This book was interesting. I don't regret reading it but neither do I think I will read it again.
The writing of this book was good. It was never choppy. It was a little overly poetic at times for me, but I think most would really like it.
It was interesting to see how Dietrich's actions were explained as the story went on. It was obvious that he did everything that he did do out of wanting to protect the people he was around.
One thing I wish I knew was more of Ava's plans for the throne. She does not seem to have any motivation for wanting it other than keeping it out of her sister's grasp.

3.5/5

Content: death, violence

*I received a copy of this novel on NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

I have to admit, this book took me a little while to get into. I love fairy tale adaptations. This was a pretty good, imaginative adaptation of the story. Val is a princess who, on the day of her coronation, is magically turned into a swan and finds out the person closest to he was behind it. The sorcerer, Dietrich, seems evil (hey he turned her into a swan) but he did do all this for a good reason.

After the initial 10%, the story picked up and I appreciated that this story was quite imaginative. A good adaptation.

I was super excited to read the shared world books in this new series of fairytale retellings, and Lucy does not disappoint! It’s not only a wonderfully written story with a captivating storyline, but the characters were also a great joy to read about. Plus that gorgeous cover!

'The Sorcerer and The Swan Princess': 4⭐

(Unpaid Review: thank you to Netgalley, Lucy Tempest and the publishers for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review.)

Hello, Swan Princess retelling *you all yell of enthusiasm now*
I don't think you understand how obsessed I am with this woman's writing! Not only did she give the Swan Princess a better ending as she also give her a better beginning. HOW ISN'T THIS BOOK MORE HYPED?!

“Men like me don’t get to be with women like you. We don’t get the princess and the happy ending. We get killed by the prince and become a cautionary tale for anyone who dares to reach beyond their lot in life, let alone dream of winning a love that defines eras.”

I received an ARC through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and left voluntarily. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy. 

Genre: fantasy, romance
Tropes: cursed & captured heroine, betrayal from a close person, enemies to lovers
Series: A Villain's Ever After #9 (can be read as a stand-alone)
Cliffhanger: No

This was definitely a fun read. Not deep, not extremely touching, but catchy, easy to read and very fast-paced. You don't have time to get bored, but you also don't have time to fall in love with the characters (which is a pity because the ideas and the world described are really great).

“I should have known you’d be trouble when the form you took was a swan.”

It's a very nice fairy tale retelling for The Swan Princess and, even though the characters lacked depth, I enjoyed this novel. I loved the imagination and the easy way the story has unfolded, I found particular delight in the scene with the wedding crashing and the shoe throwing (it simply reminded me a lot of Rhys and Feyre from ACOTAR) and I appreciated the way the dialogs between Ava and Dietrich were written.

I recommend this to anyone in search of a fast and easy read, with fantasy and a bit of romance. Perfect for a weekend afternoon or a road trip.

I really liked this one. It was quite a quick read but very entertaining.
All the spins on Swan Lake made sense, even if they were a bit cliché.
It could have been a little bit more thought out, longer, but on the other hand I get that the story doesn’t give much more and would probably become boring and drawn out.

I have always had a weakness for fairy tales and folklore stories. The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess is a retelling of The Swan Princess. A story I loved to watch when I was younger. And still love to be honest.

The book is part of “A Villain's Ever After Series". The series takes a spin on the well-known and loved fairy tales we know, but only this time, we look at it from a different perspective. One where the villain may not be as bad as we think they are.

In The Sorcerer and The Swan Princess, we follow Crown Princess Ava who is betrayed by her own twin sister. She is transformed into a swan and taken to a place of mystery and magic, where her captor, Dietrich holds her. Although she is taken away from her home and her duty, she gets to know Dietrich, the sorcerer who can cast magic. And so the story unfolds with elements of magic, dancing, flying, and romance.

Some of the elements that I loved:
- The bond and growing affection and empathy between Ava and Dietrich. It unfolded beautifully and made my heart ache for them.
- The dance references and scenes reminded me of a ballet performance. I did read this book while listening to a light academia playlist.
- The romance. Absolutely love the princess and villain love story.
- The Magic the sorcerer uses and we see throughout the story.

The story gave me a fairytale, a love story filled with magic and heart-pounding scenes. A story I recommend for those who love such stories. Fans of the Swan Lake / Swan Princess, fairy tales, romance and a happy ending for villains.

I picked up this book because of how much I loved the Barbie Swan Princess moving growing up. It was a quick paced read, that was enjoyable. I did not like how the main difference between the twin princesses were Ava's larger front teeth and Lena's personality. I feel like in a retelling there should a slightly better way to tell identical twins apart than based off appearance a personality. They were very clearly pitted against each other by everyone, so I couldn't really blame Lena for wanting to take over her sisters life.

It was a quick read, and I would definitely pick up something by the author again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lucy Tempest for a an e-arc of The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess.

I enjoy retellings and haven’t read anything Swan Princess related in years so thought this would be a fun read. I know this is book nine in the series (and I haven’t read any of the others) but based on the blurb figured it would be ok to read as if it's a standalone and it defintiely can be read as one.

I was wanting something quick and with a bit of magic - this fit that. Overall it was an enjoyable read, but the writing wasn't my favorite. This is also marked as a romance, which it is, but it definitely felt like more of a YA romance than an adult even though the characters were in their 20s.

It’s not a book I will probably read again, but I can see a lot of people enjoying this. So if you enjoy retellings, give it a try.

This was a quick read that was pretty enjoyable, even though it wasn’t particularly deep.

In this retelling of Swan Lake, we have an enemies to lovers storyline that could have been cookie-cutter but there was an added twist that kept it interesting.

Aventina (Ava)is turned into a swan by the sorcerer Dietrich who was paid by Aventina’s twin sister Avenlina, who took her place as crown princess. Cue Ava and Dietrich disliking each other from the start. As the story progresses, we learn Dietrich isn’t the villain and it turns out he accepts dodgy job offers that pay well to help protect and teach other sorcerers. Add in Ava retaking her rightful place, falling in love with Dietrich, getting a bit of revenge against her sister, and ultimately working to change everyone’s minds about sorcerers.

This was a quick read and with the many different threads coming together, I would have like a little longer book that had some more details. But I thought the characters were well written and for someone who likes fairy tale retelling, I enjoyed this!

This was an interesting read. It wasn’t exactly my kind of story so I can’t say I loved it but I did enjoy parts of it.

I liked Ava. I sympathized with her and really enjoyed seeing her passion for dancing. I also liked that she tried to see the best in people.
Now Dietrich wasn’t a favorite for me. I didn’t really dislike him but I never really loved him. I know with him being “the villain” of the story, this is expected. But even after his character development and after getting to know him, I didn’t really feel any certain way towards him. Just neutral I guess.

The romance was pretty sweet. I do like enemies-to-lovers.
I’ll have to say the first part was my favorite of the story. It was the most interesting to me.
I also liked the message of not judging someone merely by rumors you’ve heard or before you actually know them.

In conclusion, while this wasn’t a favorite for me, it is an interesting book that’s well written.

*Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

The Sorcerer and The Swan Princess by Lucy Tempest

This quick read had so many delightful pieces packed in that I don’t even know where to start!

TSaTSP is a retelling of Swan Lake and it follows the soon to be queen, Aventina as she is usurped on her coronation day by her twin sister Avenlina. Not only is her crown, kingdom, and childhood crush stolen from her, but she falls into the dubious hands of Lord von Rothbart, a sorcerer known throughout the land for his dark magic.

I am a HUGE fan of retellings and there are so few for The Swan Lake that I just had to read this. Anyone else spend half their childhood re-watching Barbie of Swan lake? No? Come on, don't lie.

Let me just list a few reasons why I enjoyed this book so much:
~Enemies to lovers trope
~hurt/comfort trope
~Evil sorcerer with a soft side
~magic school
~Lots of cool flying scenes
~An emphasis on ballet
~Chronic pain rep that isn’t magically cured

It’s a short read and definitely has its cheesy parts but I had a great afternoon reading it all in one sitting. Surprisingly nothing felt rushed and though there could have been more, I was happy with how it was. Also great for anyone looking for a good non-spicy romance! I can’t wait to read more books from Tempest!

Thank you to Lucy Tempest and NetGalley for the eARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was a different take on the Swan Princess and I enjoyed it. It's definitely a YA read. While I liked the interaction between the two main characters I really would've liked to have found out more about magic and how abilities were enhanced etc.
Very sad about the twin being the vindictive one.
A fitting ending.
3.5 stars

I love all of Lucy Tempest’s books! They are fantastic retellings of fairytales with such interesting twists. The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess is the 9th book in the multiple author A Villain's Ever After series. The Sorcerer and the Swan is a retelling of Swan Lake, but it has a twist. This story is different from what has been told for years. It is a thrilling book about seeing behind the darkness.
Princess Aventina is ready to ascend to the throne and become the best queen she can be to help her people. However, all of her plans are thrown aside when she finds herself a swan. She is taken by the sorcerer who cursed her, Lord Von Rothbart, but she is determined to find her way home. But as she spends time with Lord Von Rothbart, Dietrich, she finds that all was not as it seemed. She finds herself falling for the man hidden behind the masks he wears
Aventina was such an interesting character. She was the perfect daughter who was ready to ascend to the throne. I really liked Ava’s growth as a character. She grew up and learned from her mistakes. She had been told her whole life that magic was evil, but as she spent time with the man who cursed her, she learned that all was not as it should be. I thought that Ava was really cool and it was sweet to read about her falling in love with Dietrich. Ava had to learn how to get back up after falling and how to fly again.
I liked Dietrich from the beginning. He had a hidden kindness behind his sorcery. He didn’t want to hurt others, but he also needed to care for those around him. I loved his character and how he wanted to help Ava even though she was mad at him. However, Dietrich had to work though his own demons of the past. He wanted to make the world safe for his people, but he was also scared. He was willing to risk it all to save those under his care.
Ava and Dietrich were such fun and interesting characters. There were so many hidden aspects about them that they hid from the world. I loved reading about them falling in love and fighting for what is right. I was amazed by the evil of the people around them, and the villain was kind of a surprise. But I adored the storyline and I read this novella in one day!
The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess is definitely a must read! It was such a cool look at Swan Lake! I loved the characters and I could not put the book down. I am excited to read what Tempest writes next. The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess is a clean fairy tale retelling.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, I was not required to write a positive review.

The villain turns into the hero. This short retelling of Swan Lake is impressive.

Deitrich, the powerful sorcerer has his reasons for taking commissioned work. Even the immoral ones. His current assignment is a cruel one. Ava's twin is like the wicked witch who stops at nothing to get what she wants. First impressions of Deitrich are not endearing. He sets out to do what he is paid for and Ava is on the receiving end of this horrible ploy. She doesn't like him at all at the begenning, but as the tale unfolds, she sees another side to him. If anything, he makes her realise what was really planned for her. What she learns is hard to come to terms with. In his own way, Deitrich is helpful in making her realise her worth. There is poetic justice in the end, but will Ava and Deitrich have a future together?

The twists and turns are well portrayed. Envy is a terrible thing. Love triumphs over the betrayal that causes so much pain. It's an enchanting fairytale.

This was such a good read, I loved the twists of the original story and the writing kept me engaged I can't wait to read more for this author

4.5 magical little stars

"Men like me don't get to be with women like you. We don't get the princess and the happy ending. We get killed by the prince and become a cautionary tale for anyone who dares to reach beyond their lot in life, let alone dream of winning a love that defines eras."

I really loved this. My expectations were pretty high after reading the synopsis and I'm so happy this lived up to them. The swan falling in love with her sorcerer just screamed of potential for a truly amazing romance and it really was, so sweet and wonderful. I absolutely adored how vulnerable Dietrich and Ava were with each other and how he helped her work through the hurt of her sisters betrayal. I just wish this had been longer! It would've fleshed out the characters and plot a little more, and created some push and pull with Ava's feelings for Dietrich and her realisation that he is a good man overall.

Such a unique and heartwarming retelling of Swan Lake. I'm so excited to read Lucy Tempest's other work.

*I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

There were some grammatical errors that will hopefully be fixed in the final copy.

I got sucked right in to this unconventional retelling of the Swan Princess. There were twists and turns and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I can’t wait to read the others in the series.

First off, can we just talk about how cool Lucy Tempest's name is? It literally means 'light' and 'a violent storm,' and it is absolutely perfect for a fantasy author. Anyways, on to the book itself, I am such a sucker for a retelling. I grew up doing ballet, and so Swan Lake has always been near and dear to my heart (I may have also been slightly influenced by the Barbie movie that was all the rage when I was little). Lucy not only met my expectations, but exceeded them.

One thing I love seeing in all of the retellings I read is what they choose to keep original and what they choose to change. Lucy did a great job with balancing this. The story was close enough to the original that I was reminded just why I loved the story as a child, but also different enough so that I was kept on my toes and intrigued to see what was going to happen next. Ava and Dietrich's relationship was the perfect enemies-to-lovers story, but one I didn't see coming until a good ways into the book. I also loved that Lucy kept ballet as an integral part of the story, since that was how the story was initially told.

I really only have two complaints. First, there were a few cliches with the effortlessly gorgeous and good Princess Ava and the dashing bad-boy-turned-hero Dietrich. They were still fully formed characters, but I would have loved to see a little less of the cliche fantasy heroes in them. The second complaint I have is that this story isn't longer. I know it was written as a novella for a series of fairy tale retellings, but if that hadn't been the case I would have loved to be able to spend more time with Ava and Dietrich.

Overall it was a delightful retelling of Swan Lake, and it made for the perfect afternoon read.

Reader’s Notes:

– there is a sibling willing to do anything to get what they want (including orchestrate a murder)

– someone is killed and the book describes their limbs as looking like a loosed marionette and later there is a threat of cutting off someone’s hand (these are quick and gone again descriptions/sentences)

– if you haven’t read any of Lucy Tempest’s books yet, there will be a few sayings/goings on (maybe 3?) that might be a slight bit confusing but aren’t essential to understanding this story

Review:

I really enjoyed this twist on Swan Lake! As with the rest of this series, we get to see the villain of the story (in this case Lord von Rothbart) find happily ever after. But how can someone make the villain look like a good match for the heroine? You make them to be someone other than what we’ve been told over and over again that they are.

It was cool to see Lucy spin a new Rothbart, one who still seemed like the villain that steals away a maiden and makes her turn into a swan. But he’s much more than that…he parades himself to be a villain in order to do services with his magic in exchange for money to keep those he is protecting safe and well fed.

And our swan princess, Ava, has a twin sister. One who looks exactly like her, except for a few small details that only a few could recognize. Which Lina (the twin) takes advantage of on the same night Ava believes she has met her true love. Hiring Rothbart, Lina has Ava turned into a swan and taken far from the kingdom so that she can take her place as crown princess. Dutiful Ava fights the sorcerer in order to get back to her kingdom and guy she left behind. After multiple failed attempts and a single eye opening stop back home, Ava resigns herself to life outside of being a princess.

But our sorcerer shows Ava that he isn’t what he seems, that he is better and more caring than expected. And this draws Ava to him and his cause. And she wants to fight for them both, but will he allow her to get in the middle of the crossfire?