Tag: Sarah Beth Durst

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst

On By TracyIn Contemporary, Paranormal / Fantasy, Romantasy, Standalone Title, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

The Faraway InnThe Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst

Tracy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: March 31, 2026

When her boyfriend Ethan breaks her heart right at the beginning of summer, Calisa’s moms decide that she needs time away to heal and move on, so she can focus on her upcoming senior year. They send her to stay with her great-aunt Zee who runs a B&B in Vermont. Things seem to go wrong right from the start, she is caught in the rain, falls through the porch and is basically told to leave by her Auntie Zee.

But Calisa needs this time away and the Faraway Inn is filled with secrets and the promise of the answers she is seeking. She charms her way into staying for the summer, and soon somewhere between baking, cleaning and making new friends, she begins to unlock the inn’s secrets and realizes her grumpy great-aunt needs help and she thinks she might be able to give it. But when Auntie Zee goes missing, she will have to find a way to save not only Auntie Zee, but the inn itself before it’s too late!

This was such a fun story! Calisa is suffering from her first heartbreak at the beginning of the story and feels like all her hopes for a perfect summer before starting her senior year in high school are ruined. She starts to believe that if she succeeds at restoring the Inn, she will find the happiness that she lost when Ethan broke her heart. Along the way she will learn so much! There will be a new love interest, mythical/magical beings, secrets, found family (figuratively and literally), magic, healing and happy beginnings! This was a great YA cozy fantasy, and I am happy to recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of magic!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

 

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

On By TracyIn Audiobook, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Spellshop #2

Release Date: July 15, 2025

With her love of languages Terlu Perna decided that working at the Great Library of Alyssium would be the perfect job for her, so she moved far from her family to the capital of Alyssium and began working. But she never realized how lonely the job would be, so she cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant to be her companion. But only sorcerers were allowed to do magic and despite the support of the head librarian, she was found guilty and the judge decided to make an example of her – Terlu was turned into a statue to be displayed in the Great Library to warn others of the penalty of doing magic.

Terlu believed this was the end of her story, but to her surprise, she wakes one day on a nearly deserted island that is home to an enchanted greenhouse and Yarrow, the grumpy gardener who had asked the government for a sorcerer to help him save the greenhouse, which seemed to be losing its magic. Terlu wants to help, but after learning she was a statue for six years and finally being set free, she is terrified of attempting to doing anything that might see her punished again. But how can she let this wonderful place die or refuse to help the man who set her free and has stolen her heart?

This is a very sweet, heartwarming, cozy fantasy story about second chances, healing and love. Terlu and Yarrow are wonderful, loving, supportive characters who both get a second chance at life. The story has magic, dragons, talking plants, spells that don’t go as planned, a sea serpent, a ghost, found family, reunions, a slow-burn kisses only romance, surprising revelations and a very happy ending. The narrator of the audiobook edition did a wonderful job of giving each character a distinct voice and kept an even cadence throughout the story. My only qualm with the reading was that the narrator occasionally changed the pronunciation of Yarrow’s name, hopefully that will be edited before the book is released. Overall, this was a very sweet story and one I would happily recommend. This is the second book in the series, but I didn’t read the first book and had no problem following this story.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *