Quick Synopsis – Spidena Kettle runs a quiet magic shop at the edge of town, selling just enough spells and potions to keep herself afloat—and out of trouble—when Benthrop Hozel enters her shop one day. On the run from the nefarious sort, he simply wishes to be forgotten by his pursuers. In exchange, he promises a favor.

Such a deal could have dire consequences if Ben is unable to fulfill his end of the bargain. Not that the witch is overly concerned—after all, there’s no risk to her making such an arrangement with a normal human. Only…Ben may be more than he seems. With their fates forcibly intertwined for a full journey, Spidena and Ben must not only evade their enemies and use precious magical resources to get by but confront the secrets they’ve long kept…that is, if they can manage to stop getting on each other’s last nerve for long enough to do so.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Broken Heart by Booshie G.

Publication Date – Oct. 6, 2026

Bookshop Link – The Dues and Don’ts of Magic by Delemhach

Content Notes – This book contains kidnapping, murder (mostly off page or told through memories), blood, violence, segregation, and being drugged.

Overall Rating – ⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Review – My biggest complaint for this book is that a lot of the chapters end on overt foreshadowing. Obviously, foreshadowing is a part of storytelling, but here it felt like I had subscribed to a fanfic and would be waiting a week for the next chapter. In the beginning it wasn’t too bad, but it was just a weird style choice for most of the book. There was a lot of cute teasing flirting going on between Spidena and Ben for most of the book, but I thought the characters reacted strangely when it was pointed out, they were attracted to each other.

Also, they mention repeatedly that they’re fate-tied. And these two idiots thought that just meant the quest they’re on? Oh no sweetie. I did actually like that they tried to fight their attraction, I just thought for two characters in their early twenties, they we naive about handling that attraction. There are also some very sweet side characters like Obbie the dickish faery who runs a traveling inn with Daffy the nymph. Both Ben and Spidena also have their own antagonists. It helped keep the story moving and flesh out their characters.

Overall, this story is fun. Ben shows up in Spidena’s shop asking for an incantation to make a group of people chasing him forget him. In exchange he offers a favor, little do they know this jump starts the fate tie and that’s big magic. Throughout the book we see all the fun ways this big magic attracts other magical beings and bad guys. There’s even a fun sub-plot with a little mushroom sprite and Ben literally frolicking through the fae realm.

There are a lot of fun parts, and I do think I’ll read the next part in the story. I just hope the next book is a little less jarring in it’s transitions.