Critical Role Makes Fictional Romance Novel Tusk Love a Reality

Tusk Love, the romantic masterpiece heralded by Mighty Nein adventurer Jester Lavorre, will make its interplanar journey from the world of Critical Role’s Exandria to bookstore and digital shelves on July 1, 2025. While Critical Role boasts a growing collection of tie-in books and comics, Tusk Love marks the first occasion in which an in-universe piece of fiction will be made available to Critters.  

Though Tusk Love is penned by Matilda Merceria in the fiction of Critical Role, Hurricane Wars author Thea Guanzon will bring Jester Lavorre’s favorite bodice ripper to life in 2025. The romance novel will follow the exploits of Guinevere and Oskar, a merchant’s daughter and stoic half-orc, as they find an unexpected love along the treacherous Amber Road. The major beats of the smutty novel are familiar to Critical Role fans, though Gaunzon’s rendition will explore Guinevere and Oskar’s story beyond Jester Lavorre’s enthusiastic Spark Notes renditions of the book.

Laura Bailey’s Jester Lavorre first stumbles upon Tusk Love in the Zadashian bookshop Chastity’s Nook during Critical Role‘s second campaign, solidifying the fictional novel’s legacy in the actual play show’s history. The book appeared as an Easter egg in Season 1 of The Legend of Vox Machina and has been named dropped several times during Critical Role‘s third campaign. The ongoing Bells Hells campaign indicated that another Matilda Merceria novel, entitled Devil’s In-Fearne-o, has been making Exandrian circulation.

Tusk Love joins Critical Role: Vox Machina – Stories Untold and the official Daggerheart TTRPG system in Critical Role‘s 2025 literary lineup. The actual play series celebrates its tenth anniversary next year and these publications represent just one portion of the festivities. The Mighty Nein campaign from which Tusk Love originated is primed to make its highly anticipated animated debut in 2025 as the Critical Role cast jet sets across the globe for a live tenth-anniversary tour. The wedding between Jester and her own personal Oskar, Fjord closes out Critical Role‘s 2025 world tour.

Tusk Love will make its way from Chastity’s Nook to real brick-and-mortar and digital retailers on July 1, 2025, and is available to pre-order now.