Everything's Better With Elves

An offbeat urban fantasy by Megan Smith, Everything's Better With Elves is a collection of interconnected short stories featuring a mischievous elf named Sal, his various relations, and a hall of female college students, headed up by Laura, "the upright and virtuous RA".


 * Curious as a Monkey: Sal has shades of this, especially in the prequel, "If You Give an Elf a Cookie".
 * Doomed by Canon: Adrav has to die, because it was established in the first book that Sal only has one living sister.
 * The Dulcinea Effect: Sal instantly falls for the pretty blond roommate.
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Laura and Kim are the only humans with names; everyone else is known by various descriptions, most prominently the girl with improbably long hair, and her roommate, mostly called the "Elf Goddess".
 * Extreme Omnivore: Sal's primary diet consists of trash, and he'll eat pretty much anything besides ceramic. It hurts his teeth.
 * Footnote Fever: Easily the best part of the work
 * Friend to All Living Things: Laura
 * Good Samaritan: Laura again
 * Grumpy Bear: The girl with improbably long hair
 * The Heart: Laura, yet again
 * Lemony Narrator
 * Mouthy Kid: Many of Sal's children, particularly Addie
 * Nephewism: Sal's 11 nieces/nephew/adopted children come to live with him.
 * Our Elves Are Better: Averted, despite the title. These elves are more like perpetually hyperactive children.
 * Retcon: Sal went from having only one sister to only one living sister...and a whole mess of nieces (and a nephew)
 * Shallow Love Interest: The "Elf Goddess"
 * Sweet Tooth: Sal. His children inherited his taste buds, apparently.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Addie and Tully
 * Why Couldn't You Be Different??: Sal's mother apparently felt this way about Adrav