All I remember is that the male protagonist was from the "real" world, and somehow traveled to an alternate reality including a female love interest. There was some tension about whether he would return home or stay in the alternate world. The concept of swords was involved - maybe it was a sword that transitioned you to the alternate world, or maybe the book titles had "sword" in them. I also remember that there was a picture of a flagstone (or similar) courtyard.

I would have been reading this sometime between 1985 and 1990, but the books were not new at the time. I vaguely remember some irregularities about the binding or printing - they may have been put out by an alternative publisher. I was introduced to the books by someone who was into things like Elfquest and the SCA and Darkover and fanzines. So this could be quite obscure. Also, any or all of the above may be inaccurately recollected.

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