A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

A witch angles to regain her power in this pleasurable cozy fantasy from Mandanna (The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches). At 15, Sera Swan, egged on by enchanted fox Clemmie, loses her magic in the process of casting a forbidden spell to resurrect her late aunt Jasmine. When Albert Grey, her tyrannical mentor, discovers this transgression, he banishes Sera from the witch guild. Fifteen years later, Sera runs the enchanted Batty Hole Inn in Lancashire, which has gathered an assortment of oddball long-term lodgers, including Sera’s younger cousin, Theo; older hippie Matilda; and Nicholas, a young man deeply committed to his role as a knight at a nearby medieval fair. When Theo and Clemmie sneak into the witch guild headquarters to steal a book with a spell that could restore Sera’s powers, Albert’s daughter, Francesca, now chancellor of the guild, catches them—and surprises Sera by dispatching researcher Luke Larsen to help them make sense of the spell’s cryptic instructions. Luke is initially reluctant to help, having his hands full with caring for his autistic younger sister Posy who doesn’t understand the need to keep her magic secret, but the Batty Hole’s quirky community soon thaws his steely shell. Fans of mellow magical stories centering found family will gobble this one up. (July)