Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate… and, unfortunately, his relatives.

Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel.

When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws… and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all.

Narrator: Jesse Vilinksy
Length: 14hrs 32mins / 426pgs
Fiction | Fantasy | Romance
Pacing: Medium
Spice: Low

This was a cute Rom-Com style book by Kingfisher.

Swordheart is set in the world of the Clocktaur Wars, and though you don’t have to read those to enjoy this story (I hadn’t completed the trilogy yet), there are some very minor spoilers to the Clocktaur story. 

Halla, our female lead, is a respectable widow (aged 36yrs) working as a housekeeper for her dead husband’s eccentric great-uncle. Her world is turned completely on its head when she inherits the entire estate from her employer, which includes a house, land, and his entire collection of weird and wonderful artifacts. This includes a surprising and embarrassing discovery of a magical sword containing our male lead Sarkis. Lets just say their first first meeting has Bridget Jones level of embarrassment. 

The plot continues with Halla trying to escape marriage from her husband’s gross cousin and his conniving, controlling mother, and claim the inheritance that is rightfully hers. Sarkis is sworn to protect the wielder of the sword so accompanies Halla on this journey. He just hopes his past won’t repeat itself

*cue mysterious music*

As usual for Kingfisher’s books, the side characters are extremely well done. These include a non-binary priest-lawyer and a Gnoll oxen keeper. Both of which are funny, lovable, and perfect additions to the traveling party. 

The romance element is mostly ‘does he/does she like me’ until later in the book where there are a couple of off page/implied naughty times. 

I found the story enjoyable, though I’ll admit it took me until about 25% to be truly invested in the main characters. I didn’t love it quite as much as Nettle & Bone but it was whimsical and cute. Much in the vein of the Emily Wilde’s series by Heather Fawcett. I thought the narrator was well done, Sarkis had a very believable Scottish brogue and the character work was well done.

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