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?

In Swordcrossed, Freya Marske has mastered the art of scorching tension. The simmering passion between Matti and Luca kept me riveted to each page. Adding in layers of intrigue between the houses and the secrets between the two, I found the entire story breathtaking.

From the very beginning, when Matti and Luca meet, you feel the tension between them and the heat between them ratchet up throughout the novel but so too does the intrigue and the pressures between both Matti and Luca and within their families. As the secrets come to light, the revelations are shocking, delightfully written and the ending is a joy to read because it circumvents even the reader's expectations. This is one of the best romance fantasies I've read and just whets my appetite for the next book Freya Marske writes, because I know I'll love it.

Rating: 5 out of 5 swords ~~ Andrea Rittschof

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