Once Upon Stilettos

Once Upon Stilettos by Shanna Swendson

Katie Chandler is back! Just a small town Texan girl living in the city. Her friends all think she's normal to a fault, but at work, her normalness is what makes her special. She's Merlin's Assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. because she's completely immune to magic. She can see through illusions and glamors.

Phelan Idris may have been defeated, but he hasn't given up. In fact, he's now stalking Katie outside of work to try to get under her skin (it's working.) Plus, top secret plans have been stolen from Owen's lab, so no one at MSI is trusting, or talking to anyone else, let alone working as a team. Merlin puts Katie on the task of finding out who's the inside-man and finding a way to boost morale. Plus, she's dating Ethan and trying to have one date where magic doesn't turn it into a disaster. To top it all off, her parents are in town, and it turns out, her mother's also immune.

Katie's barely keeping her head above water, and that's when her immunity goes away. And doesn't come back.

So, Katie explained *why* it took her so long to tell anyone she lost her immunity, but I totally wanted to smack her the entire time about that-- such a stupid decision. I did like Katie's interactions with her parents and how she kept having to come up with new excuses to give her mother about what she was seeing. I also really liked the mystery at play. I was very surprised by who the culprit turned out to be and did NOT see it coming, even though, looking back, the clues were completely there.

I also just love this brand of urban fantasy. Despite the big bads, it's light and fluffy and very fun.

I want more Rod. He's a character that's growing on me and I'd like to delve into that a little more. I also really loved the hilarity of when Katie was no longer immune to him.

But overall, I just like Katie. She's full of plain common sense (except for the stupid decision above) and has a good head on her shoulders. She's a bit insecure around guys, but not in a "oh, I'm so boring and normal and plain but every guy in the world wants me" sort of way. I find her insecurity honest and it doesn't get in the way of everything else. Yes, guys are there, but she has bigger things on her plate, so they're not the major priority.

Overall, it remains a fun series that I'm excited about reading more of.

Book Provided by... my local library

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