read the more advanced texts he checks out. And then there’s Clemmie, the witch who turned herself into a fox when a curse backfired. She wants Sera to regain her power and restore her as well.
And now it looks like Sera may be able to restore her power. With the help of the powerful Restoration spell – and the handsome librarian who has shown up at the inn, needing a place for his young sister, who is a witch but is also autistic and doesn’t always follow the rules. But then there’s the matter of figuring out the ingredients of the spell.
This is a delightfully cozy story with a clear progression of tasks for Sera, but some setbacks and plot twists along the way. I found myself loving the assortment of characters at the inn – while hating the villain who is indeed despicable but powerful. I wish I could find my way to this magical inn, but enjoying through the book was perfect.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/witchs_guide_to_magical_innkeeping.html
Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.
Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
Subscribe for more reviews and talk about books.
Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?