What do readers think of Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe? Write your own review.

Enjoyable read, some would call it a cozy, about a princess of the kingdoms, who ,while doing her diplomatic rounds throughout the empire stops in the little town of little Pepperidge. While there she enters the town's bookstore and promptly gets handed a key and a curse. She is unable to leave the store until she receives the kiss from her true love, who she has no idea who it is. Many things happen while she tries to break the curse, or should I say her parents the king and queen! They send the princes of the seven kingdoms to the shop to try and break the curse. Who is her true love? One of the princes? Oh, and who is the pirate who comes and goes whenever he wants? Read it , it's rather good!

The story was light, entertaining and fun to read. While there were a few areas I think could be improved, it was also a quick and easy read. The story features Princess Tanadelle (Tandy) who spends most of her time representing her family and travelling to fulfill royal obligations. She is considered overly nice and accommodating to everyone and fulfills her duties without much thought about herself. After she is cursed, she must uncover her true heart's desire in order to be free again. I totally liked the trapped in a bookstore aspect and all that Tandy did to make changes along with her assistant, Sasha. Sasha was so helpful in making those changes and provides interesting input throughout the book as a teenage character with clever ideas. Sebastian (Bash) a cursed pirate is the love interest. While the love interest part was predictable, the fact that he too is cursed was a different take and I liked his character. The Bluecaps were a clever way to find items and their soft blue light seemed soothing. Tandy comes to realize what she truly wants and makes some life changing decisions in the end. All of the Royal Princes arriving to kiss her one by one was amusing and that they stayed around after failing to break the curse was funny as they continued to compete with each other and/or assist Tandy. As to the improvement side - with books that have many 'creatures' as characters and words that are created for the story, I wish there was a page or notations explaining what kind of creature they were and definitions for the created words. I would recommend the book to people that enjoy light fantasy reads.

This was the cutest story! I loved the characters. All of them are so well developed and unique, fun and quirky! The plot is your basic romance type, but well told in a light and humorous way, while still making the point about what it means to be able to choose your heart's desire. My only wish was there were clearer descriptions of the two teenage characters as not all of us are familiar with fantasy creatures. All in all, I really loved this book. Thank you to Bookbrowse.com netgalley and ACE Publishing for an advanced copy in return for a fair and honest review.

This is a feel-good story that is sure to resonate with booklovers everywhere. Royal Princess Tandy receives a curse forcing her to live in a bookstore for an extended period of time. What reader wouldn't love that?

This romantic fantasy book features an interesting cast of characters and great narration. The plot is fairly simple, and I must admit it did start to drag a bit, especially in the second half of the story. That doesn't take away from the overall story, which survives on great writing, inspiring vibes, and an overall guilty pleasure narration. Despite the slow pace, I enjoyed this book until the very end. The ending sums up the story nicely in good fairy tale fashion.

I loved many of the themes explored during this story. The search for personal identity, the ability to find happiness in unexpected places, and the importance of surprising friendships are all imagined throughout the story.

This book will be enjoyed by booklovers, lovers of light-themed stories, and romantics everywhere.

Stay for a Spell was a light escape from the world filled with fanciful characters, curses, and fairies. It was a coming of age novel cozy fantasy wrapped in a curse and set in a fairy tale. Tandy, the overworked princess, represented every working woman who wants to slow down and take it easy. Her internal monologue pulled me in. Sasha, the teenage draconae, was hilarious and full of teen angst. But it was Bash the Barn Pirate that stole the story. His penchant for theft (uh, exchange) was adorable. I do hope we will get a resolution to his curse in a future book. This was a charming, cozy story of a woman who is cursed to live in a bookshop...a dream so many of us would welcome, especially if it came with bluecaps.

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your review for:
Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe
3.25
adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
"May this key unlock your heart's desire." - The curse

This cute fantasy features a cursed princess, a charming pirate, an angsty teen dracone, magical pets, and seven princes, all inside a bookstore. Tandy discovers personal freedom, a different type of community, new friendships, and a redefined sense of self.

I loved reading about the big and little magics, day to day things versus specialty work. Fire is sacred, but not exactly done as a spell.

Gender is not linked to titles (prince/ss, mayor), which caused me some mild confusion if I read something else and has readjust my world view, but it was pleasant to read and well done.

Somewhat predictable ending, but in a cozy princess saves herself way.

This book is billed as a fantasy for anyone who loves bookshops. It is the story of Princess Tanadelle, who prefers Tandy, who is tired of her royal duties that keep her on the road most of the year. Tandy would much prefer to be curled up with a good book. On a work trip she goes to a bookshop and is cursed. She can't physically leave the bookshop until she figures out her heart's desire. Her bookshop confinement area consists of the bookshop, an attached apartment and a garden out back.

While she is confined, a cast of characters come to the bookshop, although not all of them are there to help. There is a cursed handsome pirate, princes and other creatures.
What I liked about the book was the description of places. I could visualize the village where the book takes place. The description of the old rundown bookshop, it's apartment and the beautiful garden are well done. What I didn't like was there was no character I actually cared about. The characters seemed flat and showed no development. The only character with personality was 15 year old Sasha, a dragonet ( a baby dragon type creature). She was a goth dragonet so she had some good teen interactions with some of the other characters. I was disappointed that there was no attempt to explain the creatures and humans in this mixed realm. An example of this was Honeyrose, the companion/secretary/ladies maid to Tandy. She was a halfling and other than describing her as short there was no further information on halflings.

I wanted to love Stay for a Spell. A cozy fantasy romance with a curse-breaking premise and a magical bookshop setting should be right up my alley. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me in several significant ways.

The central plot follows Tandy, around 22-years-old who must discover "her heart's desire" to break a curse. While the premise had potential, the execution felt rushed and overly simplistic. The ending tied everything up far too neatly, with conflicts resolving without meaningful struggle or growth. This might work for readers seeking the lightest of escapism, but for me, it crossed the line from "cozy" into "juvenile."

The People-Pleasing Problem
My biggest issue was with Tandy's character arc. While I could relate to her people-pleasing tendencies, her characterization felt inconsistent. Despite being early 20's, Tandy's voice and emotional maturity often felt much younger. Extreme people-pleasing often emerges in emotionally neglectful or narcissistic family systems, where safety and approval are conditional. Tandy's parents exhibit clear narcissistic traits, yet they conveniently change their entire worldview in a single conversation. This felt deeply unrealistic and robbed Tandy of the more intense, necessary confrontation that would have been both satisfying and authentic to that dynamic.
The only redeeming aspect of Tandy's journey was watching her finally understand what it means to think and act for herself. That growth was genuine. I just wish it hadn't taken the entire book to get there, only to be resolved in the last few rushed chapters.

The Romance Falls Flat
The instant-love trope with Bash the pirate simply didn't work. Bash is barely developed as a character, which is particularly problematic in a single-POV romance where we need the love interest to have presence on the page. The one-POV structure only succeeds when the other main character is actively engaging and communicating, which Bash notably does not do. He disappears for days or weeks at a time, only showing up when other princes arrive to attempt breaking the curse.
Most frustratingly, when we finally learn about Bash's backstory, it's Tandy's best friend Honeyrose who explains it. With Bash sitting right there in the room, apparently unable to speak for himself. This moment was both infuriating and sloppy writing. There's zero justification for Bash falling in love with Tandy on sight beyond lazy plot mechanics, and I never bought into their romance.

The One Bright Spot
The only character who fully captured my attention was Sasha, the 15-year-old emo dracone-girl who openly expressed her disdain for all the adults around her. Same, girl. Same. She was the most authentic voice in the entire book.

Final Thoughts
Stay for a Spell had the bones of an interesting story: a sheltered young woman breaking free from narcissistic family dynamics, discovering her own desires, and finding her voice. But it needed a more developed male lead, a more realistic confrontation with family trauma, and a romance built on actual connection rather than convenience. What could have been a thoughtful exploration of self-discovery in a cozy fantasy wrapper instead felt like a missed opportunity.

Recommended for: Readers seeking the absolute lightest fantasy romance with minimal conflict.

Not recommended for: Anyone looking for character depth, slow-burn romance, or realistic family dynamics.