2008-05-05 Magic in a magic-free Texas town

This was a really good fun book! It's the fourth in the series about Katie Chandler, a Magical Immune who works for Merlin at Magic, Spells & Illusions Inc in New York. Except in this story Katie has returned home to Cobb, a small town in Texas and the home of her family. This is because the wizard Owen, who cares for Katie, was put in a difficult situation in an earlier book having to choose between her and others - and he chose her. Katie decided to leave New York and her job so as not to cause a problem for Owen. After all, magical things are unlikely to follow her to Cobb as it's a very unmagical town.

But now Katie's back home she starts noticing some odd things. Not only that, her mother seems to be seeing things that no-one else is - someone dressed up in strange robes doing odd dances outside the bank. Katie begins to wonder if Cobb is as free of magic as she previously thought and contacts Merlin to ask him about it. Merlin sends Sam the Gargoyle to check the town out - until Owen arrives.

Katie and Owen have to investigate the goings-on together and they soon uncover a culprit closer to home, some unusual family traits and that Owen's arch-nemesis Idris is behind it all. Can Katie and Owen eject the magic from Cobb and can Katie keep her various family members out of trouble?

The writing style of this book was great with events moving swiftly, characters appealing and quirky and a very slow-burn romance between Katie and Owen burning... slowly. The baddies weren't really bad, merely slightly naughty, and there were lots of opportunities for people to turn to a good path. This wasn't a dark book, the magic is a fun addition to the generally upbeat nature. I'll very much look forward to the next book in this series.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2008