Synopsis:
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 Anderson’s The Wild Swans.
Review:
When I was growing up, my dad was a huge influence on my reading. I gravitated towards a lot of the volumes on the bookshelves in our family room like Lord of the Rings, The Belgariad, and Foundation. Some books I never really got around to reading, but my dad had a varied taste in reading and I vividly remember dozens of books from the likes of Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, and Mercedes Lackey. So, when I had the chance to review a new book by one of my father’s favorites, I signed up without even knowing what it was. Thus, I went in blind to The Cyprian, the 18th installment in Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series, which dates its beginnings back to 1995.
And…there was a lot to like. I’d read that The Cyprian was a stand-alone effort, so I wasn’t too worried about the other books in the series, but I wanted to know more. According to the Goodreads page for the Elemental Masters series:
Elemental Masters is a fantasy series written by Mercedes Lackey, about an Earth where magic exists and focuses on the Elemental Masters, people who have magical control over air, water, fire, or earth. Each elemental master has power over elementals, as well. Each book in the series is loosely based on a fairy tale.
In this case, The Cyprian is partly based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Wild Swans, and throughout the book, Lackey paints a picture like you are reading a fairy tale throwback combined with the stylings of a modern-day cozy fantasy. Where I would definitely disagree with the book’s synopsis is that it is a “Romantasy” that is “perfect for fans of Bridgerton.” Oh boy…so I don’t read a lot of romantasy…partly because I have expectations when I see that word and those expectations include spice levels that I am usually uncomfortable around. Here, though, there is a profound lack of spice. Any spice that exists in The Cyprian is actually toxic and perhaps even traumatizing. There is a sweet romance story between our protagonist, Elena, and Stephen, an Elemental Master of Air, but that develops late in the story and any bedroom scenes between the two definitely happen off-page.
The ending is sudden and almost out of left field. I certainly understand that sometimes danger comes at you when you least expect it and that’s what happens with Elena, but it feels a bit off compared to the pacing of the rest of the book.
What I really enjoyed about the book was the relationship that Elena had with her brothers. As they were left more and more on their own without care or love from their father and (evil) stepmother, the eight children bonded even closer than ever and the seven boys cared for their sister, even helping to plan a life for her after their time with their parents comes to an end.
If you love fairy tales and cozy romance stories in your fantasy, I’d definitely recommend picking up Mercedes Lackey’s The Cyprian, a book that works on its own without any prior knowledge of the rest of her Elemental Masters series.
Thank you to DAW for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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