“Matti,” said Luca, breathless, “if there’s a man alive who would not be responding like this, who would not be going insane looking at you, with you doing that, then he’s either tragically committed to women or so lacking in taste that there’s no helping him at all.
― Freya Marske, SwordcrossedLuca balanced the words in his mouth, enjoying the anticipation. He looked Matti in the eye and said, with the pure heat of honesty: “I’m fairly certain I want you to wreck me.
― Freya Marske, Swordcrossed
Matti Jay is the dutiful son and manager of his family’s failing textile business. Despite his best efforts to return it to its former glory, all of his attempts to revive it have failed. To preserve the Jay’s business and reputation, Matti’s agreed to marry Sofia, the daughter of a wealthy family. Sofia is kind, beautiful, and obscenely rich and Matti looks forward to his wedding day as one regards going to the gallows.
While drinking with friends and celebrating his engagement, Matti accidentally smashes into a gorgeous man who promptly claims that Matti crushed his antique pocket watch and that it will cost him two hundred silver for the repairs. Matti pays it to avoid a scandal, even though he was going to spend that money on a duelist as part of the marriage ceremony. When he shows up to the sword-for-hire shop (talent agency?), he finds the same man whom he paid off the day prior.
Luca, the swindler/swordsman, is using his dueling talents to earn money while he hides from his own shadowy past. When Matti confronts him, he agrees to be Matti’s ceremonial swordsman at a discount as well as Matti’s temporary dueling instructor. A nobleman, Matti doesn’t need to know how to wield a sword, but he always wanted to. In an uncharacteristic move, he decides that if he must go through with a loveless marriage, at least he can take up a fun hobby in the process and make Luca pay for tricking him in the first place.
With a name like Swordcrossed, I expected a silly, sexy romp of a book. The book went far deeper than that and ended up being a sweet and sharp romantic mystery. Luca is a little s*** and Matti puts him in his place. Both men are tender, damaged, and bring out the best in one another.
This book reminds me of other books I’ve read by Cat Sebastian and Casey McQuiston. Matti’s family dynamics are rich, nuanced, and so loving. As it says on the sleeve, this is a high heat, low angst romance with lovely side characters and interesting world building. Up next on my list of Marske’s novels is A Marvelous Light of her Last Binding series.
