ARC Review: Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel by Elizabeth Everett

Magic & Mischief at the Wayside Hotel
Author: Elizabeth Everett
Publication: Ace (March 10, 2026)

Description: When a magical hotel appears smack-dab in the middle of the most unmagical of worlds, the last thing the residents expect is to fall in love.

Manager of the Number Five Wayside Inn and World Travel Hub, Pax Nomen has one of the easiest jobs in all the known universes, unless you count the occasional plumbing disaster. When Number Five Wayside gets stranded on a non-magical world, even Pax's trusty Wayside Handbook can’t help him. How is he going to “reboot” the hotel and keep it on its magical journey?

Josie LaChusia is a single mom experiencing debt, having parenting doubts, and tipping dangerously toward depression when an ad pops up on her phone that an apartment is available in a building she’s never seen before.

Pax needs a new guest to restart his hotel, and Josie needs a nudge to restart her life. In a building occupied by faeries, gargoyles, and a gnome with a bad attitude, two souls from very different places come together to create a home like no other.

My Thoughts: This romantasy is a change of pace for Elizabeth Everett who is more known for her historical romances, and it proves that she can master more than one genre.

Pax Nomen is the manager of the Number Five Wayside Inn and World Travel Hub. He was formerly a paladin and soldier who grew tired of war. The hotel provides a way for people from many planets to travel from one world to another. The current residents include a bunch of cheerleading fairies, assorted gargoyles, a family of zombies, a vampire prince, and assistant manager who is a medusa. Not to mention the residents of the sixth floor who are sleeping.

When the hotel becomes stranded on magicless Earth, Pax needs to come up with a plan to reboot the hotel. Enter Josie LaChiusa and her four-year-old son Amos. Josie needs a new place to live since the latest increase in rent for her apartment has put it out of her price range. She's a single mom with a medically fragile son who is just trying to keep her head above water. She's also filled with self-doubts about her ability to be a good mother since she had no role models in her childhood. Her doubts are exacerbated by her mother-in-law who is always telling Josie what she is doing wrong and who wants custody of Amos. 

Josie and Amos settle into Number Five and odd things happen. Amos finds a decorated room with a Pider-Man theme to match his latest craze, and Josie finds walls changing colors, flowers appearing, and odd scents in the air. She also finds a sense of home that she had never experienced before. Pax becomes her friend and a romance ensues.

But Number Five isn't recharging fast enough for some of the residents. There are a group who feel that a blood sacrifice with Josie and Amos as the victims would recharge her faster. Pax isn't about to allow that. He isn't willing to give up the woman and child who have given him a sense of home for the first time in his long life. 

This is a story filled with magic and with love. I really enjoyed it. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.