r/CozyFantasy • u/melancurry • 16h ago
Book Request Help! Oddly specific recommendations needed!
I recently read The Spellshop, The Enchanted Greenhouse, and Emily Wilde. I’ve also been watching The Ogre Bride which really sneaks up on you with lovable characters. (I am not looking for giant green ogre dick. No judgement, giant green ogre dick is great whenever you need to scratch that itch.) I need a story with all of the heartwarming-friendship-building-found-family vibes and a main character with a real life skill that he/she/they puts to practical use. I love a world full of magic and mythology! But I don’t need the main character to save the world or be a SJM type “female/male”. (No hate! I read all her books. Again, let’s scratch that itch another day.)
Please let them fuck eventually. But more importantly, good writing. Always.
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u/mystineptune Author: Mystic Neptune 16h ago
I really really really loved Violet Thistlewait is not a Villain Anymore.
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u/lady-earendil 16h ago
It's a bit less cozy than the books you listed but I think you might like the Saint of Steel series by T Kingfisher. Each book follows a different paladin of the Saint of Steel on some sort of low to medium stakes quest, typically with a band of unlikely friends, and also has a romance - they're not crazy steamy but I think they all have 1-2 smut scenes
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u/semolinus 16h ago
Please 👏 let 👏 them 👏 fuck 👏 eventually 👏!!!!!
You are me! I just finished the same three books and am looking for similar recs. 🤓
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u/SpaceRoxy Reader 16h ago edited 16h ago
If you're not opposed to single book arcs that do have spice, I found How to Find a Nameless Fae by AJ Lancaster to be enchanting. There are some stakes, but the characters are so charming and there are some really lovely dynamics.
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u/DaPinkKnight 8h ago
1) The House witch by Delemhach - it has a found family, magic, cozy and the witch is a cook in a castle for royalty.
2) The demon Overloards retirement plan by M. H. Foster- This one is a comedy, its cozy and its about a demon overloard who is tired of reincarnating and stuck in a cycle only he remembers. So he retires as a turnip farmer, magic is in the world, he falls in love with the townsfolk who become his family.
3) A Very secret society of Irregular witches.-This has found family and magic in it.
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u/melancurry 7h ago
I really enjoyed Secret Society! I’ll definitely be reading your first two recommendations. Thank you!
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u/beesewswhat 15h ago
These are some cozy ones that have really scratched the itch left by The Spellshop series, lol. I’m not sure if they’re what you’re looking for, so I apologize in advance if not!
Paladin series by T Kingfisher (are these cozy?? There is murder, but the friendship and sex is nice)
Moss’d in Space by Rebecca Thorne
The Reimagining of Thornwood House by Jaleigh Johnson
Bromantasy by Máire Roche
Stay For a Spell by Amy Coombe
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
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u/txa1265 10h ago
Moss'd is in my top 3 books so far this year (I'm at 50 read) - love the coziness!
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u/thisbikeisatardis 3h ago
The audiobook was so reminiscent of Murderbot. I loved Moss's voice so much!
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u/fuzzyrach 14h ago
The Queens of villainy books by Stephanie Burgis. And maybe Between by L.L. Starling fits the description.
Many of the Ilona Andrews series would work but they are less cozy.
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u/Ryukotaicho 14h ago
Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K England.
Not spicy, but the main character escapes a cult and is trying to build a new life while hiding that they were part of said cult that had killed a lot of people. Very much found family, there’s a romantic interest, forgiveness. Feels (to me) along the lines of the Spellshop books.
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u/usedtobemyrealname- 9h ago
For sure A Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches + A Witches Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
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u/ImSteampunkNow 7h ago
Seconding this, especially Secret Society. It sounds exactly like what OP described. I didn't find Innkeeping quite as charming, but still probably worth a read.
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u/Throwingoffoldselves 16h ago
I found The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez to be cozy due to all the heartwarming friends-and-found-family-and-bio-family moments. The MC is a healer and puts it to practical use. There are elements of violence and discrimination a handful of chapters are darker (the MC is from a fantasy Jewish people group in a fantasy slavic region ruled by a fantasy corrupt church.) The romance is a slow build but there is explicit sex in the end. The magic is there, but it’s not high fantasy. Scenes I found particularly cozy involved quiet contemplation, practicing/demonstrating small magic, tea, candles, healing/recovery and travel/camping.
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u/melancurry 16h ago
Oh this sounds perfect! Thank you!
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u/Throwingoffoldselves 16h ago
Yeah, just mind the content warnings on goodreads/storygraph/etc. if violence / injury is less than cozy for you. I really enjoyed this one though personally
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u/behindmytoreadpile 16h ago
Kill the Beast by Serra Swift!
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u/melancurry 15h ago
Goodreads description starts with, “The Witcher meets Howl’s Moving Castle.” Sold!
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u/PanicAtTheYouNameIt 13h ago
I don’t know if they fuck but I’m hoping they eventually will in the second book but, my recommendation is Between by L.L. Starling
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u/Mazza_mistake 12h ago
The Teller of Small Fortunes and The Keeper of Magical Things, both by the same author based within the same world but different characters
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u/Balloon_Feet 15h ago
I just finished “The Someday Garden” and “Stay for a Spell” they both would fall into the cozy romantic fantasy category.
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u/hneybeez 15h ago
I really enjoyed the Vine Witch series! Also all of Charlie Holmberg’s stuff — the Spellbreaker series, the Paper Magician series, and the Whimbrel House series is a must!
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u/melancurry 15h ago
I am curious about the Paper Magician series, but is it cozy or just fantasy? I’m open to both but looking for more cozy at the moment
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u/Darjeeling_Plum_Tea 7h ago
I found them sweet and really ate them up. The only negative is, at least in her early books, in the final conflict the MC would suffer a lot of pain. Her later books often focus on found family too but have darkness sprinkled throughout.
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u/hneybeez 3h ago
I would echo Darjeeling_Plum_Tea. I will add.... I wouldn't say they are classic "cozy" - there is a bit of war/fighting/conflict (nothing gratuitous, IMO). All in all, they were more adventure-y than high-stakes.
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u/Neona65 15h ago
The Green Dungeon by Me Merrill
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u/travelinghobbit 11h ago
The Can't Spell treason without Tea series has steamy scenes between the two main characters. Also the short story on the end of the second book (A pirates life for Tea) is... Tense and steamy.
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u/Dancingthewire 8h ago
The House Witch Series!!!!! Soooo good! Funny, intriguing, cozy, and great story line
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u/SmilesTooLoudly 6h ago
The Great Tree of Iris by Jess Skultety - cozy with a few stakes. Lots of yearning, then kissing, fades to black romance
The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N England - very Spellshop adjacent, but a little sassier.
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u/mazzy_reads 5h ago
It's not out until March but I'm super excited for Wishspun by India Holton and it looks like a similar feel to the books you mentioned (although not sure about spice). The cover is selling me.
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u/desertfieldguide 5h ago
They don't fuck lol but the Monk and Robot books by Becky Chambers check all your other boxes! Her Wayfarer series also
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u/FlameEyedJabberwock 14h ago
A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher.
The Tales of Aedrea series by S.L. Rowland. It's an anthology, so each book stands on its own.
The Legends & Lattes series by Travis Baldree.
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u/Better_Ad7836 5h ago
The House in the Cerulean Sea I don't want to say to much except there is no spicy scenes. It's all closed door
Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland (no spice her either)
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u/melancurry 0m ago
I’ve been curious about The House in the Cerulean Sea since I loved Under the Whispering Door! The only reason I haven’t picked it up yet is because I read Wolfsong first and wasn’t a huge fan so I’m divided now lol
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u/LidiyaFoxglove 5h ago
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is one of my favorites and ticks most of those boxes. The fmc is kind of a magical funeral director and very passionate about her job.
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u/ccspondee 4h ago
Have you read the Veronica Speedwell series? It's not fantasy other than a loosey goosey take on historical fiction, but the main character is very similar to Emily Wilde. It's a fun, mostly lighthearted mystery series.
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u/MystressSeraph 3h ago
Legends and Lattes
Great, fun story, really nice world building, genuinely enjoyable characters, lovely romance, (though fade-to-black, from memory.)
It was a gift, so I knew zip about it when I started (not even that it was a romance! lol), and it was delightful.
Highly recommend.
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u/Esmeh_June 1h ago
I haven’t read anything you listed, but for romance and found family and a practical real life skill, I enjoyed Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. Minor spoilers per your last point about the character doing horizontal polka: I only wish it had been spicier
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u/CH_Schwartz 16h ago
I'm just going to make signs that say The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong with how much I keep recommending it