Tor Publishing Group is thrilled to announce that Ruoxi Chen has acquired North American rights to Swordcrossed, a standalone novel pitched as Swordspoint meets Legends & Lattes, a second novel pitched as Grey’s Anatomy meets A Deadly Education, and two more books from the international bestselling author of The Last Binding trilogy, Freya Marske. Bella Pagan at Tor UK took UK/Commonwealth rights in a six-figure deal brokered by Diana Fox at Fox Literary.
Low stakes. High heat. Sharp steel.
“Clever, sparkling, and perfectly indulgent, Swordcrossed feels like stepping into a party already in full swing. Everything is possible; everything is wondrous. This is fantasy romance at its very best.” —Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief
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?
Said author Freya Marske:
I’m utterly delighted to be working with Ruoxi and the Tor team to bring you four more books, and hope the world is ready for me to never shut up about them. Swordcrossed is truly the cosy and kinky and exuberant romantasy of my heart, and I stuffed it full of everything I love best—including some sword fighting lessons with ludicrous amounts of sexual tension, and two characters working their way from stressed and lost to thriving and triumphant, together.
Said editor Ruoxi Chen:
Freya Marske understands exactly where romance and fantasy lean in and kiss. Swordcrossed will come for both your head and your heart. It’s somehow both scorching and cozy, featuring an incurably responsible eldest son in over his head and the inconveniently hot duelist he finds in the trash (mostly a metaphor), who has the face of a god and the moral backbone of a deflated pastry. I loved this book, and cannot wait to share its gorgeous prose, its gorgeously infuriating characters, and its absolutely stunning horniness (am I allowed to say that?) [Ed: Yes, you are allowed to say this always.] with the world. The opportunity to keep working with Freya is hitting the editorial jackpot, and we’ve got many new stories waiting for you. Be warned: I needed fainting salts, and you may too.
A warning from your responsible local publisher of all things speculative: Read Swordcrossed in public at your own risk. It may cause raised blood pressure, sudden spikes in heart rate, and an increased interest in fencing lessons.
Active ingredients include:
- Yes, the Swords Do Cross
- Disaster con artist/responsible eldest son
- Big Renaissance trade guild energy
- Sexy fencing lessons
- Corporate espionage
- Trapped together in a wardrobe
- Secret identities
- Truly excessive detail about the wool industry
- Oh Shit I’m Falling For My Wedding Vendor
- Fraught ballroom scenes
- Clothing porn
- Food porn
- Actually-porn porn
Buy the Book
A Marvellous Light
Buy the Book
A Restless Truth
Buy the Book
A Power Unbound
Swordcrossed will be available in Fall 2024. In the meantime, catch up on Freya Marske’s award-winning Last Binding trilogy, which concludes with A Power Unbound on November 7, 2023.
Join Freya Marske on tour, both virtually and in-person! Her first US book tour kicks off tonight in Doylestown, PA.
Freya Marske is the author of A Power Unbound, A Restless Truth, and A Marvellous Light, which was an international bestseller and won the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy. Her work has appeared in Analog and has been shortlisted for three Aurealis Awards. She is also a Hugo-nominated podcaster, and won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. She lives in Australia.
