3.5 / 5 stars

Librarian Kiela escapes the capitol amidst the chaos of a revolution with several crates of books of magic. To safeguard the books, she returns to the cottage in her hometown that her parents abandoned long ago. The Emperor has forbidden common citizens from using magic, so Kiela fears that her act of saving the books will instead be seen as a crime. Depending on which side won the uprising, that is.

But her home island needs magical assistance and bookish Kiela hates that she has knowledge that she can't share. So she sets up a jam shop and sells "remedies" on the side. Featuring a diverse cast of fantastic creatures -- including a sentient spider plant -- The Spellshop is a cozy tale of forging a community and doing the right thing, despite potentially harrowing consequences.

This book is going to be a five star read for a lot of people. It is a cozy comfort read with lots of fun characters and a HEA. Readers who enjoyed Legends and Lattes will love this book. For me, the conflicts that arise throughout the novel are resolved so quickly that I started to have a bit of the boy who called wolf reaction -- I knew everything would turn out fine within a few chapters.

Too cozy for me, but likely the perfect cup of tea for other readers.

This is perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes / Bookshops and Bone dust. Low steaks and very cozy. I especially loved the world building and magic in this one.

Our FMC is an introverted librarian who escapes to her childhood home with her talking spider plant. She realizes that the island here is suffering so she takes her cherished and spells book to use to help the locals under the guise of having a Jam shop.

You meet so many interesting characters in the book. I especially loved Lorren and his merhorses. The creatures in this book were exceptional.

The narration was great. The voice was realizing and able to convey the characters.

Thank you to Macmillan audio for the advanced listener's copy.

This book is exactly what I needed. What a warm and cozy story, with a side of intrigue. Durst did a magical job of bringing the reader along as we set up a spell shop and help a town. While the stakes aren’t super high, as the reader, I found myself rooting for our main character and wanting to help her in anyway I could. It had me coming back, wanting more and wishing the story wouldn’t end. It’s the perfect story for any season, with a nice cup of tea.

A plant-loving librarian-witch and all the "cottagecore" vibes had me sold on this book from the first chapter! I was SOOO invested in this new to me author's romantasy debut and I can't recommend it enough, especially for fans of Sarah Addison Allen and TJ Klune. Great on audio, this was a whimsical, feel-good, story about found family, food, love and saving the natural world. HIGHLY recommended! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I have to say that when I realized that Caz, Kiela’s friend, was a talking spider plant, I was ready to throw the towel in.
But, to my dismay, I ended up falling in love with Caz, Meep, Larran and the whole crew!

Kiela is a steadfast librarian who is very intent on keeping to herself and her job. Caz is her assistant.
When their small town gets hit by a war/revolution, and her beloved library goes up in flames, well…Kiela and Caz escape to a faraway island…

This is just the beginning!
Her adventures lead us through the book, and what a sweet story it was!
So happy I stuck with it!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which is due to release on 7/9/24.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

#TheSpellshop by #LauraBethDurst and narrated beautifully by #CaitlynDavies.

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The Spellshop is one of those books that I picked up solely because of the gorgeous cover. Little did I expect this wonderfully charming story held within. In truth, I had no idea what "Cottagecore" was, all I knew was that I enjoy listening to heart-warming stories that sometimes include a little bit of magic. Apparently, Cottagecore encompasses a connection to nature, simple living, and relaxing hobbies such as gardening, baking, and long walks. This book has it all with aplomb!

The story begins when reclusive librarian Kiela is confronted with a burning library - the result of a revolution to overthrow the government. She flees the library with many of the precious spellbooks that she was charged to preserve for the city's elite. Once out of the smoke and ash, she sets a course to go to the little island where she grew up before her parents (now deceased) relocated to the big city. Once she arrives she is shocked by the welcoming hands of most of the villagers. Although at first all she wants is solitude, she can't help but fall in love with the townsfolk and care for them deeply - even if it means learning from the spell books that she was forbidden to read to help them thrive, let alone survive.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story narrated by Caitlin Davies, who performed amazingly. Did I mention that Kiela's best friend is a talking spider plant, and there are mermaids and water horses in this book? Trust me, The Spellshop is truly delightful and you won't regret picking it up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bramble Books for this audiobook review copy!

The Spellshop is a wonderful cozy fantasy romance about a young woman returning to her home island after fleeing the revolution in the city. It's got everything you could want from sentient plant companions to merhorses. It was a delighfully cozy book that hit on a lot of my favorite tropes. There was found family, romance, and animal companions (or in this case plant companions).

The only reason for my rating of 4 stars instead of 5 was that I felt the romance could have used more developing. I wanted to understand our love interest more than we got. Most of what we learn about him is through other characters rather than their interactions which left me a little disconnected.

But I'd highly recommend giving this a try! The audiobook especially did a wonderful job of bringing the story to life. I can't wait to read more from this author and I would love if there were more books in this world!

I really enjoyed how cozy this was. It’s different and quirky and a beautiful story of friendship and kindness.

The story starts with a revolution and follows Kiela, a librarian, as she escapes the burning library with crates of books and her best friend Caz, a talking spider plant. She makes her way to her family cottage on a remote island she hasn’t visited in many years. Those books she saved are spell books and she wasn’t really supposed to take them so she is hiding them. Kiela is socially awkward and a little afraid to trust people. And this is a small town with nosy neighbours and friendly villagers. Lying low and not talking to anyone might not be possible.

I am used to higher stakes fantasy and as I was reading I kept expecting more action, stress, intensity but now that I have finished I think it was great as it was and I think I need more books like this.

I loved all the vibes, the village, how Kiela slowly comes out of her shell, and being to trust, and make friends. There is a bit of sweet romance, lots of magical creatures, lots of quirky characters and my favorite part is every time Caz says something, he is hilarious. The narration was perfect and made the story come to life.

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Narrator: Caitlin Davies
Rating: 4 stars
Pub date: 7/9

Thank you so much, Bramble Romance, for my lovely book and bookish goodies and Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook.

Kiela, a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, prefers the company of spellbooks and her magically sentient spider plant assistant, Caz, to that of people. When a revolution forces her to flee the burning library, Kiela and Caz escape with as many spellbooks as they can carry. They find refuge on a remote island that Kiela once called home and are forced to start over.

I don’t read a lot of cozy fantasy, but I’m so glad I picked this one up! This was a lighthearted, heartwarming read with Hallmark-ish vibes and a sweet romance. The story feels a bit like a Disney movie with its magical elements, endearing characters, and a feel-good plot. Kiela's socially awkward demeanor made her relatable, and the cute, cinnamon roll neighbor satisfied my need for a little romance. The nosy neighbors and whimsical conflicts fit perfectly within this cozy, enchanting world.

Caitlin Davies narrates the audiobook, and she managed to bring the story to life with her vibrant storytelling.

For those who enjoy a lighthearted, cozy fantasy romance filled with mythical creatures and cinnamon roll-fueled magic, The Spell Shop is a must-read.

This was such a struggle for me because I really enjoyed the story, but I did not like the audio narrator, ultimately I DNF'd the audio book at 20%, however I do plan to buy and read the ebook when it's released.

While the narrators pace was fine, her voicing of one of the characters (Caz) bothered me from the first sentence, the tone just seemed off. Apart from that, her inflection and punctuation was overdramatic in ways that became distracting to the narrative.

This was a super cute cozy fantasy that felt really unique and so lovely to get lost in!! I loved the growth of the main character, and the side characters were all super wonderful. I’d 100% read spin offs with their stories! The writing was immersive and fantastical, and all of the magical creatures added such a great vibe to this story.

I didn’t care for the audiobook narrator though, her inflections drove me a bit crazy so I switched to the ebook. Other than that, don’t miss out on this one!!

🌈Queer rep: Secondary FF couple, non-gendered sentient cactus (they/them)

I physically read this book and then decided to get an arc of the audio as well. I really love the narrator and all the different voices that she does for all the characters I feel like they’re very distinguishable. I think that this is a great way to read this book. She’s great with her inflections and her pacing.

Sometimes an audio comes along that really brings a story to life. That's this book. The narrator was so fantastic and made all the side characters have their own unique personality and sound.

I don't normally love cozy fantasy but this one has a good balance of "conflict" (low level) to keep it interesting. The imagery was SUBLIME. I felt like I was reliving dreams from when I was a kid - mythical creatures, lyrical prose, a little bit of magic. There is a bit of sweet romance wrapped into the story but the true winners of the book are the sentient plants and the found family (how is that a sentence I just wrote??). This book is perfect for fans of TJ Klune and Practical Magic.

I really want to read more by this author and I highly recommend the audio.

•Cozy Romantasy
•Small town
•Low Stakes
•Slow Burn

Witchy, cottagecore vibes with a side of sweets and love.

The Spellshop originally peaked my interest when I read the blurb “She and her assistant, Caz, a magically sentient spider plant…”.
I’m sorry you said sentient spider PLANT not only is the book about spells, jams but also plants? It gets no better than that.

Meet Kiela a librarian who must flee her home with nothing more than Caz, a crate of very precious spell books and the hopes of a safe new start. Little did she know that her life was about to drastically change.

If you enjoy books that offer feel good moments, adventure and romance this book is for you. I will say that this book has a slower pace then I am used too but it didn’t affect how I viewed the writing. If you go into reading this book with an open mind you will enjoy it.

This review is based off an ARC I received from NetGalley. Thank you for the author and publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read it and offer my honest opinions of it.

This is a cozy fantasy-based romance read. I would classify this book as Young Adult as the romance aspect is very subdued. We have characters such as Caz the plant who are gender neutral and brings humour to the story — he was my favourite character. We have an array of characters of fantasy type or mythical creation — and some political strife in this world — For me it tied up too cozy- with outer world issues not truly resolved and the possibility that maybe a sequel could be written ... but is great for someone who enjoys happily ever afters. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did an excellent job portraying all the character's personalities and uniqueness— it also helped maintain my intrigue.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC. This is my honest review.

The Spellshop is author Sarah Beth Durst’s debut cozy fantasy novel following librarian Kiela and Caz, her spider plant assistant. Caitlin Davies narrated the audiobook and did a fantastic job transporting me into the magical cottagecore world. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Kiela and Caz and it was a pleasure to journey with them as they navigated trials and tribulations, took risks, and developed relationships with the local townspeople when Kiela had no desire to interact with anyone.

I loved the storyline and being able to imagine everything from the library, the spellshop and magic spellbooks, along with the characters and creatures.

My only complaint is that I found the first half of the book to be a bit slow for my taste and I found myself increasing the speed of the audiobook to keep my interest. I’ve only read a few cozy mystery books and am still learning my preferences, but I think the low stakes aspect was a bit too low for my personal taste.

Overall, I’d rate it 3.75 rounded up to 4 stars and think it was a great debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book. The beginning and the end were really interesting. I feel like the middle was a bit more boring but I don’t read a lot of cozy fantasy so I had to kind of change my mindset. Kiela was an interesting and very relatable main character. I related a lot to her anxiety and overthinking. Caz was my favorite character he was just so great! The plant version of an animal companion 😂 I’d read a book just about his and Meep’s adventures. I would say this was a solid book but it didn’t wow me and some parts were slow and harder to get through. I loved the narrator though! She was really good.

3.5 stars.

I absolutely loved this cozy romantasy! It was the perfect mix of cozy romance with fantasy world building, and I always love a librarian main character. I will definitely be recommending it to our patrons, especially those who are fans of Legends and Lattes.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.

Spellshop is a cozy cottagecore fantasy featuring an anxiety prone spider plant and an antisocial librarian turned jam shop owner.

Kiela has made the library her whole life. One day she is forced to escape the library as it’s being burned by rebels. Given her love of books, she can’t leave without saving/stealing as many as she can on her way out. She ends up returning to the village where she was born and moves into her abandoned childhood home finding the village in disrepair. Here she gets a fresh start, makes friends, and finds love.

If you enjoy cozy, low stake fantasy reads with found family and a light hearted romance then I’d recommend this book. The narrator of the audiobook did a good job with voicing multiple characters and making it enjoyable.

For fans of Travis Baldree, sweet romance, guaranteed happy endings, second chances, starting over and found family comes Sarah Beth Durst debut cozy fantasy, "The Spellshop." I was made aware of this book when it was announced as the Once Upon A Book Club cozy Halloween pick. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC Audiobook!

Anxiety-ridden, introverted librarian Kiela Robadon (forgive any misspellings I listened to the audiobook) and her sentient plant pal, Caz, have disaster-prepped for coming rebel insurrection in the capital by putting the rarest volumes of forbidden spellbooks from the Great Library into a boat, just in case. Always be prepared!

After making a timely escape they end up on Kiela's home Island. The Hallmark-esque village is in disrepair and the townsfolk are in need of the spells or "remedies" Keila has saved. When the handsome but lonely merhorse rancher Larran shows her kindness, Keila starts to open herself up to the magic of island, new friendships, love and a life of purpose.

This is a book you'll count the minutes until you can escape into again. There are plenty of short plotlines to pace yourself as you savor it. Romance element is minimal (just kissing) so it's an appropriate listen for all ages. The narrator does a great job with the voice acting.