“In the land of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, if you can’t carry out your legendary role, life is no fairy tale….
Elena Klovis was supposed to be her kingdom’s Cinderella–until fate left her with a completely inappropriate prince! So she set out to make a new life for herself. But breaking with “The Tradition” was no easy matter–until she got a little help from her own fairy godmother. Who promptly offered Elena a most unexpected job….

Now, instead of sleeping in the chimney, she has to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who keep trying to rise above their place in the tale. And there’s one in particular who needs to be dealt with….

Sometimes a fairy godmother’s work is never done….”

I‘m a big fan of Mercedes Lackey; I’ve read so many of her novels that I’ve started to lose track. This was the first ‘Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms’ book that I read however, and I gotta say — I absolutely love the twist on the classic fairy tale. In fact, it is less of a twist and rather a completely unique story that brings back the feelings from when you were a kid and were tempted to kiss all the frogs you saw – just in case.

It is all grown up, without feeling like a modified kids tale. There is romance of course – it’s a fairy tale! The character interaction is great and while you’re reading it you get the feeling that even though maybe your own story didn’t turn out quite the way you wanted it to – that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s a good feeling, and a great story!

/5

The rest of the series in order:

One Good Knight
Fortune’s Fool
The Snow Queen
The Sleeping Beauty

Beauty and the Werewolf (coming June 2011)

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