Dickerson is one of my favorites. She writes in such a way that just draws you in and doesn't let go. And her heroines are always strong characters - ones that inspire me in some ways. I thought this was a great retelling.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I unfortunately forgot to download the e-book on my kindle before it was archived and/or lost interest in the book because it’s been on my tbr for way too long, so I wasn’t able to read and review it (on time). Since I Must give a star rating, I’ve given it 3 stars to stay neutral/in the middle. Sorry to the publisher for not having gotten around to actually read it. I never request a book without the best of intention to read it and review it, since I know how important it is to the authors in particular. But sometimes life happens and/or reading preferences change so much that you just don’t always get around to read a certain book anymore, even though at the time of requesting I was definitely planning to actually read it of course.

Due to some health issues, I was unable to get this book read and reviewed in a timely manner. I apologize.

Christian fiction / Christian romance is deeply Not For Me, so when I realised this was one of those books I DNFed and then got so distressed about it that I let it languish on my digital shelf for, uh, two years, until I came to the stunning realisation that I'm not actually required to read this to give an opinion. My DNF opinion is fine. People give DNF opinions all the time on this site!!! Can you believe it took me two years to realise this. Anyway, I didn't finish this. I'm sure it has an audience but I'm not it.

Court of Swans is a YA folklore/fairytale retelling of The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson. This book is the first in a new series, the Dericott Tales, from HarperCollins Christian Publishing. It is a little slower paced than some YA novels, but worth the read. Likely anyone who enjoys fairytale retellings will enjoy it. This is one parents can give their teens without worry.

Court of Swans by Melanie Dickerson is the first in a series of fairytale retellings, set in medieval England.

After her father’s passing, Delia’s seven brothers—the youngest only 10 years old—are taken by the king’s guards and wrongly accused of treason. Delia suspects her step-mother of accusing them, and sets out alone to try to free them. Sir Geoffrey, the guard who arrested them, is suspicious of her, but even he can see the unjustness of accusing children.

Based off The Wild Swans fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers, this book is as an entertaining read. It wasn’t my favorite of Melanie Dickerson’s fairytales because not many things happened in the plot. However, I still enjoyed it and have continued the series.

Delia is a sweet, if foolish, young woman who I had the pleasure of watching grow in wisdom and strength throughout the novel. She asks God the same questions we all feel in very hard times—why does He allow the suffering and unjust treatment? I appreciated watching her struggle through the question and see that God is still faithful.

Rating: PG

I enjoyed this novel and recommend it to fans of fairytale retellings and clean historical romances.

I received a complementary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for sharing them.

Melanie Dickerson turns history into magic with the amazing Court of Swans. This retelling of The Wild Swans takes readers on a journey of love, power, and treason. The love of the Dericott children finds every way to defeat the power of the evil working against them. Will they find a way through, or will their lives shatter forever?

Delia, Lady Dericott, is one of my favorite heroines by far. Unfortunately, her willingness to trust the wrong people gets her into too much trouble. But, who of us hasn’t put our trust in the wrong people at one time or another? When she finally began to trust Sir Geoffrey, my heart soared. His demeanor changed when he learned he must transport children to their deaths. That alone made me love him. I knew then that he would do anything to help the brothers Dericott.

The Tower of London setting riled me. I’ve read many pieces about this daunting prison, but Dickerson’s powerful descriptions brought the tower to life in a way that no other story has ever done. Every single location mentioned came to life in ways I’ve never experienced. The lushness of the manor to the quiet beauty of the abbey made me see England in a new light.

There was nothing in this book that gave me cause to find fault. Though, Delia’s naiveness got a bit annoying after the first half. It’s this annoyance that has me awarding 4 stars instead of 5. After the conditions Delia saw and experienced, one would think she might find the truth about the world around her. But she never did.

Court of Swans took me on a journey of betrayal, greed, political intrigue, romance, and a smidgen of magic.

Books set during the medieval time period have always intrigued me. I always dreamed that Knights were men of honor. This book is a reminder that the time period had a lot of problems too.
The story and plot were written in such a way that it seemed it really could have happened. I loved the gentle love story, the honor of the brothers, and the tender romance with Sir Geoffrey caught my imagination.

I recommend this book to everyone who loves the time period and a fairy tale retelling.

Source: I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Court of Swans is the first novel in the Dericott Tales, which is a new historical fiction fairytale retelling series set in England. In this novel, it retells “The Wild Swans” story. Delia’s brothers have been arrested in the Tower of London and are awaiting execution. In order to help her brothers, Delia becomes a seamstress to the queen. She finds romance in Sir Geoffrey who arrested her brothers. Can Delia and Geoffrey find a way to free her brothers?

I was excited to read Court of Swans since this was a departure from Mrs. Dickerson’s Hagenheim series. I was also curious to see how she would retell “The Wild Swans'' since it is one of my favorite fairytales. If it was done right, this would be a very emotional and heart-wrenching retelling. Court of Swans started off to a promising start, but it quickly went downhill. The reason for this is because the story was rushed and Mrs. Dickerson did not spend much time focusing on her characters.

Delia is the main protagonist in this novel. At first, Delia starts off strong. She is a kind woman who loves her brothers. She is very naïve. I admired her courage to try to rescue her brothers no matter the personal cost. However, after she becomes a seamstress, she is very bland. She becomes a damsel in distress and has to be rescued by others. She is not the strong self-willed heroine from the original novel who through her own determination rescues herself from being burned at the stake. She was very easily manipulated. Her romance with Sir Geoffrey was also forced. There was no development in their romance, and I wondered why she was in love with him since he played a role in arresting her brothers. It seems the only reason she liked him was because of his looks instead of his personality. Thus, Mrs. Dickerson did not take the time to develop the characters or their relationship.

This novel is about family, hope, and faith. The message of the book is to believe in God because He will solve all problems. The characters are stereotypical. The villains are very cartoonish. The story starts out strong but dragged in the middle. It did pick back up pace within the last few pages. Thus, Court of Swans would have been a more enjoyable novel had Mrs. Dickerson more time developing the story instead of rushing to the final end. As a result, it had many flaws. Still, I am interested in reading the next installments of the Dericott Tales series because I am eager to learn what happens to Delia’s family. I recommend this novel for fans of Dauntless, Evermore, and Fated!

I love Melanie Dickerson's books but this one was kind of boring and slow-paced. I hope the next book in the series is better than this one.

thank you to the other and netgalley for letting me read this book.

It has been a while since I have read a book by Melanie Dickerson, and I really don't know why it has been so long because I really enjoyed Court of Swans.

Court of Swans is based of Hans Christen Anderson's The Wild Swans. We follow Lady Delia Dericott, whose father has just died and her older brother has assumed his rightful place as heir. However, he and his six brothers are soon arrested, on the grounds of treason against King Richard and are taken away to the Tower of London. However, Delia knows that her brothers innocent, and that somehow her stepmother is responsible for their arrest. She sets off for London to try and figure out a way to rescue them. While she tries to figure out how to release them, she gets help from an unlikely source, Sir Geoffrey, who was the knight who arrested her brothers. What will happen when they realize that they are running out of time? And will they manage to save the Dericott brothers from execution?

I enjoyed Court of Swans because not only is it a fairy tale retelling, but it is also set in 14th century England, a period full of political intrigue and corruption. I loved learning a bit more about this time period and how cut-throat it could be if one was at the mercy of those who craved power.

Pacing wise, the novel started out really strong, but once it got to about the 200 pages mark it started to lose steam a little bit, but I can also appreciate that the author did not try to rush the ending.

Throughout this book there are several discussions about God and justice, and why He allows injustice to happen. One line that sums up these discussions that stood out to me was in a discussion that Delia has with Sir Geoffrey, and he tells her, "But not I realize that even though God is good and just and He will eventually make all things right, sometimes wrongs are not made right in this life" (Loc. 1601). This was a great reminder that in the end God will serve out justice to all. It also reminds me that as a believer, this earth is not my home.

I also enjoyed getting to know both Delia and Sir Geoffrey and watching them grow as individuals over the course of the novel. I hope we get a glimpse of them in the next novel, which will be Edwin's - Delia's older brother - story and it is supposed to be an Ugly Duckling retelling.

Overall, I really enjoyed Court of Swans and I definitely need to go back into Melanie Dickerson's backlist and read some more of her books. 4/5 Stars.

This was a lovely, heart-warming romance set in the Middle Ages of England and was well wrtten with great character development. Reading #courtofswans is a great way to spend a few hours and I am looking forward to the continuation of Geoffrey and Delia’s story! Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for this ARC to read and review.

I love reading stories involving the British Nobility and this story made me fall in love with knights and chivalry all over again. Edwin, Earl of Dericott is my new Knight in shining armor who, despite losing a limb embodies all the attributes of chivalry I've grown to love and then some. Short a limb this ties in with the fairy tale The Ugly Duckling. We meet Audry with the beautiful soul tormented by a jealous sister who intentionally disfigures her. Will these two Ugly Ducklings be able to rise above their disfigurements and find the love only found in fairy tales? I really enjoyed reading this story to find out. Thank you to Melanie and NetGalley for the ARC Copy.

I've always enjoyed the story of The Wild Swans and was excited to read this retelling of it. I enjoy seeing how different authors have their own take on stories.

This is a YA version but I found I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't want to set it down and only did when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I was swept up in the story of Delia's family and her desire to help save her brothers. Especially how the book opened up with a very mean stepmother. Delia and her brothers were confused on what was happening. Then jump to her being left with the only one who could step forward and try anything to help save her seven brothers.

I was impressed with her courage and determination. I also really enjoyed Sir Geoffrey and the development of their relationship. It definitely started off rocky and had some bumps along the way. And Delia isn't sure whom she can trust. She has a lot to learn and must be careful in what she says. She makes mistakes in whom she trusts and learns quickly from those mistakes.

I enjoyed the storyline and how the plot moved along. There were some points where it was a slower for me but I'm sure it will be enjoyed by many other readers.

Content: Clean. Some minor fights and a sword injury but nothing graphic.

I received a copy from the publisher, Thomas Nelson--Fiction, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

DNF at 20%.

Unfortunately I found both the characters and the writing bland, and I found the historical setting rather inaccurate - the legality of the central device, and the setting of the Tower of London, just don't ring true at all. The description is very flat and seems to just be a list of actions rather than having any depth. I can't get invested in it, I'm afraid.

Melanie's writing is always lovely and easy to read. Her retellings are always so beautifully done. I did get the chance to read Court of Swans, book one, of the series and I knew I wanted to continue reading the series. Book one got a 3.75 star rating from me, so I had high expectations for this book and it did get better to me.

Edwin was one of my favorites from book one so I was excited to see how he would fair in his own book after such a tragic mishap with his arm. I loved seeing him really want to fight for justice after his own horrible battle at the hands of twisted men and women.

Audrey is the daughter of a viscount. She is sweet and compassionate. She was physically harmed and scarred by her own sister. At some points I did find her a bit whiny, but she was more interesting to me than Delia, Edwin's sister.

Maris, the villain of the story, was by far annoying. I don't want to waste my words on her character.

I liked seeing the two of them bond and learn more about themselves and one another. Seeing them want to help others and do better for themselves was inspiring. Their friendship was beautiful. They didn't allow tragedy and misfortune to ruin their lives. Rather, they allowed the ashes to turn to beauty.

I enjoyed the story and can't wait for more books in this series!

A big thank you to the author Melanie Dickerson the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review of the book.

I enjoyed this book. It is a story about wealth, power and greed. It is the story of an Earl whose fist wife dies and who remarries an unpleasant woman. He dies suddenly, leaving his oldest son (1 0f 7 from his first wife) to inherit his title. His widow craves the title for her son and starts a plot to get rid of the 7 brothers by having them accused of treason to the crown. Their sister takes matters into her hands and attempts to rescue them. It is the story of how they try to achieve this.

It was an entertaining story, but not a deeply engaging read. My concerns for the story include a fairly simplified romance and due to its heavy religious threads.

Anything by Melanie Dickerson always catches my eye, and I was excited to be chosen to be a part of her newest series! As always, Ms. Dickerson does excellent writing, and while I enjoyed the book immenseley, It still seemed like some of the same reused tropes. Enemies to lovers, damsel in distress. After some of the other's like the Warrior Maiden and the Piper's Pursuit I had hoped to have a little less stereotypical themes in this series.

However, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I am excited to see where this series goes next for Edwin!

Court of Swans is the first installment from The Dericott Tales series. It is exactly what I expect from Melanie Dickerson. Highly recommend it.
Five stars.

Another updated fairy tale by Melanie Dickerson. Well crafted. Beautifully written. Clever. Intriguing. Endearing. Five stars.