Swordheart Kindle Edition

This author tells such a good story! Every time that I begin one of her books I am quickly caught up in the action and the characters. This book returns to the world that held Paladin’s Grace and several of her other books. This book would stand alone, but I did enjoy returning to a world that I had seen before with an entirely new story. A few familiar characters from other books make brief appearances or are referred to in passing and while I loved those bits, a new reader would not be confused if they are not familiar with them. Highlights of the world include the well-developed and interesting religious groups and, of course, gnoles. The book is humorous, clever, and wildly entertaining. Halla is an attractive and clever heroine. Zale, her traveling companion and legal champion for much of the story is also a terrific character. Sarkis, our hero is an apparently immortal warrior trapped within a sword. Brindle, a gnole, is also an important part of the enjoyment of this story. You get the point here: the characters are engaging, complex, and interesting. You can care about them, believe them, and enjoy them. The writing is excellent, and the plot is engrossing. The humor is humorous and at times very, very funny. (Some of the humor is in double entendre.) The romance is romantic and sometimes a bit sexier than you might expect. The pacing is very quick even as the ox lumbers along, and the pages turn quickly. I was sorry when I turned the last page. If you have not read anything by this author, lucky you, because you have many hours of enjoyment waiting in her back list.

I believe this is what would be termed "cosy fantasy," in that the stakes are not the fate of kingdoms or the world, but the fate of an impoverished widow who unexpectedly inherits all the possessions of her late husband's great-uncle, for whom she'd been serving as a housekeeper for some time. Her late husband's other relatives have a problem with this, and she wins free of them, with some difficulty, thanks to the unexpected help of a magic sword that manifests an immortal warrior.That's only the start of their problems, though; they have to make a number of perilous journeys between towns (often a fraught proposition before modern times), encountering bandits, dangerous creatures, fanatical priests, and the other typical hardships of the road. Along the way, widow and warrior grow closer, bonded by their mutual travails.With beautifully-drawn minor characters - special mention to Brindle, the gnole, with his distinctive phraseology and imperturbable manner - and varied incidents, leavened by amusing and insightful reflections, and a strong middle-aged romance between two people who find each other both frustrating and admirable, this all comes together into a highly enjoyable book. A few minor copy editing errors don't substantially detract. Recommended.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I loved it SOOOOO much. Oh gosh, even just thinking about it while writing this review is making me want to read it again.Ok, let me try to be coherent. Swordheart is a fantasy story with a strong romantic subplot to it, which is kind of my thing. The main character, Halla, is such a great character. She’s been sort of a passive person most of her life, accepting her lot even if she hadn’t always been happy with it. She married young and when her husband died became a housekeeper to her in-laws in exchange for a place in their home (which was really so gracious of them, wasn’t it?). When the owner of the home passes away and leaves it to Halla, she suddenly finds herself in a situation where they’re trying to force her to marry to keep the home within the family. Not wanting to marry the odious man and, having been locked in her room and seeing no way, out she contemplates just ending it all. That’s when she reaches for a sword hanging on the wall, draws it–and that’s where our story really begins. Because the sword is enchanted and whenever it’s drawn Sarkis, an enchanted warrior attached to the sword, appears. And he isn’t very happy to discover someone trying to off theirself with his sword.One of the unexpected delights of this book for me was the humor. This book is funny. There’s so much hilarious banter and many humorous situations that I found myself giggling through half of the book. Reading this at work on my lunch break was funny because my coworker had to keep asking me what I was laughing at.Honestly the characters and their relationship is the best thing about this book. The plot is essentially to go on a journey to get some legal paperwork filed so that Halla can get rid of her nasty in-laws. Along the way they encounter various obstacles, friends and foes. They also pick up a fellow companion along the way who brings some added fun as well as depth to the story. There are some other things going on, mostly in the background until they aren’t, but for the most part the plot itself is pretty simple and straightforward.But back to our characters and their relationship. I love the way things played out between them. They’re two adults being very adult about things, but also kind of hesitant in a ‘feeling each other out’ sort of way. Halla doesn’t even have her mind on romance for a while because she’s too busy worrying about getting all this mess with the house straightened out. And Sarkis seems to fall pretty hard pretty fast but he’s an enchanted sword so there’s all kinds of pitfalls there and they’re both practical people at the end of the day. Something about their relationship felt very fresh with the way it was handled, even though it plays on a lot of familiar tropes. Their relationship to each other, first as friends, had each of them of rediscovering parts of themselves they had either long since buried or had never seen the light of day. Halla opens up and becomes a lot less passive, all while retaining her kindness, while Sarkis becomes a little less cynical. They’re a great balance for each other and one of the reasons they work so well together.I really loved this book. I’d suggest it to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy romance or a comedic fantasy, or just enjoys an uplifting read. 5/5 stars.

A very good fantasy story with an older heroine

it was truly soooo fun. You cannot predict what our main characters next adventure or their decisions (without them being out of character of course). I couldn't put it down and laughed out loud on multiple time. Highly recommend !!

Its nice not only as fantasy but also as a romance.

I have binge-read this book. It is funny, witty and written to be devoured. I will definitely read more from this author

Absolutely brilliant book. Great story and humour and LOVED the characters. Great to be back in this fantasy world again. More please.