Learned Edmund, a disillusioned scholar, is transporting yet another precious relic from one stuffy temple to a different stuffy temple. Another great adventure for the ages…

But when Edmund is set upon by bandits, in desperation, he breaks the cardinal rule and grabs for the relic, an ancient sword. To his surprise, instead of unsheathing a rusty, ancient weapon, an alarmingly handsome man appears, wielding daggers of blue steel and cutting the thieves down.

This man is the Dervish, an immortal warrior who's been trapped for centuries in a sword of enchanted steel, and is angry as hell about it. He hates the curse that put him there, and he wants to hate Edmund, just as he has hated every wielder before him.

But the damned scholar is just so sweet and clever and kind. And while the Dervish may be able to protect Edmund from bandits, cultists, dragons, and strange inhuman diplomats, he may find it much harder to protect his own heart.

Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher is a delightful fantasy romance with characters that are charming, clever and sweet. I love most of T. Kingfisher's writing, mostly because of her characters who are engaging, complex and incredibly interesting. In this novel, not only the primary leads, Edmund and The Dervish but also the wonderful secondary characters that happen to come with them, a Gnole and Francis, a sentient giant bug. We even get characters from the first book in the series, Swordheart. That is Kingfisher's amazing skills, bringing to life each character whether they are the star of the book or not, so much so that the worlds she builds just keep getting bigger and bigger in the most wonderful of ways.

Not only do I love the romance between Edmund and the Dervish, building slowly throughout the book, working through trauma and trust issues but I also like the connections to the previous novel, building upon dangling plot threads and leading through to a satisfying conclusion but allowing room easily for the third book in the series. Frankly, what I love the most is the way T. Kingfisher doesn't just build standard romances but gives us believable relationships between complex individuals. The worldbuilding is fantastic, the details of the swords amazing and the story enthralling.

If you like romantic fantasy with complex relationships, I highly recommend Daggerbound. It can be read as a standalone or as the second in the series. With engaging characters, a delightful fantasy romance and intriguing secondary characters, I loved this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a charming book to read.

Rating: 5 out of 5 ambushes ~~ Andrea Rittschof

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