I originally chose this book because of it's fabulous title. I stayed because Mika Moon is a wonderfully reluctant heroine who should be cheered for by everyone! This was great fun to read and will be an easy hand sell.

A thoroughly wonderful romance that is perfect for any adult collection. I was completely invested in it from start to finish, and can see it circulating well!

This is probably the most charming book I’ve read in a good long while. It kind of reminded me of a cross between Practical Magic and Mary Poppins, taking the very best parts of each and mashing them together into a wonderful found family paranormal romance.

Mika Moon is a witch. A fabulously warm, positive woman who finds joy in the simple things in life even though she has not one person who she’s really close to or can depend on. Raised by a standoffish elder in the magic community, she moves around frequently, never putting down roots. Because of a spell gone wrong hundreds of years ago witches can not bear children and if they do they will die shortly after, leaving those children orphans. Primrose has also drummed into her head that witches need to stay away from each other, it’s just safer that way. The only time she sees other witches is the third Thursday every third month. So Mika lives a solitary life with her dog, her koi pond, her funny social media videos, and her magic.

Then she receives a weirdly worded comment one day on one of her videos and is intrigued. So she heads out to Nowhere House for a meeting. What she finds is a magical house where three young witches live together with their caretakers. Their adoptive parent travels often and leaves the girls with her housekeeper, librarian, and the groundskeeper and his husband. These four wonderful human beings have worried that they haven’t provided all that the girls need, most especially in regard to their magical education. So despite the disagreements between them, they finally agree to engage a tutor for that purpose.

Mika is like a breath of fresh air to the estate. Even the grumpy, standoffish (but oh so sweet and loving) librarian can’t help but see her sparkle and shine. The heartfelt camaraderie and dedication between the household members of Nowhere house are what make this book so wonderfully engaging. Readers won’t be able to help but smile at all their antics.

I went into this book completely as a clean slate, not being familiar with the author or their backlist. I’m happy to report I was hooked almost from the first word and as the story progressed I fell more and more in love with every character. The romance is quiet, but actually kind of swoony. In my opinion, the very best part is Mika finding her own place to call home and being accepted for who she is by this very loving, eccentric family. She even manages to change parts of the witch community that keep them separate and apart from each other. The children in the house bring so much joy in their own right and their hijinks while they are flexing their magical muscles was both amusing and emotional.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches should be on every paranormal romance lover’s to-read list. Highly recommend.

I received an electronic ARC from Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley.
Delightful and charming. Readers meet Mika, a witch, who celebrates the joy of magic and treats it as the only friend she has. Sadly, as we learn more about her life, her magical abilities are the only constant. She is hired to train three young girls to use magic and keep it under control. As she is absorbed into this "family" unit, she rethinks what she has been taught about staying isolated and not bringing attention to her abilities. The characters could easily have stayed in stereotyped roles but Mandanna revealed more and more layers as the book unfolded.
Plenty of humor with serious undertones and a touch of romance. Even though some plot lines were obvious, it was a joy to see how they developed. A relaxing read for time away from reality.

This was a very sweet, somewhat 'chill' novel, where the conflict is never super high and it's more about vibes. I do think that if you enjoy 'House on the Cerulean Sea,' you might enjoy this. That being said, the writing style didn't always work for me, but that's totally a me issue. I'm sure tons of people will enjoy this, and I love the continued trend toward more 'cozy' and chill, quotidian fantasies.

This is delightful. It’s like if Sound of Music and Practical Magic and maybe also Nanny McPhee had an overly-excitable baby and let her access Pinterest memes about witches. The result is, somehow, what would happen if you took roughly the plot of Haunting of Bly Manor and made it a rom-com. It’s so sweet.

Our plot is pretty straightforward: All witches are orphans because of a curse, but our heroine has just been hired as the nanny to three child witches adopted by an absent rich lady. The staff of the household know that the kids are magic, but they need our heroine to teach them to control their powers before the rich lady’s business affairs guy visits and ruins their tiny magic paradise.

Shenanigans ensue - cute magic kids get up to trouble, our heroine falls for the kid’s surrogate father figure (the rich lady’s former ward and heir), and absolutely everybody in the house faces their various past trauma about loneliness and learns to be a family. It’s so fucking cute. It’s like therapy in a book, in a shiny glittery way. It's a perfect comfort read!

I absolutely adored this book! Mika was a fantastic character who was easily likeable and who really did jump off the page. I often felt while reading that she was someone I could have easily become friends with in real life. To be honest, all of the characters were like that in this novel, even the ones like Primrose who we are sort of set up to despise. I thought that the pacing of the novel was great, and I really liked that we were able to really get to know the ins and outs of every character. The three children were hilarious and often-times reminded me of my older sister and I's relationship. I love that the characters were diverse and that it was a feel good novel with an impactful message. Overall, this was a great read and one that I will be recommending to friends!

A charming and sweet story that wrapped me up like a hug from my best friend. I couldn’t wait to find the happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was an absolute joy to read! Easily a favorite read of the year so far. It is a love letter to the concept of found family that is full to the brim with magic. While it may not be as spicy as some readers like their romances to be, I found it to be super charming and heartfelt and overall, I enjoyed it immensely.

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!! Oh my goodness. I could not put it down. I loved all the characters, their stories and lives are just so sweet and I never wanted to leave.

This book was darling. There’s been so many witchy romances and this is one is the best I’ve read. The full cast of characters are well developed and charming. The found family trope in this book is like getting a big hug. The arc of the plot is perfectly paced. I think that the reason so many witchy romances aren’t satisfying is because the pacing with the world building is often not done well. But Sangu Mandanna nailed it. The magic system makes sense, but I hope there’s another book to expand on it. The plot is perfectly wrapped up, I wished for more because I was enjoying it so much, but I was perfectly satisfied with the ending. Also, a grumpy / sunshine romance never hurts!

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! It gave us all the feels and warmth and was such a comforting book to read. I will most definitely be purchasing a copy for my personal collection when this gets released.

I thought this was a cute story. Could have used a bit more spice in my opinion, but still a great little story. Will be purchasing for the collection.

This was a really sweet and fun book - heartwarming, charming, and really well written characters. To be honest my main complaint about the book is that it ended too quickly - it almost would have been better as a trilogy - really let you build out the characters, and story, and ending. Sincerely a delight of a book though, exactly what I've been wanting to read.

3.5. While there were whole moments that are perfectly charming, the lack of tension made the narrative...well there just isn't much spice. The characters, while pretty well drawn, are all basically reasonable. There isn't anyone to dislike or thwart...there just isn't much to keep this in my thoughts when the pages are done.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a fun read despite it involving some heavy topics at times. It was funny and heartwarming while it also made me tear up at certain points.

The characters were my favorite part, by far. I felt like they were all very well written. Despite the number of characters in the book, I felt like they were all fully fleshed out. From the main character Mika, to grumpy Jamie, to the adorable children, to meddling Ian and the others at Nowhere House, I grew fond of them all.

Mika though, was my favorite character. I loved that despite all she'd been through in life, she chose to face it head-on with a sunny personality. And yet, she wasn't a flat character; she showed other emotions, too. It was amazing to get to see her relationships with everyone at Nowhere House evolve as she got to know them. Her interactions with the children were adorable. Her changing relationship with Jamie from enemies to friends to possibly something more made it hard to put the book down.

My only complaint is the ending. First, this book ended far too quickly. It felt like everything got resolved and wrapped up in only the last 5% of the book, which seemed far too quick after the tension was built up over the entire book. Second, I felt like the ending was too easy. After everything the characters went through, it was a bit of a letdown for all of the pieces to fall into place conveniently and predictably at the end.

Overall, though, this was a fun read that I definitely recommend!

Overall, a very charming book. I would recommend to readers that enjoy this genre. I found my connection to the main character a little light but over time in increased. Thank you for the advanced reader copy! I am sure readers will enjoy this story!

This is a charming read! It's a unique take on the life of the witch. It's lighthearted and even comical, which was just what I needed in a book. I really enjoyed Mika. There's a romance angle, but it's not overpowering. Mika's desire to find her place and be accepted may resonate with readers.

Mika is a witch. Like all witches she keeps herself hidden because she knows how dangerous it is for anyone to find out. She decides to hide in plain site: she has an Instagram account where she shows off her witchy tricks. She’s in love with magic and she knows no one will believe it is real. Out of nowhere an ad appeared in her Instagram account: “Witch Wanted.” As she’s between jobs and housing she decides to investigate.

Jamie is a librarian, albeit a grumpy one, described as devastatingly handsome. He lives and works at Nowhere House along with three other adults, Ian, Ken and Lucie, who care for three little witchy girls. Now those girls need a teacher to teach them how to fit in ‘out there’ in the larger world. Jamie is mistrustful at first but watches as Mika begin to help the girls and to bond with them. He comes to believe in her… and more.

But the number one rule of being a witch is that no one can find out and the number one rule of Mika is to move on before anyone can get to know her- for fear of rejection. She’s never been loved, as a child or adult. But Nowhere House begins to feel like Home, a place she’s never had before. And Jamie begins to feel like a Love and she knows where that leads. But there is a powerful secret brewing in Nowhere House. It is a secret that feels like an awful betrayal to Mika and may blow everything apart. Is there anywhere and anyone that can be love and home for Mika and the rest of the irregular crew?

This book is full of secondary characters that seem so real and so dear. The girls run the gamut of accepting Mika and of displaying their magic. They are sweet and full of mischief and bickering. Ian and Ken are octogenarian husbands. Quiet Ken is a botanist while Ian is a former Stage Actor and is constantly throwing Jamie and Mika together in between knitting flamingo pink scarves for Ken.

I look forward to recommending this book to my patrons- an adult book by this well loved YA and JF writer.

What a fun and delightful book! I loved the characters, the slow-burn romance was spot on, and the magic was so fun! Highly recommend.