Fans of Critical Role’s second campaign are in for a spicy treat. Penguin Random House announced it will publish the tabletop media empire’s newest novel, Tusk Love. The fictional smutty romance that started off as an inside joke on the popular actual play has taken on a new, very real, life thanks to their partnership with the traditional publishing house.
Written by New York Times bestselling author Thea Guazon, Tusk Love builds on the recent resurgence of the Romantasy genre, alongside A Court of Thorns and Roses and Fourth Wing. While not set in the world of Exandria, Tusk Love has held a special place in the heart of many Critical Role fans, popping up throughout the adventures of the Mighty Nein and making a special appearance in the Legends of Vox Machina animated series. Romantic fans of the actual play pined as Laura Bailey’s tiefling character Jester Lavorre made allusions to the book while she pursued her romantic interest Fjord (played by Bailey’s real world husband Travis Willingham).
According to the description on the Critical Role books page, the plot of the novel follows the beats one would expect from Jester’s favorite romance. Jester’s self-insert Guinevere is the daughter of an ambitious merchant (much like the character herself), determined by birth to marry into a noble house and “live quietly as a lordling’s obedient life.” But she wants more. When her caravan is attacked by bandits, Guinevere is saved by the stoic Oskar (Jester’s head canon Fjord fantasy), who thinks she’s little more than a “spoiled waif”. The two must put aside their differences to survive the dangerous Amber Road, doing everything in their power to ignore their growing passion as they must choose between the lives that have been chosen for them, or the one they make for themselves.
Tusk Love will be Critical Role’s seventh book published in partnership with big-five publisher Penguin Random House. Their previous publications include prequel novels such as Kith and Kin by Marieke Nijkamp, The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madelein Roux, and What Doesn’t Break by Cassandra Khaw; along side the official Exquisite Exandria Cook Book, The World of Critical Role production guide, and Critical Role Mad Libs. Tusk Love is set to debut in July 2025, available for $30 wherever books are sold.
