Stay for a Spell

 

Stay for a Spell- Amy Coombe

Ace

Release Date: April 14, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Princess Tanadelle of the Widdenmar is disillusioned with life as a princess. She longs for real conversation, the chance to build a life of her own making, and uninterrupted reading time.

During a routine royal visit to the town of Little Pepperidge, Tandy’s dream comes true when she finds herself cursed to remain in a run-down bookshop until she unlocks her heart’s desire. Certain that someone will figure out how to break the curse eventually, and delighted by the prospect of an entire bookstore of her own, Tandy settles into life among the stacks. She finds it easy to exchange balls and endless state dinners for teetering piles of books and an irritatingly handsome pirate who seems bent on stealing her stock.

She even starts to believe she's stumbled into her very own happily ever after.

There's just one, minor problem: as Tandy's royal duties go unfulfilled, her frantic parents start sending princes to woo her, each one of them certain their kiss will break the curse. After all, what more could a princess want but a prince?

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We've all had the dream: if you were locked in a bookshop overnight, what would you do?

Tandy (Princess Tanandelle of Widdenmar) gets to find out the answer. She pops off for what should be a quick visit to a local bookshop in between royal duties on the road and finds herself cursed to stay in the shop until she finds her heart's desire. What's a book-loving woman to do when literally unable to leave a bookshop?

She dives right in and finds herself loving the quiet life. Before long it's just Tandy; a goth teenage assistant; a magical bookshop cat (every bookshop should have one); and a hot (also-cursed), pirate who seems to enjoy hanging out with them. Chaos and hilarity ensues when Tandy's parents start sending princes out to kiss her and break the curse. Because what else could a princess want? 

Stay for a Spell is a cozy fantasy that I can best describe as utterly delightful and adorable. Tandy is completely down-to-earth in a slightly naive way. Used to trying to make everyone but herself happy, she's suddenly confronted by the one question she's never asked: what does she want in life? Is the solution to all her problems a prince, the way her parent think? (Never mind that she's known them all for most of her life and would already know if she loved one). What else is she allowed to have? 

The secondary characters are well-done. Goth draconae Sasha is a classic teen, but once she drops the initial act she and Tandy get along really well and she's more of a delight than she'd want to know. Bash the cursed pirate gives off Once Upon a Time Captain Hook-lite vibes—so I completely fell for him. The slow build relationship between Bash and Tandy was completely charming. And though the competent Honey doesn't get much page time, she rocks what time she has.

If you're a cozy fantasy fan, and especially a fellow book-lover, make sure you read Stay for a Spell. 

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review