Editorial Content for The Spellshop

Beloved fantasy author Sarah Beth Durst releases her coziest, most romantic novel to date. From its cottage–adorned cover to its lavender-sprayed edges, THE SPELLSHOP is a package every bit as luscious and magical as the story it contains. Starring a lonely librarian, her spider plant sidekick and the strapping neighbor who comes to their rescue, this cozy romantasy invites readers into a kingdom of magic, centaurs and true love.

With the skin the color of the sky and a head of electric blue hair, Kiela Orobidan is quite content (wo)manning the shelves of the Great Library of Alyssium. Nestled in Alyssium, the jewel of the Crescent Islands Empire, the library is home to centuries-old treatises, histories, studies and, most important to Kiela, spellbooks. Only the top, most esteemed scholars are allowed to even view the spellbooks, and even fewer are permitted to practice the magic hidden within their pages.

Kiela takes her job as their protector very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that she has worked, slept, ate and lived between the shelves of the library’s magical third floor for the past 11 years. So seriously that she cannot remember the last time she actually talked to another human. It’s no wonder, then, that none of her librarian coworkers comes to alert her when freedom fighters storm the city, ransacking the library in their fight for revolution. The time to flee is --- well, was --- yesterday. With the help of her trusty assistant, Caz the spider plant, Kiela secures five crates of spellbooks on a tiny ship and departs Alyssium.

"THE SPELLSHOP is everything cozy romantasies strive to be: populated with luscious, storybook details; marked by a distinct absence of intense political intrigue; and wrapped in a message so tender and sweet that it feels like a hug."

Orphaned from the age of nine, and not one to befriend her classmates, Kiela goes to the only other place she knows: the remote northern island of Caltrey, her home until she and her family departed for a better life and more opportunities in the city. Her parents were lost to a rare illness, but Kiela assumes that if their cottage is still standing, it is likely uninhabited and her claim to it will be stronger than any squatter’s if it isn’t. The journey is long, and Caz’s anxieties about encountering goats or other plant-eating animals is laborious. But Caltrey is more or less how Kiela remembers it, at least in the dark of night. The cottage is about as rundown and unkempt as expected, so Kiela and Caz begin to turn it back into a home. The metaphor is not lost on Kiela that she and her cottage have a lot in common, alone and abandoned as they are.

It is not long before Kiela finds that she must journey into town for food, supplies and, well, knowledge. After all, her meals have been provided for the past decade, and she and her family never exactly farmed in the great, canal-filled city of Alyssium. There’s also the issue of Larran Maver, a neighbor who lives at a nearby merhorse farm. He startled Kiela on her first night, noting that he had spotted her boat and wanted to make sure that no one was inappropriately disturbing the old Orobidan cottage. (It goes without saying that he is, quite literally, tall, dark and handsome…and extremely muscly.) Oh, and the not-so-minor issue of the spellbooks, which are meant to be wielded by only the most elite scholars and that Kiela kind of, sort of stole…accidentally.

But while the cottage contains many of the trinkets and homewares that Kiela remembers and loves, Caltrey cannot say the same: the colorful houses and cobblestoned roads are cracked and peeling, and there’s extensive evidence of unfixed storm damage. She learns that they have fallen victim to the city’s politics, where greedy emperors have withdrawn the support of their sorcerers to any outlying farms or villages. As a result, the farms so dependent on the renewal of spells and reliable weather patterns have suffered, allowing the elite to use magic to build lavish palaces and fuel rich economies while the ordinary suffer. Hence the freedom fighters and their call for revolution.

As Kiela continues to beautify the cottage, her pesky, handsome neighbor keeps dropping by with unsolicited (but grumpily appreciated) offers of help. Caltrey begins to warm to her just as much as she does to them and their seemingly endless generosity. But generosity has its limits, and Kiela needs income fast. A search of the cottage and a quick peek into her crates of spellbooks give Kiela an idea: reintroduce fruit to the community, a delicacy unseen since Caltrey was cut off from the city’s magic. Before long, she has opened the kind of resource that they really need: a spellshop. Returning the island to its most prosperous, magical state is a win of its own, but the real heart of this novel comes from Kiela’s journey to love, acceptance of generosity and championing the magic of kindness.

THE SPELLSHOP is everything cozy romantasies strive to be: populated with luscious, storybook details; marked by a distinct absence of intense political intrigue; and wrapped in a message so tender and sweet that it feels like a hug. A quiet, earnest confidence propels and elevates these whimsical fantasy elements, making Durst’s world feel solid and sturdy enough that the magic can sing. Every detail --- from the fresh cinnamon rolls to the prickly brambles and even the island’s mythical citizens --- soars with sheer delight.

Unlike high fantasies, the world here is easily accessible and palatable, but no less cleverly constructed or thought-provoking. Kiela’s growing awareness of the wealth disparity in her kingdom rings true, and her commitment to battling cruelty with kindness is inspiring.