VDBiF 1: Miss Prince

Lucinda has a wicked stepfather to defeat.

Not hers, her father is very nice and is letting her save up for that plane ticket she wants so badly.No, she's been employed as a prince, her boss having run out of real ones, and she has dragons to fight, damsels to rescue and a usurper to dethrone.

And to do it she's got the help of a witch who won't use magic, a vampire who won't terrorise the villagers(much to their annoyance) and two princesses who might have qualified as damsels in distress if only they weren't causing so much of their own.

In the Otherworlds, where your species can be a job description and good is expected to win over evil without even breaking a sweat, it should have been easy.

But the stories are breaking, and nothing is that simple any more.

Is a plane ticket really worth all this..?

VDBiF 2: The Map is the Treasure

Joshua is not a hero. A merchant's son, all he wants is a quiet life at home helping out with the family business.

Unfortunately, he was nice to someone down on their luck, and if there is one thing that will get you noticed by a story more than being awful to pitiful strangers, it's being nice to them.

So now he's working as a privateer-slash-treasure hunter, along with selkies, kelpies and a whole host of other monsters, adrift on a world that is almost entirely covered in ocean, full of mermaids, pirates, excitement and adventure.

Whether he likes it or not.

VDBiF 3: Vampires Don't Belong in Fairyland

Fairyland, which normally has more kings and queens than you can shake a stick at, is down to only two. In recent years, the royalty have developed a bad habit of disappearing.

Tyrian is about to disappear too. He has a magical artefact to dispose of. Legend says that if all three of the Fairyland treasures are brought together, they unlock a terrible power. The advisor from the next Realm has developed a bad case of Grand Vizier and is out to get them and take his crown. Two thirds of the country is already under her control and if he doesn't do something fast, it'll be three thirds.

If he was still a prince, this would all be so much easier. But he's stuck with the title of king, and kings don't rescue people or countries. He's going to need some help...

VDBiF 4: Magic and Other Things in Bottles

Victor is shy. Which is a bit of an understatement, but it sounds so much better than 'terrified of humanity'. His mother has always kept him away from humans, which is a drawback for a vampire. It's difficult to bite people you won't stay in the same room as for more than five seconds. So when he turns up at his cousin's wedding sporting the tell tale signs of mana deprivation, his family decides to intervene.

Before he knows it, he's packed up and moved in with his uncle. He has lots of uncles, but this particular one is Tyrian, King of the Dark Realm of Fairyland, and Tyrian has his own problems. One of them is Joshua, who refuses to co-operate in the search for his parents and who is still missing a hand.

In fact, Tyrian's troubles keep him so busy that Victor is often left alone. He's not too keen on interacting with any of the human staff; there are so many, you'd think he wasn't in Fairyland at all. But he does run into some non-humans, and it's so much easier to make friends with them... although, it could just be that she really, really needed someone to hand that mysterious artefact to.

VDBiF 2.5: Fairy Roots

Will has taken a gap year to find his roots, which most people assume means he's related to a tree. This is because he's taking his gap year in Fairyland, where it's entirely possible. His mother used to tell him stories about how it was a terrible place where monsters were waiting to gobble him up. It was really no way to discourage a small boy.

He's on a quest to find his changeling great-grandmother, soak up the culture and put off getting a proper job for another year. Armed with a hooded cloak to hide his ears, a bag of props and his love of Shakespeare, he lands himself the position of court jester, for King Tyrian.

But after a lifetime of longing, his co-workers don't seem to like him, his mother was right about the monsters, his boss has a crush on him, and he's no idea what to do about any of it.

He really did his research, but no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, even if you really like the enemy and don't want to have to run screaming from them...

Other books

Eggs, Butter, Sugar and Disaster

Seralina didn't mean to become a goddess. Especially not the unimpressive sounding 'Goddess of Puddings'. But that's what happens when you go around ignoring perfectly clear warning labels.

In between working as a part-time valkyrie in the goddess Freya's new Ginza bar, Seralina and her cat-dragon-bird thing familiar Phin travel around the Afterlives, encountering gods, spirits and talking trees - sometimes not even as a result of being really bad at flying.

The gods are rather disturbingly like humans; some are kind and helpful, some are petty and jealous and some are more than happy to use a hapless do-gooder for their own ends...