A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna – Review

Published: July 15, 2025

Publisher: Berkley

Series: N/A

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 336 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
A whimsical and heartwarming novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

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.

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I’ve been awaiting A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping for going on two years now after the release date was pushed back to 2025. This is a sweet, cozy fantasy perfect for the folks who also loved The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches or generally like the found family trope.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping follows Sera Swan, a witch who had tremendous power right up until she resurrected her aunt Jasmine from the dead. You see, that type of power expenditure damaged her capacity for magic and she’s been operating on mere scraps of her former power ever since. Not to mention she was also exiled from the Guild for performing an illegal spell (the resurrection) so she can’t even access the library to research a possible cure for her stymied magic. In the last fifteen years Sera has taken over much of the operations of the inn she runs alongside her aunt and has also taken in Theo, a young relative with magical talent. There are also two longtime residents of the inn, Matilda (a vibrant older woman) and Nicholas (a young man who lives the life of a knight), and Roo-Roo, a rooster that Sera accidentally resurrected alongside her aunt. There’s also a little orange fox that started all this trouble in the first place who happens to be a witch afflicted by her own curse. Clemmie has been rather self-interestedly invested in getting Sera’s magic restored as she’s one of the only witches powerful enough to untangle the curse.

Much of the book focuses on Sera trying to find a way to get her magic back once she finally finds a spell that could restore her power. The spell is simple but has three ingredients that prove to be difficult to get. During all this a magical historian named Luke arrives with his young autistic sister Posy as they try to find new accommodations. Luke and Posy end up staying quite a bit longer than they initially intended and Luke proves to be helpful in translating the restoration spell. This is a found family book with a dash of romance, so you can probably see where this goes. 

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping was a charming, heartwarming story that was somewhat predictable but ultimately I didn’t mind because this is about the vibes. It’s nice to know there’s a happy ending coming for our characters even if they’ve had some ups and downs. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as I did A Very Secret Society for Irregular Witches but this was certainly a nice cozy story that would be perfect for the fall or winter months, which is when the story takes place.