A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

 

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping is a sweetly cozy found family romantasy by Sangu Mandanna. Released 15th July 2025 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Library binding edition due out 1st quarter 2026 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a warm and sweetly told tale, perfect for a cozy fall read. The ensemble cast is *full* of quirky eccentric characters, with a main character who is relatable, funny, kind, loyal, and intelligent. The addition of anthropomorphic sentient animal characters (including an anti-heroine self-centered fox and an accidentally reanimated zombie rooster) adds a load of whimsy. The comparisons with T.J. Klune are apt and appropriate. For Klune fans, this author is a must-read. There's a fuzzy line between homage and fanfic; fans of the sub-sub genre of quirky found family magical inns/schools will want to read Mandanna also. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours 53 minutes and is capably read by Samara MacLaren. She has a light, classically trained, well modulated voice and does a good job with an unusually wide range of accents including Edinburgh Scots, (Asian) Indian, RP British, and a number of others in a wide range of ages, sexes, and species. Sound and production quality is high throughout the read. 

Four stars. Definitely heavy on the whimsy factor, but charming and sweet nevertheless. The zombie rooster does more than his fair share of comic relief, but was a great addition. Recommended for public library acquisition, home library, or buddy read. It's a standalone, but thematically linked to the author's The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, also narrated by Samara MacLaren.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.