Swordheart

This is a really great tale of a magical sword inhabited by a warrior who must guard the wielder and the somewhat feckless housekeeper/heiress who comes to own him. Largely humorous in nature, but with a really good plot to move it along, I very much enjoyed this tale of swords and questing told from a very unusual perspective. Recommended!

I always love T Kingfisher books and this one was no exception.

Halla is a widow who's been taking care of her late husband's uncle until he dies, leaving her everything. Great you say, but you've never met Halla's in-laws now murderously set on keeping the inheritance in the family. She escapes their clutches with the help of a man trapped in a magic sword but must return to town to claim her inheritance.

This one's going next to The Princess Bride in "I guess it's technically a love story BUT LOOK AT ALL THE ADVENTURE!"

Seriously, it's good, and the travelogue-y bits where we get to know the characters and see them both oblivious to the relationship forming are fun to read. Plus it's T Kingfisher so there's bonus bloody scenes!

I think I read somewhere about a panel on "Comfort Fiction" that included T. Kingfisher, and the describes this very well. I think if you have read the Paladin series some of this will feel suspiciously familiar, but at the time it was just what I needed.

Ms. Kingfisher must be trolling us at this point, but somehow I find that I can't complain