To-do: Stop the bad guys. Rescue the wizard. Find the perfect outfit for New Year’s Eve. At last, Owen Palmer, the dreamboat wizard at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., has conjured up the courage to get Katie Chandler under the mistletoe at the office holiday party. But just when it looks like Katie has found her prince, in pops her inept fairy godmother, Ethelinda, to throw a wand into the works. Ethelinda’s timing couldn’t be worse. A plot hatched by MSI’s rogue ex-employees, Idris and his evil fairy gal pal Ari, threatens to expose the company’s secrets–and the very existence of magic itself. Even worse, it could also mean the end of Katie’s happily-ever-after. Now Katie and Owen must work side by side (but alas, not cheek to cheek) to thwart the villains’ plans. Braving black-magic-wielding sorceresses, subway-dwelling dragons, lovelorn frog princes, and even the dreaded trip to meet Owen’s parents at Christmas, Katie and her beau are in a battle to beat Idris at his own sinister game. All mischief and matters of the heart will come to a head at a big New Year’s Eve gala, when the crystal ball will drop, champagne will pour, and Katie will find herself truly spellbound. Praise for Shanna Swendson’s Once Upon Stilettos “Magical and totally delightful . . . [a] quirky, lighthearted romance.” –freshfiction.com “A fast and funny read. Chicklit meets urban fantasy.” –Mary Jo Putney, author of The Marriage Spell The third entry in Swendson's charming series, which began with Enchanted, Inc. (2005), finds Kate Chandler, whose immunity to magic makes her a valuable employee at the magic company where she works as Merlin's assistant, finally about to go on a date with her crush, handsome but bashful wizard Owen Palmer. While Kate waits for Owen to join her at a coffee shop, she encounters Ethelinda, a sloppy fairy claiming to be her fairy godmother, who unfortunately proves to be more hindrance than help. Matters become further complicated when Kate learns that Ari, a fairy who betrayed the company by helping their biggest rival, the wizard Idris, has escaped custody. Swendson blends chick lit and magic effortlessly, making the reader equally invested in the magical skulduggery and Kate's burgeoning romance with Owen, which includes a trip home to meet his icy foster parents. The novel culminates in an exciting ending guaranteed to leave readers thirsting for another chapter in this whimsical, clever series. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Shanna Swendson is the author of  Enchanted, Inc., Once Upon Stilettos,  and  Damsel Under Stress.  She's also contributed essays to books on such pop culture topics as  Pride and Prejudice, Firefly,  and  Battlestar Galactica.  When she’s not writing or watching television and movies so she can write about them, she enjoys cooking, traveling, singing, and looking for new hobbies to make her author bio longer and more interesting. She lives in Texas, but loves to play Southern belle in New York as often as possible. One The last thing I expected to see when I stepped through the door of the coffee shop was a fairy godmother. Not that fairy godmothers are normally high on the list of things I expect to see, even as weird as my life is. I work for a magical company, so running into fairies, gnomes, elves, wizards, and talking gargoyles is something that happens every day. But I’d never yet seen an honest-to-goodness fairy godmother, and I really wasn’t expecting to see one that morning because, for the first time in my life, I really didn’t need one. As of the night before, I had my Prince Charming. At the company Christmas party, Owen Palmer, the wonderfully handsome, brilliant, powerful wizard who also happened to be an incredibly nice guy, had kissed me like he meant it and told me he’d always had an interest in me. Yeah, the guy who was the magical world’s answer to a movie star liked plain old nonmagical Katie Chandler, the ordinary small-town girl from Texas. That Saturday morning was our first official date as two people who’d admitted that we had feelings for each other. We were meeting for brunch at a snug little coffee shop on Irving Place, possibly the most romantic New York setting I could imagine for a casual first date. Which meant, of course, that the fairy godmother had to be waiting for someone else. At least, I assumed she was a fairy godmother. I know making assumptions can be dangerous, but I was pretty good about seeing the truth, and she looked like Central Casting’s idea of a fairy godmother. She looked older than the eternally youthful fairies I knew, and her wings were a fairly good sign that she wasn’t just another eccentric New Yorker. A star-topped wand lying on the table in front of her was yet another clue. None of the other magical folk I knew used wands. Anyone else would surely have made the same assumption, if they saw what I saw. I almost felt sorry for whomever her Cinderella