What a fantastic historical fiction story! The Ice Swan is the first book by J'nell Ciesielski that I've had the pleasure to read (despite having a few others of hers in my to-be-read pile). I was riveted by this wonderful page-turner! The story begins in 1917 where the Dalsky princesses narrowly escape from Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution to find Paris in ruins from the Great War. Injured Russian Princess Svetlana Dalsky meets and is treated by handsome Scottish surgeon Wynn MacCallan. Svetlana and her family encounter many dangers along the way. Dr. MacCallan seems to have a knack for looking out for her.

"As the second son of the very wealthy Duke of Kilbride he never had to worry about the pressures of the title and land hefted onto his brother Hugh, the firstborn, and heir. Surgeon was the only position Wynn cared about. " I found it interesting that the author put Wynn at the forefront of the developing study of cardiology where he came up against many physicians who were against unknown and new possible ways of healing patients.

"Aye-aye, Sister." Pushing to his feet, he gave her a mock salute. One never argues with the Sisters. The medical staff would be hopeless without them."

"Any woman in her position would've given up before now, but not her. There was a fierceness about her pride that refused to accept defeat. Nothing was more admirable."

"How beautiful. Seasons paint masterpieces on nature, always changing. Yet remaining the same year after year."

I highly recommend The Ice Swan! I am going to need to get a copy for my keeper shelf.

Thank you to Net Galley for the chance to read an early ebook, all opinions are my own.

Read if you like: WW1 stories, Russian Revolution history.
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This book was very engaging and I wanted to keep reading. I loved Svetlana. She was forced to flee Russia during the revolution because her family is noble. So they flee to Paris, but there is also a word war going on, and Svetlana finds herself always looking over her shoulder and afraid of the Bolsheviks. In Paris, she meets Wynn, a doctor who wants to just become a surgeon, but is also a Scottish noble.
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This book was action packed as Svetlana was constantly afraid of the Bolsheviks finding her and her family, and Wynn was determined to protect her. I really loved Svetlana and Wynn's relationship and how it developed, and it made me want to keep reading to see what would happen.
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CW: war, violence, gruesome descriptions, sexism, death of a loved one, sexual harassment.

The Ice Swan is a slow-burn and rather tender romance about two people building a relationship after their worlds have crumbled around them. It is set in the Russian emigré community in Paris during the final months of the Great War, and then in rural Scotland in the War’s aftermath, and it manages to be both angsty and gentle. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My full review will appear on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, after the publication date.

As the Great War stretches on, Scottish nobleman and surgeon Wynn MacCallan wants nothing more than to save lives. Even if it means going outside the stodgy rules of older surgeons. A skilled cardiac doctor, Wynn has no time for anything other than operating on the waves of brave soldiers who flood the hospital on a daily basis. Until he sees a beautiful and mysterious woman on his way home one night. A woman who looks like she needs his help but refuses to take it.

Princess Svletlana Dalsky has escaped the Bolshevik Revolution in Petrograd with little more than her sister, her mother, and some family jewels sewn into their clothing. After months of hardship, they arrive in Paris, hoping for refuge. Parisians have little to offer them after four long years of war, though. Svletlana can only find a small square of semi-private space in the dank basement of a Russian church.

Svletlana knows her life as a pampered princess has ended, but her mother’s constant complaints and demands make the transition almost unbearable. Her mother demands luxury and acclaim, while Svletlana desires survival and secrecy. She fears the Bolsheviks may hunt them down and drag them back to Russia for execution. Everything she holds dear has disappeared her father, her brother, her friend Sergey, and her dreams of dancing for the Ballet Russe.

When a kind surgeon removes the glass from her leg, Svletlana doesn’t know what to make of her persistent offers to help her. She trusts no one. As her mother plunges the family into debt, Svletlana must figure out how to save them from ruin. Wynn offers her only escape, a marriage in name only that will protect her from her enemies and pay off her mother’s debts.

Wynn hopes one day Svetlana will come to love him, until then, he’s willing to wait, to woo, and to win her over. But unexpected events conspire to keep them apart and Wynn’s cutting-edge procedures brings him under the censure of the medical board.

Why I Loved This Book
Atmospheric and sweeping, this book carries readers through the horrors of the Bolshevik Revolution, the underbelly of Russian crime syndicates, and a country at war. The unlikely match between the second son of a Scottish laird and a Russian Princess makes readers think about preconceived ideas of class in society, the duty of the wealthy towards the poor, and the importance of honesty in marriage.

The well-rounded characters face relatable roadblocks to happiness. Ciesielski provides comic relief with two of the minor characters By the end of the story readers will close the book with reluctance. It took several chapters to catch on to the idiosyncrasies of the Russian characters’ speech patterns. Fans of Roseanne M. White will enjoy this book.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, I did not want to put it down! If you are interested in WWI, romance, royalty, medical advancements, the Russian Revolution, or a myriad of other things, this book is for you!

2.5 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed J’nell Ciesielski’s first book, so I was excited by The Ice Swan, especially since it involves the Russian Revolution and its impact on a noble family. I sadly found myself rather underwhelmed by comparison.

In terms of depicting the time period, it does super well. I liked the focus on the impact on a family other than the Imperial Family, showing how the Bolsheviks’ rise to power had a fatal impact on Russian nobility as a whole, and one way they found a means of escape. The settings were also beautifully conveyed, from snowy Russia to war-torn Paris.

And given the connection to the concept, I liked the idea of the heroine, Svetlana. I could understand her being distant and standoffish and did root for her to a point. But I never felt like her facade melted so I could really feel connected to her. And Wynn was equally unendearing, being quickly and blindly won over the “ice swan.” It is a nice twist for the woman to be the cold one, and the man to be more passionate, and one I typically enjoy, but it wasn’t executed in a way that really made me care about them.

The book also felt really long? I was more immersed during the sections set during the war, but once the war ended, it dragged. I feel like it could have been cut down, or perhaps split into two books and expanded to make things more concise. It could also be that marriage-of-convenience is so hit-or-miss for me, and sometimes it feels like there’s a lot of empty space where nothing of note is happening, because the couple is technically already together.

I didn’t love this book as much as I hoped, but I can see the appeal of the story, especially given some of the comp titles which suggest a story of a more epic historical scope, even while it still has some of the more traditional romance beats. I think it’s a lot about knowing what to expect going in, and this one feels like it straddles the line between historical romance and World War I historical fiction more so than her debut, which was more firmly in the former camp, despite a setting that indicated the latter. With that in mind, that might help you (at least somewhat) with your expectations for the book before picking it up.

The best thing about this book to me was Wynn MacCallan. I loved his dedication as a doctor and surgeon and how he put his patient’s needs before his own. He was willing to treat anyone and went to great lengths to ensure a good outcome for them. I appreciated his humor and wit. He learned from his mistakes. He was a beautiful character.

I had mixed feelings about Svetlana. She had many fine qualities to be sure but her pride and unwillingness to listen or forgive were almost unbearable. She really was an ice princess. I did appreciate how she took to her new surroundings and looked for ways to help. She showed signs of growth but I’m not sure she really understood her issues.

I enjoyed learning more about Russian culture and seeing how the refugees adapted to their new situation in Paris. It was an interesting book. I felt it was a little long and slow at times but I enjoyed it. I hope there’ll be a book about Wynn’s friend, Gerard, in future.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I adored this book. When the author first introduces us to Svetlana and Wynn, she gives no indication of how far she will take us. Svetlana is a Russian royal who, along with her sister and mother, barely escape the Bolshevik uprising of 1917. Wynn is titled in his own right, but is a second born son and able to follow his dream of medicine.
They meet in Paris and Wynn is instantly intrigued by the ice cold Russian princess. The two keep meeting in not the best circumstances and Svetlana has too much at stake to let this arrogant doctor with a white knight complex into her life. Certain events bring desperation and the rocky love story that begins will not let you put it down until the end. There is romance, history, and danger. I can't recommend it enough.

This is for my friends who enjoy historical fiction and clean romance. Trust me when I say you’re gonna love this one 💙

Svetlana is a Russian princess running away to France during the revolution as the Reds hunt her royal family down to kill them and establish power.

In Paris, Svetlana seeks medical help for an elderly friend and meets a surgeon working for the British army during WWI. Wynn is kind, handsome, intelligent and genuine. Though Svetlana can hardly bear to trust anyone after all she’s been through, Wynn begins to break down the icy walls of her heart as they get to know each other.

This story has it all. Historic relevance, action, clean love scenes, well-developed characters and a believable romance between a husband and wife in the midst of war.

I enjoyed this one so much. At 400 pages it’s a bit long but I wasn’t bored for a second.

This one is available July 6 🎉

4/5 ⭐️ - I really liked it!

Thank you to @netgalley and @thomasnelson for the eARC in exchange for my review.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

First of all, what a beautiful cover
A new author to me, I have been fascinated by the era this is written about

I found the book, intense emotions are invoked here which was fantastic and I was so invested in this from the start

It was such a breath of fresh air as the 'normal' historical fiction tends to be in and around Regency England - nothing wrong with that, I enjoy these too !! However, to be able to immerse myself into a different era was fantastic

If you love your historical fiction and want to read about a 'different' era, I would say go for it !

Was anyone else obsessed with the Anastasia animated movie as a kid or was that just me? Of course, you were! I think it was an obligatory fave of millennials. I was thrilled to find this book by new-to-me author J’nell Ciesielski, because the description gave me serious Anastasia vibes plus it included my favorite romance trope, the ever interesting marriage of convenience. I’m happy to inform, The Ice Swan did not disappoint. In the epilogue there’s even an Anastasia introduced and I choose to believe the author probably was into the movie too. Ha ha!

Anyway, the first half of the book was definitely intense. There’s a lot of uncertainty and violence as Svetlana and her family fled Russia for France in 1917 whilst leaving behind her father and brother. To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure if the romantic aspect was going to work as there was little interaction between Svetlana and Wynn that showed chemistry of any kind, but the romance took center stage for the latter half of the book and the sparks blazed and hearts thawed.

I’m very interested to see what happens to a few characters in this book, mainly one dude whose name I can’t give due to spoilers. Hopefully, the story continues!!! I definitely recommend this book to romance fans and readers who love historicals but are sick to death of European novels taking place in Regency England!

I love stories of imperial Russia and the Revolution and emigres forced to flee. The Ice Swan is of that time period. It took me awhile to warm to Svetlana and I never quite cozied up to her mother. Wynn, I was ready to woo from his first entrance. The character that stole quite a bit from the main characters, for me at least, was Leonid. I could hear his voice and picture him. He made me laugh. This book is a charming romance. There is one scene that is magical, even if I did want to conk the two main characters over the head for being stubborn afterward. Slip into Paris and then the highlands of Scotland for a good romance.

The Ice swan is a wonderful novel filled with intrigue, romance and history. This novel is well written and engaging and takes you on a historical trip through Paris and Scotland. The characters were well developed and I think the author did a fantastic job of portraying Svetlana as a frosty Russian princess who slowly thaws by Wynn’s love and kindness. I was hoping for a more faith based book.

One of my earliest forays into Christian fiction involved a 7-book series partially cowritten by Michael Phillips and Judith Pella, “The Russians” (book 1 being The Crown and the Crucible). I’ve read the entire series countless times; it spurred a lifelong interest with Russia–to the point I wrote both high-school and university-level papers on the Romanovs, majored in European Studies after taking a Modern Russia class, and chose my Russian name for a language class from the series. To borrow from “National Treasure,” I’m “one step short of obsessed–passionate.”

So when J’nell Ciesielski’s The Ice Queen came up as available for review on NetGalley, I jumped. “Russia? Russian history in my particularly favorite era? Yes, please. Where do I sign?”

And the read did not disappoint! It lived up to every expectation I didn’t even know I had. (I realized about 2/3 in that I was subconsciously comparing it to “The Russians,” and I might have envisioned it as the offshoot epic novel that picked up where book 7, Passage into Light, left off.) It follows the struggles Russian emigres faced during and after the fateful 1917 revolution–something I’d only casually explored to date.

At 400 pages, it’s dense, full of history, impeccably researched, and long enough to flesh out both history and fiction in a seamless blend. Loose ends that could have understandably been left hanging were wonderfully resolved by the end.

If I could have added just a smidge to the book’s already admirable (truly! In the best way!) length, I would have enjoyed having faith woven in more. Svetlana’s Russian Orthodoxy and Wynn’s Protestantism were certainly discussed; I just wished for more dialogue and attribution of God’s working in their lives. They certainly lived through incredible struggles! (I also find Orthodoxy fascinating … stems out of that ongoing love of the country and its history, not to mention that it has some beautiful artwork, liturgy, and history itself.)

There were also a couple comments near the climax that–while I certainly understood and appreciated the motives!–gave me slight pause. But I can’t say how I would have responded myself in such a situation, so. :)

All in all, a stunning read. I heartily applaud Ciesielski for this masterpiece of a novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In the heart of World War 2, the people of Russia have risen up in revolt against the Tsar and all others in places of nobility. Forced to flee their home, Svetlana, her mother and sister flee for their lives to the relative safety of France. Where they live in hiding from the Bolsheviks and hope they survive another day.

Dr. Wynn McCallan is a heart surgeon working at a hospital in France, trying to save the lives of the soldiers coming through the doors. His job is his life and it consumes him, day in and day out he works to save lives and find new techniques that can aid his surgeries.

This has been one of the most incredibly woven stories I have ever read. I felt like I got to observe Wynn and Svetlanas entire relationship from start to finish. It was real and full of every emotion you can imagine.
I love a romance where it doesn’t come easy and you need to fight for what you want. I love that despite the fact they’re in the midst of a war, which is already terrifying, new friendships and romances are just as scary as we find them now.
Especially for Svetlana, Russian royalty are being hunted and executed, the Bolsheviks are ruthless and will stop at nothing to find them, she doesn’t know who she can trust. Then Wynn comes into her life, and doesn’t leave. She keeps trying to shake him off and he just keeps coming back! I loved his persistence, he knew what he wanted and appreciated that some things are worth fighting for and sometimes those things are the greatest rewards in the end. And is it ever!
There are twists and turns and so much happens in their relationship throughout the story. It felt so real, as if I was reading the recounting of an actual experience during the war. It takes a truly talented author to take events we know in history and to put a character into that event and make it feel real for us. I will never forget the feelings this story brought, and has given me a newfound respect for what people endured.

This is a truly beautifully crafted story about finding a safe haven amidst the horrors of war. I loved it so much, and really hope you give it a read!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Content: clean
Romance: kissing, closed door intimacy.
Language: none that I recall.
Violence: The doctors tends to wounds, people are shot, someone is pushed into a train, etc. Nothings is gruesome, but simply depicts the events from Svetlana’s POV.

3.5/5⭐️

Princess Svetlana Dalsky flees the Russia Revolution (1917) leading her mother and sister to Paris as refugees. Wynn MacCallan, the second son of a Scottish duke, is a brilliant surgeon working in Paris during WW1. They meet by accident, and Wynn feels an immediate pull to the icy, proper Lana. There are Bolshevik baddies, an evil crime lord, medical issues for Wynn and some derring-do as Wynn and Lana test their bonds of trust.

While this was a fine love story and well-written, I found it a little overlong and myself frustrated at times with both Lana and her treatment of Wynn (blamed on her snobbishness/elite Russian heritage) and her exasperating mother’s high handed/childish behavior. This was a soft pick for me. I have read a previous book from this author that I must admit enjoying more.

Much thanks to #NetGalley and #ThomasNelson for providing me the early arc for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Time period is WW1 & the Russian Revolution. The story starts off in Paris France then proceeds to Scotland. The protagonists are a Scottish marquis who just wants to be a surgeon and a Russian white emigres. Svetlana is Russian nobility fleeing the Russian revolution with her mother and sister to hid in Paris France during WW1. She meets up with Wally who is Scottish nobility but just wants to be a doctor. While hiding from the Bolsheviks, Svetlana has to deal with her mother being stuck in the past and the only life she ever knew while learning to trust this doctor who just wants to help with no strings attached. Will a marriage of convenience not only help the family but also lead to love? Wally & Svetlana learn to trust, meanwhile reconcile who they are with who they want to be, and who they are becoming. I found it interesting from the get go.
I recieved an advance copy of this book and all opinions are my own

When Princess Svetlana Dalsky flees the Russian Revolution with her mother and sister, they thought life would be better once they were away from the Bolsheviks who wanted to kill all the members of the nobility.

But Paris is in the middle of her own war and the last thing the city needs is more emigrants. Svetlana and her family are forced to hide in basements, bartering their family jewels for food and clothing.

When she meets Wynn, he's just the doctor who took care of her wound. But Wynn kept showing up when she was in need, like a knight in shining armor.

At her moment of greatness need, Wynn offers her the protection of his name in a marriage of convenience. This book had a lot of potential as it intertwined the Russian Revolution with WWII should have made for interesting reading and it did, but the story was trying to be too many things and so it dragged at times.

I think this would have been better as two books: one before the war and the other telling the story after the war because there were so many things happening simultaneously that it was sometimes hard to keep up.

I didn't feel connected to the characters and some of them were downright unlikable,  like Princess Ana, Svetlana's mother. There were times when even Svetlana was hard to like with her standoffish and perfectionist personality.

When the princesses finally melted, it seemed to happen overnight, especially Princess Ana and so it didn't seem quite so believable. Svetlana's was a little more relatable, but even that was a bit sudden given how icy she had gotten after Wynn's mistake.

There was a strong theme of survival and finding family among people with shared experiences, but I didn't like how they all chose to lie in the end.  I would have felt better about that scene if they had told the truth and been absolved. As it was, that lie will forever have to be told to protect those involved.

This was my first J'nell Ciesielski book and while I didn't enjoy a lot of things about it, her writing style kept me reading until the end so I will try another book by this author.

I received an advanced reader's copy from the publishers through NetGalley; a positive review was not required.

DNF @ 50%

Yeah this book wasn't it for me. It had an interesting premise and I really thought I would like it, but I couldn't connect with the story or any of the characters. Some of the plot points I found to be very ridiculous and I couldn't take it seriously. In addition, I just did not like the writing style at all.

Princess in Flight

A suspenseful love story

Fast moving and engaging from page one to the end. This book kept me reading far into the night.

A Russian princess escaping the Bolsheviks at the end if the Russian revolution, an unscrupulous Russian crime boss, a jilted lover, and a Scottish Duke turned Surgeon all make this a unique story of suspense during WWI. If that isn't enough add in the influenza epidemic a betrayal and some romance and you have the makings of a most enjoyable story.
Will Svetlana escape the Bolsheviks or perish. Who will win her heart the Scottish surgeon Wynn or the ex boyfriend Sergey? The story is exciting and fast moving. I loved the settings, the characters, and the story. I would recommend this book.

Thanks to J’nell Ciesieskli, Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of the book for my honest review.