Sapphic characters with swords have always been popular with sapphic audiences, not just since Xena: Warrior Princess (There’s an entire Sword Lesbians subreddit!). So this year, I included the sword-wielding sapphics as a category in the Hidden Gems part of the Sapphic Book Bingo.
For this category, read a sapphic book in which the main character handles a sword or a similar weapon. It could be a saber, a katana, a rapier, a lightsaber, or another bladed weapon.
15 recommended books featuring sapphic characters with swords
Below, you’ll find a list of 15 books featuring sapphic characters with swords:
A Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe
Two enemies, one goal: steal each other’s hearts.
Scarlett Grey, disgraced assassin, is determined to get revenge.
Quinn Adams, medic turned-poisoner for hire, is her deadliest rival.
For years, they’ve stolen each other’s clients, sabotaged each other’s business, and occasionally… slept together.
When the Magician Queen offers an irresistible deal, Scarlett and Quinn are forced to work together. But this is not a simple job. With an impossible heist ahead, they’re going to have to trust each other… And that’s not easy when they both have secrets to hide. Harder still when those secrets will betray the ones they love.
Now neither woman is sure if it’s a heist they want to win or a heart.
Two women, two deadly professions, and a romance that could be their downfall.
Available at:
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.
Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet’s edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.
Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren’t for sale.
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A Talent Within by Suzanne Lenoir
Evelyne, born into nobility, and Annika, a peasant girl with a deadly secret, struggle to change their destinies in Valmora, a medieval world controlled by religion, magic, and men.
If only she’d been born a boy, Evelyne could fight with her brothers and fulfill her dreams of glory. Instead, her father has arranged her marriage. Annika knows she’s different. She has gifts the Valmorans call talents, and she’s waited too long to turn herself over to the Temple for training. If she tells anyone now, she will burn as a heretic.
Their blossoming love changes everything.
Both are forced to confront who they are when saving an innocent life exposes Annika’s talent and she’s held prisoner by the unforgiving Temple Paladin. Saving Annika will cost Evelyne all she’s ever known, but her sacrifice may lead them on a path to love and a destiny that will change Valmora forever.
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Outcast by KJ
Rhiannon Clarke is having a week. A week in which her identity is stolen, she is pursued by underworld thugs, then, at the back of a laundromat, she falls through a portal into another realm.
While making every effort to return to Melbourne, Rhiannon is renamed Sevich, must win a sword fight to gain her freedom, discovers she can manipulate elements, and falls for Orilaevar Reysandoral, the sexy warrior princess of Breula; the realm at the end of the spin cycle.
It’s a lot.
As her feelings start to grow, Sev must decide if returning to Melbourne is really what she wants. Will her increasing elemental powers and relationship with Ori divide the realm, or will Sev stay to save Breula from a danger it has never encountered before?
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Errant, Volume One by L.K. Fleet
Aspen Silverglade used to be a force for good, but now she’s just a sword for hire. On the run from the people she once trusted most, she needs to keep her head down and keep moving.
But old habits are hard to quit. One night in a tavern, Aspen tries to save a woman from some unwanted attention. The woman, Charm Linville, is in the middle of a subtle and delicate act of thievery, and she does not appreciate Aspen blundering in.
The disastrous and public rescue-gone-wrong makes the townspeople think Aspen and Charm are a couple. This mistake sets Aspen’s bloodthirsty betrayers on Charm’s trail, tying the two of them together.
Even if Aspen can’t run from her past any longer, Charm shouldn’t have to suffer. Despite Aspen’s determination to work alone, Charm insists on helping—and she has a past of her own. The two of them don’t care for each other’s methods, but as they journey through the villages and wildernesses of Falland, solving problems and meeting magical friends and foes, Aspen and Charm grudgingly come to care for each other. Can these two guarded, stubborn women admit their feelings, or will Aspen’s enemies kill them first?
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The Iron Edge by Lexa Luthor
Spartan warrior, Halcyon, has always placed duty above all else – until one day her true nature as an Omega undoes everything.
Thora is a gorgeous female Alpha slave with foreign features, capturing the attention of Halcyon, who must have her. Like all Alphas, Thora is prideful and thinks an Omega owner will be manageable. She soon discovers that Halcyon is far more than a simple Omega, but rather a warrior, a legend, and the perfect mate to Thora’s Alpha.
For Halcyon, she has dedicated her life towards duty for Sparta, for the military, and for her mate. She has always dreamt of dying in battle with glory and honor for Sparta. That is until her Omega is stirred to life by Thora, triggering Halcyon’s first heat in over a decade. Unable to deny each other, their intense mating brings both life and changes, but at a price. Can Halcyon have both duty and love or will she be forced to choose only one?
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Elyon’s Blades by Alison Naomi Holt
The story follows the military sect of all-woman warriors who live in the Temple of Elyon, led by their fierce Arch Priestess, Sábria.
As protectors of all women in the empire, the Daughters of Elyon are constantly on the move, rescuing women from dangerous situations and seeking vengeance for those who were not saved in time. They are an unbreakable force, bonded by their shared mission and their devotion to the Goddess Elyon.
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A Hired Blade by JC Rycroft
A sellsword’s bargain.
A burgeoning desire.
A future balanced on the point of a blade.
Sellsword Des is travelling alone in a dry and dusty southern land, after a spectacular bust up with her best friend. She’s running low on coin, so when former client Karina offers her a job leading her caravan’s security through brigand country, it feels like a gift.
Des has done the route before, but she isn’t sure about leading solo. She recommends Karina hire Cap, a rugged old mercenary, to head up the crew. Maybe she’ll even learn a thing or two about how to lead, in between the delightful distraction of Karina’s flirtations and keeping the marauders at bay.
As they head off on their long trip across Rescalin, though, the wheels start to come off Des’s plan. The crew is drinking too much, even on duty, and Cap is dismissive of the dangers she identifies. Des worries she’s made the wrong call by putting Cap as the lead, and Karina is in her ear, wanting her to take over.
As brigands close in, will Des back the merc she put in charge? Or will she take over — and risk the caravan’s safety resting on her blade alone?
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The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.
The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household and cleaning Malini’s chambers.
When Malini witnesses Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess desperate to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.
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The Blood We Spill by Jo Havens
What would make the most ruthless ice-queen assassin in the Kingdom hesitate?
Bound to the Kingdom for life, Cie serves a cruel King, her knives pledged to his word, her life at his mercy. She is also one of the Kingdom’s most privileged slaves – one of the Praetoria: five of the best, sworn to protect the Prince and, one day, to rule at his side. It’s not a bad life – luxurious parties in any of the eighteen worlds, beautiful women falling over themselves to land in her bed, her orders to be obeyed by over forty-eight billion citizens.
But when a routine job goes spectacularly wrong, Cie discovers there is a witness to her failure – a witness to a political assassination the King would never want revealed. It’s Cie’s intense misfortune that the witness is a beauty – a woman with sweet, warm skin that Cie longs to sink into, with deep, brown eyes that hold promises that Cie has only ever dreamt of, a woman whose embrace offers a gentleness and a kindness Cie craves above all else.
Jemma thought she’d been in love before, but when she falls for the King’s assassin, she falls hard. Cie burns her up – the assassin plays fast and loves harder, and Jemma’s head is whirling even as her body is thrilled. Jemma watches as a growing terrorist threat pushes the King to madness and Cie’s orders become more and more violent. The woman she thinks she loves is steeped in red. Is it even possible for a girl from the suburbs to love a person so drenched in blood?
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War and Solace by Edale Lane
Tyrdis is a stalwart warrior raised to value honor, courage, and military prowess. When a traumatic injury renders the powerful protector helpless, she depends on the lovely, tender-hearted Adelle to restore her from the brink of death. Is it merely gratitude or true love that draws Tyrdis to the healer?
Defying cultural norms, Adelle despises violence and those who propagate it, but when her shieldmaiden patient saves the life of her beloved little girl, she must reexamine her values. Could Tyrdis be more than a stiff, efficient killer with an amazing body?
In a kingdom steeped in conflict with their neighbors and internal strife, shocking secrets are revealed, and both women strive to ensure justice prevails. Can they overcome their differences to safeguard their friends, end the war, and fall in love, or will fate prove to be a cruel sovereign?
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Winter Spell by Brenda Murphy
Trapped inside a crystalline sphere by a malevolent sorcerer, Mara spends her days planning her escape and nights using an enchanted mirror to observe her favorite warrior, Reika.
Reika, fierce leader of a band of mercenaries, has spent her life fighting for anyone who could afford her price. Betrayed by her clan, Reika is seized from death by the mysterious goddess, Mara.
Restless and unwilling to accept captivity, Reika vows to free Mara from the sorcerer’s curse or die trying.
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Elemental Attraction by K. Aten
Two people find themselves in a quandary: Aderri, a powerful dragon shifter with some light defensive magic, and Ellys, a half-elven swordswoman for hire, one of the best across the six nations.
When Aderri gets news that she must come home for the naming ceremony of a new hatchling, she’s forced to hire Ellys and her telepathic steed, Roccotári, to see her safely there. Of course, things are never as simple as they seem. Not only do they have to traverse the land between two kingdoms on the brink of war, but Aderri’s Clan expects her to return with a romantic interest. So, for the added promise of triple Ellys’s normal fee, the half-elf agrees to pretend to be Aderri’s suitor.
Ellys and Aderri have to convince a Clan full of magical mixed-shifters for a week that creatures of differing elements can burn with the flames of love, without actually lying. A situation made even more difficult by a matchmaking mare, steamy baths, and an innkeeper with mischief on the mind.
Caught between the weight of the past and expectations of the future, they must find their true destiny within the heat of fire.
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Yarn Of Destiny by Rebekah Nance
Princess Luana Atteberry is destined to become queen, but, because of the old traditions, she must marry before her eighteenth birthday. However, Luana wishes to not marry anyone but her best friend and lady-in-waiting, Nona Hamlett. Nona is a spell caster, and a ball of yarn is what channels her magic. According to tradition, and because it would conflict with the bloodline, royals and spell casters can never marry.
When Luana chooses someone to marry over insisting she marry Nona, Nona stirs up trouble, and the three are forced to go on the quest together to replenish Nona’s magic.
Will the three individuals succeed in their quest?
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Witches, Princesses and Women at Arms by Sacchi Green
In this sexy, erotic anthology of twisted fairy tales, the damsels are the ones doing the rescuing! Full of ancient, adapted tales that were changed to include female/female pairings and also some brand new stories of feminine heroics and sexual dominance, this collection of stories will leave readers under a spell of lesbian love!
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The Valkyrie’s Daughter by Tiana Warner
From the time she was born, Sigrid has only ever been ordinary. Being paired at birth with a plain horse―instead of the powerful winged mare of a valkyrie―meant there would be no warrior path for her. No riding the skies, no glory among the nine worlds. Just the simple, unremarkable life of a stable hand.
Everything changes when a terrible enemy ambushes Vanaheim and Sigrid sees a vision of herself atop a mythical stallion, leading the valkyries into a harrowing battle. Finally, she can grab her future with her own two hands and become the hero of her own story…if she dares.
But her destiny is tied up with Mariam, a fallen valkyrie who’s allied herself with the very enemy Sigrid is trying to stop.
Now Sigrid has left ordinary behind as she begins a journey with the beautiful―if treacherous―valkyrie, each step bringing her closer to answers…and to awakened feelings for Mariam.
But the life Sigrid left behind is starting to look a lot like paradise…especially when her destiny lies in the one place no mortal should tread: the gates of Hel.
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What book will you be reading for the “sapphic characters with swords” category? Let us know in the comments!
3 Responses
These compilations are so informative. I enjoy reading these emails even though I am not participating in the challenge.
Iron Edge by Lexa Luther. I love reading her action romance novels.
It would have to be Heather Rose Jones’s Alpennia series. I adore Barbara, the sword-wielding bodyguard.