A slow start that deepens into a charmingly funny story full of political intrigue, romance, and law breaking antics.

Matti is the heir of his house, but it's not all what it seems. His family is deep in debt, and a chance encounter with the handsome con artist duelist Luca doesn't help things. However, it does kick off a bewildering set of events that may or may not be just what they both need...

I had a hard time getting into Swordcrossed at first as the plot progresses at a crawl and the descriptions are overly sexual in a jarring way. The pacing felt all over the place at the beginning, and it wasn't until about a quarter of the way into the book that I started connecting with the characters and feeling invested in their problems. However, once it picks up I was fully hooked.

This book is definitely spicy and explicit consistently, but it is also packed with a sweetness that had me smiling throughout (especially with all the twists at the end!). Matti is riddled with anxiety and at his breaking point, and Luca is full of fear that he masks with an exuberant layer of confidence he doesn't truly feel. Both characters are flawed, and I felt myself sympathizing with both which made the relationship even more worthwhile to follow.

I especially enjoyed the detective work that went on with Luca, Maya, and Matti. These scenes added an extra layer of adventure to the story and helped make this more than just another romance book. The house-breaking, adopted personas, undercover work, and clue gathering was such a fun element and I'd love to see what other antics Matti and Luca might get up to in future!

Swordcrossed is an enjoyable, light-hearted read. I could see certain aspects of the plot coming from a mile away, but still found the journey to be engaging. I was strangely least drawn into the romantic sections of the plot - although this is not a fantasy novel, the worldbuilding is carefully crafted and intriguing. I found myself interested in the houses, their different gods, and the different trading networks. The characters likewise felt mostly well fleshed-out - there's a strong supporting cast in this novel. Although it felt like the reader spent the majority of the time in Matti's head, it was Luca who seemed to grow and progress the most. All in all, I had a lot of fun reading this, and although I was more engaged by some sections than others, it was a brilliant mood-brightener.
3.5 rounded up to 4.

Mattinesh Jay, senior member and chronic overworker of Jay House, is soon to be married to Sofia Cooper - a business marriage that will give her a name and him the money he needs to keep his business afloat. The only problem? Her ex will not take no for an answer, and he can't afford a good best man in case of a challenge. His answer? Luca Pierre.
One thing that I really loved about this, and which Marske does very well, is the characterization. This is how you write characters of color well- names, cultures, skin color without being racist, a regard for religion. also it was so refreshing to read about a brown character who had a loving family but still struggled with the weight of expectations perceived, about a character who's implied to have anxiety and is respected and taken seriously, and about a world in which homophobia didn't exist. All of them were just really likeable and realistic and I was laughing right along with them.
I will say, this is not fantasy-based any more than the setting, in the sense that there isn't a magic system. it didn't affect my review of the book because I knew what I was in for, but if you're expecting a world or magic system somewhat like in the Last Binding series, you will not find it here.
That is to say - don't let this discourage you. If you like cute romances, Marske's writing, or Regency-esque wool trade, you might like this.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan for the ARC!

With thanks to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a gorgeous solid romantasy book! I loved the worldbuilding and the characters so much, and the writing was lovely. While I did struggle a bit at the start I thought the book picked up very well and things kept moving.

I highly recommend this to people who liked Marske’s previous books, or those looking for a queer romantasy with easy to follow worldbuilding. I found this to be a quick easy read, and I can’t wait to read more from Marske.

This was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed Freya Marske's previous novels and this was no exception. The style is fun and vibrant and the characters have a lot of spark to them.

The world-building was solid and well done without being too heavy or dry. There were a few moments where the plot dragged a little bit but it always quickly picked up again. I loved the dynamic between the two main characters and how they juxtaposed against each other. The ending felt a little meh to me but it was still pretty good and fitted the story.

Overall I really enjoyed this and had a great time whilst reading it.

This book was great fun - swords, romance, secret plots, hidden identities, betrayal, dancing, tension, interfering families, and did I mention swords?? Lots of swords. Sweet, silly and heartwarming.

After reading The Last Binding trilogy and absolutely loving it, I was being excited to read Swordcrossed, but, it did mean I had really high expectations.

I am so happy to be able to say this book lived up to every one of those expectations. The relationship between Matti and Luca grows slowly but blindingly, you feel the pair of them fall in love whilst both weighed down by known and unknown secrets. The way Freya Marske writes the scenes between them is a level of intimacy that I haven't seen rendered in text in a long time. She made the most ordinary things sensual, made my breath catch at the heat and heart in some scenes.

Past the relationship there was the world building which was expertly don't, with deities and guilds and geopolitical histories. But... Nothing was too heavy or too dry, she gave you just the information you needed to enjoy the rich world she had created.

And finally the mystery -- it was just enough to keep the intrigue going, and as a person who is a member of the current guild of Weavers, spinners and dyers, she was about 95% correct with her wool processing knowledge!

This book was so good it's made all my other 5* reviews pale in comparison. Definitely check it out!

Thanks Netgalley & Tor UK for the e-ARC

I had high expectations of this book as the Last Binding trilogy is among my favorites, and this one did not disappoint.
The setting is a second world, but without magic or anything supernatural. Rather, it is a made up world with a historical feel, but better in terms of gender equality and queer rights, though there are still many issues. Most important, the position of people with House status (Houses are wealthy trader families) in comparison to people without a house, and while this is not the focus of the book, the inequalities are highlighted and the MC's father is in an important political position because he wants to do something about this inequalities.

The MC Matti is drowning under family pressure. His House's wool business is on the verge of collapse and the only way to save it is for Matti to marry Sofia Cooper, a second daughter of a very wealthy house who'd bring her own fortune into Matti's house. Matti is not particularly excited about the marriage, but he's very dutiful and likes Sofia well enough. I loved Matti's characterization as the dutiful son who takes everything upon himself and his character arc of realizing he has to live for himself too and not take everything upon his own shoulders.

The only thing standing in between Matti and saving his family is Adrean Vane, the son of his father's employee, and poet. He is madly in love with Sofia, and is convinced she loves him too but is forced to marry for status instead, despite Sofia repeatedly telling him she's not interested (I really appreciated this plotline). A tradition in this world is that in a wedding, you can challenge for either of the people getting married and you'll fight a duel with either the other person getting married or their best man and if you win, this means the gods are against the marriage and most likely it won't go through. Adrean happens to be an expert duellist and plans to challenge for Sofia. Since Matti can't fight, he'll need to hire a best man. I liked this part of the world building, it felt fresh and original, but also believable within a historical context. The book doesn't go deep into history, but does imply that in the past duels were typically to the death whereas in modern day this is rarely the case and a lot of duels are more for show, though the ones at a wedding are still taken very seriously.

Luca is a swordsman new to town, running away from his problems, and he's the best duellist Matti can afford with his limited budget. Their relationship starts off at the wrong foot as Luca had just conned Matti out of a significant sum, but Luca tries to salvage this by throwing in free sword lessons on top of his services as a best man, and over these lessons they grow closer.

They also begin investigating some strange happenings within the trader houses, people running schemes and aiming to destroy Matti's house for their own gain, and I liked this subplot. Luca is great at investigating because he doesn't really care about breaking and entering or conning his way inside.

The romance starts primarily physical and over the course of the book it develops into romantic too. Matti is engaged to Sofia through most of the book, and he does sleep with Luca during this time. In this book's world, a business engagement doesn't really count in terms of cheating, not through the marriage, but I can imagine some people might be uncomfortable with this. I personally didn't mind so much.

I also really appreciated the side characters in this, especially Sofia and Maya (Matti's younger sister), and I liked how Sofia's character was handled as Matti's fiancée. She's not in love with him either though she does like him as a friend, nor does she like Adrean who claims to be in love with her. She's clever, helps in the investigation and saving Jay house later on and she and Matti part on good terms (how exactly is a spoiler but I really liked how it was resolved).

Would recommend this book to fans of Freya Marske's earlier work, queer romantasy and queer historical romance. I'd say it feels more historical romance than fantasy.

If I had to be more specific I would rate this book 2.75 stars.
I really enjoyed the tension that was between the main characters. I loved the significant characters in this story. But… I felt as though there were too many characters that were unnecessary. I felt that most of the characters that we were introduced to weren’t fleshed out. This made reading the book confusing as I was constantly having to remember an insignificant character who played no integral role in the book and in my personal opinion were unimportant.
For plot I felt as though the premise was amazing but execution just wasn’t good. The plot was convoluted and overly complicated. During this book I felt that the plot was being dragged out and things were being inserted in order to make the book longer.
Pacing. This was my main issue with the book. I felt as though the plot and character issues I was having bled into the way I felt about pacing. This is because unnecessary characters were having unnecessary scenes that were too extended and slowed the pacing right down. However, the last ten percent was fast paced and I enjoyed that part of the book.

Thank you Pan MacMillan for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The author tried to use original descriptions but I found them to be lacking and challenging to understand. E. G. "you could count the times he raised his voice on your hands, and still have enough fingers to play cards". How many fingers do you need to play cards? A fan of cards or just any random game? Why do you need to count on both hands? What card game only potentially uses one hand to play?

Between how much I enjoyed The Last Binding series and this stunning cover (times two), requesting SWORDCROSSED was a real no-brainer.

Personally, I didn't love SWORDCROSSED as much as The Last Binding series, but it's perhaps unfair to compare a standalone to a trilogy. I did enjoy it -- although it was a slow-build, by the end I was really rooting for the characters, especially Matti and Lucas, as well as Matti's sister and his fiance, who both play significant roles. As much as the 'low stakes' of the plot is it's selling point and what initially attracted me to it, I actually think I might have fallen for the story just a little harder if there had been a bit more in the way of action or intrigue, but since that's literally the point of the book, I can hardly call that a failing, just a matter of personal preference.

As always, Marske's writing is a lovely blend of vivid description and smooth readability, and the world created in SWORDPOINT is unique and interesting. The characters are flawed but loveable, and the slower and less world-rattling storyline allows us to dig down deep into their personalities and inner conflicts, making both our protagonists feel really relatable.

SWORDCROSSED is a charming, romantic fantasy with lots of focus on world-building and relationships. It's a great light-weight story in an interesting world.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book. ✨

This book was well written and I loved the idea of it, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t find it particularly gripping and I struggled to come back to it & finish it. It took me over a month to read and I feel like it put me in a bit of a slump.

I felt like the world building, although promising in the beginning, was under developed and the plot felt a bit bland. The romance, which was slightly “insta-love” in the beginning, was good but not mind blowing.

2.5/5 ⭐️ (rounded up)

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske is a standalone low stakes queer fantasy. I'm a huge fan of Marske's The Last Binding trilogy although, I must confess, I didn't enjoy Swordcrossed as much as I thought I would.

It was gentle, cosy read and although I adored the exquisitely written sexual chemistry between Matti and Luca, I found the world building and fantasy element a little underwhelming. If truth be told, this could have worked as a historical romance set in a queernormative world. The magical/fantasy elements were really lacking. They felt like an afterthought instead of being integral to the plot.

Despite this, I was completely enthralled by the delicious slowburn of Matti and Luca's relationship. Marske is incredibly talented at building tension and making me swoon at even the smallest of gestures and touches. You can't help but root for these wonderfully complex, sweet and yet flawed characters. This was a fun, light-hearted read that had me smiling manically throughout.

This is a sweet and angsty romance that I ate up with relish. I loved the surrounding plot and the mystery behind the incredibly bad fortunes of the Jay family. It was clever and twisty, and I now know more about wool production than I thought possible from a romatansy. I had a lot of fun with this, and I'll happily read more books in this world. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book is a really warm and cozy story of a young man who has tried to keep his prestigeous family business afloat that has had one .troke of bad luck after another. To help the hose get a leg up, he gets engaged to a young woman who is also admired by a young poet and hobby duellist. Since the guy will most likely challenge the marriage, Matti needs a best man to fight for him on his wedding day. He engages the lively and energetic Luca who stumbles across his path and helps him to take a little time for himself.
The setting is a made up country in a time similar to baroque times where merchants of different trades became more powerful.
I really liked the characters, Matti and Luca. I would only subtract half a star because the business side of the plot went a bit over my head.
I did enjoy the book a lot, though. It was a cosy comfort read.

I went in to swordcrossed with high expectations and got them crushed. I loved freya marske earlier work and I absolutely love swords so this book felt like it was destined to be great. Yet it managed to fail me on multiple levels.

One of my biggest problems has to be the cheating-not-cheating. While our main character is not engaged for love he does have a fiancé during the entirety of the book and every romantic moment just feels… quite uncomfortable because if that. They keep repeating that it won’t be cheating until Matti is married to her but as a woman lover I was incredibly uncomfortable. In the end she is okay with it but that didn’t exactly help me feel better about it. I just think there was no reason to write it like that and no reason she is written so chill about it.

This also made me kind of dislike Matti through the entire book. Especially when he kisses her around the early mid point. Just plain uncomfortable.

I did enjoy Lucas character a bit more. His choices make sense and he never did anything that made me annoyed. ( except also going along with the cheating-not-cheating. )

I do think the world building felt very weak. I don’t know exactly what she was going for but it falls weak on multiple points. I don’t think enough time nor love was invested in to it. It also does not help that the setting is queer normative but the gay ML is still ? In the closet and have to marry a woman. It feels a bit like you have to pick either one of those things and stick with it if you want any real emotional impact. My first thought was literally just “thats stupid.” When we got to know that.

I do think the writing is nice and I enjoy Freya’s use of language. It made me keep reading despite my difficulties with the story and world building.

Im not sure if I’m extra harsh because of my love for “A marvellous light”, a book i find almost perfect. But Im really disappointed and I can’t really recommend this book in as good of faith as her previous works.

Absolutely gorgeous romance between an heir and swordsman.

This book made me smile so many times! The back and forth between the MCs in training and outside of it was perfect.

I loved the political backstory surrounding the families.

Overall loved it!

I love Freya Marske so much. I have read her previous series, but I think she has really knocked it out of the park with this one. I giggled, I swooned and I did not see the twist coming. Freya writes LGBTQ-characters with respect and love. They dance of the page and nothing seems too much or little. It’s very clear that the author loved writing this, it shows in the way our two men fall in love. The worldbuilding is something different than from other books, and I can’t put my finger on it, except that it is a unique Marske way. I highly recommend this book to everyone who has read Freya’s other series and enjoyed it. I was such a wonderful read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[ARC provided by NetGalley and Tor. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Swordcrossed.]

Rating: 4.5/5

This was my first Freya Marske read and it certainly won’t be the last! I wasn’t sure what to expect with Swordcrossed other than a steamy queer romance so I’m happy to say that this book delivers that and so much more. Led by two characters that you will fall in love with, this story takes you on a low stakes romantic journey wrought with betrayal, conspiracy and the best kind of action. Although it took me up until around page 50 to truly sink into this read, from there on I was well and truly hooked and genuinely struggled putting it down. If you love books featuring a historical setting and romance that will get your heart pounding, this is one you need to check out.

Swordcrossed is led by Matti and Luca, two young men brought together by a con that will change their lives forever. Matti is the heir to his family’s struggling wool business and is expected to see through an arranged marriage that will restore the family’s fortunes. In preparation of this, he must hire a swordsman to defend him against any sword-challenges at the altar, but his dwindling funds won’t allow him to buy the best in the business, and that leads him to Luca Piere.

Oh Luca, I think I fell for you quicker than Matti did, if that’s possible. He’s 100% a charming menace and neither of us stood a chance. Luca arrives to Matti running from his own problems and looking for a quick way to make money, but when his con is unravelled and he ends up being blackmailed into giving Matti sword lessons, lines begin to blur with each clash of steel.

From the building romance to the mystery surrounding the Jay’s misfortunes, I was completely enamoured by this story and the characters within it. Matti and Luca are excellent leads with such different personalities that make every one of their exchanges spark with tension. Their chemistry is undeniable and watching them grow closer was such a joy. From scheming in closets to arguing over how to hold a sword, there’s never a dull moment between them.

My only small complaint is that this was described as a ‘fantasy’ romance which I feel is a stretch. The fantasy elements seem to veer into a more religious theme where the houses link with gods, and we don’t really see anything like magic in the story. But did this ruin my enjoyment of the story? Not even a little bit. I didn’t feel like anything was missing but knowing that it was pitched this way, I was always waiting for something more fantastical to happen and it never did.

If you remove the fantasy descriptor (which really isn’t needed at all) you’re left with a really lovely romance set in a pseudo-historical world. This is a book that had me thinking back to other low stakes queer books that I absolutely adore such as Legends and Lattes, and I’m sure it’ll become a comfort read for many.

(Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

“Swordcrossed” is a thoroughly delightful Fantasy of Manners about an overworked Good Boi and a precious ADHD disaster scapegrace whose colliding paths lead them to unexpected solutions for their respective pressing problems, but create entirely new ones.

When I was seventeen years old I read and fell in love with Ellen Kushner’s novel “Swordspoint”. Freya Marke’s book has an entirely different plot, setting and characters, don’t get me wrong, and the prose style and narrative voice are quite different, but I think it’s fair to say that this is very firmly in the same GENRE as Kushner’s book: less baroque cruelty, more cosy cinnamon rolls, similar levels of swashbuckling and identity porn.

Both novels are fantasies of the firmly unmagical variety, but whereas Kushner’s Riverside actively evokes many European cities and is largely focused upon the aristocracy and those who work for them, Marske’s Glassport feels like its own place. Marske’s worldbuilding is engaging: we’re firmly embedded in the merchant class in a world of guilds jockeying for power. The class system is based on Houses, to be sure, but these Houses and their power structure are firmly rooted in commerce, and this is a world where people can change their status and responsibilities by marrying into a House or being adopted into one: most fantasies out there tend to favour Special Bloodline shenanigans as the basis of power, whether magical or temporal, so it’s a refreshing change to be given a world where social mobility is possible, and where the class structure doesn’t hinge on some variation of eugenics.

Relatedly Marske gives us a world where coming-of-age rituals provide young people with the opportunity to affirm or repudiate their birth gender: one protagonist has an older brother who is clearly trans, and although he is married to a woman (and Matti himself is marrying a woman) the story is set in a world where samesex marriage is unremarkable. Because bloodlines really aren’t treated as A Big Deal in this world, and adopting a worthy employee as one’s heir is clearly an everyday matter, there’s a similarly relaxed attitude to premarital sex and pregnancy, and a related absence of systemic misogyny, and can I just say what a blessed RELIEF I found this? (I’m making a point picking out this aspect of the worldbuilding because I really appreciated the thought that went into, but it’s very much just a background thing. It isn’t what the story is ostensibly about, but the worldbuilding naturally shapes the story.)

All too often one finds fantasy worldbuilding with elaborate systems of magic or deities, where gender roles are grimly familiar and constraining - or else the author tries to flip gender roles in an estatz medieval world without really thinking through the consequences, and it doesn’t ring true; I really appreciate that Marske has clearly sat down and reflected upon how to build a world where LGBTQ characters have as much chance to live their best lives as the cishet ones. It’s lovely.

I’m trying NOT to just retell the plot here, because I’m sure that plenty of other reviews will do that, and I very much enjoyed reading the novel with only the blurb (and, tbh, Freya Marske’s previous books) to shape my expectations. However: in “Swordcrossed” we meet overworked young wool merchant Mattinesh Jay, who is on the brink of clawing his House’s way back from impending financial disaster via a marriage of convenience to a very nice young woman from a very wealthy House of wine merchants. Unfortunately it is traditional for the “does any man here present know of a reason why these two should not be married” part of the wedding ceremony to involve the opportunity for other swains to duel for the hand of the bride (or groom), either personally or via a professional duellist - and Matti knows for an absolute fact that his bride’s other suitor (a noted swordfighter) is going to challenge the wedding. He doesn’t know one end of a sword from the other. Thus he needs to employ an extremely capable swordsman as his Best Man.

What he gets is scapegrace con artist Luca Piere, an excellent swordsman brand new to Glassport with enough baggage for an entire airport and enough charm to steal the heart right out of Matti’s chest.

The sexual tension between the two of them is wildly inconvenient, but also undeniable; the building trust and friendship is something neither of them expected, but both of them treasure.


There are nefarious villains and violent thugs to be dealt with, and secrets to be divulged, but this is firmly a romance with the promise of a HEA, and the issues that separate the protagonists are reasonable and believable ones. Matti and Luca are both absolute sweethearts in their very different ways, and Matti’s family (and fiancee) are all very likeable too.

I loved it. I’m not sure whether I loved it MORE than The Last Binding trilogy as a whole, but I think I did enjoy it more than “A Marvellous Light” - not least because as an ADHD hot mess myself my level of sympathy for Luca was off the charts. He is doing his best! (At first I thought he was going to be a Locke Lamora-esque professional con artist, but the reality is that he’s more Wyle E Coyote than Eugenides of Edis. Clearly the poor lamb suffers from dyscalculia as well as ADHD, and I really enjoyed the way Marske quietly shapes his backstory around his neurodivergence.)

“Starcrossed” feels like a standalone, and its ending was very satisfying, but I hope that Marske revisits the world she’s built for this story, in the same way that Bujold uses the World Of The Five Gods as a backdrop for stories about different people.