Swords and Swoons

We're heading to the mystical streets of New Orleans, and this time we brought a VERY special guest! 🔮✨⚔️

This week on Swords & Swoons, we're joined by debut author Kayla Hardy to gush about her novel The Quarter Queen! We're diving into the legendary world of Marie Laveau, talking Voodoo, buried secrets, mysterious pasts, and the complicated mother-daughter relationships that prove family drama is truly timeless.

Plus, Kayla takes us behind the scenes of bringing history and magic together, her journey to becoming a published author, and all the spooky, supernatural goodness that makes this book the perfect fall read! 🍂🖤

Grab your swords, prepare your swoons, and maybe keep a protection spell handy—because we're stirring up some serious magic in the French Quarter! 🕯️🔮

This week on Swords & Swoons, we're diving into Rebecca Yarros's Threshing Day, the newest addition to The Empyrean series! We're getting inside the minds of our favorite riders as they bond their dragons, uncovering hidden family connections, suspicious dragon histories, and SO MUCH signet foreshadowing. And because this is Rebecca Yarros, even the smallest details have us questioning EVERYTHING.

⚠️ Full Empyrean spoilers through Onyx Storm!

Grab your swords, prepare your swoons, and get your conspiracy boards ready—because we came for the dragons and left with approximately a thousand new theories. 🐉👀🔥

In the FINAL episode of our reread, we're finishing Kingdom of Ash, covering Chapters 81 through the epilogue! We're talking the Battle of Orynth, the Thirteen (WE WILL NEVER RECOVER), the Lock, devastating sacrifices, long-awaited reunions, epic final showdowns, and the endings our favorite characters fought so hard to earn.

Plus, we're ranking our favorite characters, romances, heartbreaking moments, and unforgettable scenes as we say goodbye to the series that absolutely destroyed us in the best way.

⚠️ Full-series spoilers ahead!

Grab your swords, prepare your swoons, and bring ALL the tissues. One last time for Terrasen. To whatever end. 👑🔥💔

In Part Two of our reread, covering Chapters 41–80, the war intensifies as Aelin and her allies race toward Terrasen. We’re talking Manon claiming her crown, the Flame of War, Aelin unleashing her power at Anielle, major Elorcan swoons, Lysandra fighting to hold Terrasen together, and Dorian casually infiltrating Morath like that’s a normal thing to do.

Plus, armies are converging, Maeve and Erawan are making moves, and Orynth is running out of time.

⚠️ Full-series spoilers ahead!

We’ve made it to Kingdom of Ash… and the emotional damage starts IMMEDIATELY. 🔥⚔️

In Part One of our reread, we’re covering the Prologue through Chapter 40 as Aelin fights to survive Maeve and Cairn, Rowan refuses to stop searching for his wife, and Fenrys officially claims a permanent place in our hearts. Meanwhile, Terrasen is fighting without its queen, Manon is trying to earn the Crochans’ trust, Dorian is collecting magical abilities like Pokémon, and Chaol and Yrene are heading straight toward another battle.

We’re talking Aelin’s rescue, Maeve’s huge reveal, Fenrys Moonbeam, Manorian tension, Aedion and Lysandra drama, witch politics, questionable secret plans, and all the moments that hit SO much harder on reread.

⚠️ Full-series spoilers ahead!

We survived the tandem read! ⚔️📚 In this episode, we finish Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn—and the emotional damage is REAL.

We’re diving into massive revelations about the Lock and the Valg, long-awaited romances, secret marriages, mate reveals, armies finally coming together, and Aelin’s seemingly endless supply of secret plans. And just when everything starts falling into place… Maeve shows up and absolutely ruins our lives.

⚠️ Full-series spoilers ahead!

Grab your swords, prepare your swoons, and bring tissues—because next stop: Kingdom of Ash. 🔥👑⚔️

⚔️ Two books. Two continents. One massive war brewing. Welcome to the tandem read!

In this episode of Swords & Swoons, we officially kick off our Empire of Storms + Tower of Dawn tandem reread, covering through Chapter 32 of Empire of Storms and Chapter 35 of Tower of Dawn.

Aelin is finally home—but being Queen of Terrasen isn't going quite according to plan. With no army and no shortage of enemies, she's gathering allies, hunting for answers about the Wyrdkeys and the Lock, and heading to Skull's Bay for a reunion with everyone's favorite pirate lord. Meanwhile, Elide finds herself traveling with a very grumpy Lorcan, Manon makes a choice that changes EVERYTHING, and Aedion finally comes face-to-face with Gavriel.

Across the sea in Antica, Chaol and Nesryn begin their own journeys. Chaol meets Yrene Towers and discovers that healing his body might require confronting wounds that run much deeper, while Nesryn takes to the skies with Prince Sartaq and uncovers disturbing clues suggesting the Valg threat reaches much farther than anyone realized.

We're talking Rowaelin, Elorcan, Chaol and Yrene, Nesryn and Sartaq, pirates, ruks, shapeshifters, witches, ancient Valg secrets, daddy issues, fake marriages, healing journeys, and SO MUCH foreshadowing.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread, so spoilers for future chapters and books are absolutely fair game.

We’ve made it to the FINAL part of our Queen of Shadows deep dive, and Sarah J. Maas is absolutely not letting us leave quietly.

We’re breaking down our favorite moments, biggest reveals, character arcs, swoons, emotional damage, and everything that hits differently on a reread—before finally watching Aelin Galathynius return home to Terrasen. 🥹👑

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread, so spoilers for future books are fair game.

Grab your swords, prepare your swoons, and join us as we officially close the book on Queen of Shadows! ⚔️💕

Part Two of our Queen of Shadows reread, covering Chapters 31–60, and this section is absolutely STACKED.

Aelin is playing one dangerous game after another in Rifthold as she finally moves against Arobynn, Rowan and Aedion settle into their very aggressive version of friendship, and Lysandra drops a reveal that changes everything we thought we knew about her.

Meanwhile, Morath somehow gets even darker. Manon is starting to question the orders she’s been raised to obey, Elide is digging into the horrors hidden beneath the mountain, Kaltain is proving there is far more going on beneath the surface, and we finally learn just how terrifying Perrington’s plans really are.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread. While we’re focusing on Chapters 31–60 of Queen of Shadows, we will freely discuss spoilers and connections from later in the book and the rest of the series.

We’re officially back in Rifthold for Part One of our Queen of Shadows reread, covering Chapters 1–30!

Aelin has returned to Adarlan with one goal: take back everything that was stolen from her.

We’re talking about that reunion, the blood oath drama with Aedion, the Gavriel reveal, the tension, the betrayals, the foreshadowing, and all the little moments that hit completely differently on a reread.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread, so while we’re focusing on Chapters 1–30 of Queen of Shadows, we will reference events from earlier books in the series.