I love when we get rather niche requests and this one was right up my alley! Thanks to Tanya for sending this in!
I tried to use your bookfinder but I was looking for a very specific type of thing, not a title. I want Madmartigan and Sorsha energy in either a fantasy or fantasy romance, and I want sexy times included. Thoughts? I know Amanda might also have some suggestions. Didn’t know where else to look. You ladies know everything! Thank you!!
Amanda: Weirdly, I don’t have anything off the bat. For those unfamiliar, this is based on the movie Willow. Madmartigan is a charming mercenary who is a bit morally grey. Sorscha is technically royalty, but grew up isolated and turned to learning swordsmanship. So class differences, opposites, and a heroine who doesn’t take any shit.
Photo for reference:
Sarah: “….and a hero who won’t button his shirt.”
Would some of the GA Aiken books qualify? The first Dragon Kin book might fit some of these requirements.
Amanda: It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I think so.
Sarah: A Heart of Blood and Ashes? Maybe – the heroine doesn’t wield swords though.
Claudia: The heroine is the second book of that series sure does! That’s A Touch of Stone and Snow and I think that fits the bill nicely. Heroine is a mercenary, hero is royalty.
Amanda: Yeah, the first wouldn’t fit but perhaps the second.
Claudia: There’s a great historical with that dynamics if the reader would like to go farther afield: Elizabeth Kingston’s The King’s Man.
Shana: I have no suggestions, but Willow was one of my favorite movies growing up. There’s also a book by Wayland Drew, based on the movie, but with some extra scenes and internal dialogue.
Which books have this Madmartigan & Sorsha energy?
The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride by Kati Wilde? Barbarian Conqueror who is pretty much accidentally a king, princess who’s resourceful at least in part because her family neglected her, fantasy setting. Oh and the always fun we don’t know we want each other but now we have to ride double on a horse sexual tension. Which isn’t directly related to the theme but in case that’s your jam.
I love pairings like this! So much banter and chemistry. I remember reading the first Shannara book (read it a long time ago, went through an epic fantasy binge after reading LOTR.) There were two side characters in it, I think he was a slightly dubious merchant (I think he was also minor royalty too) and she was either a daughter of a Lord or similar. Anyway the book was fairly forgettable except for them, I wanted to read about their relationship though!
@Courtney M: I’m came here to offer the same book—fantasy is not my jam, but Kati Wilde is and I’ll read anything she writes in any genre. In addition to THE MIDWINTER MAIL-ORDER BRIDE, Kati has written other books (with a similar vibe) set in the same Dead Lands world—and, I promise, if Tanya is looking for hot, on-page sexy-times, she’s come to the right place!
https://katiwilde.com/booklist/dead-lands/
Maybe The Edge books by Ilona Andrews? They frequently have class differences, and the heroines can all take care of themselves. Book one has an aristocratic hero and a very poor heroine. Book two has a swordfighting heroine. Three has the most morally gray but charming hero. Four has a formerly sheltered but very powerful heroine who has left her aristocratic life behind.
I would also say Dragon Kin, and in a similar vein and technically same writer, The Call of Crows series by Shelly Laurenston. Modern day but thick with Nordic Gods.
Grace Draven’s books also come to mind. The Master of Crows series (lots of crows today). The Fallen Empire series as well. Strong women and compelling and passionate love stories.
Wrong genre but fits the dynamic – Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik (it’s been reviewed on the site). She is runaway royalty (the equivalent) and he’s a mercenary. Same author has a novella series with an Emperor and assassin- I think the first book is Queen’s Gambit. Enemy Within (also sci-fi) features a swordswoman heroine and hero with great banter (also reviewed on the site). The fourth(?) book in the Ilona Andrews Innkeeper series – Sweep of the Blade, features a “royal” hero and swordswoman mercenary heroine (but you may not want to start the series here).
Is An Ember in the Ashes close enough? He’s an elite assassin and she’s a member of an oppressed class who starts working for the Resistance. Queen of the Tearling (she is dispossessed royalty trying to reclaim the throne, along with a group of soldiers and I think there is some romance with one of the guards)?
Maybe I’m way off since I’m not familiar with the original references.
I think that Ilona Andrew’s’ Hidden Legacy books fit this vibe, although the cross-class relationships are reversed (the Baylor family are the outsiders breaking into the aristocratic world of the Primes).
I thought of Laurenston/Aiken at first too, but I’m not coming up with anything else yet. For those who aren’t familiar with Willow, there is an enemies to lovers dynamic and neither Madmartigan nor Sorsha start out as good guys. He’s a mercenary manslut and a goofball & she’s her evil mother’s warlord. There is a lot of edgy snark and angry chemistry between them. The closest comparison I can think of is the early relationship between Han Solo and Princess Leia in Star wars. Which is not a book.
Also, does anyone else mourn the Val Kilmer of Willow?
I’d recommend the “Legends of the Storm” series by Bec McMaster. The first book, Heart of Fire, starts out a bit slow, but the whole series is so much fun… And most of the pairings kinda have that McMardigan/Sorsha vibe.
Kresley cole’s, McCarrick brothers book 1, If You Dare, features a mercenary hero and a royalty heroine. It’s definitely enemies to lovers and has lots of snark. I really liked it.
I think Shana Abe’s Smoke Thief series may have some of this dynamic? I don’t recall swords but it has royalty that are dragon shifters up against spies/mercenaries. Some of the books in Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series may also fit the bill.
@PamG indeed, Val Kilmer was seriously hot back in the day of Willow and Top Gun.
I think Amanda Bouchet’s Night Chaser series might apply here. Both characters have flexible morals and kick butt on their own but have strong attraction to each other
It’s YA, but I think Holly Black’s Cruel Prince has this kind of dynamic- friends/enemies and very ambiguous morality. I also think Amanda Bouchet’s Kingmaker series is like this, especially the first two books.
Fantasy-wise, there is an older Melanie Rawn called the Ruins of Ambrai that has an enemies to lovers romance between a smartass minstrel and an exiled lady. But the author never finished the trilogy so I hesitate to recommend it.
Or Sarah J Maas’ Throne of Glass series? Or her Court of Thorns and Roses series? I love snarky dialogue while fighting to save the world!
Perhaps Jennifer Estep’s Crown of Shards series? In the first, KILL THE QUEEN, she’s a minor royal and he’s a gladiator/mercenary. They both have power and secrets and due to circumstances and on account of because, she’s not exactly a trusting soul and neither is he so lots of enemy-to-over vibes to begin with. I really need to do a reread and grab the new release. There’s court intrigue, spies, assassinations, and quests.
I would consider The Queens Thief series to also fit this bill. Fantasy, with a hero of questionable morals and the backdrop of royalty. This book series is also brilliantly plotted and I fell hard for Eugenides. The series includes “The Thief”, “The Queen of Attolia” plus others.
The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride by Kati Wilde is really good.
I highly recommend Bec McMaster as well. Her upcoming book “Master Of Storms” has a warring couple who is attracted to each other but are sworn enemies and are both expert swords-persons. (Is that the right word?)
She also has a number of books where the main couple physically duel/fight as well as verbally across all her series. My Lady Quicksilver comes to mind amongst others.
The ones that come to mind are almost but not quite right:
By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey (Kerowyns tale). For pure swordsmanship there are also the Tarma & Kethry stories.
Iron & Magic by Ilona Andrews – a Slytherin couple in the very best ways
Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair (although the sword fights are with blasters)
Mostly Fantasy but with a touch of romance involved:
Carrot and Anguina from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld – He’s probably the rightborn king, she’s a werewolf.
If you can find it: Simon R Green’s Hawk and Fisher sequence with a Royal and a commoner becoming police detectives in a town, they’ve been there and done that with battles and bear the scars, they love each other. The story was written IIRC in the 80s and Simon R Green as a writer has got better.
The Tiger and Del stories by Jennifer Roberson were somewhat in that arena with a lot of swordfighting and I think I read them around the time of Willow but they aged badly.
It’s an oldie but I have always loved this dynamic in an old Harlequin Historical I have from the early 1990s called “To Touch the Sun” by Barbara Leigh. She is a knight in disguise fighting for the English king and he is a Scottish noble and knight. There is all sorts of sparring and bond-building, betrayal and they find their HEA.
Paladin’s Strength by T Kingfisher, maybe? Istvhan is sort of a mercenary and Clara is sort of a warrior (no sword but good in a fight).
Judy W. I was also going to say that the Queen’s Thief series would fit the request — absolutely LOVE this series.
The Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder might fit — fantasy set in Ixia where the heroine is in jail and ready to be executed for murder. She can save herself by becoming the food taster for the Commander of Ixia. Hero is the Commander’s chief of security and falls in the moral gray area.
Jacey Bedford’s Rowankind trilogy might work, as the heroine is a swashbuckling pirate captain. But the romance takes a while to develop because the ghost of her first husband sticks around for a while, and I can’t remember whether the sex is on page or fade to black.
If you’re ok with m/m, try Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint. It’s a fantasy romance between a duke and a duelist.
Isabel Cooper’s second Stormbringer Trilogy book fits the bill, particularly the second one (The Nightborn).
I SQUEEED HARD at the title of this post, then the post. All the stars for the Willow reference. I recently saw … maybe here?…that there is a remake in the works.
@Taylor: As far as I know it’s not a remake but rather a sequel and possibly a series instead of a movie. It’s not official yet though, I think they’re working on the concept (and supposedly the actor who played Willow is interested in joining).
I just ordered “The Nightborn” by Isabel Cooper and “Clash of Storms” by Bec McMaster based on the recommendations in this threat and I’m also motivated to finally read my copy of “The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride” by Kati Wilde. Sorsha and Madmartigan have been one of my favourite couples since I watched the movie as a kid. The snarky comments, the longing gazes, the holding/touching each other while everything goes to hell around them… be still my heart.
The only book I can think of that vaguely has this kind of couple is “Dark Horse” by Mary H. Herbert although it is YA and not that satisfying from a romance point of view (the first kiss happens on the last pages). There are lots of longing gazes and snarky comments though and the hero teaches the heroine how to swordfight.
@Taylor — there is a TV version of Willow in the works that follows his successor with all new stories.
Sorry if this was discussed before, but the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews has all kinds of Madmartigan & Sorsha themes going on: class differences, opposites, heroine who doesn’t take any shit, and a hero who won’t button his shirt. 🙂
@Lynn and @EC Spurlock, thanks for the info, that’s exciting!
If you’re okay with really well-written fanfic, MEETING LIKE THIS is a Princess Leia/Boba Fett story that follows all the movie cannon but creates a different ending, obviously and it gave me a book hangover, in a good way, for days afterwards. Angsty, charged, and really fun, although the hero is more charcoal than gray :-). You can find it here: https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/595493?view_full_work=true