Twig's Traveling Tomes by Gryffin Murphy

Romance is easier read than done

Louella Twig is the only witch of her kind, much to the disappointment of her former mentor and her previous academic ambitions. While others connect to nature as their source of magic, Louella has an affinity with books. Denied her graduation broom, Louella carves a new path using her talent, creating a magical ambulatory bookshop that travels throughout the realm uniting readers with stories.

She lives a cosy, stable life, until she collides - quite literally - with a mysterious man between the Romance and Adventure aisles. Everett Sharp is handsome, charming ... and a rogue on the run. He's absolutely not someone Louella wishes to share either an adventure or a romance with. But then her old mentor arrives with a desperate request: a valuable grimoire has been stolen and there is only one witch who can retrieve what has been lost ... a witch who now finds herself in need of a bandit with experience.

Together with friends both old and new, Louella and Everett embark on an adventure across the four kingdoms, encountering whimsical creatures, a flying greenhouse full of plant pirates and a magical World's Fair. Along the way, Louella starts to wonder if this new chapter of her life could include some romance after all ...

---

Somewhere between the bookshelves and the magic, you might find a place to belong.

✶ PRE-READING ✶

A cosy fantasy centred around a travelling bookshop was always going to have my attention.

Twig's Traveling Tomes combines magical books, a travelling shop, inventive magical creatures and a growing found family, with a quest woven through it all. I was expecting something gentle, and that's exactly what I got.

Also, Gryffin Murphy is either a pen name or the coolest name in existence. I'm choosing to believe the latter.

✶ POST-READING ✶

As I thought... this is a very low-stakes, very gentle adventure, and I mean that as a compliment.

There is a quest, and there are things that need to be accomplished, but I never really felt that Louella and her companions were in danger of failing. Some readers might find that takes away from the tension, but for this particular book, I didn't mind at all.

The pleasure is in the journey.

Most importantly, it's in watching the found family around Louella grow. People arrive, connections form, and before you quite realise what's happened, there are all these people who have become important to one another.

That's what makes the story work for me. The quest gives everyone somewhere to go, but the relationships are the destination.

It surprised me by... just how inventive the magical animals are. They could easily have been decorative additions to the world, but instead they feel genuinely imaginative, with their own quirks and purposes.

I also loved the little nods to other famous fantasy stories. The magical doorknobs that allow the bookshop to travel between different outer shells are a particularly fun example—you can recognise the inspiration without it feeling like the book is simply copying it.

Louella herself is an interesting heroine. She's powerful, self-possessed and very much in control of her own life, so I did occasionally find myself amused when she encountered Everett and suddenly became:

Don't stare at the cute man.

Did the cute man see me staring?

Oh no, he's looking at me.

Blush.

It's a familiar romance trope, but fortunately it didn't bother me too much because it sits alongside all the things that make Louella competent and capable.

I particularly enjoyed her skirts, too. They're not merely part of her aesthetic; the layers give her somewhere to hide all those useful pockets. Everett, naturally, notices this and takes entirely too much pleasure in making comments about needing to get under her skirts.

Because apparently even magical bookshop owners aren't safe from innuendo.

Ultimately, though, what I'll remember most is the atmosphere: paper, magic, books, people gathering together and that wonderful moment when you realise that the strangers around you have somehow become your people.

✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

Book Recommendation: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, for another gentle cosy fantasy about magic, community and creating a life that feels like home.

TV or Movie Recommendation: Howl's Moving Castle. For magical travelling spaces, eccentric fantasy, found family and the feeling that a building can be almost as much a character as the people living in it.

✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

A colour palette: warm brown, deep green, faded gold and the soft red of an old leather book cover.

A soundtrack: gentle acoustic music, pages turning and the occasional cheerful clatter from somewhere in the shop.

A season: early autumn, when it's just beginning to be cool enough to want a jumper and an excuse to stay indoors with a book.

A mood: peaceful, curious, whimsical and quietly joyful.

A scent: old paper, wood, tea and rain drifting in whenever the door opens.

A texture: the worn leather of a favourite book and the soft fabric of a skirt with far too many pockets.

★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

Ten of Pentacles.

The Ten of Pentacles is often associated with family, inheritance and the communities we build across generations. But at its heart, it's about belonging—having somewhere and people you can call home.

That's what makes it such a good fit for Twig's Traveling Tomes.

Louella begins with her own life and her own independence, but as the story progresses, the people around her become something more. They aren't simply companions for a quest. They become a community.

The treasure here isn't the magical bookshop or the adventures it can take you on.

It's discovering that you've somehow built a family.

✦ THE TRUE QUESTION ✦

Can you find a family you didn't know you were looking for?

Twig's Traveling Tomes isn't really about whether Louella can complete a quest. It's about what happens when you open the door and let people into your life.

Sometimes home isn't the place you start.

Sometimes it's the people who gather around you along the way.

Final Thoughts

Twig's Traveling Tomes publishes on the 8th Semptember, 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.