My Five Word TL:DR Review: Yes, She DId it Again

I’m loving T Kingfisher at the moment and can’t get enough of her books, which is good because recently there have been a couple of books that I think had earlier release dates (perhaps in the US) that have now hit the shelves in the UK (or maybe they’ve been rereleased) – and boy am I happy.  I recently read and loved Paladin’s Grace (and thankfully the rest of the series seems to be already written so colour me happy) and Swordheart, which is the first in a new series is set in the same world.  I think that reading the two fairly close together really worked well for me because here in Swordheart we come across again the same Gods, strange countryside, critters and Paladins.  It was such an easy book to fall into with great banter and a cosy romance.  Who even am I?  When did I start loving cozy romantasy style books?  Seriously, I don’t know, maybe Kingfisher has cast her spell but whatever, it works for me at the moment and so I’m happy.

This story gets off to a pretty whirlwind start.  We meet Halla.  Halla has recently inherited her great uncle’s estate (who she kept house for) but instead of finding herself in the position of being able to help her niece’s and live a comfortable life, the rest of the family have imprisoned her and are insisting she marries her cousin – basically so that the money will become theirs and they can write Halla off.  Halla has no intention of marrying her clammy handed cousin, she wants to help her nieces and the only idea she can come up with under pressure is to end everything so that her remaining family inherit.  With this in mind she decides that a sword in hanging in her room will be the perfect tool, until she draws it from the scabbard and a warrior appears.  Sarkis is bound to the sword (all will become clear) and becomes the protector of the rightful owner (in this case Hanna as she has inherited the house and it’s contents).  From here ensues an escape, an adventure and a romance.

To be honest, the plot isn’t particularly complicated.  Hanna needs to reach the Temple of the Rat so that one of their own can defend her and her inheritance.  Along the way of course Hanna and Sarkis will encounter not only common bandits but also people intent on stopping Hanna and also those interested in particular in this strange magical sword.

I had such a good time reading this – so much so that I find it difficult to believe that this is almost 450 pages long.  Seriously, the pages must have read themselves.

What really helped for me was that I really liked the two main characters.  I loved their slow burn attraction and the way they bumbled around each other so shyly.  I really enjoyed the additional cast members and I love the world.

I am going to keep this review short and sweet because there’s only so much gushing I can put up with before I annoy myself.  If you want a cosy, low stakes romantasy, a couple of great main characters and some found family, a strange world where the land itself can take control of your destination, great banter and fantastic humour, all combined with Kingfisher’s particular brand of dark and light, then you need to pick this up.  I can’t see a No.2 at the moment but hopefully one is in the pipeline, everything is crossed – no pressure on the author then!

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4.5 of 5 stars