#Swordcrossed

[torpublishinggroup]

Celebrate Pride with Tor Publishing Group!

The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang

Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Bandits of Liangshan proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats. Together, they could bring down an empire. 

Now available in paperback!

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

The long-awaited sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it. Welcome back to Marsyas Island—home to six magical and purportedly dangerous children. This is Arthur’s story.

The West Passage by @jpechacek

When the Guardian of the West Passage dies in her bed, the women of Grey Tower feed her to the crows and go back to their chores. No successor is named, and no hand takes up the fallen blade, so the West Passage—the ancient byways of the beast—goes unguarded. This is a weird and delightful journey across a deliriously medieval landscape where decay thrives in abundance and giant Ladies rule a palace the size of a city. 

Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker

On the thirtieth anniversary of the largest magical massacre in New Orleans history, Clement and Cristina Trudeau mourn their father and care for their sick mother. But their mother isn’t sick, they learn: She’s cursed. Cursed by a member of the same magic council over which she used to preside. Cursed by someone who will come for Clement and Cristina next. 

Now available in paperback!

Bury Your Gays by @drchucktingle

After so many years, Misha’s big Oscar moment is here. All he has to do? Kill off the gay characters in his long-running streaming series, “for the algorithm.” Misha refuses, but that’s hardly the end, because monsters from his old horror movie days have begun to step out from the silver screen and stalk him. 

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

The Cleric Chih accompanies a young bride to her wedding to Lord Guo, the aging ruler of a crumbling estate, but amid the elaborate courtesies and extravagant banquets, they realize something haunts the shadowed halls. As the big night nears close, Chih will learn that not all monsters dwell in shadows; some hide in plain sight. 

Remedial Magic by Melissa Marr

1) An unassuming librarian falls in love with a powerful witch. 

2) Previous librarian discovers she too is a witch…

3) …and that she must attend magical community college to learn how to save her new world from annihilation. 

Swordcrossed by @fahye

Part-time con artist / full-time charming menace Luca Piere didn’t expect to get blackmailed into teaching a chronically responsible merchant Matti how to wield a sword. He also didn’t expect to find his charge so inconveniently handsome, or to get so entangled in his tale of intrigue, sabotage, and matrimony. 

It’s important to read Swordcrossed because while you’re reading gay fiction, you can also study the blade.

Celebrate Pride with more titles from Tor Publishing Group here!

[ming85]

Part 2/2 of my promo art for Swordcrossed by @fahye, out now! See the one I did for the ladies here.

I got to go to an actual sword museum to do sketches and research for swords! Which was a highlight of my summer! These boys are such lovable walking disasters, I adore them with my whole heart but also want to slap them repeatedly. Private sword lessons where the student's progress is hopeless but the flirting is through the roof 👌

[fahye]

US cover reveal: SWORDCROSSED

are we readyyyyyyyyyyy

Illustration by Cynthia Sheppard, art direction by Christine Foltzer. Yes those are RED SPRAYED EDGES and yes this is a ROMANCE CLINCH.

High heat. Low stakes. Sharp steel.

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?

Preorder US (October 8th)

Preorder UK (October 10th)

Add on Goodreads

(UK/Commonwealth readers, there'll probably be a different cover for us, so watch this space! Or subscribe to the author newsletter to get all the essential updates.)

[ace-artemis-fanartist]

Matti and Luca from Swordscrossed by @fahye.

I also remembered to turn on timelapse for once lol

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

Just finished this and my review is a high pitched squeal

[highbrasshighkass]

"thank you freya" we all say in unison

[leonstamatis]

“I remember you, though,” Maya says. She grins, somewhat mischievous, into the rosy tea between her hands. “You have a way about you. Memorable.” Sofia rolls her eyes. “Believe me, I know. It’s given me plenty of trouble. If I’m honest, I envy the way you go about things. I wish I could blend in half as easily.” “It’s not such a bad thing, you know,” Maya offers. “Being memorable. It means I got to learn all about you, while you were busy ignoring Matti’s clumsy, awkward younger sister.”

(an arranged marriage, an affair, and two girls literally just trying not to mess things up. aka, mayanesh jay and sofia cooper fall in love.)

[absolutechaosss]

My favorite growing fantasy and sci fi trend is earrings or jewelry that indicate pronoun preference. 10x sexier than pronoun pins.

[tuhkasirius]

STOP reposting cool Swordcrossed art I am WAITING for the book it is coming to me NEXT WEEK I feel like I’m waiting for a LOVER to return from the WAR you needn’t make it more DIFFICULT

[quillandqueer]

Interesting New Releases | 8th October

The Black Hunger: John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore. He must write his last testament before it is too late.

How to Summon a Fairy Godmother: After discovering a way to summon a fairy in Beatrice's old room, Theo thinks her prayers have been answered. But the fairy she meets isn't at all what she imagined. Drop-dead gorgeous, incredibly cunning, and slightly devious, Cecily of the Ash Fairies is much more interested in gathering powerful favors and smoking her pipe than providing charitable magic for humans in a bind.

I Crawl Through It: Four talented teenagers are traumatized-coping with grief, surviving date rape, facing the anxiety of standardized tests and the neglect of self-absorbed adults--and they'll do anything to escape the pressure. They'll even build an invisible helicopter, to fly far away to a place where everyone will understand them... until they learn the only way to escape reality is to face it head-on.

Swordcrossed: Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. 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 home town. However, neither Matti's business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what - or who - they seem. As the days to Matti's wedding count down, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti's house to the brink of ruin.

[itachi86]

that was so awesome. for one of the few times when i read a book there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. it was funny and cute and there was NO ABUSE of any kind and the story besides the romance was really interesting and nothing felt unnecessary. definitely one of the best books i've read this year

[torpublishinggroup]

This advertisement is for Swordcrossed by Freya Marske.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere. Luca is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. He didn't plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible—and inconveniently handsome—wool merchant like Matti. 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?

[ming85]

Swordcrossed by @fahye is finally out, and I had the pleasure of doing a series of promo art for this cozy book. Here are the ladies being their sassy competent selves, and a cameo of some of Glassport's culinary delights. The guilds, with their patron deities as the center of everything in their day to day lives, are one of my favourite parts of this universe. Such a joy to paint this colourful and immersive fantasy world.

Part 1 of 2, see the boys here!

[fahye]

a note on 'high heat, low stakes'

it's been interesting already seeing people react to 'low stakes' as part of the tagline and as a selling point for swordcrossed, because in this particular context it does NOT mean 'no conflict, no angst, all fluff'.

it's signalling expectations for where this particular book falls in the marketing category of romantasy.

low stakes for romantasy means that there are no fates of nations or armies or the very nature of magic hanging in the balance here. nobody is the crown prince of anywhere or a magical assassin sent to kill them. this is a romance novel about falling in love with your wedding vendor and trying to make it in the wool industry. there's conflict. there's angst. there's intrigue. there is fantasy worldbuilding. there are even sword fights!

the stakes for the characters involved feel monumental and very personal.

however, the stakes for the world as a whole are.......low.

which will mean it won't appeal at all to some readers, and some other readers will say THIS SOUNDS LIKE EXACTLY MY CUP OF TEA, THANK YOU, and that means - hopefully! - there's less chance of someone picking it up and getting a very different sort of book to what they expected, and being disappointed.

(if they manage to not expect the explicit sex scenes with that cover design, my existing reputation, and the words 'high heat'... well, we can chalk that one up to a failure to Read the Clues.)

[spending-life-pretending]

*Spoilers for Swordcrossed by Freya Marske incoming*:

…

everybody pour one out for Roland and Wynn because goddamn what a whirlwind

[afurtivecake]

i finished Swordcrossed (Freya Marske) and my spoiler-free impression of it is that i think author is imploring us to go write some sell-sword/rent-boy themed dom/sub porn fics featuring matti and luca.