Shanna Swendson

Leaving her job in New York at Magic, Spells and Illusions, Inc. for the safety of Cobb, Texas, Katie Chandler hopes that she is finally off the magical grid, but she soon discovers a group of amateur wizards experimenting with the dark arts and her one-time love, wizard Owen Palmer, arrives to investigate. Original. 15,000 first printing.

A Novel

Don't Hex with Texas

Everything’s bigger in Texas—including romance, magic, and danger! Katie Chandler has fled fast-paced Manhattan and returned home to a simpler life, working at her family’s feed-and-seed store in Cobb, Texas. In a painfully selfless gesture, Katie had left the sexy wizard Owen Palmer to battle his demons in the magical realm–after all, Katie just seemed to attract evil, which only made Owen’s job a lot harder. But now it seems that trouble has followed her home: Despite the fact that Merlin, Katie’s old boss at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., has assured her that Cobb is free of enchantmen, (magically speaking), Katie begins to notice curious phenomena. Cobb is being plagued by a series of inexplicable petty crimes and other devilish mischief, and after her experiences in Manhattan, Katie knows “unauthorized magic” when she sees it. As this new darkness strikes deep in the heart of Texas, Owen appears (literally) to investigate. Now Katie’s friends and family must show the bad guys why it’s bad luck to hex with Texas, while Katie and Owen combine their strengths like never before to uncover a sinister plot before evil takes root in the Lone Star State.

Enchanted Inc., Book 4

Colleen

3 Stars

Since I had read the first three books in this series one per day and there were seven books in the series, I decided that I might as well make it a marathon and finish out the week binge reading the rest of the series.

This may not have been the best idea, but I rolled with it. I was having fun avoiding my life by amusing myself with the fictional problems of Katie Chandler. I was excited about this book because it takes place mainly in Katie's hometown. I really liked her mother's character and was enthusiastic to see more of her. So I was then disappointed by how little her mother is actually in this story. Apparently the author decided the grandmother was more of a crowd-pleaser and focused more on that character instead. But I found the grandmother disappointing because she was basically Stephanie Plum's Grandmother with magic added in. She just gave off that trying-too-hard, too-engineered feeling. And the plot in this book was over-the-top cheesy. The villians took on the bumbling aspect of cartoon villains which made it hard to believe the stakes were high.

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

I still love this series. Four books in and better than ever, in my opinion at least. Quick read, fun. I was disappointed to read that there will probably not be a fifth book published. According to the author's website, the third and fourth books didn't sell well enough for the publisher to think there's enough interest in the series to publish book five. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they have a change of heart. I'd like to see what is next in the saga of Katie and Owen.

Don't Hex with Texas A Novel

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