Review: A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

A Taste of Gold and Iron

Alexandra Rowland

Publication Date: August 30, 2022

Hardcover, 512 pages, Tordotcom

Genres: Adult, Fantasy, LGBT+

Goodreads

 

“A delicious tangle of romance, fealty, and dangerous politics.”—Tasha Suri

 

The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

 

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation.

 

To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.

My Review

Slow-burn romantasy? Slow-burn queer romantasy? Slow-burn queer romantasy set in a diverse and intricate world? Yes! Yes! A thousand times YES! A Taste of Gold and Iron is an almost lyrical, political tale of a prince and his right-hand man dealing with a counterfeiting scandal that could cost their kingdom everything while fighting some *ahem* feelings...

Now, while I did enjoy this book, and I find myself thinking about it randomly sometimes, I have to admit that the first 25% was a tad difficult to get through. It's very dry in terms of worldbuilding, language, politics, and writing style, so it took a bit for my brain to truly get sucked into the atmosphere of the setting. But after that first 25%, there's more action and things just start to flow better.

The two main characters of the story, Kadou and Evemer, are very different. Kadou is a prince wracked with anxiety about his kingdom, while Evemer is a no-nonsense bodyguard/advisor who gets assigned to the human disaster that is Kadou. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of bodyguard romances, and with this story, Evemer's role is a little more servant-like at times, which was even worse, in my opinion (totally just a personal preference). However, I could look past that dynamic as the story progressed. In fact, I started loving the power dynamic the two had once things started heating up between them. Evemer would do anything for his liege, and I loved reading about his internal struggles. Though, at times, it felt like Kadou didn't quite reciprocate, even when things started going strong between them. Honestly, there really needs to be a sequel just to establish more relationship between these two characters.

As for the plot of the story, there were quite a few surprising twists and turns throughout the middle chunk. But the plot definitely suffered towards the end with a pretty anticlimactic and predictable reveal over who was causing the counterfeiting kerfuffle. This anticlimactic ending also caused a lot of rushing. The author had spent so much time setting up the world and the characters, only to try to squeeze too much in during the final 10%. I was left thinking "That's it?" when the last page was turned. It simply felt unfinished, which hopefully means there will be a sequel, but Goodreads isn't telling if that's the case.

All in all, this book could've easily been four stars if not for the rushed ending. However, credit where credit is due, because I cannot stop thinking about Evemer and Kadou. They really stuck with me. So I could see A Taste of Gold and Iron being a hit with some fantasy romance readers, though I do expect that others will find the political elements too much for them. I'd say this one is less for fans of Sarah J. Maas or Jennifer L. Armentrout than for fans of Everina Maxwell's Winter's Orbit, Foz Meadows's A Strange & Stubborn Endurance, or even S.A. Chakraborty's Daevabad books. And if you like both of those styles, then I would say you should definitely add Kadou and Evemer's story to your TBR!

*Note: I received a NetGalley ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.