Thank you Net Galley and Tordotcom for the arc of A Taste of Gold and Iron.

A Taste of Gold and Iron Is a fun, MLM fantasy romance that is apparently based on the Ottoman Empire. It’s got enemies-to-lovers, bodyguard/client and a sort-of grumpy sunshine trope. And I enjoyed it all!

Kadou is a prince, and younger brother of the (female) sultan. Evemer is assigned to his detail following a misunderstanding and tragedy where a few of the guards were killed. Because of this, Evemer’s first impression of Kadou is one of contempt. Also in the background, is some political intrigue about a coin counterfeit ring.

As Kadou and Evemer work together to solve the mystery, they slowly have their viewpoints of each other change. What appears to them both, at first, as Kadou’s cowardice, is, in fact, severe anxiety and panic attacks. I feel that Alexandra Rowland’s depiction of what Kadou was experiencing with his anxiety was spot on. As someone who’s dealt with this for my entire adult life, I appreciated the accurate depiction of someone who is struggling with their mental health.

I loved the many side characters, their fleshed out personalities and funny banter. I also loved the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity. The world of these characters was one that did not discriminate against one’s sexuality or gender, and there were several non-binary characters that were written with care.

The world building was very interesting, as was the type of magic that Kadou and others had: a touch-taste to different kinds of metals, which allowed them to determine what coins were counterfeit. Rowland did an excellent job with all of this.

The slow burn romance was lovely - with the yearning, pining, and ‘strategic’ kisses when on missions. Kadou and Evemer had an adorable romance.

I did feel at times that there was too much describing of places, clothes, etc. I felt some of that could’ve been scaled back for an easier read. There were also times that the banter felt almost too modern, which took me out of the fantasy world. It didn’t happen often, but enough that I noticed.

All in all, I really enjoyed A Taste of Gold and Iron. It gave me lots of feels with the romance, kept me intrigued during the action and made me laugh with the banter. I hope there will be more books in this creative world.

Welcome to Arasht a matriarchal society, where women’s names and choices hold the power. Creating an extremely intriguing (and frankly appealing) political setup.

A Taste of Gold and Iron is a tantalizing LGBTQ+, new adult fantasy novel with an incredible spectrum of representation. A forced proximity, touch them and die romance novel exploring themes of sexuality, religion and acceptance in an elegant and impactful way. This book has amazing character development and I all but guarantee you’ll find yourself invested in Kadou and Evemer from the first chapter.

A Taste of Gold and Iron is a bit slow off the draw, and Kadou’s POV is so anxiety ridden that it is, at times, exhausting. The dialogue gets repetitive and the end of the book dragged. However, the slow pacing helped contribute to character development and buffered the expositional dialogue. Solid world building without info dumping is a rarity, particularly in the fantasy genre.

My favorite thing about this book was that the diverse representation of characters was never treated as a primary character trait. These folks were just so well written!

This wasn't as good as I expected it to be.

The characters were interesting especially how the main character is laced with anxiety and confusion that people in this day may find themselves relating to. However, the story in itself was too flat and revolved so much around youth romance and lustful minds that it threw me off. If not for my love for queer novels, I would've DNFed this book.

I loved it. I loved the romance, loved the friendship, loved the main character grappling with his anxiety in believable ways. The magic was not overly grand at all and yet, every aspect of it was critical to the plot. The Ottoman-inspired fantasy world is beautifully crafted, whole and complete, without feeling like too much is being thrown at you.

Both Kadou and Evemer are flawed but compelling main characters, and I loved watching them grow and change as the book went on- it's what made me so invested in their relationship. Tadek was also a favorite of mine, and it meant a lot to me that the author showed the value of non-romantic relationships in the novel as well. I'm definitely interested in reading more of this author in the future.

For fans of Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell or A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, this is a sure thing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor for the eARC! I'm going to need a hard copy of this one.

Reviewed for Shelf Awareness, review will run in the PRO newsletter before release date. Content may change during editing.

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Alexandra Rowland strikes the perfect balance of political intrigue and romance in A Taste of Gold and Iron, a lush Ottoman-inspired fantasy with sweeping emotions and prose worth savoring.
Excited for the birth of his niece, Prince Kadou tries to ignore the casual cruelties of his niece's body-father Siranos. But when an altercation between his guards and Siranos' turns deadly, Kadou's older sister Zeliha, the sultan of Arasht*, strips both men of some of their privileges and publicly reprimands them. As part of his punishment, Zeliha replaces his kahyalar, assigning Evemer as Kadou's primary kahya. More than a bodyguard, a kahya is a highly trained professional in domestic service to the royal family. In most cases, promotion to the core guard would be great honor, but Evemer can't help but resent the "careless-flighty-negligent" [p 51, then repeated] prince responsible for the unnecessary deaths of two other kahyalar.
Evemer's judgments fade to compassion as he observes Kadou's self-sacrificing kindness and realizes some of the behaviors he considered self-indulgent are actually the aftermath of panic attacks. Kadou is his own harshest critic, calling his anxiety and panic disorder "cowardice" and despairing that he'll never be free of it. Rowland writes Kadou's mental illness and the reactions of those around him with nuance, neither ignoring the impacts of mental illness on Kadou's interactions nor using it as shorthand for characterization.
A counterfeiting plot, complete with drunken information gathering, political maneuvering and assassination attempts, pushes the two men together. Their close proximity and domestic relationship leads to gorgeously intimate scenes as the two get to know each other. In one, Evemer finds himself internally justifying a second wash of Kadou's hair just so he can feel it sliding between his fingers a bit longer. And when Kadou offers to return the service, Kadou's discomfort with his position of power and his longing for connection are laid bare.
Rowland's Arasht is queernormative, with central characters of multiple genders and a social structure that seems mostly free of gendered expectations of dress, behavior and occupation. Class is instead the primary social divisor and while he cannot change his status, Kadou is acutely aware of his responsibility to everyone living in the sultanate.
A Taste of Gold and Iron is a beautiful, compelling navigation of power and consent, loyalty and love, trust and hope.

This was wonderful! It's definitely fantasy-light - it lacked world-building, and I really could've used a map and a pronunciation guide, but the romance more than made up for it. It was slow-burn, gentle, and believable. I only wish it had been spicier!

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

I loved this so much!!

I wasn’t sure what to expect, since I’ve never read a book like this, but I was beyond surprised. This book was addicting. The characters, the plot—all of it made me eager to see what happened next.

Absolutely loved this book and absolutely loved these boys. Enemies to clueless dorks in love to lovers? One of my absolute favorite romance tropes and these two are truly excellent examples of the possibilities presented by both the misunderstandings, and possibilities, presented by this type of storyline. Also enjoyed the world, the subtlety of the magic, the strength of the secondary characters, and the growth of the main pair.
I really appreciate the way Rowland dealt with anxiety in A Taste of Gold and Iron as well. It something many writers seem to feel is a modern concept and either skip over entirely or use to weaken characters. In this one, it’s strengthens Kadou which, as anyone who’s lived through anxiety knows, is the truth about doing anything outside of of your comfort zone or facing down a threat when you live with an in-house, worst-case scenario, screech owl in your head.

Also Evemer and the grass stains - perfection. If you know then you know.

This review includes spoilers.
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Overall, I did enjoy this book. I really liked the main cast of characters, especially the trio of Kadou, Tadek, and Evemer. I liked the world building, but I do wish there was more taste touching because whenever it did show up, I found it super interesting - especially the part where things can change, like the iron, because of the door hinges. That was incredibly sweet. I also wish there was more about the sea serpents?

As someone with anxiety, I liked how it was represented/described in this book. I also absolutely loved the humor (Tadek is great, but at times felt a bit YA-ish?). Another plus is that this book has lots of queer rep in a world where that is 100% accepted, even in old timey fantasy times, which was nice, and it's not just men who can have powerful/military jobs. None of it felt heavy handed or like the author had a checklist of every diverse thing they wanted to include. Lastly, I also enjoyed the overall writing style, especially how well the lovey-dovey stuff was done. It was more about the intimate details and not super explicit.

But for me, it was around the 70% mark where things started to fall apart. It went from super interesting fantasy with romance in it to…oh. Okay. This is just…mostly a romance. Which I’m mostly fine with because I think all the romance stuff was done exceptionally well and I really liked the two characters who were falling in love, but it just meant that suddenly the whole rest of the story - the evil plot, etc - was really only there for the characters to have something to do while falling in love. I guess I just like more substance with my romance.

Also, I just really didn’t want Siranos to be the bad guy. It was just tooooo obvious and felt extremely cartoonish. And why was the evil sister (also over the top cartoonish) introduced two seconds before all the evil-plot-action went down? It just seemed cheap and predictable. And then more and more questions kept piling into my head, such as:

*They realize Siranos is the bad guy. Siranos knows where the safe house is. Why does not a single person bring this up or suggest they find a new safe house? Sure, they have guards, but it could have been as simple as asking Evemer’s mom if she had any friends in the weaver’s guild (or any friends/family, really) that she trusted and then move to that new house.

*The wedding scene was absolutely ridiculous. I love that it happened and what it did to the romantic elements of the plot BUT - why would the bad guys immediately untie a trained guard just because they asked nicely? And then they let their captives wander off to a corner of the room to chat, unguarded? Once again, this could have made a whole lot more sense if this entire scene happened in the wine-cellar-dungeon while the bad guys were off finding their satoya. Then they could have dragged them out of the dungeon for questioning, then tossed them back in again. Instead they are literally standing in the same room while secretly getting married? And NO ONE notices? No.

*Why do the bad guys leave Melek alive? They beat cir up, tie cir, and hide cir away…Why not just kill cir if they truly are the evil bad guys? In a lot of ways I felt like this book played it too safe, with the only characters who died being those first two in the very beginning who we don’t even know. Okay, maybe it’s not that kind of book…but still. Everything about this book felt safe and cozy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing just…maybe not what I thought it was going to be.

*The satoya/lie detector woman. Come on. Why wouldn’t the palace already have several in their employment? You would always use two…or even three…to trust that the satoya herself wasn’t lying about the people lying. Then Zehila IMMEDIATELY trusts the one that Kadou stole from the bad guys??? I kept thinking there was going to be some sort of twist there, because they shouldn’t be putting so much trust in a complete stranger but nope…nothing happened.

Other random things:

I kind of wish they would have shown more heartbreak and devastation with Zehilah and the fact that the father of her child is a convict and for her to question if any of their relationship was even real. She mentions the love letters, but she doesn't mention whether she thinks they were real or not. And what even happened with those bad guys, anyway? Were they thrown in jail? Executed? What? Did I miss something? That whole plot just felt weak and pointless…literally just there for the romance to happen. I just liked so many other things about this book, I wish that part of it would have felt more important and well thought out instead of a side quest on the way to true love. That whole plot part gets wrapped up super quickly and then there’s still about 15-20% of the book left to go and I just kind of felt bored, especially since you could tell from a mile away that it was going to be an HEA. And then it just kind of ended and it felt abrupt. I wish there could have at least been a prologue of a page or two of Kadou and Evemer on their honeymoon? I can't be the only one...

However, I would read more books by this author (this was the first I’ve read). Perhaps if I’d known this was going to be 98% romance novel, I wouldn’t have felt so disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

"A Taste of Gold and Iron" was a solid, enjoyable read. It did take a while for Kadou and Evemer to grow on me, and their attraction relied a little too heavily on physical attraction for my personal taste, but the quick pacing and solid prose kept me rapidly turning the metaphorical pages till the end. I loved seeing the casual inclusion of many different queer identities, and it was refreshing to see exes (if Kadou and Tadek could be called that) who still cared about each other as friends. Even if it wasn't mindbogglingly brilliant, there's still a lot to enjoy and recommend.

There are many aspects of this book to enjoy. Political intrigue, internal conflict, and romance are blended with a fascinating new world. The writing is beautifully descriptive without being exhausting and the plot moves along at a pace that keeps you reading. This is one of the few works I've read recently where I can't name a lacking element, other than a desire for an epilogue set in the near future.

*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*

I almost didn’t get past the first chapter, things were moving so fast and I felt as though I was missing quite a lot of information that I needed to understand what was happening. Thankfully, I managed to push through and started to actually enjoy this book. I really enjoyed the interactions between Kadou and his kahya, especially given Kadou’s reluctance to let them do things for him and their reassurances that they WANT to do things for him. It was nice to have a main character who struggled with anxiety, and to see how he learned to see himself when he was surrounded by people who genuinely cared about him. I did find the interactions between Kadou and his sister to be a bit annoying because she never gave him a chance to speak or fully explain himself before she lost her temper with him, and the fact that she only grew from that at almost the last second was a bit frustrating.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this (once I actually started I couldn’t put it down) but I felt there could be more context provided about certain things, especially before throwing the reader into the deep end. There seemed to be no explanation for certain cultural things, and I wished for a bit more of that so I could fully understand the world.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought the magic system was very interesting and I really enjoyed the relationships. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Kadou and Evemer, I love an initial misunderstanding of who a person is and a slow change of opinion. The mystery was fairly compelling. I did think there were a few places where there seemed to be more conversation instead of actually doing things, but this is a minor complaint. My biggest complaint is the ending. I guess the ending is fine for a fantasy novel, but it was a little unsatisfying for a romance. I thought this was a stand along but maybe there is a planned sequel?

A Taste of Gold and Iron was truly wonderful from start to finish— an easy five star read for me and genuinely one of my new favourite books.

Loosely based on Ottoman history, ATOGAI follows the story of second born crown prince Kadou and his reluctant, stoic bodyguard Evemer. While there is an interesting plot line revolving around forged gold and political manoeuvres, this is a primarily a fantasy romance and most of the plot and stakes revolve around Kadou and Evemer’s relationship.

Alexandra Rowland has proven themselves to have a wonderful talent at creating extremely genuine and viscerally real characters— both Kadou and Evemer had developed and singular voices, wants and motivations that only grew stronger as the book progressed. I loved seeing how their opinion of each other changed throughout the book, from reluctant allies bonded in a forced relationship to real, true love. I was rooting for them *so* much and Rowland did an excellent job at pacing the relationship perfectly to both build tension and keep things from feeling too rushed.

I always know an enemies to lovers storyline is going to hit different when I genuinely can’t picture the characters together when they first meet— as was the case here with Kadou and Evemer. Kadou is anxious, insecure, deeply caring and loyal character, constantly wanting to do the right thing by both his title and his people. It was wonderful to see Evemer’s analysis of him transform from careless, flighty, reckless to a deep admiration that transformed into love.

On the flip side, Evemer is fastidious, level headed and slow to speak, Kadou’s opposite in many ways. While Kadou’a journey was more about gaining confidence and security, Evemer’s was more about accepting his own value and the power of his voice. Similar, in many ways (two sides of the same coin, if I can make the pun). By the end of the book I was fully convinced on their validity as a couple and in their love.

One of my favourite parts was the portrayal of Kadou’s anxiety. As someone who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, seeing it represented so accurately and viscerally in a fantasy novel was hugely refreshing. I love how Evemer helped Kadou when he had attacks, viewing him not as broken or damaged but stronger because of it. Kadou’s anxiety was a part of him as a person and a vital part of his story, something I loved seeing.

I genuinely don’t have a single critique— the world building was (although light) interesting and fleshed out, the writing was beautiful and lyrical, and the plot well paced. I couldn’t recommend A Taste of Gold and Iron more and can’t wait to dive into everything else Alexandra Rowland has written. 5/5 stars!

This was a slow burn book, which is not usually my cup of tea, I could not put this book down. For however slow this book moved - I could not get enough of Kadou and Evemer. I was not only invested in their relationship but how they went about solving the conspiracy that was surrounding Kadou and his sister, the Queen.
I think I just realized that this might be a standalone which bums me out - there was so much more that could have been fleshed out. This reads like a great first book to a series - as a standalone I am left wanting so much more from the magic system, the characters... this is a long book and some of the pages could have been dedicated to other things than secondary characters.

At the beginning of this story I found it a little hard to fully follow, like most fantasy stories, but I think there was especially a lot of vernacular to familiarize yourself with in this story. I loved the writing style in this story, though, and I also really, really liked the characters. And once I familiarized myself with the world/got up to speed, I was thoroughly immersed in this story. Overall, it was really good and I highly recommend you check this out when it's released--especially if you are a fan of fantasy romance!

Thank you Tordotcom for this arc!!

This novel took of IMMEDIATELY. I was absorbed in the pages from the first. Kadou is absolutely too precious for words. Evemer, his guard, is also quickly introduced and I devoured these 480 pages HUNGRILY. Kadou, the Prince, is one among his people who can touch-taste metal. He discovers fake currency and possibly a conspiracy. Who will believe him though when his fear soaked mind has caused out of hand problems his sister the Sultan wants to temporarily exile him for? The character depth and their growth in this book floored me. I was so in love with the intimacy in which these characters were written. The slow burn and pacing was perfect. Not once did I want to sit this book down, or feel disconnected.
The PROSE. Absolutely breathtaking. The way Alexandra wove words together and made hand brushing, and eye contact feel deeply intimate is a marvel.
The raw and vulnerable humanity in this book made the story and plot what it was. Alexandra made me CARE so much and characters I thought I hated, I adored so fiercely by the end.

The culture and familial themes were so atmospheric. The romance and friendships made me weak in the knees. The plot was cleverly threaded in and paired well with the character driven story. There’s non binary representation and panic attacks. There’s queer love and enough spice to satisfy. I didn’t even need it with how satisfying the characters were written. A guard and his prince. It was everything I wanted and MORE.

When I say this book is brilliant…I mean EVERY SINGLE SYLLABLE!!!!!

(Thank you so much Tordotcom for gifting me an ARC of this ABSOLUTE masterpiece. I will be putting it in a glass case ASAP.)

“You have a great well of power to draw upon should you wish it, but I have strength enough to match you. Use as much of your power as you like—you will not move me from your side.”

A Taste of Iron and Gold was an immaculate romance filled with tasteful banter and humor. It was gleaming with beautiful prose and top-tier storytelling. What an absolute TREAT.

The characters. Let’s start there. They were SO distinct and alive. Kadou, Evemer, Tadek, Eozena, Seliha, even Siranos ALL were their very own characters; not one could be mistaken for the others. Kadou was the softest prince I’ve ever met. I wanted to shield him and hug him, to enjoy his view points of coins and other interest he has. I loved his flaws and how he eventually came to embrace them, how he handled them in tough situations. Just…HIM. Evemer was absolutely amazing. Everything you would expect in a bodyguard; uptight, rigid, taciturn, obedient. It really left me wondering how in the hell he could become the princes lover but somehow Alexandra made me LOVE him. They really managed to turn such a typical character into such a UNIQUE boy whom I love 😩. Tadek? A tricky one. My buddy-read partner was settled on him being a Tamlin-esque situation and I was right there with her until out of NOWHERE, he became the most hilarious KADOU/EVEMER STAN. Instantly became a favorite after that. Something in him shifted and I found myself being absolutely obsessed with this unhinged gay.

The writing was incredible. It started off a bit dense and I was a little intimated by the start because of that. Luckily that feeling seemed to die down because the writing became less about the world and more about the romance. So if you find yourself feeling intimidated I promise it’s a fairly easy read after a few pages.

I just….This book left me speechless. I loved the romance, I loved every single chapter more than the last and just the way this book played out was PERFECT. I need so much more from this world and these characters. I am a vampire for more content. I can’t control the hunger 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩.


Also I have one question. That ending though 👀. What does it mean?!!!

Thank you @NetGalley for the ebook ARC.
Torn between a 3 and 4 out of 5 but rating 4 because my qualms aren't enough to keep me from rereading it in the future.

My initial thoughts upon finishing were that overall I enjoyed the book with some issues/difficulties around how it started and ended. The beginning was very fast and furious with not enough details to really get a strong footing. Eventually enough things took place to make me forget about the questions/issues with how it started. The ending wasn't terrible but I wasn't fully satisfied and it almost feels like it was left open for a sequel.

Thinking about it more to write the review I find myself feeling even more unfulfilled. Dont get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, and if it does turn into a series I would definitely be picking up the next book. My reasoning for being unfulfilled generally settles around the worldbuilding. There's a lot of potential here but it didnt feel fleshed out enough. There were legal (cultural?) terms hinted at around the sultans baby that never got fully explained. References to different government relationships or holdings that didn't get context. Along with gender(?) terms used without context. Hopefully by the question marks its clear there are pieces I could assume, but it's not made clear so those assumptions could be totally wrong.

I just couldn't get into the politics of this story. Court intrigue really only does it for me in certain circumstances. I should have noted all the comparisons to the Goblin Emperor, which, though an excellent book in its own right, was not one that could hold my attention. A Taste of Gold and Iron was the same - I kept getting caught up in cool details of the world (a unique, Ottoman Empire inspired society) and losing track of what was driving the characters and plot. Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I'm also a bit tired of the incessant A03-style marketing of books. I feel like it infantilizes characters and boils down genuinely interesting and complex stories to a few flashy aspects of the central romance. I liked the romance in this story, but wasn't blown away by affection for either of the main characters, which probably also contributed to me liking the story less. As much as this story is political, it falls firmly into the camp of "fantasy romance" rather than "romantic fantasy", another genre style that doesn't much appeal to me. The one thing about this I absolutely LOVED was the thoughtful and well-portrayed depiction of Kadou's panic disorder. It is rare I see this disorder explored in fiction, much less fantasy, and I thought it was very respectfully presented.