The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst

Sometimes you just need a quiet place to get away and relax. How about a cozy inn in Vermont with mountain views? In this teen cozy fantasy, the inn is a little shabby, with a cranky older innkeeper, but who has everything you need. There are pancakes for breakfast, room service, cake and tea every afternoon. A garden is being cleared, and a path to a stream next to a wood. And the guests are indeed from far away.

This is a portal fantasy in which closet doors may or may not open to distant lands. Calisa, 16, needs to get away from Brooklyn, where she shares an apartment with her two moms, Kate and Elise. Ethan, who broke her heart, has a summer job in the bodega on the ground floor of their building. Mom-Kate is the niece of innkeeper Zee. Zee doesn’t want Calisa to stay, but really needs some help. The inn’s handyman has been gone for some time, and his teenage son Jack is overworked. The guests are delightfully unique and Calisa acquires a most unusual pet who can fly and maybe make a flame. No, it’s not a cat. A statue in the garden gets moved around mysteriously. Calisa has amazing hot chocolate with a guest, gets to make pancakes and bake cakes, but is told not to ask questions and never to open any new doors. Calisa and Jack use a portal to visit the Night Market and end up with even more unanswered questions.

The beautiful sprayed book edges make this look a bit like romantasy, but it’s really cottage core, or very cozy fantasy. There is a cat, friendship, and annoyingly nice moms. But no internet, so no social media for Calisa. There might be a little romance. The author has two other cozy fantasy novels for adults, The Spellshop and the Enchanted Greenhouse, and this book will have definite appeal for her many fans. Also, The Sea of Charms will be published in two months.

Brenda