Review: Don't Hex With Texas by Shanna Swendson

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Don't Hex With Texas by Shanna Swendson

Published by Ballantine Books

ISBN: 978-0-345-49293-7

So Refreshing and Fun!

In Book Four of Shanna Swendson’s Enchanted series, Katie Chandler returns to her small hometown in Texas for a little respite from her crazy life in New York. No sooner does she settle in to her old job at her father’s feed and seed store does she start to observe some strange happenings in her tiny little town. After some investigating, she decides it’s time to call New York and get some backup – and wouldn’t it be nice if Owen showed up? Well, much to Katie’s delight, Owen does show up, and Katie’s mom is just a few steps shy of planning the wedding. Katie and Owen pretend their relationship is serious in order establish a cover story for his presence in town, but Katie wonders if his visit could be more than just business. Katie and Owen reunite to defeat the dark magic brewing in Texas, and perhaps a reunion of another sort?

Shanna Swendson does it again! I loved the first three books of this series and couldn’t wait to read number four, and I was not disappointed. Ms. Swendson continues her lighthearted take on magic and the paranormal, and again I was drawn into the story and didn’t want to put the book down. We were introduced to more of Katie’s family – and so was Owen – and found humor along the way. We are also introduced to Katie’s childhood friend, Nita, who is as boy-crazy as they come and a great addition to the cast of characters. I was a little disappointed as to how Ms. Swendson molded Owen into such a workaholic, and how it was very hard to "read" his feelings, but, unfortunately, I do think it was necessary as a part of his character to keep the book true to Owen and the rest of the series. This book had less romantic suspense than the other three books, and it also explored Katie’s family history of the immune and relation to the magic realm.

**SERIES ALERT** Here is my plea to keep this series alive! According to http://www.shannaswendson.com/, the fifth book in the series is underway, however, it doesn’t look promising that the publisher will publish it. If you want to see the fifth book published, sales need to start rising for books 3 and 4. Request them at your bookstores and your libraries. I, personally, have this book on my keeper list. I borrowed all 4 of the first books, and now I plan to buy them. Visit Ms. Swendson’s website for more details.