The book was so unlike the work Kingfisher usually puts out. The focus is not on the magic or the sword but the budding relationship between the sword and it's wielder. There are definite well written moments such as the vagrant hills but too fleeting and too few.

This is a delightful story that centers around Halla and the bodyguard she accidentally summons from inside a sword. Halla has to escape her relatives and has to flee using the help of a man whose soul was trapped in a sword centuries ago. Kingfisher has a beautiful way of mixing humor along with whatever she writes. In Swordheart, you find this mix creating a believable story of an awkward and sheltered widow and a man who doesn't understand the "modern" foreign country he's landed in blundering their way through their quest.

The middle of the book drags a little, but with a great supporting cast of characters and interesting complications to their quest, this is a great fun read for anyone who wants a cozy fantasy. Thank you to Bramble and NetGalley for the review copy.

Rating 5/5 ⭐️
Spice 2/5 🌶️

O.M.G!

This book I would consider a “cozy fantasy” and it read like a warm hug!

Halla is a widow who is living with her husband’s great-uncle who passes away leaving her his money. She is being forced to marry so her husband’s family can get access to her inheritance. As she contemplates what to do and how to get out of this situation she draws a sword where a man (Sarkis) happens to dwell!

I laughed so hard during this book. I thought Halla was such a refreshing FMC. She is older, witty, super curious, and unashamed of who she is.
Sarkis our MMC is rather brash but understanding. He often finds himself unsure of how Halla has so many questions.

The romance is a slow-burn and so wholesome. The adventure is low-stakes fantasy but fun to watch them navigate through it and find each other and their own “found family”.

I highly recommend for those who enjoyed “The Spellshop” or similarly Lowe-stakes, cozy fantasy romances!

Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and publisher for the ARC!

Thank you for Netgalley and the Publisher for providing an advanced copy of this title for an unbiased review. Please note that this is not a new title, but a special edition.

Swordheart is a title that is part of Kingfisher's "World of the White Rat" series, which is a collection of smaller series taking place in the same world. I am especially a fan of Kingfisher connecting her stories into a single world because I am a fan of her settings and the interesting worldbuilding she sets up her individual books.

While I am definetly a fan of her setting and 'mythologies' in Swordheart, I am sad to say that this is where my appreciation ends.
To qualify my thoughts: Cozy Romantasies are not normally my bag and I was taking a leap of faith into the genre with this title - your mileage may vary.

Swordheart is a romantasy that features Halla, a widower who finds herself the surprising benificiary to the will of her recently deceased uncle Silas. Halla was married into and then widowed in this family of the uncle (and was his dutiful caregiver when his health began to fail), so naturally Silas' blood relatives take objection to this state of affairs. They feel that the best thing for Halla would be to marry cousin Alvin, so that the inheritence would find its way back into the family. Halla is still mourning the loss of her husband's uncle, so she naturally protests this. As a result, her husband's family they lock her up in her bedroom until she starts to see sense. While suffering this imprisonment, she accidentally pulls a decorative sword from its scabbard (Uncle Silas was very eccentric and a collector of rare items) only to discover that there is a magical guardian inside it (named Sarkis), who is bound to protecting her. She escapes with the sword and sets about on navigating the world to put things right.

On paper, it is a very tight premise and a title that I thought I would have enjoyed. Unfortunately, it plods along and the romance between Halla and Sarkis feels more awkward and forced. Speaking of forced, Kingfisher does a lot of 'telling' over 'showing' when developing her characters.

When I looked at the timeline of Kingfisher's books, I noticed that Swordheart almost sets exactly between her children's Ursula Vernon fictions and her more adult fairytale and horror books (of which I am a HUGE fan), so I think the greatest folly of Swordheart is just the stage of growth in Kingfisher's career in which it was written. There was supposedly mention of a sequel to this title, but I think that Kingfisher is writing much better stuff for her to return to this.

Note: I Received A Copy of Swordheart from Netgalley Free of Charge

I really enjoy T. Kingfisher's work, having read her horror and most recently Clockwork Boys. She's got a dark sense of humor that really works for me. Swordheart is no different in the humor department.

That is not to say that the book fails to take things like plot or character seriously. It does. Halla is a widow who had been taking care of her late husband's uncle for years when he dies and surprisingly leaves the entire estate to her. Cue the family trying to remarry her to various cousins to try and keep the fortune in the family. But one of the items in the house turns out to be an enchanted sword with a warrior inside who helps Halla to escape her family. But will they be able to prove Halla's inheritance and what about these strange feelings they've both started having?

Halla and Sarkis are both great characters, and when Zale the Lawyer/Priest and Brindle the gnole with "opini0ns" on humans enter the book, it just becomes a fun travelogue about their voyages to Halla's hometown to recollect her inheritance.

Oh, and also, because this *is* T. Kingfisher, there are absolutely bloody battles that are simultaneously silly. I really enjoy reading T. Kingfisher books.

But overall, just a nice silly and fun read.

I really had fun with this story! I was so glad to see a mature female MC! Halla and Sarkis were a slow burn worth waiting for. The banter among all of the characters really made the book for me. There were several loose ends that I can't wait to see tied up. Will they go back into the Vagrant Hills to pursue a "cure"? Will Sarkis find his fellow swords? What is actually wrong with Silas' bird??? Kingfisher really knows how to create a flushed out fantasy world, and I hope that she gets the trilogy of the swords finished this time around!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

If you are looking for a cozy adventure fantasy, this book hits the mark. The first half of the book was great. The characters were nicely developed and the story was enjoyable. I felt the second half of the book ended up being quite repetitive. The concept was there but I thought the plot got kind of lost throughout the book. There was some great banter between the MCs but again a lot of the dialogue was repetitive. I was disappointed with the ending, and I felt like there was so much left unresolved, for instance what was the point in the trip through the roaming hills, and why was the subject of getting Sarkis out of the sword never revisited? Overall this was still a fun read.

I'm never not going to recommend a Kingfisher book, but so far this one is really delightful. A plus sized, middle aged widow escapes from her cruel family with the help of an enchanted sword who turns into a man. Action, banter, and feelings follow. I think this one has taken the number one spot amonst Kingfisher's books. I can't reccomend it enough!

Ok, I loved this! Witty, fun, lighthearted—everything I wanted in this story and this concept. I hadn't read anything else by T. Kingfisher and I guess I'll have to change that!

Nobody does it quite like T. Kingfisher! The humor, the adventure, the quirkiness, mixed with a little dark fun is almost always a grand slam performance for me! I LOVE the cover redesign here too! Can't wait to pick up a hardcover copy!

Swordheart delivered a delightful mix of humor, heart, and high-stakes adventure. Halla’s unexpected inheritance and her encounter with the grumpy yet honorable Sarkis, an immortal warrior stuck in an enchanted sword, made for an irresistibly quirky setup. Their dynamic—equal parts banter and slow-burning affection—kept me hooked throughout.
The story balanced cozy fantasy vibes with laugh-out-loud moments, particularly as Halla and Sarkis navigated conniving relatives, bandits, and inquisitors. Halla’s practicality and wit were a perfect match for Sarkis’s brooding demeanor, making their relationship as entertaining as it was heartfelt.
While the pacing lagged in places, and the stakes sometimes felt more amusing than dire, the charm of the characters and the whimsical world-building carried the narrative.
If you’re in the mood for a fantasy romance that’s as comforting as a warm cup of tea with a sharp edge of adventure, Swordheart is a treasure worth unsheathing.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Swordheart was an absolutely delightful fantasy adventure. I loved having an older female main character in a fantasy novel, and her internal (and external) dialogue was hilarious. The love interest and side characters were all fantastic, and there were so many points in the book that made me giggle. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a lower-stakes, humorous read!

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for the ARC!

T. Kingfisher is the author I didn't know I needed in my YA collection. There seems to be a pattern in YA to push out as many books as possible with little consideration to literary merit. This book and all others written by this author will be purchased immediately not only for the sublime writing, but for the beautifully crafted stories.

T. Kingfisher has been a favorite author of mine for a few years now and I was thrilled to see this pop up on NetGalley as it’s been on my list of backlogged books to get to. This has Kingfisher’s signature humor and whimsy, which is why I love these stories so much. I do think maybe the story dragged on a little unnecessarily at times, and the overuse of the word ‘err’ was bothering me a bit in the beginning, but other than that this is exactly what I’ve come to expect from my favorite author. Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing
for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review which has already been posted to Goodreads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bramble for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Halla is just a poor, widowed, middle-aged woman who is suddenly left with all of her great-uncle’s wealth. With this sudden unexpected situation, Halla’s remaining family is desperate for a piece of the estate. In an attempt to escape her wretched family, Halla unsheathes the sword mounted to her bedroom wall and reveals the immortal Sarkis! Now sworn to defend and protect his wielder, Halla and Sarkis are forced to adventure together as Halla attempts to take back what’s rightfully hers.

I think this is my favorite T. Kingfisher book thus far! I loved the banter! The characters were amazing and the story was awesome. This is a bit of a slow burn, romantically and in general, as our to MCs galavant across the world together getting into trouble from one place to the next. I loved Halla’s goofy personality and Sarkis is such a heart throb! Some may not like the long travel from one place to the next but I adored it. It is very The Hobbit meets Princess Bride. If you’ve never read a Kingfisher book and don’t want to step into the horror fantasy books she writes, this would be a great place to start! With that said, there are other books in this world (clocktaur war and saints of steel) but I did not read any of them prior to this read. This was a 5 star read for me!!

I heard so much about this book and I was so excited to read it! This was excellent. It absolutely blew me away!! Thank you so much for the early copy :)

I am a huge fan of T. Kingfisher, if you haven't read any of her books, you should stop whatever you're doing, right now, and read one! I love her take on adventures, that perhaps the end of the story isn't when the adventure ends. That all our stories continue and our lives continue.

I really loved the characters in this story, Halla and Sarkis. The magic behind the sword is well explained, going as far as doing some experiments on exactly how the magic works. I enjoyed the politics, and the clash of religion in regards to politics and other religions. And I cheered for both Halle and Sarkis to succeed.

I am hopeful for more books in this series, the story's of the other warriors and their swords will be at the top of my TBR!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for an advanced copy of this book to read and review!

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this title.

Swordheart is about a woman in a bad family situation who accidentally becomes the weirder of an enchanted sword with a grumpy personality. Well, the man inside the sword is grumpy, not the actual sword. I enjoyed this a lot, though there were some moments when the pacing was a little slow. The characters were great. Halla, especially, was very relatable. I loved all the main characters really. The world building was in-depth and humorous at times as well. I’m giving this 3.5 stars instead of 4 because of the slower pace. I recommend Swordheart to any fans of cozy fantasy.

A sweet cozy, adventure fantasy book with pretty well written characters and an enjoyable plot. The fmc was well written and I greatly enjoyed the romance with her bound bodyguard. Had some great banter and I would definitely recommend giving it a read!

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. For a mid-length book, it sets up the word and story effortlessly. It's refreshing to have a fantasy (and light romance) book with middle-aged characters! From the first sentence, this book had me laughing - it's surprisingly funny. The premise of the magic/conflict is unique, and it made for some cool situations throughout the story. I feel like it will stick with me because of all of this. The middle was the only part that felt slower, but the side characters who enter into the story are so delightful that I didn't mind. I'm really interested to explore more of this author's works after how much I enjoyed Swordheart!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC copy in exchange for an honest review!