Enchanted, Inc.

I don't remember who recommended I buy this one--most likely it was several people, because I bought it new. If you were one of them, thank-you!

Enchanted, Inc. is fun, fun, fun. Small-town girl Katie Chandler has been living in the big city for a while now, and it's a big change. She's chalking up her boss's and co-workers' unappreciative response to her initiative to New York, but she's amazed that everybody else seems to take all the weirdness in stride--fairies, moving gargoyles, men who look sleazy but who her friends swoon over as if he's Johnny Depp...

Turns out there's a reason for that: Katie Chandler is a magical null. That is, she's immune to magic, something that's very rare, and why she's seeing through all the glamours. show more Those really are fairies and gargoyles, and the sleazy-looking man and his good-looking companion whom everyone else ignores are trying to recruit her to work for Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc.

She starts out as a spellchecker, but this time her initiative is a good thing, and soon she's in the thick of things, helping MSI in their fight against a competitor who's trying to sell black magic spells on the street.

I loved Katie's journey of finding out that magic is real--she was shocked and frightened, but she was also relieved, since it meant she wasn't crazy. She finds a home at MSI, but it's at the expense of being able to be honest with her best friend and roommate. Her emotions and reactions are believable, and she was easy to relate to.

Enchanted, Inc. has magic, humor, a touch of romance, and a strong, smart heroine finding her niche. I've got the second book on my list to buy. show less

This is the kind of "chick-lit" I love. Funny, low key romance, smart & likable heroine, and a generous dose of unreality. It's escapist pleasure at its best. I can't wait to read more about Katie and her friends at MSI, Inc.

So much fun! I love Katie Chandler and totally identify with her. She's such a smart and confident woman, but not so much so that you find her snobby. She's a fun and funny character that you can't help but root for from page one. I found myself giggling and being proud of her even at the climactic ending battle. Thank you, Ms. Swendson, for giving us such a likeable career woman in such a great situation. What a wonderful blend of chick lit and fantasy.

Funny, original and endearing characters. This novel has got it all and then some. An absolute most read!

Katie grew up in a small town in Texas, before moving to New York. She’s been living in the city one year now, and still can’t get over all of the strange things she keeps seeing, or why no one else seems to think what is going around the city is strange. Until she meets a group of people who offer her a job and tell her that she’s exactly what they’ve been looking for: someone who has absolutely no magic abililty within her. Apparantely, when you are a large company that deals with selling magic spells, having employees who have no magic in them is a very good thing, because they can spot enchantments or illusions that your competitors, suppliers, etc. may be using on you.

I normally don’t go for chick lit; it usually annoys show more me way too much, but there was just something about this book that really made me love it. Well, three somethings, really.

First, Katie is not a ditz – she actually comes across as quite smart, which is really refreshing. Second, she isn’t obsessed about finding a man. Yes, she does have a crush on a couple of men in the book, and at one point mentioned that it might be nice to actually have a boyfriend (as she hasn’t had one since she was a junior in college), but she in no way needs a man to survive. Thirdly, oh my goodness there are fairies, elves, ogres and Merlin. Merlin for goodness sake!

I must say that I enjoyed the book quite a bit. It was one of those books that you read in a day while you’re lying out beside the pool. I only regret that I lent out my copy of Once Upon Stilettos before I had the chance to read it. I didn’t think I’d get through this book quite this quickly, and be pining away for the next installment. show less

I really WANTED to like this, but the heroine just declared, as a self-pep talk, "I didn't have magical powers, an MBA, or a boyfriend, but I did have..." I'm not sure in what world those equate or why a BF is something you work to earn (like an MBA).

The world building is nice; the plot and the way things wonderfully fall into the lap of the ordinary but somehow very special heroine is not.


It's also curiously asexual for a romance (3 girls, one bedroom, 2 boyfriends, and no mention of how any of them get ANY privacy). It feels like one of the hero's main draws is he... blushes?

So I thought this was a cute first book in this series. I ended up reading up to book #6 and the charm started to wear off though. It started to feel a bit repetitive after a while. My major issue in this book though is that there is still a lot that is explained that I had questions about. Also Katie's friend's obsession with dating and finding boyfriends felt weirdly out of place in this book.

In "Enchanted Inc." Katie Chandler who has moved to New York from Texas, is given an intriguing job offer. A company called MSI Inc. wants to hire her and sends her repeated emails telling her to apply. Since her current box makes Miranda Priestly from the Devil Wears Prada look nice, Katie responds to the email she comes face to face with two show more men who tell her that magic is real, and she is an immune. An immune is someone that magic doesn't affect at all. They need more people like her in order to tell if they are being cheated when they do contracts concerning spells with other magic users.

The plot was good. We had Katie getting used to living in a world where magic is real, gargoyles talk and are part of security, where wizards, fairies, and even a part ogre are part of her day to day life.

Katie has a crush on one of the guys at her job (Owen) who is in research and development. I hope you love reading about how much the guy blushes through six books cause it's a lot. I did like the character of Owen, but there's no much development with this character in book one. I would say that there's not a lot of development with many of the characters in this one.

We also have a character who is introduced in this one as well, the creator of MSI, Inc., Merlin himself. We find out that Merlin had a thousand year sleep and was awaken due to a threat to the magical community. The threat is a rival organization setting up selling bad spells. Honestly, the bad guy in this series was lame. I wanted more details about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Other magical creatures, etc.

An interesting first book that spurred me to read the next five books though. show less