Stay for a Spell

[cornerofmadness]

Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This missed being five stars by this much. Really just a sweet, cozy read from start to finish. Princess Tanadelle of the Widdenmar is the spare 'prince' (being the title of the heir to the throne regardless of gender in this world) and as such, she is content to not have to worry about ruling. Her royal duties are more in line with diplomacy, ribbon cutting and generally being a rural presence in Widdenmar which is how she ends up in Little Pepperidge with her friend (practically her only one) who is also her handler more or less, Honeyrose.

In trying to help old Mrs Gooch, bookseller, Tandy gets cursed. She's unable to leave the bookstore. Honey goes off back to the palace to get help. And at first it does feel like a curse because the place is a cluttered wreck and the only food is from the courtyard garden which basically only grows turnips and no one ever visits the store.

Until the gothy dragon-kin girl Sasha shows up because the book store is her refuge and moping spot. They strike up an unlikely friendship while Tandy tries to figure out how to get uncursed which is her true heart's desire.


What she knows - as she and Sasha reclaim this store as usable space and making a place they want to be - is that the normal remedy for curse breaking isn't going to work. That said, Tandy knows that her parents will try that route and she has to wait out the arrival of the seven princes of the realm to give her true love's kiss. On top of that a cursed pirate, Bash, has entered the store and the annoying, incredibly handsome man just won't go away (because of course not, couldn't have a romantasy without him)

I liked that it didn't lean too heavy on romance tropes (or at least ones I personally don't care for which is a lot of them). Tandy, Sasha, Bash and some of the princes are really fun characters (as they show up one by one). Of course it doesn't take much to realize what her truest desire is but that's not why it missed the five star rating from me.

The ending had me torn. Yes I thought it was a little too easy. On the other hand it's exactly the ending I wanted so go figure. Also it's open ended enough that we could easily drop back in on these characters in the future.

No the reason I was annoyed (okay it's a minor spoiler, nothing earth shattering but you can look away if you want zero spoilers) and knocked off half a star is everyone in town knows Tandy can't leave the store, literally physically can't cross the threshold. Sasha is there daily and her mom is the town mayor. They know she has little in the way of clothing (not really a problem) and has no access to food! No one feeds her. She's there eating magicked turnips every night and drinking turnip leaf tea. Not one person brings her food (other than Bash once in 6 months). This bugged the heck out of me. Other than that, this charming story is a delight.



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