Swordheart was such a cozy, chaotic delight. T. Kingfisher has this magical ability to write the weirdest situations in the most comforting way.

Halla, our FMC, is awkward, funny, and a total gem of a main character (plus super relatable). She accidentally unsheathes a cursed sword and out pops Sarkis, our MMC (maybe SMC - sword main character?), a grumpy immortal swordsman who’s now magically bound to protect her. Their banter is TOP NOTCH. The whole vibe is grumpy x sunshine meets bodyguard romance, this one seriously had me smiling like an idiot and giggling to myself.

The romance leans a little more toward insta-love than I usually go for, but honestly, I didn’t care and still enjoyed it thoroughly. All of the characters were so lovable and the dialogue so witty and cute that I was just happy to be along for the ride. Also, the new cover on the rerelease is just gorgeous 🤌

If you like your fantasy weird with a side of sarcasm, a dash of romance, and a whole lot of giggling, then definitely read Swordheart!

Fun Kingfisher romp. I got a free ebook from the publisher and didn't realize it's a re-release, new edition apparently. The copy wasn't error-free though, so it read like a traditional arc. And then the afterword mentioned a sequel coming, but I researched it and no sequel is coming soon. I'm not sure I understood the choice to re-release and promote this book right now, but I'm a huge fan of the author and I was happy to read a backlist book of hers. The physical copy of the new edition looks so pretty--I would have loved a promo copy of that!

As far as the story, it was fun and satisfying, but not my favorite of her books. The middle dragged a bit, and the love story didn't seem to develop a whole lot past physical attraction and insta-love. However, the female main character, Hella, was a classic Kingfisher female character: flawed, interesting, hilarious, goofy, self-conscious, brave, feisty, and completely lovable. It was no surprise why Sarkis loved her. I just wasn't sold on the two of them as soulmates, beyond "why not?" I'd also hoped for some exploration of what a future with Sarkis would look like, perhaps a fulfillment of his curse (he's been living in a sword for several centuries, a bit like a genie in a lamp except instead of granting wishes, he becomes your faithful bodyguard. And he's human. Immortal, but human). Perhaps the planned sequels will give more answers. The conflicts in this story are all resolved, and apparently the sequels will be about other characters, but it's possible Ms. Kingfisher will continue developing these characters too.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor, and NetGalley for the free copy. I also checked out the audiobook from my local library to help me read it a bit faster. I thought the narrator did a great job. I'd recommend this to fantasy fans, romance fans, and Kingfisher fans.

Cozy romantasy meets adventure… Say less!

⭐️found family
⭐️grumpy x sunshine
⭐️bodyguard
⭐️witty banter
⭐️lovable characters
⭐️slow burn

I read along with listening to the audiobook, which I HIGHLY recommend! It was SO well done and entertaining! Jesse Villinsky was amazing at bringing the characters to life!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the chance to read this eArc ❤️

Woah I went into this blind and I’m so glad I did. This is the definition of a cozy fantasy, with lots of romance and adventure and I ate it up.

Swordheart is everything I didn’t know I needed in a cozy fantasy adventure!
Halla is just a regular woman who suddenly finds herself in possession of a sword that comes with an immortal, sarcastic swordsman attached. He is now bound to protect her.
The world building is fun and light and the banter between Halla and Sarkis is perfection. It’s funny, full of adventure and has a dash of romance!

I did not finish this book and only completed about 20-30%. I enjoyed the funny banter between the two main characters but the story was just not for me. The writing was appropriate for the setting of the book but it was just not my cup of tea.

Another banger by Kingfisher!
Sword heart was so cute and hilarious. Her characters always have such a light in them I can never get enough of. When I was looking through Reddit threads for genuinely good fantasy romances, this book came up numerous times. It was added to my life long list, and I had no idea when I would get the chance to read it. NetGalley once again gave me the Kingfisher fix!
The fantasy world is vibrant, the plot is well oiled and interspersed with fun banter and a devilishly sweet romance. An absolute must read for a cozy fantasy! I hope one day she continues this series.

Listen, give me a list of T. kingfisher groceries and imma read it. I love this authors style and how the words are twisted to come at you. Sinking into her worlds where she takes something familiar and gives it edges I didn’t know it needed. Oof. Watch out.

The theme of this engaging fantasy is: 'A beleaguered magical sword saddled with an inept wielder'.

It all starts when wealthy Great-Uncle Silas expires and unexpectedly leaves his all to Halla. Her aunts lock her in her room, planning to have her quickly 'married or buried'. Deciding to kill herself, she unsheathes an ancient sword gathering dust on the wall - and a man appears.

Immortal warrior Sarkis has been trapped in the sword for generations, sworn to protect its wielder. He kicks the locked door down and takes Halla out of there. The engaging dialogue between Halla and Sarkis (driven by her never-ending stream of questions) draws the reader through the plot.

Sarkis protects kind and trusting Halla through all kinds of adventures. The ending hints at a sequel and I can't wait!

You know how they say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover? In this case, you can! You absolutely can! Swordheart by T. Kingfisher is absolutely as delicious as this cover. BTW, this is a re-release with a new, well-deserved (and absolutely yummy) cover.

Widow Halla has been staying with her late husband’s uncle after the death of her husband, running his household, and mostly feeling quite fortunate to have a roof over her head and ample food. Unexpectedly, the uncle dies and leaves her everything, much to the disgust of his relatives who decide that this just can’t be. They will do everything to take the inheritance from Halla. Try to force her to marry? Yes. Lock her in her room until she comes around to their point-of-view? Yes. While locked in her room, she unsheathes one of her uncle’s ancient swords. A man appears from the unsheathed sword calling himself Sarkis and that he is sworn to protect the bearer of the sword: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher.

Swordheart epitomizes why I love T. Kingfisher’s books. The characters are delightfully quirky with the main female character typically having a dry humor that adds a welcoming element to even the darkest of books. In this case, it’s Halla, who I love as I do Sarkis, the not-reluctant but perhaps guilt-stricken hero who emerges from the sword. As they attempt to find a way for Halla to obtain her inheritance, they encounter obstacles, some human and some decidedly not, that keep the pages turning. They approach their mission with deadpan humor while learning each other’s stories and slowly falling in love.

As I’ve probably mentioned ad nauseam, I am not typically a reader of fantasy but . . . it’s novels like Swordheart that continue to change my mind. The ultimate reality, of course, is that any books with interesting characters and a good plot/story is desirable despite its genre. But if you aren’t a fan of the genre, it’s very hard to find the gems with it.

So. Yep, definitely loved this one and am eagerly looking forward to more from T. Kingfisher.

Many thanks to Bramble for sending me a copy. (Now I may just have to purchase one with that stunning cover.)

Oh, this was a delight. I'm so glad it's going to be a trilogy, because if the next two are anything like this one, they'll hopefully be as fun.

This was one of the coziest and most heartwarming fantasy novels that I have ever read, and I am so thankful for T Kingfisher for creating some of the most intricate and unique characters, as well as a charming universe.

I liked that the story touched on parts of the general world of the White Rat but still felt like an intimate stand-alone story. This was my first introduction to the world, and I am already so deeply invested. I will absolutely be returning to this universe to dive deeper into it. Overall, the plot was very super cozy, but still had a healthy dose of adventure and magic which was charming in its own right.

I absolutely loved the cast of characters in this book. Both the primary and secondary characters were fantastically written, and I felt extremely connected to them (the good ones of course). I especially felt a kinship to Halla, as her character was one of the most unique and original characters that I have ever had the pleasure of following. The romance was so incredibly charming and funny. It’s on the cleaner side but I still loved every interaction between the two of them!

This story was so much fun!! Seriously you have a story of an unlikely group (found family) together on their journey and all of the things they go through along the way combined with so much hilarity that I actually laughed out loud so many times throughout this book, all put together to make one of my favorite reads of 2025! You will absolutely adore this story and it will easily become one of your favorite comfort reads!!

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher is a delightful fantasy romance with a heaping helping of adventure.

I've been meaning to read this book for a long time, and once Tor announced they were going to publish a beautiful hardcover edition with an amazing cover, I knew I needed to buy it. So I ordered it from bookshop.org to help support my local Friends of the Library! I'm glad I did; it ended up becoming a new favorite for me.

I listened to the audiobook which I borrowed from my library. I really enjoyed listening to the narrator, Jesse Vilinsky! They did a great job really making Kingfisher's prose and sense of humor really shine.

T. Kingfisher always does a fabulous job with world-building, and this book is no different. I truly want to see this adapted for television or film; it would be SO FUN.

Hella a housekeeper to her great-uncle (by marriage), and after his death she inherits his entire estate... and the rest of his horrible family. When said horrible family intends to imprison her in the home and force her to marry the son of the matriarch, she decides to un-alive herself. Luckily for her, she sword she pulls off the wall to do the deed is actually Sarkis, an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of his own made of enchanted steel.

They have a great slow-burn romance set against the backdrop of a road trip to help Hela take back her inheritance. Both main characters are older (Hella is middle-aged and Sarkis is several hundreds of years old) and they have phenomenal banter. Hella is absolutely written to be neurodivergent, though it's never spelled out as such. She really made me feel seen; I have ADHD and saw a lot of my habits in her characterization, especially when she said she does well with routines.

Sarkis is very dark and brooding, and I love that in a MMC. I really appreciated that Sarkis didn't actually try to change his relationship with Hella until they were on more equal footing. What could have been an issue of power dynamics between them was easily sorted out that way. Various characters say it throughout the book and I wholeheartedly agree: he is such a good pairing for Hella.

There's some great non-binary representation in the lawyer-priest Zale. It was lovely to see in the author's note that Kingfisher had sensitivity readers double-check the representation, too. You love to see it!

The whole concept of the Temple of the White Rat is so interesting to me. It houses an order of god-touched social workers, healers, and public defenders. I can't wait to read more in this world!

Tropes in this book include: older protagonists, neurodivergent representation, nonbinary representation, road trip, slow burn

CW: violence, death, confinement

This book was an unbelievable joy to read! I love the dynamic between our two main characters. I honestly thought this book was laugh out loud funny.

Fans of cozy fantasy, this one's a must-read! *This book* follows Halla, who discovers an immortal warrior named Sarkis trapped inside her sword, and together they journey across the country to reclaim an inheritance her late husband's family is trying to steal. With a mix of romance, adventure, and found family, the slow-burn romance between Halla and Sarkis is filled with great banter and grumpy-sunshine dynamics, making this an absolute favorite!

Swordheart, aptly, has so much heart that I felt warm and fuzzy the entire time I was reading it!

Halla has just inherited her uncle by marriage's house, in part because she cared for him during his last years of life. But her aunt isn't happy with that, and plan to make her marry her son. She locks her in her room. Halla pulls a sword off of the wall to defend herself, and find that the sword is like a genie bottle, with a brave warrior inside. Sheath the sword, and he disappears and heals. Pull it out, and he is back immediately and ready to defend her.

Sarkis has been a warrior of the blade for hundreds of years, but never had he had a wielder who asked so many questions. He is hers for as long as she has the blade, and is happy to defend her from her crazy in-laws, and accompany her to a larger town, where she can receive help from the Rat Temple, who are lawyers. He discovers her intelligence, her curiosity, and her willingness to look at the bright side of things are almost as appealing as her body.

Of course, things go awry, with mythical lands, bandits, priests for other gods, greedy family and so-called friends all too interested in her inheritance and her sword. But through it all, the book made me laugh with incredible dialogue and great characters. The "experiments" with bodily fluids while they are on the road was one of the funniest parts of the book.

If you are looking for a great cozy fantasy, Swordheart is for you. Best of all, it is the first of a trilogy, so I get to look forward to more sword warrior stories!

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

✒️📖ARC REVIEW📖🖋️

3.5 rounded up

This book was a slow paced, but an interesting take on cozy fantasy, legal thriller, and girly your family sucks. We follow a housekeeper who cared for her elderly uncle (by marriage) after being widowed as she is fleeing with a magical sword-man to seek out one of the churches to help sort out her inheritance.

The book was accurately described as Princess Bride inspired The lead female is just a bit older, but equally charming and smart. I would also say it reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There are lots of comedic relief scenes, talking around themselves, and characters that come from vastly different backgrounds.

Would recommend to anyone who is looking for something different in the cozy fantasy/adventure fantasy (they are basically on a ox wagon roadtrip or on foot for 90% of the book) genres. The characters and plot line are very well done. That being said I would have liked a map!! And maybe a picture of the group…would have been a lovely hodgepodge of a D&D party.

I was provided a free advanced reader copy courtesy of TOR Publishing Group and T. Kingfisher via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

#arc #advancedreadercopy #NetGalley #SwordHeart #T.Kingfisher #TORPublishing

I recommend this to anyone who is already a T. Kingfisher fan, and if you’re still on the fence about it, this book certainly will pull you in. Kingfisher has a way of making their prose flow so smoothly throughout the duration of their story telling and this book is a prime example. This book captivates you from the very first chapter and has you longing for more after the very last.

Swordheart is delightful and cozy and everything I hoped for! Highly recommend to read on a rainy weekend inside with a cup of tea.