A review by ditten
Swordcrossed by Freya Marske

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske is a fun, hot, low fantasy romp set in a queernormative world ⚔️ 

 

Matti has to hire a dualist for his upcoming marriage into a rich family which has been arranged to save his family's failing wool business. His bride-to-be has a very insistent admirer who may challenge Matti to a duel at the wedding, and so hiring a competing dualist who's good with a sword is crucial. The only person he can afford though, is Luca, the man who scammed Matti just the day prior. With no other choice, Matti pays (and blackmails) the mysterious, new-to-town Luca into becoming not only his dualist but also his new sword-fighting instructor. 

 

Their mutual attraction that neither initially plan on acting on only grows stronger the more time they spend together which is frankly incredibly inconvenient since Matti's set to be married. While this arrangement was only meant to be one of business, soon Luca and Matti are falling into bed together, and Luca starts helping Matti trying to figure out if his family's business failing might be due to sabotage rather than accidents while also desperately trying to keep his own past a secret. 

 

Swordcossed is full of hot, flirty fun between Matti and Luca while also diving into lots of schemes and secrets - from multiple sides. There are crushes, sword-practice used as foreplay, trickery, arranged marriage where neither party's particularly into it, complex family dynamics, honour, and quite a bit of insight into the wool trade 😆 

 

Matti's a gentleman, comes from a fancy family, and has the burden of running an entire business on his shoulders. Luca is chaotic af, impulsive, has forever unruly hair, a mysterious past he'd prefer to not get into, and a giant crush on Matti. Which is great since Matti crushes right back though he's more reluctant to act on things. Once he does though? Phew, these two get hot and heavy, and there's some kink that's juuust out of reach but definitely implied. It felt a bit like kink-teasing to be honest 😂 

 

I really liked the characters, and the plot was interesting but a little overly into descriptions of the intricacy of the wool trade at times. 

 

Overall, a very enjoyable book with a hot, fun romance, great characters, and a plot with mysteries and schemes. 

 

Thanks to Bramble, Macmillan, and Edelweiss for the ARC. Swordcrossed is out October 8