3 Stars

Arabella Fitzroy goes to Cartier House for Christmas. Her marriage was arranged with Lord Nathaniel Cartier when they were wee babies. It’s time to get to know her would-be in-laws and husband before the wedding. 

The initial days at Cartier House leave her gloomy and dejected. Arabella wonders if she can marry Nathaniel. After all, the man appears rude and uncaring and wants nothing to do with her. Only the swans on the estate lake seem to make him smile. 

However, a chance encounter with Nathaniel makes Arabella wonder about the man beneath the mask. Maybe first impressions aren’t the best. Is there a chance for a happy ever after for the duo? 

The story comes from Arabella’s third-person POV. 

This is a steamy romance and a part of Dragonblade's Flame line as mentioned in the blurb. And since it is a novella (less than 140 pages), steamy scenes win over character development. 

Though the book is a part of a 12-book series, it works totally fine as a standalone. There are mentions of other characters, but none have a direct role in the book. This one belongs to the lead characters alone. 

The premise has the potential to be a full-length novel with layered characters and evenly-paced execution. However, everything runs at 4x speed in this one. Since the book’s length was the reason I requested it, I knew this was how it would be. 

Nathaniel’s character was more interesting. It was fun to see him become comfortable with Arabella and trust her enough to share his secrets. Also, I liked his quirky sense of humor. 

Arabella was a determined and feisty heroine. That said, I could have done with a little less of ‘gosh, he is so handsome’ on almost every page. 

The conflict at the end could have been better resolved. It was a little too dramatic. The writing was okayish. Easy to read (ignoring the adverbs). 

To summarize, Seven Swans a Swimming is a light time pass read if you want something hot and fast-paced. It has a 3+ steam level. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.