#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

[absolutechaosss]

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

[spending-life-pretending]

*Spoilers for Swordcrossed by Freya Marske incoming*:

…

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

[derpcakes]

The Best Books I Read in 2024

It’s the most magical time of the year—when I look back at my favourite works of fiction! I got a lot of reading in in 2024, in part due to a cunning scheme in which I made sure to always have an ebook on my phone, slowly yet successfully training myself to dip into a novel instead of tripping down into a Twitter hole (not that I’m on Twitter anymore; and not that it’s even called Twitter…) every time I had the urge to Scroll and look at Content. As always, I’ve enjoyed an eclectic mix of vibes and genres: on this list we’ve got a range from whimsical to harrowing, we’ve got high fantasy, contemporary rom-coms, modern gothic, and some fun hybrids including horror-romance and fantasy-mystery. More adult/general fiction than YA, you’ll notice, as I continue to explore the world outside my thesis niche—but I’ve always got room for a couple. 

Without further ado and without making this post any longer than it already is, let’s begin! Let me know if you also read any of these, and what you thought, and of course feel free to tell me all about your own favourite reads of 2024!

Keep reading...

[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.

[razberried]

ohhhhh i finsihed swordcrossed and i fear i will not stop thinking about this book

[torpublishinggroup]

Tor Publishing Group is BACK with a guide of books to gift the people in your life…and yourself!

For the friends who love a good scare all year round…

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

Evil in Me by Brom

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

Escape with fantastical folklore…

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

Forbidden romance to keep you warm…

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske

The Stars Are Dying by Chloe C. Peñaranda

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

Beloved bestselling authors to add to your TBR… 

Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Not enough books? Don’t worry, we have another GET BOOKT: THE BOOKENING guide to help you out!

[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.)

[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

[word-count-bullet-count]

MATTI IS TWENTY-FOUR? he should be at the club...