Stay for a Spell

 Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe, 384 pages.

Princess Tanadelle is a working princess, spending most of her year on the road cutting ribbons, kissing babies, attending formal dinners, and so forth. The only upside to this unsettled lifestyle is that is gives her plenty of time to read, but when shopping for books to feed this habit in an unbelievably picturesque little town, she instead get cursed to be unable to leave the bookshop until she has unlocked her heart's desire. She is eager to make the most of it as Tandy, humble shopkeep, while her parents are determined to break her curse the traditional way, by sending every available prince to kiss her. But Tandy feels more content in her bookshop, with the people she's coming to know, then she ever has in her royal duties, and she can't help but wonder if her heart's desire is closer than she thinks.

In a purely complimentary way, I don't know if I've ever read a book that was more purely wish fulfillment. What if instead of doing your boring duties you literally can't leave a bookstore? One complete with beautiful old books, comfy but pretty clothes, a magical cat, a lovely garden, and an extremely handsome pirate who won't stop bothering you? In addition to the general coziness of this premise, I thought this book was more generally very well done. Tandy's arc felt emotionally compelling, and I really liked how the princes gave a sense of external progression, in addition to allowing characters to be added slowly and in an easy to process way. Coombe also consistently chose narrative options that I found the most satisfying, which is perhaps praise specific to me, but did help push this book over to 5 stars for me. I highly recommend this as the new ultimate in cozy fantasy.

This book will be published 04/14/2026.