Customer Reviews

Enchanted, Inc. (Katie Chandler, Book 1)

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kathleen "Katie" Chandler lives in a one bedroom apartment, with two roommates, in New York. Her awful boss goes from hot to cold in an instant and treats all her employees worse than any animal.

Suddenly Katie begins getting job offers, via email, from MSI, Inc. It has the feel of a scam, but Katie is getting desperate to change jobs. So she goes to an interview. Turns out that MSI stands for Magic, Spells, & Illusions. It is a company that sells tricks of the trade to the magical beings in the community. Katie does not take much persuading. She has been seeing people with wings (whose feet do not touch the ground), a stone gargoyle that changes positions and buildings (and seemed to wink once), and many other odd things. Katie has always assumed no one else seemed to notice because they were used to it and she had just not been living in NY long enough.

Katie takes the job and begins working in the department of Verification. Katie's ordinariness is rare. Few people, such as herself, lack even a drop of magic. Magic will not work on Katie. Therefore, she can easily spot a fake spell, see hidden clauses in contracts, detect any magically disguised intruders, and more.

The company needs "immunes" like Katie very badly. An ex-employee is threatening to sell black magic on the streets. If the magic community begins using dark spells, it will harm more than just the magical people in the world. Katie and her new bosses must save the world as we know it.

***** This is a stand alone novel, but I sure hope it becomes the first of a series. Katie's love life is not mentioned in my synopsis because she has her sights on more than one potential guy. I am told that this is Shanna Swendson's debut novel. I would never have known by reading it. The writing is superb and the story is seamless! Fans of Charlaine Harris's "Southern Vampire" series will especially enjoy this new author! A fun and witty read! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Enchanted, Inc. is the delightful fish out of water tale of Katie, a single girl from rural Texas trying to deal with the weirdness of New York City without looking like too much of a yokel. No one told her when they warned her about the strangeness of New York that the sights she would have to be blasé about included roller skating fairies, elvish park rangers, and a gargoyle named Sam who talks like Humphrey Bogart and keeps appearing on different parts of the building he guards. The thing is, Katie seems to be the only one who notices that some of the people on the subway have fairy wings, and she's starting to wonder if the strain of big city life is too much for her.

Katie's gift of seeing things exactly as they are soon attracts the attention of the personnel department at Magic, Illusions, and Spells, Inc. It's not every day a girl gets a job offer from a sexy super wizard working for a company where Merlin is the CEO. Since her present job is slightly less enjoyable than being mugged on the subway, she decides to take them up on the offer despite her fear that they cannot possibly be serious. But her completely non-magical nature, and her down-home common sense make her a far more valuable asset to her new company than she ever would have thought possible. They even give her an unlimited MetroCard.

While Katie really enjoys designing a marketing campaign to help defeat evil magic in the world, her new job has some unfortunate effects on her private life. She can't exactly tell her roommates how her day went, and magical nuisances keep cropping up during her attempts to find a boyfriend. A frog prince serenades her while she's trying to make a good impression. Her office crush causes an indoor snowstorm on her date, and she keeps getting hit on by a sleazy guy who looks like Johnny Depp to everyone but Katie. Things start looking up, though, when she meets a cute intellectual property attorney who starts cleaning his glasses every time a fairy walks by.

This book is an easy read with a witty style and a sense of wonder that really makes the pages turn. Anyone who enjoys the new chick lit genre will probably get a kick out of Enchanted, Inc. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. It has much of the light humor, the single girl point of view, and the mix of the fantastic and the mundane that makes Mary Janice Davison's "Undead and ..." series such fun. I highly recommend it to fantasy fans, adventure fans, and romance fans ... and to anyone who has ever felt like the only one who can see that the emperor is actually naked, and could stand to lose a few pounds.

Katie Chandler is immune to magic. She can see through any enchantment and no spells can affect her. Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. (MSI) recruits her for this very reason. After all, her gift makes her essential for their verification department. Katie is ecstatic her first day of work; even though her new boss turns green when angry, he is still significantly better than her previous boss, Mimi the human monster.

Things aren't as good as they seem, however. MSI has a competitor (a disgruntled former employee) who is marketing evil spells and MSI is determined to stop him. Katie decides she wants to assist MSI with this endeavor while maybe also catching the eye of that cute R & D department head, Owen. Little does Katie realize just how much her world will change once magic becomes an everyday part of it.

ENCHANTED, INC. is a cute chick lit story. Katie's growth from a downtrodden secretary to an executive assistant is fun to watch. She copes perhaps a little too easily with the idea of magic being real but her attempts to keep the magic world separate from her ordinary life are very believable. Her struggles with dating are ones most single females (and many married ones) will relate to and her bad dates certainly make most others seem tame in comparison. After all, who else ends up stalked by a former frog?

Ethan's reaction to the world of magic is more of what this reviewer would expect and is perhaps why he was so likeable. Katie goes on a date with him, primarily to find out more about his expertise with legal matters, but finds that she enjoys spending time with him. Ethan had noticed the oddities around, such as the wings on the fairies, but had assumed he was either hallucinating or going crazy. His perceptions make him an endearing character and this reviewer could certainly understand Katie's dilemma of choosing between Owen and Ethan!

Shanna Swendson's first book in this series is a delight to read. Her characters are charming, if a bit quirky at times, and she perfectly meshed the genres of chick lit and the paranormal. ENCHANTED, INC. is a book that is enjoyable to adults while also being suitable for teenagers interested in the genre.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

The concept for this book was great! I really wanted more the entire time I was reading though. I kept thinking, oh, what an original idea, let's see where this goes......then nothing happened. I was entertained greatly, however, it was a very quick read, and left me only frustrated.

When I went into my local bookstore I was looking for a fun read that I could spend a few cozy nights cuddled up enjoying. What I found was Enchanted Inc, and my plans instantly changed. As soon as I began reading this novel, I found myself transported beyond reality, and unable to put the book down. I ended up reading it in WELL under 24 hours, and being in need of more story. I immediately turned on my computer and looked up the author. I was so very pleased to discover that her sequel is due this coming spring and that there are plans in the works for books three and four soon after.

I have now recommended this book to anyone who asks me what I've read recently. I don't normally press my opinion on others but this book has struck such a chord with me, that I have to share it with everyone.

This novel is full of every magical creature I have ever heard of, and debunks myths in similar ways that Harry Potter does; at the same time, debunking the theory of Hogwarts and its Universe. It is truly entertaining.

I am giddy! I found an enchanting (pardon the reference) book and therefore, have a new author to read. I'll search for her old books and wait for her new ones. Impatiently!

Enchanted, Inc. is 'chick lit' at its finest. Bridget Jones, move over. Shanna Swendson is offering up fantasy for the Buffy, Sabrina and Bewitched crowd.

What happens when an ordinary girl from a small town in Texas moves to New York City? Why, she meets all those weirdoes she's heard about all her life. Don't we all see women with fairy wings, gargoyles that wink at you from the top of buildings, people with pointed ears, and gnomes? Haven't you come across buildings that weren't there the last time you looked? Well, in Enchanted, Inc., Katie Chandler sees all that and more.

Katie is in a dead end job with a psycho boss. And as much as she wants to quit, it pays the bills. When the stress and pressure mount, she accepts a new position working for MSI, Inc. Katie doesn't know what she's in for. But that soon changes.

There are magicians fussing about Katie's romantic life, a secret to keep from her friends and the attraction to a shy wizard.

This is a delightful romp through the world of magic with a dash of romance thrown in for good measure. There are characters you'll love and remember. And Katie is such a wonderfully naïve woman who knows who she is and is able to see life as it is.

If you want to escape the stress and busyness of life, join Katie for an enjoyable frolic into the world of make believe.

Katie Chandler has always been ordinary. When she moves to New York she starts to see strange things, but that's New York, Right? Maybe fairy wings are a fashion statement after all. When out of the blue she gets offered a new job at Magic,Spells and Illusions, Inc., Katie learns that being ordinary is quite extraordinary. Unlike most people she lacks all magically ability, therefore spells and such have no effect on her, making her a great asset in a company full of tricksters.With a great new job, a hot wizard for a boss, and a magical war brewing, maybe Katie isn't so ordinary after all!

I loved this book. It is super fast-paced and funny. I read it in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down. All the characters are so dynamically written that the really come to life as the book progress's. I can't wait to read the second in this series!

Enchanted Inc. sounded kinda fun, so I downloaded it for Kindle and started reading. It's an interesting twist on what's becoming a familiar premise: The modern industrial world lives in parallel with modern magic (a la Harry Potter), but in this case "muggles" (or immunes, as they're called here) are extremely valuable: They can see through magical deceptions and keep everyone on the straight and narrow. The heroine leaves a boring, soul-sucking job as a marketing assistant for a hot new career in magical verification. She loves it, they love her, and she finds herself blossoming in all directions.

That's the good part. Here's the bad: The book is at best an introduction to what (I suspect) the author hopes will be a long and lucrative series. It sets the stage, we meet the characters, there's an epic (if not well-explained) battle with the bad guys and.. CLUNK. No more book. I turned the page, expecting to find more story, and instead got "The End." It made me wonder if Ms. Swendson originally wrote a single, fully-fleshed manuscript and the publisher decided to break it up into more salable chunks. If so, a more graceful wind-down would have been appreciated. This one didn't even leave us with the traditional cliffhanger.

That said, would I buy the next book in the series? Yes. If it ends as abruptly as this one though, that'll be the last one I buy.

I absolutely adored this cute little book! I'd been wanting to read it for a while now and finally received it as a Christmas gift and once I got started I couldn't put it down! I have read a few fantasy/cozy/ chick-lit type books as of late and all of them have left me wanting a bit more. Enchanted Inc. on the other hand delivered all that was promised and then some!

When Katie Chandler finds out that she is completely un-magical it doesn't seem like such a great thing, cause everyone wants to possess a little magic. But as it turns out this very trait makes Katie Chandler quite remarkable because she can see things that others can't...such as fairies, sprites, talking gargoyles (you heard me right, talking gargoyles)etc. Because of this gift she is hired by a centuries old company called MSI Inc. Magic, Spells and Illusions to be a verifier. To be sure that everything is on the up and up and no one is trying to get by on a little illusion. But when Katie realizes that MSI is in big trouble and she may be the key to saving the company she begins to wonder if she has bitten off more than she can chew.

This is the beginning to a wonderful series and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next installment. 'ENCHANTED INC.' is highly recommended!

I've been waiting for a book like this to come along and am so glad to have found it! Katie Chandler is a normal ordinary girl who is adjusting to the strange life of the big city only to discover she's immune to magic. She's offered a job at MSI, Inc a magic company that produces spells and Katie life is soon more than ordinary! There's plenty of romance, magic, and a great fantasy element that makes this book so much fun. It combines the chic lit genre very well with the sci fi/fantasy genre and it works wonderfully. The author is very creative without being over the top, which I enjoyed-It made me wish I was so ordinary to see all the magic around too! There's already one sequel and hopefully more in this series. Katie's adventures in the magic world are fun to read and a great new twist on the typical single in the city books. A great book if you're looking for a unique story with loveable characters and interesting plot.