Cozy Up With These Heartwarming Fantasy Adventures
Posted on May 20, 2025
by Amy H
Cozy fantasy novels combine uplifting fantasy adventure stories with well-developed, likeable characters which makes for some wonderful reading. Take a look at these great examples of a whimsical-without-being-saccharine genre growing in popularity as a counter to our dystopian reality.
the magician's daughter by H. G. Parry
Orphaned as a baby, Biddy grew up on a legendary island off the coast of Ireland, hidden by magic and glimpsed only by rare travelers who return with stories of a lone magician in a castle. The magician, Rowan, is Biddy's guardian and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she is feeling stifled by her solitude and frustrated by Rowan's refusal to let her leave. One night, Rowan fails to come home from his mysterious travels. To rescue him, Biddy ventures into his nightmares and learns not only where he goes every night, but that Rowan has powerful enemies. Determined to protect her home and her guardian, Biddy journeys away for the first time from the safety of her childhood, to the poorhouses of Whitechapel, a secret castle beneath London streets, the ruins of an ancient civilization, and finally to a desperate chance to restore lost magic. The closer she comes to finding answers, the more she comes to question everything she has ever believed about Rowan, her own origins, and the cost of bringing magic back into the world.
the scholar and the last faerie door by H. G. Parry
In 1921, years after a botched spell disastrously allows a faerie into our world, the study of faerie magic is banned. Yet for those who survived, their wounds cannot be fixed by bandages and bedrest; a magical curse requires a magical solution. Clover is determined to find a way to save her brother, one of the few survivors of the faerie attack. At Camford, England's premier magical academy, she's just a scholarship witch with no lineage and no connections. But when she catches the eye of golden boy Alden and his friends, doors that had been previously closed to her are flung open, and she finds herself enmeshed in the glittering and seductive world of the country's magical aristocrats. The summer she spends in Alden's orbit leaves a fateful mark: months of joyous friendship and mutual study come crashing down when experiments go awry, and old secrets are unearthed. Years later, when the faerie seals break again, Clover knows it's because of what they did. And she knows that she must seek the help of people she once called friends if there's any hope of saving the world.
the teller of small fortunes by Julie Leong
A fortune teller finds an unexpected family on her journeys in this heartwarming and charming fantasy debut. Tao, a migrant fortune teller fleeing a troubled past, travels between villages telling only small fortunes: whether it will hail next Thursday; what boy will kiss which barmaid; when the cow will calve. Bigger fortunes come with big consequences...which she wants to avoid at all costs. Life on the road can be lonely but, to Tao's surprise, companionship comes unexpectedly. She encounters Mash and Silt, an ex-mercenary and semi-reformed thief looking for Mash's missing daughter. Next the trio finds Kina, a brilliant baker, with a knead for adventure. And, finally, Fidelitus rounds out their party, a cat smart enough to mark the travelers as ready suppliers of fish. As they journey together across the kingdom, confronting small-minded villagers and philosophizing trolls alike, Tao's unlikely new friends break down her walls and unravel her secrets. Ultimately, Tao must decide what's more important: her hard-won freedom, or reuniting a family not her own.
going postal by Terry Pratchett
Condemned arch-swindler Moist von Lipwig finds himself with a noose around his neck and dropping through a trapdoor into . . . a government job? By all rights, Moist should be meeting his maker rather than being offered a position as Postmaster by Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may prove an impossible task, what with literally mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office. Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, greedy Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty owners. But if the bold and undoable are what's called for, Moist's the man for the job--to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl, and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every being, human or otherwise requires: hope.
sorcery and small magics by Maiga Doocy
Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics. He can summon butterflies with a song or turn someone's hair pink by snapping his fingers. Though such minor charms don't earn him much respect, anything more elaborate always blows up in his face, and so Leo vowed long ago never to use powerful magic again. That is, until a mishap with a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime rival, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo's complete opposite-respected, exceptionally talented, and absolutely insufferable. The only thing they can agree on is that revealing the curse between them would mean the end of their respective magical careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To break the curse, they will have to uncover the true depths of Leo's magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and-much to their horror-work together. Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.
legends and lattes by Travis Baldree
After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success -- not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone. Of course, the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.
emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries and has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm--as its queen. Along with her former academic rival--now fiancé--the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell's long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures. At first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? And there is little time to settle in, for Wendell's murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell's magic--and Emily's knowledge of stories--to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
the very secret society of irregular witches by Sangu Mandanna
As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic and stay away from other witches, so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch which she thinks no one will take seriously. But someone does and an unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat. As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for...
a psalm for the wild-built by Becky Chambers
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot. Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
the utterly uninteresting and unadventurous tales of fred, the vampire accountant by Drew Hayes
Some people are born boring. Some live boring. Some even die boring. Fred managed to do all three, and when he woke up as a vampire, he did so as a boring one. Timid, socially awkward, and plagued by self-esteem issues, Fred has never been the adventurous sort. One fateful night - different from the night he died, which was more inconvenient than fateful - Fred reconnects with an old friend at his high school reunion. Fred just wanted to live a calm afterlife as an accountant who happens to be a vampire. But his high school friend, Krystal, has other plans for him as she takes him on a series of adventures involving all sorts of monsters. This rekindled relationship sets off a chain of events thrusting him right into the chaos that is the parahuman world, a world with chipper zombies, truck driver were-ponies, maniacal necromancers, ancient dragons, and now one undead accountant trying his best to "survive." Because even after it's over, life can still be a downright bloody mess.
stargazy pie by Victoria Goddard
Magic is out of fashion, but good manners never are. Jemis Greenwing returned from university with a broken heart, a bad cold, and no prospects beyond a problematic inheritance and a job at the local bookstore. Ragnor Bella is a placid little market town on the road to nowhere, where Jemis' family affairs have always been the main source of gossip. Having missed his stepfather's funeral, he is determined to keep his head down. Unfortunately for his reputation, though fortunately for several other people, he falls quickly under the temptation of resuming the friendship of Mr. Dart, Squire-in-training and beloved local daredevil. Mr. Dart is delighted to have Jemis' company for what will be, he assures him, a very small adventure. Jemis expected to be snubbed by the neighbors. The secret societies, criminal gangs, and illegal cult to the old gods--to say nothing of the mermaid--come as a complete surprise.
the spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
As librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, Kiela and her assistant Caz--a magically sentient houseplant--have spent the last decade preserving the empire's most precious spellbooks for the city's elite. Then a revolution begins, and the library goes up in flames. She and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she'd see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy--and very handsome--neighbor. In need of income, Kiela discovers the town has never had jam. With the help of an old recipe book and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries that become the town's new favorite confection. Soon Kiela decides to open the island's first-ever and much-needed secret spell shop. Her plan comes with risks--the empire condemns the use of unsanctioned magic, and the consequence of sharing spells with commoners is death. But Kiela has only just found a place that feels like home and people who feel like family, and she'll risk anything for a chance at happiness.
house of frank by Kay Synclaire
Powerless witch Saika is ready to enact her sister's final request: to plant her remains at the famed Ash Gardens. When Saika arrives at the always-stormy sanctuary, she is welcomed by its owner, an enormous knit-cardiganed mythical beast named Frank, who offers her a role as one of the estate's caretakers. Overcome with grief, Saika accepts, desperate to put off her final farewell to her sister. But the work requires a witch with intrinsic power, and Saika's been disconnected from her magic since her sister's death two years prior. Saika gets by at the sanctuary using a fragment of a fallen star to cast enchantments--while hiding the embarrassing truth about herself. As Saika works harder in avoidance of her pain, she learns more about Frank, the decaying house at Ash Gardens, and the lives of the motley staff, including bickering twin cherubs, a mute ghost, a cantankerous elf, and an irritating half witch. Over time, she rediscovers what it means to love and be wholly loved and how to allow her joy and grief to coexist. Warm and inventive, House of Frank is a stirring portrait of the ache of loss and the healing embrace of love.
a wizard's guide to defensive baking by T. Kingfisher
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or manipulate water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter, and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance. But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona's worries...
baking bad by Kim M. Watt
A simple case - or it should be. All clues point to the Toot Hansell Women's Institute, and Detective Inspector Adams is about to discover there's much more to the W.I. than just bake sales and jam making. Alice Martin, RAF Wing Commander (Ret.), and current chair of the Women's Institute, knows the ladies of the W.I. are not guilty. But she has a bigger problem. Toot Hansell has a large and dragonish secret, and she needs to keep the police well away from it. Plus she'd really rather not be arrested for murder. Again. Meanwhile, Beaufort Scales, High Lord of the Cloverly dragons and survivor of the days of knights and dragon hunts, knows even better than Alice that the modern dragon only survives as long as no one knows they exist. But he also knows friends don't let friends face murder inquiries alone. Beaufort fully intends to Get Involved. This investigation is about to take on dragonish proportions. Best put the kettle on...
a coup of tea by Casey Blair
When the fourth princess of Istalam is due to dedicate herself to a path serving the crown, she makes a choice that shocks everyone, herself most of all: She leaves. In hiding and being exiled from power, Miyara finds her place running a tea shop in a struggling community that sits on the edge of a magical disaster zone. But there's more brewing under the surface of this city-hidden magic, and hidden machinations-that threaten all the people who've helped her make her own way. Miyara may not be a princess anymore, but with a teapot in hand she'll risk her newfound freedom to discover a more meaningful kind of power.
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