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Twisted Ever After #2
The Dragon Swan Princess (2)
The Dragon Swan Princess is the second book in the Twisted Ever After series by Tamara Grantham, the award-winning author of more than a dozen books and novellas. Odette Von Alarissa is a prisoner, her captivity the result of a decades-old war between the dragon shifters and the witches. But there has been a recent change in her ownership. Xaldain Von Rothbart, the traitor responsible for starting the war, is her captor now. A dragon-shifter just like Odette, Xaldain has plans for her that are unimaginable―but with a magical mark on her shoulder that prevents her escape, and the survival of her people hanging in the balance―she has no real choice but to comply. Drekken Von Fiddlestrum has returned to his homeland to find himself in an unhappy quandary. To save his kingdom, he must marry a noble – yet he has no desire to do so. When he crosses paths with Odette, he agrees to help her. But as their feelings for each other grow, it can only lead to destruction for them both. Drekken must marry for duty, and Odette must consent to Xaldain if she wants her people to survive. True love and obligation collide in this compelling retelling of the classic Swan Princess story.
300 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 2019
12 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Tamara Grantham
37 books455 followersTamara Grantham is the award-winning author of more than half a dozen books and novellas, including the Olive Kennedy: Fairy World MD series, the Twisted Ever After trilogy, and the Shine novellas. Dreamthief, the first book of her Fairy World MD series, won first place for fantasy in INDIEFAB’S Book of the Year Awards, a RONE award for best New Adult Romance, and is a #1 bestseller on Amazon with over 200 reviews.
Tamara holds a Bachelor’s degree in English. She has been a featured speaker at the Rose State Writing Conference and has been a panelist at Comic Con Wizard World speaking on the topic of female leads. For her first published project, she collaborated with New York-Times bestselling author, William Bernhardt, in writing the Shine series.
Born and raised in Texas, Tamara now lives with her husband and five children in Wichita, Kansas. She rarely has any free time, but when the stars align and she gets a moment to relax, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, taking nature walks, and watching every Star Wars or Star Trek movie ever made. You can find her online at www.TamaraGrantham.com.
Tamara holds a Bachelor’s degree in English. She has been a featured speaker at the Rose State Writing Conference and has been a panelist at Comic Con Wizard World speaking on the topic of female leads. For her first published project, she collaborated with New York-Times bestselling author, William Bernhardt, in writing the Shine series.
Born and raised in Texas, Tamara now lives with her husband and five children in Wichita, Kansas. She rarely has any free time, but when the stars align and she gets a moment to relax, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, taking nature walks, and watching every Star Wars or Star Trek movie ever made. You can find her online at www.TamaraGrantham.com.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 5, 2019
Fun new series
It is a super fun twist on the swan princess fairy tale. I enjoyed it very much. Highly recommend it.
It is a super fun twist on the swan princess fairy tale. I enjoyed it very much. Highly recommend it.
May 2, 2019
Yet another fun twisted tale. This one is an interesting version of Swan Lake, the duality of two different halves in one person. There is also a touch of star crossed lovers. Love the mash-up and twisting-up of fairy tales.
February 21, 2026
Odette has been a prisoner of some witches for quite a while, but she's not happy to be freed only to end up in the clutches of the dragon wizard who killed her whole family and is now claiming that marriage to her is the only way he can stay in power. Enter Drekken, the drunken bard-wannabe elf who has approximately the most convenient timing of any fantasy character I've ever read about. He attempts a daring rescue only to learn that he has to marry an elf lady so he can save his people from losing their magic, which would make their giant pyramid houses fall out of the sky, at which point, they'd have to deal with the island's other inhabitants (which is bad, to be clear). Together, the two try to find a way to free Odette and figure out who Drekken will marry, supported by the wit and magic of Drekken's athletic younger sister.
If you're Tamara Grantham and you're reading this, I'm sorry in advance. The concept is a lot of fun. But that's about where my satisfaction with this book ended. The characters are inconsistent and hard to empathize with, and neither point of view character has a unique enough voice that I could tell when the POV switched. The theme seems to be something along the lines of "don't resist attraction; instead, it'll probably save you in the end if you keep trying long enough and don't die." There's also an "alcohol bad" theme that ... Okay, can I just ask, where did Drekken get the ale that persistently "burns his throat" and causes him to relax in less than 5 minutes? Because, listen, the average 12% swill that usually is marketed as ale just isn't doing that. I mean, where can I get this stuff? But anyway. Odette seems to have some sort of "who could ever love me" tragic swoony arc that goes absolutely nowhere, which isn't doing much to support the themes of this book either. And oh my goodness, the plot structure? Where are we going with this? I think I could have swallowed it if this book weren't riddled with insanely convenient coincidences every other scene. So, if this book doesn't have interesting characters, a thought-provoking theme, a reasonable plot, comprehensible scenes, or unique voice, surely it at least isn't completely awash with continuity errors and terrible fact-checking ... right? I'm told I can blame the typos on the cat. Which. Fair. But please, tell that cat not to mix up Drekken and Raj's names when they're in the same scene together: I was confused.
Overall, this is not the worst book I've ever read. It's not even the worst professionally published book I've ever read. But, uh, that's still not a compliment.
If you're Tamara Grantham and you're reading this, I'm sorry in advance. The concept is a lot of fun. But that's about where my satisfaction with this book ended. The characters are inconsistent and hard to empathize with, and neither point of view character has a unique enough voice that I could tell when the POV switched. The theme seems to be something along the lines of "don't resist attraction; instead, it'll probably save you in the end if you keep trying long enough and don't die." There's also an "alcohol bad" theme that ... Okay, can I just ask, where did Drekken get the ale that persistently "burns his throat" and causes him to relax in less than 5 minutes? Because, listen, the average 12% swill that usually is marketed as ale just isn't doing that. I mean, where can I get this stuff? But anyway. Odette seems to have some sort of "who could ever love me" tragic swoony arc that goes absolutely nowhere, which isn't doing much to support the themes of this book either. And oh my goodness, the plot structure? Where are we going with this? I think I could have swallowed it if this book weren't riddled with insanely convenient coincidences every other scene. So, if this book doesn't have interesting characters, a thought-provoking theme, a reasonable plot, comprehensible scenes, or unique voice, surely it at least isn't completely awash with continuity errors and terrible fact-checking ... right? I'm told I can blame the typos on the cat. Which. Fair. But please, tell that cat not to mix up Drekken and Raj's names when they're in the same scene together: I was confused.
Overall, this is not the worst book I've ever read. It's not even the worst professionally published book I've ever read. But, uh, that's still not a compliment.
March 27, 2019
While this is a fun adventure tale, with a totally original take on the classic fairy tale, I did not enjoy this volume in the new "Twisted Ever After" series nearly as much as I did the first one. Perhaps just because I am not as familiar with the story of Swan Lake as I am with that of Rapunzel. Or maybe because most of this tale was so dready and depressing, with the individual condemned fates of both main players seeing so overwhelmingly unavoidable. Or perchance it could have been the fact that I didn't find Odette and Drekken as compeling of characters as Gothel and Raj had been in their story. I certainly did not like the latter two nearly as much in this tale as I did in their own. In fact, none of the characters really appealled to me that much, with the exception of Kardiya. It seems only fitting that she will be one of the protagonists of the next book in the series. And I am quite looking forward to the tale of her and Rumpel!
I received a free eBook copy of "The Dragon Swan Princess" from the Author, and have willingly provided an honest review.
This review originally appeared on the So Few Books blog here.
I received a free eBook copy of "The Dragon Swan Princess" from the Author, and have willingly provided an honest review.
This review originally appeared on the So Few Books blog here.
December 3, 2019
Dragon Swan Princess is Tamara Grantham’s second entry in the Twisted Ever After Series.
Odette has been a prisoner of the witches for decades, due to a war between her people and the witches. Temporarily paroled to assist the witches niece, Gothel, she returns to find her captivity has been sold off to Xaldain, the very creature responsible for the war — and ultimately her captivity. His plans for her do not bare repeating.
Drekken must marry royalty to save his people, but when he comes across Odette and learns her fate, he agrees to help her all he can while working on his own plight. But the longer they’re together the closer they get. Both have critical missions to save their people. How can the accomplish this and save each other as well?
5 star read
Odette has been a prisoner of the witches for decades, due to a war between her people and the witches. Temporarily paroled to assist the witches niece, Gothel, she returns to find her captivity has been sold off to Xaldain, the very creature responsible for the war — and ultimately her captivity. His plans for her do not bare repeating.
Drekken must marry royalty to save his people, but when he comes across Odette and learns her fate, he agrees to help her all he can while working on his own plight. But the longer they’re together the closer they get. Both have critical missions to save their people. How can the accomplish this and save each other as well?
5 star read
March 28, 2019
Love the happy ending!!
I really enjoyed the second book in Tamara Grantham’s Fairytale retelling series. How perfect that Drekken’s “stupid lute” saved the day in the end!! Ha!! Though there were times the romance between the 2 main characters drove me crazy, this is typical of YA, so I ignored the cheesier aspects. I really enjoyed the story and would recommend to fans if YA and fairytale retelling!!
I really enjoyed the second book in Tamara Grantham’s Fairytale retelling series. How perfect that Drekken’s “stupid lute” saved the day in the end!! Ha!! Though there were times the romance between the 2 main characters drove me crazy, this is typical of YA, so I ignored the cheesier aspects. I really enjoyed the story and would recommend to fans if YA and fairytale retelling!!
August 28, 2020
The first book in the series, lacked the motivation behind the plot. This book on the other hand didn’t. You felt more of what was going on between the characters, and the altering between the two of them as the chapters progressed moved the story along that much better. Yet this book still lacked the overall wow factor, and compelled me to really take it and remember it, it was still a fun spin on and old story.
February 9, 2019
Another wonderful book by author Tamara Grantham.
Odette's and Drekken's story is so wonderful. I loved it.
Odette's and Drekken's story is so wonderful. I loved it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews