Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: My Swan Prince
AUTHOR: Maria Vickers
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 241 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 13, 2025, 2nd Ed.
BLURB:
Max hates his life and the curse he is forced to live with. He pushes his other form deep inside him, only allowing it free when he can no longer keep it at bay. Love and a life free from the swan and his family curse are not in the cards for him. Or are they? There is something about Lorde that calls to him, but can he trust the other man with his everything?
Lorde has been sent to Chicago with one purpose: to get rid of the last swan shifter. A rivalry and hate that go back a millennium has ruled Lorde and everything he knows. His family made sure of it, reminding him time and again that it was Max’s family who doomed Lorde’s own. Everything changes with one glance into Max’s eyes. Something pulls at Lorde’s heart. He always knew Max was his destiny, but what if that destiny was to love him instead of destroying him? Is his magic strong enough to save them both?
REVIEW:
Max Lux is a wealthy and successful Chicago businessman. His father has retired from the business like his father before him and they are letting Max do the heavy lifting at Swan Industries. Max is busy and single and he doesn’t believe in love. He’s only let one person know his secret and that person turned on him and blackmailed him. Because Max is a swan shifter. Adding insult to injury, he’s been forced into READING the very fairytale about his family – the six swan princes – that left him with the “curse”.
Lorde grew up in Chicago but moved to England after some bad school bullying. He is back to “fulfill his destiny” according to his mother. She is descended from the other side of this fairytale – the one that did the cursing of the princes. And they have been waiting to get their revenge and kill the last in the line – Max. But Lorde is drawn to Max. And not to kill him.
Max has been having odd feelings. First about the librarian. Then about Lorde. Then about a new housecleaner. He’s not sure what’s going on. He and Lorde were pushed together at the big charity gala that Max was the head of and they got on well. Lorde bid and won a “date” with Max and now they are going on that date. They have a lot more in common than they know 
The conversation goes well. Until it doesn’t. Max seems to pull back and Lorde doesn’t know why.
Lorde’s Aunt Pat, who he is staying with, seems to know a lot more than she’s been letting on. As Max and Lorde get closer, she shares some things with Lorde. Surprising things. Turns out Aunt Pat was more than just the “spare” in the family. She is the key to helping Lorde meet his true destiny 
Well along with Max’s bodyguard and former SEAL, Fizz
So this was an interesting take on this tale. I will admit that I’m not very familiar with the original tale, so I may have missed some of the nuance here. I did find it odd that Max was the only target and not his shifter father and grandfather. Max is gay and wasn’t planning on having any biological children so not sure why it was just him. That said, of course this mate business meant a very accelerated timeline. Max and Lorde are together only a couple of times before the declarations come. I would have loved to see more interaction between them other than fighting, avoiding or facing those who wanted to harm them. That being said, the times they WERE together were well written. This is only the second book I’ve read from this author and it is completely different to the previous book in genre. I did enjoy this enough to recommend it because of the relationship Max and Lorde forge together. I also enjoyed the supporting characters of Fizz, Aunt Pat and Max’s parents. If you enjoy twists on fairy tales, I think you might enjoy this one.
RATING: 
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