Truly the most beautiful, luscious and vivid book I've read all year. Immediately my new favorite. From the descriptions of food and clothing to the sweet powerful intimacy of the bath scene that is just about the tender care that is just as potnent that our leads have for each other. The gold mixing plot reminds me very much of Spice and Wolf and I am here for it.

I want to read this book over and over again

I initially saw the cover of A Taste of Gold and Iron floating around various blogs and knew I had to read it before even looking at the synopsis. In the kingdom of Arasht, Prince Kadou begins a journey to investigate a theft/counterfeiting event to prove his loyalty to his sister and salvage his reputation. Along for the ride is Kadou’s newer bodyguard, Evemer. The investigation leads to a lot more than they expected with a quest full of espionage, political intrigue, and a budding romance.

Kadou has privilege as the prince yet his life is not perfect. He deals with crippling anxiety, which affects some aspects of his life. He has a lot of self-loathing and this prevents him from getting close to others. Evemer is the more stoic bodyguard who is still likable but takes a while to open up. As this is a romance story, one builds between Kadou and Evemer. I love the bodyguard-type romance so I was excited to see how this one would be portrayed. While this is a slow burn, it was a tad too slow for my taste as I wanted a little more build-up slightly earlier compared to where most of it actually appears.

The story is a dual perspective where the readers get inside the minds of both Kadou and Evemer. As both appeared together in the chapters, I wish there was more distinction when there was a shift. Since this was an ARC version, I am not sure about the final formatting, so this may not be the same when the novel is officially published. This duel perspective worked incredibly well, however, when it came to Kadou’s anxiety as the reader sees it from the one going through it and one observing it. Not only do the two characters go through their emotional journeys, but there is the main scheme aspect to the story. For this, I wish this was expanded a little more as I figured out this portion more quickly than I expected. Overall, this was a fun romance story with interesting characters and a magic system.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

A taste of gold and iron is an amazingly crafted, perfectly paced novel that hooked me from the first chapter and had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Alexandra Rowland built a wonderful world with such nonchalance that it felt as if I were in the very pages of her book.

Wow what an incredibly well done book! This is easily taking a spot as one of my favorite reads of the year so far!

On the fantasy side of the story, while this was not necessarily the deepest and most fleshed out world building I've read in a fantasy book, I still felt like it was pretty solid and I really enjoyed the world. This is a world based around the Ottoman Empire, and I for one know very little about the Ottoman Empire so I cannot speak to the accuracy of anything taken from that world, but I did find it to be a new and refreshing base for a world as I have not seen that in fantasy before. You get dropped into the story initially without much explanation of terms and such, but I found it very easy to follow and pick up what everything was in the story.

This world is also a pretty low fantasy world. There are two types of magic talked about in this story; being able to touch taste metals and being able to detect lies. Both were pretty interesting and I liked how they were used in the story, but I do think it would have been cool to see them both a little more often, especially the touch tasting as that one was pretty unique!

My favorite part of the world of this book was that the country the book takes place in is a very economics focused country! We so often see countries in fantasy books that have large armies and fight wars and such that it was nice to see the focus be on something else for a change. There are several times the book talks about the details of how they have built up their reputation for trustworthy metal pieces and how it all works, and while I could see how some readers might find this a tad boring, I was very into it.

The main driving plot of this book was an investigation into a break in that occurred right before/right at the start of the book. As someone who enjoys a good mystery plot, I quite enjoyed this being our main plot. It wasn't necessarily the most twisty mystery as I had pretty much figured out at least partially who was responsible (or at least I had strong suspicions), but nonetheless I enjoyed reading about it. The main antagonists of the mystery though did end up being a little cartoony in a major scene towards the end of the mystery plot.

Despite a few quibbles, the romance more than made up for those and made me fall in love with this book. The romance is between Kadou, the prince, and his newly appointed bodyguard, Evemer. The slow burn unfolding of their relationship is incredible. The way we see the two of them transform from disdain, to friendship, to in love was so good. Rowland does an amazing job of building the friendship of these two before we get to the romance part. The story alternates POVs between the two characters so we really get to see their changing opinions of each other as they slowly get to know each other and as some of their incorrect initial assumptions fall away. Beyond the friendship, everything about their relationship is just so incredibly respectful. Bodyguard romances, especially when the one being guarded is the prince, inherently involve power dynamics that if not handled well could easily turn problematic, but the way that dynamic was confronted and talked through in this book was so incredibly well done. The two characters just have so much respect for each other and their standings and so much self awareness about the situation and this is all fleshed out in a way that didn't feel weirdly clinical in any way and felt like completely organic and in character discussions.

While I thought both Evemer and Kadou were wonderfully done characters, I want to specifically highlight Kadou for the author's portrayal of his anxiety. In this world what we as modern readers easily recognize as anxiety attacks, Kadou interprets as him being cowardly. And I just thought this aspect of his character was very well done. The portrayal of how the anxiety attacks affect Kadou were really realistic and I thought the "cowardly" interpretation was an interesting angle to explore them in a world where anxiety isn't a diagnosed or known condition.

I haven't read many M/M romances, but this will likely be one that's hard to beat!

This is a SLOW BURN romance. I've heard it described as enemies to lovers, but in my opinion it's not that. Evermer is assigned as the personal guard to Kadou the shy prince whom has just found himself amidst a bit of scandal. Because of this scandal, and rumors he's heard of the prince, Evermer has pre-formed opinions and does not like the prince. Thus has very little care for Kadou beyond duty (and he takes his duties seriously). This book is the story of how their relationship changes and grows by them getting to know each other, and dealing with Kadou's severe anxiety. This is first and foremost a romance - while it is set in another 'fantasy' world, and I loved that world, the main focus is really on the romance. The fantasy elements are relatively minimal. There is some political intrigue with a bit of mystery and action, but this is definitely a secondary plotline and honestly used more to move forward the romance plot.

Cons: the beginning of the book is a bit slow to get into (but once it picks up you don't want to stop reading!), long chapters (there are 16 total in 480 pages) although I found since the dual POV switches often within a chapter there are some places to naturally pause within a chapter which I did, low fantasy (really borders on no fantasy at all, to me it's more of a historical reimagining), the political plotline is interesting and then kind of gets resolved way too easily?, the ending feels a bit rushed and left a bit open (but if there is a sequel coming, I'm here for it!)

A few things I loved about this world: A woman/sultan in charge! The bodily autonomy women have over choosing whom the father of their children is and that not inherently giving the father any power *chefs kiss*. Queer relationships are fully accepted, they are completely normal. Nonbinary characters also readily a part of this world, it took me a while to understand but the author has developed specific alternative pronouns (besides he/him, she/her) for anyone who identifies otherwise. There is also a smidge of asexual rep in a secondary character.

Wonderful world building, character development, mental health representation, and the romance is beautiful.

4.5/5 stars
1-2/5 spice

@whatsjennareading made me do it and I’m so glad I did. She’s been pushing me to read this fantasy romance basically since the day she started it, and I can see why. I think I initially the cover made me wary — so much angst! But while the angst is there, there’s also a solid sprinkling of humor, a fascinating mystery, and just amazing characters that you’ll love hanging out with. Plus I love when the romance leads are just absolute dummies about the other’s feelings because they can’t get out of their own heads. But more seriously, Kadou’s anxiety is so well written that I was almost uncomfortable at times. My own anxiety has never been at that level, but the way Rowland writes it is incredibly powerful. Watching Kadou’s and Evermer’s relationship develop was rewarding and I just want to spend more time in their world.

This is one of those books that gets better and better as it goes on - the way the plot thickens and the romance develops, it was hard to put down. I really fell in love with the characters and they definitely kept me turning pages. I was surprised to discover so much humor in the book. It’s a serious tone for most of it but some of the characters are pretty funny - one in particular was especially enjoyable. It was far more character-driven than I’d expected. And the pace was surprisingly swift for such a long book.

I liked Prince Kadou from the start. He’s sweet, sensitive, dutiful, and a loving, loyal brother. He also suffers from panic attacks (which he attributes to cowardice rather than trauma), anxiety and abysmally low self-esteem. I found him very relatable and sympathetic.

I LOVED watching Kadou and Evemer’s relationship unfold. (The romance is so slow burn that it doesn’t even really begin until halfway through. AND I WASN’T EVEN MAD ABOUT IT.) The dual third person POV worked well here, allowing us to see exactly how and when Evemer’s opinion of Kadou changed. I loved how we see him go from initial disdain to confusion to gradual understanding to attachment to care to desire. Their feelings for one another were based in them getting to know each other and spending so much time together. It was the most natural progression and was very believable.

This was a 5 star read for me all the way up until the very end where I felt it ended in a weird place. There were still conversations to be had, information to relay, and where it left us made everything feel so up in the air in a way. It was a little disappointing and unsatisfying. It was a very weird place to leave the book. It felt like my arc was missing the final chapter or the epilogue.

Thank you so much Macmillan/Tor-Forge, Tordotcom, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Set in a world inspired by the Ottoman empire, Kadou, is the shy prince of Arasht and after an altercation- with his sister's lover and niece's father- that resulted in his humiliation, he's determined to prove his worth by investigating a break-in at one of their guilds. With the help of his new bodyguard, the cold Evemer, who dislikes him. In a world where counterfeit is almost heresy and where some have the power to touch-taste metals with their fingers, Kadou and Evemer have to uncover a conspiracy threatening to bring ruin to their kingdom. And, in the meantime, getting to know each other better and fall in love.

I loved reading this book! The story is told by two POVs, Kadou's and Evemer's, who, at first, couldn't be more different. Kadou is passionate, but shy and insecure, while Evemer is cold, confident and sure of everything around him, his duties and responsibilities. Slowly, though, following them investigating, finding clues, working together, the reader is able to know them better. Kadou is a wonderfully realistic rep for mental health, suffering from panic attacks and anxiety and I've found so relatable reading how he struggled with intrusive and negative thoughts, his "fear Monster" and following fighting against it and trusting others and mostly himself. Interesting reading how burdened he feels by his duties and responsibilities, towards his sister Zeliha and the whole kingdom and how he will learn to listen to himself and his desires and dreams too, in a journey of self worth and self love.
On the same journey is Evemer, whose character appears cold and "a stone wall", a strong contrast with Kadou and Tadek, Kadou's ex lover and friends. Evemer too will embark in a journey to understand himself and people around him better, learning he's not a burden and he's loved too.
Their personal journey follows and interwines itself with their investigation, in a world where counterfeit is almost heresy and could bring financial ruin to a kingdom, with an intriguing and really original magic system, between kidnappings, deaths, guilt, adventures and so much more in a rollercoaster of twists.

My only "complaint" is how the pacing felt a bit off, too slow sometimes and too rushed in others, but overall this book is pretty Amazing.

This book has everything! Queer romance, dangerous politics, fealty, loyalty, enemies to friends to lovers, lovely queer rep and a brilliant mental health rep. The characterization, the characters' growth, interaction, the magic system, the plot twists and siblings love made this book absolutely fantastic.

A marvellous story, a true slow burn and an intriguing worldbuilding.

I was drawn to this title because of the book cover (it's beautiful!) and knew nothing about the author or the premise of the story (besides some gayness) before I requested a copy of it through NetGalley. To be frank, there were things I liked about the story and things that just didn't sit right with me. I've given it 4 stars but in the end I think it was more of a 3.5 read for me.

What I liked about the book was the author's writing style, the world-building, the cast of characters, and the humour. I liked that I was presented with a queer protagonist who struggled with anxiety and panic attacks and incessant negative self-talk that hit so close to home. In the beginning I felt wary about Kadou as a character because I didn't want him to fall into the subtype of a 'weak' character who needed saving, and was pleasantly surprised to see him unfold as someone with capability, depth, and many layers. I also appreciated the humanness that I think the author was trying to give her characters in terms of the mistakes they made throughout the story and how that somewhat fuelled the plot. Additionally, so many of the side characters were an absolutely joy for me to read. Many lines got some chuckles out of me.

Now, the things I didn't love about this book are really just personal preference, but nevertheless: the dynamic of the relationship between Kadou and Evemer just didn't really do it for me. I think it was mainly the pacing and the progression of the hate to love from Evemer's side of things that I found a bit jarring. Additionally, I found many parts of the plot kind of predictable and cheesy (just not my idea of good romance). Lastly, I felt that the story ended off on a bit of an incomplete note. I found myself feeling that the ends could've been tied up a bit better. Kadou's panic attacks and mental health is also never really properly addressed and he suffers in part in silence and with feelings of shame about it through to the end, which was kind of disappointing for me.

Overall, while I was left feeling a tad disappointed by some factors, I'm glad I read it and would still definitely read more works by this author. Basically, if you're looking for a relatively light-hearted story with a gay prince, some minor political intrigue, and a touch of fantasy, then this is the read for you!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tordotcom books for the ARC to review.

Sometimes, you read an incredible book, and you’re able to parse out exactly what made it great — the gorgeous prose, the character growth, the neatly plotted story — and you’re able to lay out all those points in neat, concise rows to explain to others exactly why it was so good.

Sometimes, you read an incredible book and are filled with a frothy, unhinged adoration and deeply incoherent fervor and thus are completely incapable of relaying to other humans why, in fact, this book has inspired such desperate devotion.

A Taste of Gold and Iron is the latter.

The depth of feeling is wonderful. The characters are incredible. The tension is thick and sweet as syrup. The plot is — well, it’s fine. But any clear or lucid description of precisely how those things work together to make the book so good are obscured in my mind by a million exclamation marks and heart-eyes emojis. I am incapable of being objective about this book, these characters, this world. I know, in my critical thinking brain, that it’s not perfect; the magic system is underutilized, the mystery plot kind of fizzles, it could do with an epilogue to wrap things up a bit, but I can’t factor any of those things into my feelings about it. I love it. I’ve read it twice in three weeks. I cannot wait to get my hands on the physical copy I’ve preordered. I know I will reread it for years and years to come.

It is well documented that my ultimate weakness, my literary Achilles heel, is a messy bisexual himbo. And baby, we’ve got this in spades in Evemer. I would die for this fictional man. I want to kneel before him and press my forehead to his hands in fealty. I had to stop reading and press the book to my chest in sheer unadulterated joy every time he expressed one (1) emotion. And listen, all the characters are great. The depiction of Kadou’s anxiety is truthful without being overwhelming to the reader, and seeing his true self emerge is beautiful. Tadek is a manic chaos gremlin and I adore him. I want Eozena to be my mom. But Evemer, Evemer, Evemer. What have you done to me. My heart will never be the same.

Holy info dump Batman. DNF. I was so excited for this book but I feel like I needed to take notes to remember what is wha t

Excuse me while I pull myself together after this swoon worthy read. A Taste of Gold and Iron is a soft political fantasy following Kadou, a shy prince from a powerful kingdom, and his newly appointed guard, Evemer as they fight to prove their loyalty to Kadou's sister, the Sultan. This is a character driven fantasy that features a hate to love queer romance and a well developed world. If you are looking for a romantic standalone fantasy, this is the one for you.

I could not get enough of the characters and I absolutely loved how this world was free from any sort of homophobia. Every character was free to be themselves and love whoever they wanted, no matter the other gender. So many amazing quotes and moments throughout this book. I cannot wait to see what else this author does if they choose to write another novel in this world.

Final Rating: 3.5/5

A Taste of Gold and Iron is a political fantasy set in Arasht. The story starts quickly with Kadou finding himself in an unstable situation after an unfortunate tragedy. As Kadou is dealing with his new way of life, he volunteers to investigate a robbery at one of kingdom's guilds and discovers a counterfeit conspiracy that could destroy their entire kingdom.

I really enjoyed the political drama and worldbuilding in the story, but I wished more time was spent with the magic system. It briefly appears with Kadou being able to detect the counterfeit money and a character later in the story being able to detect when an individual is lying, but with a kingdom that large and influential, there are probably more individuals that have special abilities that could've been explored. I also appreciated the accurate portrayal of anxiety and panic attacks with Kadou throughout the story. The romance is also more of a slow-burn between Kadou and his newly assigned bodyguard, Evemer. A majority of the story is pining and yearning between the two as the romance takes a back seat to Kadou solving the mystery behind the break-in.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5. This is a romance first and foremost, and a political drama/fantasy second. The main characters are definitely endearing. No huge complaints about Evemer. He is the bodyguard trope, pretty much on its face, which is fine with me. Kadou was sweet, though I do wish there was just a tad more exploration of his anxiety.

Stuff I liked:
- I mean, look at that cover
- very gay <3 unapologetically <3 no homophobia in sight. gender inclusivity too.
- Kadou isn’t a useless “i need to be rescued all the time” type. he’s actually really capable.
- banter between all the characters was genuinely a joy to read
- Tadek!!!!!!! give this man an award
- “there is only one bed” ……. need I say more
- oaths of fealty??? NEED I SAY MORE
- lots of other fun “ao3 tag” type of romance tropes that had me screaming
- some of the lore around the faith systems and how it’s integrated into the world building. I just like that sort of stuff in secondary worlds.
- moments in the prose where the descriptions really lifted off the page, whether it was describing an emotion or atmosphere. you can feel the heart-pumping descent into these characters’ feelings.

In terms of the fantasy, it’s very sparse. Touch-tasting is an interesting concept but I would have liked to see it explored in the narrative a bit more than it was. It’s kind of just there to colour the world, but it left me with questions on a societal/historical level. (this could just be a personal thing, though.)

What left me wanting the most was the political intrigue, which held me back from fully loving the whole thing. The character writing for the key peripheral characters wasn’t prominent enough for me (Siranos, for example?). Considering this book is so long, I expected some more twists and turns, and to have a mystery that would unravel in unexpected ways. some more mind games would have been nice.

I usually enjoy slow burn political intrigue. for me, the excitement of that drama comes from knowing who all the players are, what their stakes and motivations are, and then watching as people try to outmaneuver one another until it eventually spirals. so I would’ve liked to spend a bit more time fleshing out the antagonistic characters and maybe having at least one or two “red herring” moments to heighten the mystery. Instead the story sort of meanders between major plot beats and in some instances, esp towards the end, it feels like the characters are just sort of reacting to the things around them.

TL;DR the romance was fun. if you don’t mind a slow burn, it’s enjoyable. wish the political drama was fleshed out more.

This book was everything I absolutely loved it so much it was such an amazing read I loved the characters so much the plot was so good and it just kept me hooked from the very first page I couldn't put it down!

DNF @ 35%

I try not to let my opinions of one book cloud my thoughts going into another, but after having suffered my way through Foz Meadow’s A Strang and Stubborn Endurance, the parallels were too strong to not be apprehensive. Both novels are m/m fantasy romance novels written by non-m/m writers, published by Tor imprints, with political intrigue, timid/cowardly nobility, and published within a month of each other. The comparisons are bound to happen. Frankly, if I’d read this one before Strange and Stubborn, its likely this one I would have masochistically forced my way through and the other been given the DNF. Because the same issues of romance in favor of any semblance of well-thought-through plot and low-effort worldbuilding are clearly showing.

As this is a DNF review, I’ll can only comment on the absurdity of plot points that have occurred so far. At the very start, we have our MC Kadou, cowardly (empathize heavily) prince of Arasht, who finds himself investigating a break-in the night his sister gives birth. The father and sister’s lover Siranos, an ambassador from another country, catches him, get’s angry, and physically marks him in front of witnesses, to absolutely no punishment whatsoever. Tensions rise until a hunt, where the Siranos gets too close to Kadou while chasing a deer, a fight breaks out and two bodyguards, kahyalar, end up dead.

Eventually, the sister, sultan and leader of this country, hears about this and decides that somehow Kadou is clearly responsible for a) the actions of her lover, who gets off with a slap on the wrist and continues to run around insulting Kadou at will and b) the actions of his kahyalar, who’s sole job is to protect their damn prince. This is about the first 5% of the book and already had me rolling my eyes in ridiculousness. And of course, no one, let alone the goddamn ruler of the country, seems to care about the break-in that may directly affect the secrets of trade that run the entire country.

While I won’t go into as heavy detail with the rest of the book, I’ll say that the rest of the events that I read through felt equally ridiculous in the lack of importance or care placed in them. Kadou and his new kahyalar Evemer get attacked by people in the alleyway 3v2! No mention is made of how well trained the attackers are to supposedly capable of overpowering the man who’s supposed to have spent his entire life training combat because his job is a fucking bodyguard. The guy in charge of investigating the break-in “mysteriously” decided there’s clearly no evidence, no trails to pursue to continue this investigation three days after the investigation and everyone more or less says ‘yeah, that checks out. If there’s an opposite to a ‘competence kink’, this book is that.

On the worldbuilding side, I wanted to touch on the role of the kahyalars are how handwave-y their positions seemed to be. At first, I thought they were just Rowland’s fantasy word for bodyguard, given the book’s marketing of bodyguard x prince. Then Evemer is suddenly shaving, dressing, and doing Kadou’s hair and it turns out kahyalar are specially trained bodyguards who can also play musical instruments, have familiarity with politics, and learn various other skills to better serve the ruling family of Arasht. Also they gossip a lot, a fact Rowland reminds the reader of over and over again. But around 33%, we learn that there’s actually thousands of kahyalar and they basically cover all the admin jobs in the country. Some of them are even stuck sorting through fucking flour in the palace. Which brings me back to my original question, of what the hell are kahyalar?

Finally, I don’t understand the popularity of Cowardley Men^TM that seem to be en vogue right now. What is the appeal of a character who can’t do anything for themselves?? Kadou, is, frankly put, a walking dumpster fire of a mess. The entire time I read, I had a burning question in the back of my mind of what the hell does Kadou actually do in this government? He’s supposedly the Duke of the Harbors and can requisition any boat he wants, but as far as I can tell, does no regular administration work. He’s good with economics and scholarship, but the most he does with his is tutor students in bars in exchange for drinks (also wtf). He does no regular paperwork, seemingly oversees nothing in particular, gets pushed around by literally anyone and everyone with the slightest forceful tone, and seems to have to hide behind the kahyalar captain for anything to actually happen. Evemer, what do you see in this man???

Overall, I rate this book a 2/5. The plot and worldbuilding felt like a poor first draft, with little care given to logical consistency, or just logic in general. The characters, ‘coward’ and ’emotionless stone wall’ had no appeal to me whatsoever. A shame because the cover is spectacular.

Note to self: beware of gorgeous covers

I’m so disappointed, I was expecting so much more and was given so little. I was promised a fantasy with gays and was given a not-quite-fantasy-with-economic-crisis-to-avoid with disaster-and-dull-gays.

The main problem I had with this book is that I found it extremely boring; the plot is basically non existent, and based on economics and finance of all things. I mean, I should have probably guessed it would be about that, it says “financial” in the blurb, but…I did not expect the main character to drunkenly talk about coins and economics for I don’t know how many pages, and I did not like that.

The already poor plot is further aggravated by the comically predictable antagonists and by events that are meant to advance it but that are scarce and that lack real value, inserted between even more boring events that should emotionally bring the main character and the love interest emotionally closer together.
The writing style didn’t really help, I found it to be too descriptive, too verbose, and we read more about the characters thinking, and talking about doing things, and about doing them carefully, and being safe while doing them blablabla… than about said things, and a slow and underwhelming pace inevitably ensues.

About the main characters…they were sadly outshined by some of the side characters, and I’m afraid that the real star of the book was really Tenzin. Who appears near the end of the book. For a few pages.
And yet she manages to have more personality than the main characters, who are faceless and inconsistent, and worse of all, have not an ounce of the chemistry you would expect two romantically involved people to have with each other.
I won’t even talk about the antagonists because they were just embarrassing. Apart for the fact that I empathized with one of them because of his confusion about the politics and culture of the main characters’ country, being he from another country. Me too buddy, me too.

The world building was very chaotic and confusing, especially all the name and info dumping in the first pages and the following lack of insight on it to better understand it, and that made it feel less like a fantasy and more like an alternate universe.

possible spoilers ahead!




There also were a few things that made me confused (apart from the economic rambling), like the kidnapping scene? We know that the prince’s room is guarded. By very trusted people. Then how do multiple thugs manage to enter his room and try to kidnap him? That scene was very confusing. Also, this might be an empty critique, but seeing how willing the “Aunts” from the temples are to provide free psychiatric sessions, why has Kadou never bothered to visit them? I’m sure they’d be happy to help him about his problem.

I received this eARC from NetGalley and this represents my honest opinion.

Yes. I really loved everything about this. The anxiety rep, the world-building, the characters, all the relationships: romantic, platonic, familial.

Finding out that this author came from fanfiction was completely unsurprising. If you read a lot of historical or bodyguard AUs, this book will feel very familiar.

What I liked:
- the depiction of Kadou's anxiety was super accurate. It was a huge part of his story, and it was really engaging.
- exes-to-friends and forced proximity rivals-to-lovers
- the side characters were super interesting

What I didn't like:
- the worldbuilding felt lazy. Literally just taken from the Ottoman Empire - there are clear equivalents of Greece and France that play a big role, and the magic (being able to sense counterfeit) isn't quite imaginative to make up for it
- the villain is pretty straightforward and easily defeated
- I liked Evemer, but Kadou was pretty annoying

I read the first chapter online a couple months ago and immediately knew I had to get my hands on the rest of the book as soon as I could. The themes of duty loyalty and responsibility shown in the first chapter, both to people in service to you and to family, hooked me completely. I love stories that explore what duty means and how one should handle it, especially when the author has thought deeply about the power dynamics, which Alexandria clearly did. The pace of the romance felt a bit quick for me, but then I'm picky about my romances.

I loved the culture and politics presented in the book (always a sucked for worldbuilding), especially the interplay of court and familial politics. The outsider consistently misunderstanding his place in those political games was a great authorial move as well.

A couple things I disliked - Kadou's panic disorder felt...rather unresolved? I'm not sure what I would have wanted from that story thread but I didn't feel satisfied with where it ended. The entire criminal conspiracy also felt a bit oddly brushed over at the end.

All in all, I liked the book! Watching the love interest warm to Kadou was both funny and endearing. And watching Kadou be terrifyingly capable and miserably fucked up in turns was also great. Will definitely read more from this author!