[A quick note: This is a special edition with the UK cover. I absolutely love how charming this edition is. I bought it before reading just because I knew I was going to love it.]
“𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.”—Sangu Mandanna
Witches aren’t supposed to be around each other. The magic that surrounds them attracts too much attention and bad things tend to happen. So, when Mika Moon (I love that name btw) gets hired to train three young female witches, she is hesitant. But she soon falls in love with them and the army of caretakers at Nowhere House, especially a certain, scowly librarian named Jamie.
I am a sucker for cozy fantasy. Make it a cozy witchy romance? Ya girl is dead on the floor. I’ve been holding on to TVSSOIR for almost a year now. I wanted to wait until the perfect moment to crack it open. In other words, autumn.
It was exactly what I needed.
Know how when you find the perfect feel-good book, you can’t stop reading with a grin on your face?? That was me. Lots of grins. Lots of sighs. Lots of wholesome moments. My only complaint was, it wasn’t long enough! I didn’t want it to end. I would have totally stuck around for another 2-3 hours of reading time because I wanted to stay immersed in the cozy storytelling for a bit longer.
Each of the three girls Mika mentors are vastly different, and I loved that you could see the differences on page. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each one. Plus, the found family vibes are A-plus! My only gripe was that I wished I could have gotten to know the other caretakers a little more deeply. It didn’t take away from my reading experience. Hopefully in the next book, I will.
The magic and world building wasn’t too deeply fleshed out here. You don’t learn the mechanics about it, except that it requires intent and control. I didn’t really mind that this wasn’t super fantasy-heavy because that wasn’t the point of the story. The story was more character based, centered around building and fostering relationships. So that was totally okay for me.
Finally, Mika and Jamie’s relationship was sweet. It was a hate-to-love. We got some POVs from Jamie so that we knew how he was feeling. The attention of the story wasn’t entirely on the romance. It was nicely split between the plot, the relationships of all the characters, and the romance. There wasn’t really much “spice” but it was cute and there was a scene and some kissing. I’d call it “tame romance.”
Overall, I truly loved this. I cannot wait for the second book. If you love witchy fantasy romance, found family, and magic, you’ll enjoy this one! 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝟓/𝟓⭐️