I found this book at the library, and I don’t really know whether I would have picked it up or not, except that the Ink Mage gave it a mostly favorable review. I don’t know anything about Ms. Tomlinson; the internet tells me that she has a degree in French from Wellesley and she currently lives in a 48-foot sailboat named Adventure with her husband and her three cats. She has two more books coming out: Aurelie, later this year, and Toads and Diamonds, which just sold.

The Swan Maiden is set in a semi-medieval Provence. Doucette, the main character, is the youngest of three sisters; she is the only one of the three who isn’t a Swan Maiden, and she cannot do magic. One day she discovers that her parents have been lying to her the entire time: she is a Swan Maiden, and she has a swanskin they were hiding from her. She reclaims it, and decides to train in magic. Simultaneously, she falls in love with an attractive shepherd; for a member of the peasant class, he is not without resources, but in comparison to Doucette’s family (which is nobility), he’s poor. How will all that work out? Why did her parents lie to her? What does it mean for her sisters?

Doucette is, as her name would suggest, awfully gentle and soft. She has a backbone, though; on some things, she refuses to compromise. She never quite stands up to her sisters, but she does stand up to her parents (to a point). While she isn’t a butt-kicking heroine, and while a lot of things happen to her, she regains her agency by the end. Her sisters, though, Azelais and Cecelia, are the kind of characters you love to hate. They’re both ridiculously beautiful and immensely talented; they’re both rather mean to Doucette. Towards the end, Cecelia seems to be on Doucette’s side, but it’s mostly (as far as I can tell) out of a great appreciation for schadenfreude. Azelais is just perfect. They’re awfully evil-stepsister-ish, even though they’re her blood relations.

Ink Mage’s review said that she thought the romance was a little rushed, and I did as well. She also commented that it was mostly forgivable because of the fairy-tale feel, and that is true. What I didn’t like was — and this is probably a spoiler, so I apologize — the artificial conflict near the end. It’s a trope of romance novels, and it almost always drives me crazy: the situation where the female doesn’t trust the male with some small piece of information, or they don’t completely discuss something that’s bothering both of them, and one partner decides that the only way to solve the problem is to leave the other. In all these situations, one long heart-to-heart and maybe a good cry would solve the problem, but people in novels (and real life, I’m sure) aren’t willing to do that. Those who are less sensitive to this situation will probably not be so bothered by it, but it annoyed me.

The language was lovely; the writing was more than competent; the cover was appropriately pre-Raphaelite; and overall I enjoyed the book. The setting was lovely, and she does a beautiful job of describing the Provençal countryside. The pacing of the plot was a little bit strange; one story was almost completely tied up before the other was finished. Other than that, though, I’d definitely like to see what Ms. Tomlinson does in the future. 4/5 stars.