Lady’s Knight by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Title: Lady’s Knight

Author: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 3^rd June 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 480

Price: $26.99

Synopsis: A rollercoaster of a medieval romp and a sapphic love story, set in a world of dragons, witches and excellent snacks from NYT bestselling duo, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. Perfect for fans of Gwen and Art are Not in Love, Twin Crowns and My Lady Jane.

‘More fun than cheesecake on a stick!’ Jodi Meadows, co-author of My Lady Jane

A blacksmith’s daughter with a secret.
A lady with a plan.
We’re in for one unforgettable knight …

Gwen has spent the past several years manning the blacksmith’s in place of her father, an open secret in the village in which she lives. A much more covert secret, however, is that she knows not only how to craft but also how to wield a sword, and an incognito stunt at the local jousting tournament manages to catch the eye of the wily Lady Isobelle.

Isobelle has secret dreams too, but she’s been promised in marriage to the winner of the whole stupid tournament, which means an end to any freedom or choices for her. Desperate to avoid this fate, when she connects the newcomer knight to the female smithy she saw earlier that day, she begins to hatch a scheme …

Petty knights. Backstabbing noblemen. A prison breakout. Cheesecake on a stick. One particularly large and angry dragon.

Will our ladies survive the night? And can our knight save the day?

~*~

Welcome to Darkhaven, a county with knights, a lady, blacksmiths and legends about dragons. Where the patriarchy dictates how women act, and tries to quash hedge witches, women who have dreams and ambitions, and where the hand in marriage of Lady Isobelle is up for grabs in the legendary Tournament of the Dragonslayer. Dragons haven’t approached Darkhaven in a century, so the legends say. Which means that the knights jousting in the tournament have never really faced a dragon and are full of bravado that they would be able to defeat it better than a woman.

Enter Gwen, the blacksmith’s daughter. She’s the one manning her father’s blacksmith stall and selling the items they make. So, everyone knows her. But they don’t know she makes the items, nor that she can joust or wield a sword. And when she shows off these talents incognito at a jousting tournament, she catches the eye of Lady Isobelle. Gwen is hiding a deeper secret – she’s attracted to women. Something unheard of or accepted in Darkhaven. Things change when Lady Isobelle sees her performance, and whisks Gwen away to the castle, disguised as a new maid and companion called Lady Céline, sister to the mysterious Sir Gawain.

Lady Isobelle has a slightly out there plan, according to Gwen and Olivia. The upcoming tournament is set up so the winner – whoever he may be, is going to marry Lady Isobelle. Ugh, an arranged marriage! It’s the first time Lady Isobelle can’t talk her way out of trouble – unless she can get Gwen to win her hand and freedom. Easy right? I mean, we’ve all seen A Knight’s Tale. Surely things will go smoothly once they have the patents of nobility sorted out.  After all, who says that a nobleman makes a better knight than anyone else? They’re really just silly boys with a horse and stick, right? Their bravado in the face of the mysterious knight was intriguing and was what made this element of the novel work well. And what made it feel like a feminist version of A Knight’s Tale.

But…it’s not as easy as that in this sapphic, fantasy medieval romp. It’s feminist, magical and dragon-infested version of A Knight’s Tale, with tiny elements of anachronisms that find their way into the story to create a world where women are using small ways to fight the patriarchy and allowing this to grow. It’s got a great sense of adventure with the jousting and playing with identities in a distinct historical setting where finding knights and dragons and witches feels so natural. Everything is worked into the story well and the characters are fun and have great depth, ensuring that there are many things going on to create a story that has something for everyone. Love dragons? Tick. Love women fighting for their rights against the patriarchy? Big tick. Hints of magic? Yep, it’s there. Delightful hints at anachronisms you might not see in other historical fiction. Check. Powerful relationships between women of all kinds? It’s there. And the love story grows slowly, and doesn’t dominate. Every storyline and plot is cleverly rendered to traverse more than just a will they or won’t they. It’s about deception and power. About being true to yourself. The strength of this novel for me was in the role of female empowerment and vulnerability in equal parts, where nobody was perfect, because nobody in real life is perfect.

I was always on edge, wondering if Gwen would be discovered, and who would betray them. I had my top contenders, and taking the advice of the invisible narrator, whose observations are interspersed throughout the book, I did my best to keep an open mind, even with the characters who appeared to have Isobelle and Gwen’s best interests at heart. I feel like this had so many great elements that the romance had a depth I didn’t see in my early days of reviewing, or that at least had layers top explore. It felt like it reflected the reality of relationships – whatever the relationship may be, and it definitely worked its magic within this story.

One of my favourite elements was the way Gwen, Isobelle and the other women worked out how to play with the rules. Finding ways to subvert how they’re being prepared for marriage into nobility. And maybe a little cheeky element of never sending a man to do a woman’s job. It’s cleverly written to incorporate what readers might expect from a medieval story coupled with delightful subversion that speaks to so many readers on so many levels. It is definitely one that I think will have something that many readers can enjoy, whether it is dragons, knights, powerful female friendships, or a touch of romance. These layers are what make it work, giving readers several things to focus on and read about means it can capture the imagination in so many ways. It works wonderfully as a standalone, yet I cans ee the potential for a follow-up and more jousting. This was a very interesting book, and one that was a pleasant surprise when it arrived. I think girls fighting dragons was one of my favourite things about this book – excellent premise and execution of it all. Isobelle and Gwen are great characters in a brilliant story.