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?
Errant, Volume One is the first volume in a series of novellas. It contains two novellas, intended to be read in sequence, and is approximately 52,000 words total.
L.K. Fleet is the pen name for the trio of authors K.R. Collins, Felicia Davin, and Valentine Wheeler. They are longtime friends who share a love of fantasy settings and romance tropes. Errant, a series of sapphic fantasy novellas, is the first thing they have written together.
A neat fantasy story, with quite a bit of action and angst, and mostly a lot of banter. It reminded me a little bit of Elemental Attraction, so if you liked that I imagine you would enjoy this.
Our MC Aspen is 37 and a strong swordswoman, and fighter. She's had a lot happen in her life and lived many roles. It was intriguing to learn about her backstory and you really felt for her loneliness and the life on the road. But she's so strong and has such a heart for justice.
Enter love interest, Charm, 29 a performer in a troupe, who loves the limelight and attention, but also has a penchant for pick-pocketing. When Aspen comes to her rescue in a misguided attempt, more trouble ensues for them both, as they are targeted.
These opposites work together to seek safety and justice, and it was just a fun and adventure-packed ride to go along with them in this fantasy world, with lots of elemental type classes of people. It's not a story that spills everything out at once, it's one that lets you understand the world and our protagonist over the course of the story, which I actually enjoy. But it can be a little jarring and perplexing until you get into the groove of it all, especially with the names for a lot of humans being Nouns like "Frugality" and "Mortification". But you soon get used of it.
One of our MC's has had sexual relationships with 2 men, and the other exclusively beds women. There is attraction blooming between the two women, but they are very much at odds in every way - so I would not call this a romance, since none happens. (There's a few kisses, and one is actively trying to bed the other, who is not going there.) So while there is absolutely attraction there, there are underlying issues for both women, which are touching and understandable - making the idea of them getting together later on in the series, even sweeter as they learn more about one another, and understand each others behaviours and attitudes on a deeper level of caring.
I co-authored this book—"LK Fleet" is a pen name for the Voltron combination of myself, KR Collins, and Valentine Wheeler—of two sapphic fantasy novellas that comes out February 15.
There is a central romance plot, but it doesn't resolve into a Happily Ever After until the end of the series. Before that, our heroines Aspen (stoic wandering swordswoman) and Charm (cheerful actress with a habit of picking pockets) go on a few adventures together. In this first volume, they meet, immediately get embroiled with some dangerous people from Aspen's tragic backstory, break up a protection racket, and then encounter a case of imposture that bears a remarkable similarity to the true historical oddity of Martin Guerre (two lookalike men, one of whom usurps the other's life and family) and do a little tiny bit of fraud for justice.
There's a Kiss to Avert Suspicion and several instances of Only One Bed—though no banging happens in this volume, I can promise that Aspen and Charm will eventually succumb to their growing attraction. (The rest of the series is written and will be published pretty quickly after this book, so you won't even have to wait that long.)
I wanted to write something fun and trope-y and lighthearted with my friends, and I think we succeeded. I hope you'll enjoy it, too.
This was fabulous. My review will be live Tuesday the 8th.
In the meantime- you’ll all want to add this to your TBRs especially if like me you love:
• SLOW BURN ROMANCE • ROMANTIC FANTASY • THE ACTRESS/THIEF FALLING FOR THE VERY STRONG SWORDSWOMEN • MULTIPLE QUEER CHARACTERS • FOUND FAMILY
Quotes like this:
“Aspen had fought duels and back-alley brawls. She’d been beaten and stabbed and thrown from heights. She was not going to pass out because a woman sat on her lap.”
This is a really fun concept - an actress and a swordswoman fall in love while righting wrongs - but it’s let down by the choice of format to tell the story. It’s a simple story spread over six novellas (this volume includes the first two), and there is simply not enough material to stretch that far - this is a pretty straightforward narrative and already I was getting annoyed at the protagonists for not giving in to what they clearly wanted as the authors continued to drag out their sexual tension long past the point it made sense. It doesn’t help that the writing is pretty emotionless and better suited to a fast-paced story.
There was some interesting hints at world-building (though they were a little vague for my tastes) and I liked the found family vibes and the theatre troupe, but I wasn’t sufficiently gripped to read on (even though it means missing the ultimate HEA).
I am obsessed with this book, and my soul needs the rest of the series, deeply! This fantasy rom-com adventure gave Princess Bride vibes—but sapphic!
The characters are so easy to love and root for, the dialog is witty and hilarious, and the glacial slow-burn is sweet and hot enough to melt your heart. The YEARNING!!
Also, I appreciated seeing bisexual masc/butch rep, which is something we so rarely see! Usually this character archetype is always a lesbian, but in real life there are masc bisexual women, too, so I loved seeing a well-written one in fiction.
This is one of my new favorite sapphic romantasies. It made for a perfect palate cleanser after reading a really dark romance, too.
The only bad thing about ARCs are they mean you need to wait longer for the next book to come out. This sapphic fantasy has imaginative queer world building to discover along the way of bloody and exciting fighting, acting disguised as sleight of hand, and a sweet sapphic romance that is all pining no reward… though I hope that will change in volume two. Definitely check this out!
I received a free copy in an exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoy the sapphic "dnd type" novels that read like a campaign with quests, this one is easy to follow but still has adult themes. I'll definitely read the sequels soon!
Unfortunately, ERRANT did not really work for me and I'm bummed because the description sounded really interesting. I only ended up reading the first novella, CALAMITY'S DANCE, so this review will only be focused on that.
Overall, my biggest issue was that I just didn't feel any emotion in the writing and this made it feel very mechanical and detached. Because of that I couldn't get invested in the characters and my interest to read the second novella just wasn't there. I also didn't really enjoy Charm and without her POV she just came across as annoying; maybe this changes in the second novella and readers learn more about her other than her thieving?
Last I really struggled with the names (Cooperation, Integrity, Unity, Mortification) and I found them more distracting than interesting, especially in the fight scenes. It was very jarring to read about a character named Cooperation fighting and trying to kill Aspen. This is obviously a me thing so it may not bother other readers. ERRANT just wasn't for me I guess.
**ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review**
I really enjoyed these two novellas and am super excited to read more and see how it will develop. The dynamic of the super flirty actress and pickpocket and the stoic reserved roving sword was a delight, their banter and tension between them was excellent and I really want to read more of them. It's worth noting that this is a definite slow burn, and this volume ends in a Friends For Now place.
The world building was very good for me, you picked up various aspects of their world as you go along, and the gentle depth of development especially when it came to genders, sexualities, and family structures, was very rewarding to read.
One part that worked especially well for me was the way that the story combined the light hearted casual thievery and trickster work, with the real trauma of death and murder.
*I received a free ARC and I have chosen to leave a review*
I HAVE A NEW OBSESSION AND IT IS THIS BOOK AND THE SEQUEL THAT COMES OUT NEXT MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously this is such a beautiful queer lush fantasy world and I loved the characters, the plot, the theatrics, the buffness, the hero complexes and the dark pasts!! Cannot wait for the next volume!!
Errant (volume one) features two novellas penned by a combination of three authors: Felicia Davin, K.R. Collins, and Valentine Wheeler under the name L.K. Fleet.
In a series of mistaken heroics, Aspen attempts to save Charm from what she believes to be unwanted attention. As it turns out, Aspen interrupted Charm in the middle of pickpocketing her latest victim. In effort to cover, Charm pronounces Aspen as her wife. This marks the start the wild journey they end up on together.
This is a lighter fantasy filled with mischief, tropes, and adventure. Aspen and Charm annoy each other in the best ways. I got an absolute kick out of the pair of them. The romance was a little lighter and there were no spicy scenes in this volume (but I read there may be some in the next!). It was a little campy at times, but I feel like that’s what made this a fun and easy read.
What I had wished for was full length novels. With a novella you get dropped into the story and action without much build up. There was so much about Aspen and Charm that I feel like we weren’t able to learn about them. Perhaps in volume two?
*I received an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Great chemistry and charming banter between the love interests; solid execution of grumpy/sunshine. I do, unfortunately, empathize more strongly with Aspen, who is Not Having It With These Feelings Thank You Very Much. The love story continues on to the next volume, and it is just building up some real momentum and emotional intimacy as this book ends.
I personally would have liked more worldbuilding earlier on. There were a few very interesting clues laid down about the lands of Sun and Wood toward the end of the book.
Will definitely be picking up the second volume (both for consummation of love story reasons and "where are these dragons and magical woods you speak of" reasons.)
I cannot think of any better word! It's a romp. It's a delightful, exciting, fantasy romp which is fun to read and leaves you wanting more.
I'm obsessed with Charm and Aspen and their back-and-forth with one another. The way they slowly reveal more and more of themselves, both to each other and to the reader, as the novellas go on is so *chefs kiss*.
Also, as a fat lesbian, having Charm be both fat and desired is so soul-soothing to me. She is frequently the most beautiful person in the room, not despite her size, but in part because of it. She is wanted (in more ways than one, but I digress), and it is so rare to have a fat woman be the romantic interest that I just ate it up with a spoon. And Aspen is the older (I think she's in her mid-thirties?) butch of my dreams.
Volume One consists of two novellas about Charm and Aspen, the first two in a series. Volume Two is being released in March. So far, it's all build-up. Delicious, delicious build-up. Each novella follows its own little story - the only constant is that Charm and Aspen are wandering around together, flirting (Charm) and brooding (Aspen) their way across the country - and in each novella, they have a mystery or a crime to solve. It gives Dungeons & Dragons/RPG vibes, so if that's what you're into, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy these novellas.
Look - is it the most polished writing of all time? No, not really. Is it fun and sexy and mysterious? Yes. Does it leave you wanting to devour more books in the series? Absolutely yes. I'm thoroughly looking forward to the next one, which I will be reading as soon as it's released. I need to know if they get together! I need them to kiss (properly)! It's killing me!
Reading Errant is a fun and sexy way to spend an afternoon/evening, and I will be there with bells on when the next one is released. If you like fat, brazen, bolshy femmes and lithe, greying, fighting butches, and if you like them both with secrets, pick up volume one of Errant. Then you, too, can be like me - shaking my kindle and desperately wanting these two women to just kiss, already!
Thank you to Felicia Davin for providing me with an ARC of this novel.
A twitter person, @gochenourabout, wrote about Errant: "Recommend for a gentle romp (with promises of other sorts of romping later.)" I honestly can't say it better!
This starts out with action and adventure, and as you get to know the two MCs the story got stronger and stronger. I'm especially intrigued by Aspen and her people.
MC's relationship by the end is so vivid in my mind. On the surface, not too much seems different between them, but you feel these opposites bending slowly towards each other in how they think and what they do.
This was the perfect mix of captivating characters, imaginative world and funny adventures, though there were a few serious issues included so be careful to read the content warning before starting the book. Aspen and Charm's bantering was precious; I loved every scene which included the two of them. The story was very entertaining and it kept me glued to the pages. The secondary characters weren't really developed, but that's probably due to the slightly shorter than average length of the novel. I'm looking forward to learning more about the world and about Charm's past in the next instalment.
Errant is a light, fun read. A rom-com with our two leading ladies, a vigilante-type swordswoman and an actress with thieving tendencies, trying to save each other from distress, but incidentally complicating the other's plans further. Set in a fantasy world with some interesting magical elements I wish we'd gotten more of.
There's banter. Eye-roll worthy moments. And even a small amount of unexpected depth there at the end.
On paper, this shouldn't work for me, but I was charmed, nonetheless.
Look what happens when reading challenges make you read things you wouldn't otherwise have picked up.
I discovered this gem through Libby, but after the first chapter, I decided to return it and purchase all three volumes so I could take my time reading them on my Kindle. Now that I’ve finished volume 1, I’m so glad I did!
I adore Aspen and Charm! Their chemistry and the potential for a found family within the troupe, I'm a sucker for this trope. The atmosphere is just so magical and unique, I'm hoping the rest of the series is as great as the first book has been. This has been a delightful, cozy fantasy. A perfect read for autumn!
“Predictable is boring. But I am, in fact, entirely predictable. You already know the only thing you need to know about me: I always do exactly what I want.”
“Love stories have always been my favorite. When you see enough bad harvests, you appreciate the good ones even more.”
A tropey romp with a slow-burn sapphic romance and wonderfully queer worldbuilding. I wish this had gone through another round of editing, but I had so much fun reading it, I'm gonna look past that.
This was a delightful read, full of excellent worldbuilding and grounded, believable characters. The cliffhanger ending is a BETRAYAL of the Highest Order and I need the next book RIGHT NOW.
These are really fun! Sapphic fantasy novellas that read like dime novel installations or serials - there's no HEA and a lot of the action is external without a major focus on the romance, but I'm excited to read more and watch the romance evolve on these magical queer adventures!
I received a free copy of this in exchange for a review
Loved the banter, a fun short read with charming characters,even though there’s action scenes it still feels like a cozy fantasy book? The characters remain very levelheaded throughout the whole book so the urgency just wasn’t there and the stakes didn’t feel very high.