- The Little Fox Lair
- Posts
- Book Review: A Legionnaire's Guide to Love and Peace by Emily Skrutskie
Book Review: A Legionnaire's Guide to Love and Peace by Emily Skrutskie
The Little Fox Lair: A Bookish Den
Little Fox
June 01, 2025
In partnership with
Book Review: A Legionnaire’s Guide to Love and Peace by Emily Skrutskie
Disclosure: This newsletter/ blog post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to shop through one of the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Little Fox Lair is supported by its audience, so thank you in advance for helping this bookish den run and grow.
Book: A Legionnaire’s Guide to Love and Peace by Emily Skrutskie
Genre: Fantasy, Romantasy
Publisher: Del Rey
A Legionnaire’s Guide to Love and Peace by Emily Skrutskie is a fantasy romance that follows two battle partners, Kat and Emory, on a friends-to-lovers journey. In a transitional time between war and peace, the soldiers navigate a future they never expected to live to see. They also begin to learn their place and purpose within the new, peaceful world forming around them.
When I first heard about this book, I was immediately intrigued by the idea of a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired fantasy romance. I unexpectedly have grown to be a huge Bards of New York fan over the last two years, and it prompted a lot of research on my part into the D&D game world. I recently watched an outstanding interview with Deborah Ann Woll and John Bernthal where she briefly explains to him how the game is played. When John asks her if the goal of D&D is to win, she responds and says, “The goal is to tell a great story.” When I finished A Legionnaire’s Guide to Love and Peace, I felt like Emily Skrutskie truly achieved that objective when she took her inspiration from the game table and turned it into a novel.
Skrutskie writes such a tender account of the camaraderie and familial bond that forms between her characters while at war. We see all sorts of relationships play out in this story; however, the display of love and loyalty in the friendships is so comforting. The main characters have depth to their backstories, and the supporting characters are complementary and endearing.
“Her decade. The people who’d carried her through battle after battle, who’d survived until the end and still fought for her–and none more so than Emory, who had marshaled them all to come to her aid.”
The romantic storyline between Kat and Emory elicits a feeling that is very difficult to put into words. They have such a perfect blend of warmth, wit, and strength, and it is easy to root for them throughout the entire book. There is also a quiet yearning between them that I find to be very patient and sweet. In addition to their pairing, there is LGBTQIA+ representation within the story, and the world is presented as one of inclusivity when it comes to love.
“There was a certain joy in seeing the world twice over–once through your own eyes, and once through the eyes of a man whose mind worked in harmony with yours.”
For a heartening novel, there are some weighty themes Emily Skrutskie addresses in her writing. Personal choice and obligation to country and family is discussed extensively. There is also substantial focus on class disparity. One’s social standing in Telrus hinges upon whether a person possesses magical tokens, how many they have, and how much wealth they come from. As a single-token magic wielder from a modest upbringing, Kat finds herself caught between the life of a common citizen and the life of a magical elite. As she drifts between fighting alongside the infantry and also helping the royal prince, we see the inequalities, problems, and choices that the people of Telrus face because of this divide.
“All the ways that the separation between the high and the low limits the possibilities of this kingdom.”
I highly recommend A Legionnaire’s Guide to Love and Peace for anyone looking to read a feel-good book with a side of suspense. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how much depth and emotion is packed into this stand-alone fantasy romance.
Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey, and Emily Skrutskie for allowing me to read this copy in advance.
This book will be published June 24, 2025, and it is available for preorder.
View A Legionnaire’s Guide to Love and Peace on Amazon | Bookshop.org | Audible| Kobo Rakuten
The portfolio that's automatically up to date with your work.
Authory saves you hours with a portfolio that's always up to date.
Get backups of all your articles.
Be ready to impress potential clients and employers, anytime.