Description

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Featuring gorgeous ruby sprayed edges in the hardcover edition!

High heat. Low stakes. Sharp steel.

The cozy, low stakes of Legends & Lattes meets the scorching bodyguard fantasy of Jennifer L. Armentrout's From Blood and Ash in this enemies-to-lovers romance where, yes, the swords do cross.

A LitHub most anticipated book of 2024

Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. Sword-challenge at the ceremony could destroy all hope of restoring his family's wealth, something that Matti has been trying—and failing—to do for the past ten years.

What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere.

Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his hometown. He didn't plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible—and inconveniently handsome—wool merchant like Matti.

However, neither Matti's business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what they seem. As the days count down to Matti's wedding, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti's house to the brink of ruin. And when Luca's secrets threaten to drive a blade through their growing alliance, both Matti and Luca will have to answer the question: how many lies are you prepared to strip away, when the truth could mean losing everything you want?

"There's nothing in fantasy or queer romance that Marske can't do."—Sarah Rees Brennan

About the Author

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Freya Marske is the author of A Power Unbound, A Restless Truth, and A Marvellous Light, which was an international bestseller and won the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy. Her work has appeared in Analog and has been shortlisted for three Aurealis Awards. She is also a Hugo-nominated podcaster, and won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. She lives in Australia.

Praise For…

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Featuring gorgeous ruby sprayed edges in the hardcover edition!

"Freya Marske's books catch my heart with a butterfly net, because I believe in her characters so utterly. I love guilds in fantasy, and in this book Marske made them integral, meaningful and powerful. In an exciting new departure showing all her strengths, Swordcrossed proves there's nothing in fantasy—or queer romance—Marske can't do."—Sarah Rees Brennan, author of Long Live Evil

"Clever, sparkling, and perfectly indulgent, Swordcrossed feels like stepping into a party already in full swing. Everything is possible; everything is wondrous. This is fantasy romance at its very best."—Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief

"Delightful and spicy. . . . Marske is simply superb at her chosen genres."—The New York Times on The Last Binding trilogy

"Swordcrossed is so good I want to set it on fire and physically throw it at people's faces. . . . It filled my brain with tickly champagne bubbles of glee."—Alexandra Rowland, author of A Taste of Gold and Iron

Praise for the Last Binding Trilogy

"The prose is sublime, the world-building top-notch, and the magic system is fascinating and unique.”—TJ Klune, New York Times bestselling author of The House on the Cerulean Sea

"Stunning—the writing is lush, the world-building is fascinating, and the romance is searing hot. I am completely obsessed with this story of unrepentantly dangerous people falling in love with one another."—Cat Sebastian, author of The Queer Principles of Kit Webb

"Marske is an extraordinary talent who writes compelling characters . . . and love stories like nobody else."—Everina Maxwell, author of Winter's Orbit

"Mystery! Magic! Murder! Long looks full of yearning! A confection, both marvelous and light."―Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

"A delectable sapphic fantasy-adventure on the high seas . . . . Never has the term ‘to ship’ been more appropriate."―Megan Bannen, author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

"If you ever wished Downton Abbey was sharper-edged and full of magic, this is the book for you."—Kat Howard, author of An Unkindness of Magicians

"Marske uses the full span of the trilogy to build to a beautiful, devastating conclusion. . . . Romance runs on undiluted wish fulfillment; sometimes this means give me everything I desire, but other times it means promise me that I can survive the worst."—Olivia Waite, The New York Times

“Truly a scrumptious treat of a book, like a fancy tea all laid out with silver spoons and floral-painted cups.”—NPR

“If you like queer magical historical mysteries with murder, this series is for you.”—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

"Everything you could ever want from a book—beautiful descriptions, expertly woven worldbuilding, queer kissing, sexual tension in a library . . . Brilliant on every level."—Alexandra Rowland, author of A Taste of Gold and Iron

"Marske’s showstopping final Last Binding historical fantasy doubles down on all the romance and magic that made the previous books in the trilogy so delightful. . . . Marske again demonstrates her talent for balancing romance and fantasy action."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Sure to capture the hearts of romance and fantasy readers alike."—Booklist, starred review

“The sexual tension crescendos until it literally makes sparks fly.”—Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun

“Prepare to fall in love.”—Emily Tesh, author of Silver in the Wood and Some Desperate Glory

“The perfect book if you're looking for oceanbound queer shenanigans, suspense in a coherently magical world, or opulent historical fiction."―Malka Older, author of The Mimicking of Known Successes

"If I had the ability to make everyone read one trilogy of books, it would be The Last Binding, Freya Marske’s phenomenal (and extremely spicy) fantasy series. No one intersperses gleeful, squeal-inducing sexual tension with tender and painfully human interactions between characters quite like Marske does. Think of your favorite romance trope. Is it rivals to lovers? Enemies to something more? Sunshine and grump? Forced proximity? Chances are you’ll find it in one of these books."—Polygon

"A fast-paced book full of delightfully witty repartee, wonderfully lewd sexytimes, and a truly biting class and gender commentary that does not waste time with subtlety."—Gizmodo