“Stay for a Spell” by Amy Coombe

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Rating: 4/5 Stars.

A nice, ‘cosy’ romantic fantasy involving a princess ‘cursed’ to remain in a bookshop until she can figure out her heart’s desire. Throw in a dashing (and also cursed) pirate, seven princes of the realm who hope to break her curse with a kiss and a teenage shop-assistant with her own personal issues, and you get an entertaining book about doing what you want, not what your parents says you should do.

The princess was on a tour of her kingdom, kissing babies, cutting ribbons and attending openings when she sees a run-down bookshop while visiting a town. Visiting it to find a book, she lands with a curse that prevents her from leaving the shop until she finds her heart’s desire. Making the best of the situation, she takes over the shop, trying to put it in order. She gets help from a teenager who has her own home and personal problems, who hangs out at the shop as a way to escape. Together, they organise the shop, having sales to move the book, and turning the bookshop into a cosy place to be.

To add to her problems, she gets visits from a dashing pirate who turns out to have a curse of his own, one that prevents him from sailing. And when her parents discover that she has been cursed, they do all they can to break it, by calling on the seven princes of the realm to visit her, for it is known that the kiss from a prince could break a curse.

As the story progresses, the princess starts to like living in a bookshop, and wonders whether she wants to break the curse and return to a life of a princess. It all comes to a head at the end of the book, when the King and Queen arrive with the latest attempt to break her curse, and all is revealed about the pirate’s curse. Now, it is up to her to convince her parents to let her do what she really desires.

Book read from 2026/10/19 to 2026/10/21.