To be loved is to be seen.

Thank you to Bramble for the advanced copy to Swordheart.

Swordheart is an apt name for this book, as it will pierce you thusly. I am overcome by emotion from this book. Never have I felt so seen in a narrator. The book opens in a way that resembles Buttercup, in The Princess Bride, trying to kill herself. Halla has unsheathed a sword to fall on it so that she does not have to deal with her terrible in-laws. (Respect, mama). Once she's unsheathed the sword, a strange man appears who we learn has been cursed and is housed in the enchanted sword. Both main characters are incredibly flawed in a way that is relatable but doesn't take away from the fantastic element of the world. The slowest of slow burns and the longingest of longings ensues between Halla and Sarkis, and never more deeply have two people been perfect for each other. Along the way they pick up a myriad of side characters, a Nonbinary lawyer priest of the local Rat God and his Gnole employee, charged with taking care of the slowest of Oxen. If you need to understand me a little better please read this book. And for the love of the Rat God, stop reading Romantasy that doesn't read like this. I hope you can feel my eyes boring into your soul when I say that.