3.5
The Cyprian
ByPublisher Description
A cozy, cottage-core Regency fantasy perfect for fans of Bridgerton
Elena Whitstone and her seven brothers, abandoned by her mother, find themselves with a new stepmother. At first she seems more neglectful than evil, until just after Christmas she proves herself to be worse than evil; she is an actual magician, a Master of Water, who attempts to muder Elena's seven brothers when they are skating. When they survive that attempt by transforming into swans, she drives them away.
But the shock of having all of his heirs perish in a frozen pond is too much for Elena's father. He dies, and his widow is abruptly confronted with the inconvenient truth that the estate is entailed, and she not only must leave, she is lawfully in charge of Elena.
Furious, and possessing "only" what was gifted to her during her marriage, the stepmother retreats to Bath, to take up residence in the luxurious townhouse that was bought for her, and resume her former profession as a "Cyprian," a very exclusive courtesan, with Elena reluctantly posing as a page-boy and her servant. Nothing lasts forever, of course, and three years later, Elena is rapidly maturing too much to continue that ruse--and the stepmother is facing the ravages of time. The stepmother concocts a plan to establish an exclusive brothel and regain her wealth by selling Elena to the highest bidder.
Alone, Elena must not only find a way to save herself, but to reverse the spell that has transformed her brothers.
The latest in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series is a stand-alone romantasy based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans.
Elena Whitstone and her seven brothers, abandoned by her mother, find themselves with a new stepmother. At first she seems more neglectful than evil, until just after Christmas she proves herself to be worse than evil; she is an actual magician, a Master of Water, who attempts to muder Elena's seven brothers when they are skating. When they survive that attempt by transforming into swans, she drives them away.
But the shock of having all of his heirs perish in a frozen pond is too much for Elena's father. He dies, and his widow is abruptly confronted with the inconvenient truth that the estate is entailed, and she not only must leave, she is lawfully in charge of Elena.
Furious, and possessing "only" what was gifted to her during her marriage, the stepmother retreats to Bath, to take up residence in the luxurious townhouse that was bought for her, and resume her former profession as a "Cyprian," a very exclusive courtesan, with Elena reluctantly posing as a page-boy and her servant. Nothing lasts forever, of course, and three years later, Elena is rapidly maturing too much to continue that ruse--and the stepmother is facing the ravages of time. The stepmother concocts a plan to establish an exclusive brothel and regain her wealth by selling Elena to the highest bidder.
Alone, Elena must not only find a way to save herself, but to reverse the spell that has transformed her brothers.
The latest in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series is a stand-alone romantasy based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Cyprian Reviews
3.5
“A regency fantasy take on Hans Christian Andersons ‘The Wild Swans’. Cozy until about 70% and suddenly shit hits the proverbial fan! It took a long time to get there and the pacing issue took away a star from me. That being said I am more intrigued in checking out the rest of the Elemental Masters books!”
“For lovers of retellings, Ms Lackey's twist on The Wild Swans is an enjoyable experience. Elena jumps between wise beyond her years when planning how to make herself useful to her new stepmother, to justifiably naive when finally leaving the estate after her strangely sheltered and smothered childhood. I enjoyed how the Elemental Masters and magic were added into the basic fairytale, so that her rescuers were equipped to help her and her brothers recover after the damage the stepmother had done (which always just gets swept under the rug in the original tales). Elena's needlework skills and how that translated into her quick study of magic was a fun added detail and I kept wishing I could actually see the clothing and accessories she designed and made. I continue to read and enjoy this series of books from one of my favorite authors.
Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the #gifted #eARC.”
“I'm a sucker for fairytale retellings and this is one of the good ones!
I really enjoyed Lackey taking the time to let us get to know the brothers and the siblings' relationships to one another. I didn't realize this was part of a long series of books when I requested the ARC, but I was pleased to find out that you can definitely read it as a standalone. I'll probably look into the other books in the series because I found Lackey's writing really enjoyable. I especially liked the descriptions we get of food, sewing, and clothing. I can see why people are calling it "cozy" when applying it to those descriptions, however it feels misleading. This feels like a regency fairytale, not a cozy read. There is hardship and a sudden occurrence of sexual violence which place it away from cozy, in my opinion. What takes away a full star from being a solid 5 star read is the abrupt ending. Lackey does really well at the slow build and even pacing but it changes into a rapid wrap up of an ending starting at the 80% mark. It’s still a really nice read but holy cow, the way it ended seemed like an entirely different author got ahold of the novel. All the time we spent with the family is wrapped up in literally 2 paragraphs.
Overall, a solid read that made me want to delve into the other parts of the series. Thank you Netgalley and DAW for my ARC!”
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