Not Your Everyday Fairy Godmother

Have you ever thought about how wonderful it is to be able to make decisions? The freedom to decide what to wear, how to act, or even who to marry?Or maybe you've felt that something was guiding, no, pushing you toward certain choices? If you have ever felt that you had no control over the path of your life, then you might just understand what it's like to be Elena Klovis.

Elena lives in one of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, which are governed by a powerful magical force called simply The Tradition. This magic gathers thickly around people who appear to be following a familiar fairytale path, and then ensures that they complete that path. And if you remember your fairytales well, you'll know that not all endings are happy. Elena was supposed to be a Cinderella, but the prince in her kingdom was only eleven years old! So she slaved under a cruel step-family as magic gathered around her, frustrating her, making her feel that she was supposed to do or be something else.

When her predictably evil step-mother and step-sisters leave her penniless to fend for herself, she goes in search of a job...and finds herself apprenticed to a Fairy Godmother. All the magic gathering around her gets put to good use as she dispenses potions, attends royal christenings, and tests questing knights and princes. Everything's going well for Godmother Elena, until she tests an unusually disagreeable prince, and decides to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, The Tradition has other plans for them. Elena must try to find a way to break Tradition, but there's only one problem: no one has been able to do it before.

Mercedes Lackey creates a warm, strong, and witty character in The Fairy Godmother, and a story that is easy to cuddle up with when life has got you down. This is the first book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series.