Read time: 5 minutes
🎧 Listened in audio
📢 Narrated by Samara MacLaren
⏱ Duration: 10 hours
🏷️ Publisher: Books on Tape & Berkley
📅 Published on: July 15, 2025
🧙 Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Book Blurb:
Once one of Britain’s most powerful witches, Sera Swan loses her magic after resurrecting her great-aunt and is exiled from the magical Guild. Now running a quirky inn in Lancashire with Aunt Jasmine and a semi-villainous talking fox, Sera aches for the life she lost. When she discovers an ancient spellbook rumored to restore magic, she teams up with Luke Larsen, a guarded historian with secrets of his own. As magic, romance, and Guild politics collide, Sera learns that reclaiming her power may look very different than she imagined, and that the family she’s built might be the greatest magic of all.
Let’s talk about the book:
Sangu Mandanna is one of those writers who sneaks up on your heart while you’re busy admiring the cozy vibes. Yes, this book has magic, an inn, a talking fox, and all the comforting paranormal trappings I crave, but what it really delivers is an emotional reckoning. I cried. Repeatedly. Not because of spellwork or danger, but because Sera Swan’s journey is painfully, beautifully human. Watching her realize that she is stronger, more capable, and more worthy than she ever allowed herself to believe felt like being gently shaken awake. This isn’t about becoming powerful again. It’s about recognizing the power that was always there.
After The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, I was already sold on Mandanna’s storytelling, but this book somehow goes even deeper. Sera’s arc through self-doubt, despair, grief, and finally grit is quietly transformative. This is a fairy tale where the princess realizes the savior she’s been waiting for is herself. No dramatic grandstanding. Just the steady, hard-earned courage to stand up for her identity, her people, and her place in the world.
Mandanna also weaves in themes that hit close to home: queer relationships treated with warmth and normalcy, the insecurity immigrants feel even in places they love, and the damage caused by casually ridiculing someone’s identity. Again and again, the book shows how people build protective shells just to survive, sometimes losing themselves along the way. The message is clear without ever being preachy: be kind, be accepting, and let people be who they are. It’s cozy, yes, but it’s also quietly radical.
Audiobook Love:
Samara MacLaren deserves a standing ovation. Every emotion Sangu Mandanna put on the page is fully realized in the narration. Sera’s vulnerability, Aunt Jasmine’s warmth, the fox’s mischief, the ache and hope threaded through the story, it’s all there. This is one of those audiobooks where narration and story elevate each other into something genuinely special.
Would I recommend it?
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping will charm fans of magical realism and found family tales alike. It’s heartfelt, wise, and restorative in the best way possible. This is a book to read, listen to, re-read, and press lovingly into the hands of anyone wrestling with self-doubt. It’s cozy without being shallow, emotional without being heavy, and magical in the most grounded, affirming way. If you’ve ever waited for someone else to save you, this story gently reminds you that you don’t need saving. You are the light. You are the magic. You are the savior.
If You Loved This, You Might Also Enjoy:
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna — For more heartfelt magic and found-family warmth.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune — A gentle, affirming tale about love and belonging.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin — Blends seasonal magic with emotional depth and identity.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree — A cozy slice-of-life fantasy about rebuilding from scratch.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow — Lyrical storytelling about witchcraft, identity, and female empowerment.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
What Would You Choose?
If you could reclaim one lost part of yourself, what would it be? Magic, confidence, courage, or something quieter but just as powerful? Let’s talk in the comments.
Book Links:
Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders.
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Indiebookstores.ca
Bookshop.org
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
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