• Author: Sangu Mandanna
• Series: Standalone
• Genre: Fantasy Romance
• No. of pages: 336
• Dates read: 20.08.2022 – 23.08.2022
• Star Rating: 5 stars

Plot: As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos “pretending” to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously. But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat. As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….

First off, thank you Hodder and Stouhton for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had heard amazing things online about this book, the marketing was great and the hype was massive. I was super excited to jump in and read this due to the excitement I had seen everywhere. Normally, in August, I get myself so worked up because I have to read the perfect book in my birth month. Not sure why, I just do. The last couple of years just never hit the mark for me but this time I finally got my perfect book.

The writing was super beautiful. It had a great balance of whimsical magic like quality as well as hilarious contemporary commentary. One minute I was in awe of the vulnerability of the characters or the magic used and harnessed and then the next minute I was laughing away at the witty one-liners and mischievous actions. I felt super connected to this story and I read the last half in one day!

In terms of the plot. I just had such a great time. I have been enjoying the romance genre more and more this last year and to be able to enjoy this gorgeous romance alongside MAGIC was an amazing experience. The plot itself does take a back seat for the characters as this story is more focused on developing relationships and friendships than on plot. Normally I prefer books where the plot is front and center but these characters were so amazing that all I wanted to do was watch them live their lives.

The characters were the best bit of this entire novel. I fell in love with every single one of them, minus the solicitor. They are so rich and detailed. They were literally jumping out of the page. I wanted to dive into the book and just live with them and be their friend. I could literally just read another book of everyone going about their day and doing mundane tasks. The family dynamic that these characters have is amazing and I LOVE THE FOUND FAMILY TROPE AND THIS WAS JUST PERFECT.

The romance in this story was super beautiful. I will say at first I was nervous that they weren’t going to get enough development as the story was focusing more on Mika getting to know the young witches but once that was established we were swiftly on our way to romance ville. I loved their dynamic of sunshine X grumpy, I enjoyed them bickering and disagreeing but slowly coming round to seeing eachother and understanding why they are the way they are. I wouldn’t call this slow burn but a lot of time was spent trying to understand both characters to get why they didn’t gel to begin with. These characters are layered and it was super beautiful to watch them learn about eachother.

Overall, this is a great autumnal read that everyone should read!