The Lavender Blade is a novel by E.L. Deards.
Finished on: 3.1.2026
[I won this book in a LibraryThing Early Reviewer give-away.]

Plot:
Colton comes from a long line of exorcists, but he doubts that demons are actually real. That doesn’t keep him from earning his meager living with what he learned. Things change when Lucian, Lord Beaumont, clocks him. Instead of turning him in for fraud, Lucian suggests that they work together and bring Colton’s skills to a much richer audience. Things go well and the two become closer. But neither their work, nor their relationship are well-regarded by everyone, especially not Lucian’s ruthless father.

The Lavender Blade had me hooked, so I finished it in only a few days. Despite some weaknesses in the plotting and the narrative structure, I enjoyed it for the characters, its sense of humor and the good chemistry between the central pair.

For all the flaws it might have, The Lavender Blade is a quick read that pulled me right in and had me breezing through, even if the beginning is stronger than the ending. Colton and Lucian are introduced nicely, as is the set-up for their cooperation. There is a humorous undercurrent throughout the entire book – and those small moments were they are simply being funny together remain some of my favorites.

The book does have some inconsistencies, not only in the world-building which are more easily forgiveable – world’s are big and complicated and sometimes not particularly consistent, though it often feels like inattentiveness on the author’s part – but also in the charcterization, which is not that easy to forgive. To give you a small example: early in the book it is mentioned that Lucian is an early riser, later Colton mentions that it is not unusual that Lucian sleeps in. There are also times where things are just a little confusing – what is going on, why things are going down the way they are going down, and who is where becomes a little muddled when the action ramps up. (Sidenote: the author’s bio reveals that Deards is a vet, otherwise I would have doubted that she knows just how freaking huge pigs are. Yes, even micro-pigs. But I guess we are dealing with a tiny fantasy pig here.)

It is also quite a choice to have parts – and rather important parts – of the relationship building done through backflashes when shit has already hit the fan. It feels like those scenes were added as an afterthought when they would have been important earlier for both establishing the bond that builds between the two men and setting up the plot points for later. It is not as bad as the choice to spoil a big twist on the backcover of the book, though, so there is that.

Even though the book becomes a little more uneven towards the end (and the darkest parts dragged a little – I would have liked them to be resolved more quickly, to spend more time with the joyful parts), I enjoyed reading it. I liked Colton and Lucian almost as much as Mai, Colton’s best friend, and Odessa, Lucian’s sister – the secondary pairing of the novel. It was a pity that we didn’t get more of that sweet love story, but maybe Deards is planning a sequel? Plotwise, everything but that relationship is pretty much tied up here, so it doesn’t scream for a sequel in any case.

It all comes back and down to Colton and Lucian. I assume that your enjoyment of the book hinges on how much you like those two – and I did. I also enjoyed their chemistry together and how they worked as a couple. So, overall, this book gets a thumbs up for me.

Summarizing: a nice queer fantasy.