Posts Tagged ‘Swendson’

Title: Damsel Under Stress (Book 3 in the Enchanted, Inc series)
Author: Shanna Swendson
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 2007
Pages: 306
Acquired via the Link+ system at my friendly neighborhood library.

These books are becoming more and more irresistible to me in the worst possible way.  The last book irritated me beyond believe, but the ending hinted that there would be more of dreamy wizard Owen Palmer, so I had no choice but to read on …

And I was right, this book had it’s fair share of the handsome yet mysterious and extremely nerdy Owen.  But Katie didn’t seem to learn her lesson.  And while I adored her Southern charm in the first book, Enchanted, Inc., it has been wearing on me and I couldn’t really stand it any longer in this installment.  I kind of wanted to slap Katie and shake her until she realized that she was being kind of stupid.  But I guess when you’re living in the midst of a magical war that you’re trying to keep from your very best friends and family, things can get a little muddled.

And if things didn’t get shaken up a little, this book wouldn’t be possible.  And the adventurous aspects that I felt were missing in the last book were definitely present in this one.  We get a lot more magical mayhem; possibly more than we might actually want.  But the gem of this book is the blossoming love story. I only wish after reading this book that Owen Palmer was a real man.  I love it when a book can make you fall for its leading man.  Again, I also loved the glimpses of city life in New York, especially since this time we got to see New York around Christmas time.

While this book had its flaws, I was still frantically turning the pages to find out what would happen next.  I’m definitely going to be picking up the next installment, Don’t Hex with Texas very soon so I can find out what happens next.

Title: Once Upon Stilettos
Author: Shanna Swendson
Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 2006
Pages: 303
Acquired via the Link+ system at my friendly neighborhood library.

A couple weeks ago I read the first installment in this enchanted series by Shanna Swendson.  Enchanted, Inc was full  fun characters, mystery, and romance.  In other words, it was kind of like a dream come true for me.  So I was eager to read on and find out what would happen next in the life or Katie Chandler.  Even more, the title of this one really intrigued me.  I love anything having to do with shoes so the hint in the title that stilettos would play a pretty major role in the plot definitely got me excited.

And while this book did have many of the fun elements that I enjoyed so much in the first book, the plot veered in a direction that I didn’t enjoy as much.  Early on, Katie discovers that something is awry at MSI.  There is a spy who is turning everything inside out and Katie has been asked to basically head the task force to find the culprit.  Unfortunately, it looks like doing so means putting Katie in some danger, no surprise there.  What good is a plot without a little dangerous intrigue.

Unfortunately, the danger leads Katie in a downward spiral that I did not enjoy.  I started to really dislike her whining.  In the first book, she had established so many wonderful new friendships but she refused to trust any of them when she really needed to.  I understand that every character needs to have some flaws and apparently this Texan has some trust issues.  Even worse, she has difficulty deciding what it is she wants.  First, she complains about being too normal and then when things start to get a little exciting, she misses the normalcy that she took for granted.

Still, although this book had a few plot flaws for me, I couldn’t put it down.  I wanted Katie to badly snap out of whatever was bringing her down.  Not to mention the fact that this book has more than its fair share of drool worthy hunksters.  If you read and enjoyed Enchanted, Inc than this is probably not one to be missed.  I’ve already requested and am eagerly anticipating the arrival of the next installment, Damsel Under Stress.

Title: Enchanted, Inc.
Author: Shanna Swendson
Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 2005
Pages: 308
Acquired via the Link+ system at my friendly neighborhood library.

I have to admit that I definitely have a thing for New York.  I haven’t been there but in my head it is absolutely fabulous.  I think my obsession with all things New York grew out of the fact that I’ve never left the West Coast.  Born and raised in sunny California, my parents had no reason to take me or my sister away from the comfortable coast.  When I started talking about moving to New York, they didn’t understand why I would ever want to do such a crazy thing.  They used words like cold and dangerous to try to deter me, but I applied to Columbia anyway.  Apparently fate sided with my parents because I didn’t get into Columbia University and instead ended up in Santa Clara University closer to my parents than I had ever imagined.

The New York setting of Enchanted, Inc definitely increased my liking of the modern day magical book.  Katie Chandler is what most people would call a hick.  She hails from Texas but finds herself in New York pursuing “the dream.”  Unfortunately, Katie hasn’t found the answers to her dream just yet.  She is working a thankless job for a monster boss named Mimi.  That is until a very unattractive sleezeball accompanied by a faerie and a very attractive quite guy change her life forever by extracting her from the “normal” world where she is seen only as the girl next door into the magical world where she is anything but ordinary.

In the magical world, Katie’s valuable gift is that she doesn’t have an ounce of magic in her making her able to see past all the enchantments and illusions that magicians work.  This gifts makes her a valuable asset as a verifier for MSI, Inc. :Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc.  And Katie’s business background serves her extremely well in this ancient establishment that has somehow managed to survive in the modern world.  Still, there is and evil doer afoot and Katie must help some remarkable characters to make sure that the good guys can save the day.

This book was such a fun read.  There were some literally laugh out loud funny moments in the book.  But more than just humorous wit, this book portrayed a girl that I could fully relate to.  Although I have always dreamed of living and working in the big city, I know that it would be difficult for me to adjust and fit in with all the big city slickers.  After all, I come from a completely different mentality and so did Katie.  I could really picture myself in Katie’s shoes which really helped me connect to the story.  Even more than that, I really enjoyed Sendson’s writing style.  The story moves along at a wonderful pace so that you get an opportunity to get to know Katie and her friends but also keeps the plot moving along.  And what a brilliantly put together plot.  All the pieces fit together nicely and I thoroughly enjoyed reading along as the plot unfolded to reveal some unexpected twists and turns.

Altogether, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoy women’s fiction with a magical twist.  The magical elements at play in this book are extremely entertaining but underneath that, this is really the story of a girl coming to terms with who she is and figuring out where her place is in the world.  And I have to admit, I always enjoy books like that.