Damsel Under Stress

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 SpellFrom the Trade Paperback edition.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Romance, Fantasy. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.