A dark romance set in a Seelie Kingdom. Eleanor finds herself on the run and makes a deal with a Fae Prince. In return for being rescued, she promises to help him with a seemingly impossible task. The story was fast paced & entertaining. I enjoyed the Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast underlying themes and was rooting for Eleanor to land on top. I love a worlding building book and could have used a smidge more in this one. Would definitely read part 2 to see how the characters storyline continues.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 stars
🌶️🌶️ spice

What to Expect:
🥀Beauty & the Beast meets Rumplestiltskin retelling
🥀Fae Prince x Metallurgist human FMC
🥀Enemies to lovers
🥀Forced proximity
🥀Only One Horse
🥀Portal between worlds

Damn near killed me with that cliffhanger. What?! Now I have to wait to find out and we were basically half way through a revelation. UGH

I would say the world building wasn't overly complex, but it was similar to other faerie realm imaginings you'd be familiar with from other series. The vibe was giving me ACOTAR meets The Cruel Prince, complete with badass human FMC trapped in Faerie. I don't know if I would equate Eleanor with an FMC like Jude (I mean, who could ever compare?), but she definitely gave me glimpses of the potential to grow into a character like that with a little more development.

This was a fun twist on your usual Beauty and the Beast retelling. It was well written, the plot was fast paced to keep you interested, and had great side characters and twists - although some of them were more obvious than others (saw the last one coming). I would have given it a higher rating if the there had been deeper character development and a more authentic slow burn romance. For me, it kind of just flicked a switch and suddenly she was attracted to him - came out of nowhere, with hardly any build up or flirtation to speak of beforehand.

That being said, I'll absolutely continue the series in the hopes we get those missing elements later down the track. Plus, I just have to know what happens now!

This was an easy to read page turner and I read it in one sitting. I enjoyed the whole faerie plotline as well as the villains plan and motivations. Although there was one scene towards in the end of the book which was pretty dark on the whole it wasn't that dark a story; I was expecting more of that kind of tension but it didn't lessen my engagement. There were a lot of elements I liked but it felt a little rushed in parts such as the pre-deal part of the book which was over really quickly. I thought there would be more from Thatch (the Gaston type character) and even King Albrecht but neither of them felt particularly threatening largely due to their interactions on page being pretty limited in the first few chapters. As this is a trilogy though I would be interested to see if they appear in later books as both have potential to be some kind of villain towards Eleanor.

I liked Eleanor as a character with her curious and tenacious nature. Her gift for alchemy was more interesting than the standard out and out ability to do magic or her being a chosen/ prophesized one to fix the Kingdoms problems. Ruskin was fine; I liked his character but I just felt he never really lived up to that dangerous fae who made the deal with Eleanor at the beginning. Destan however was who leapt off the page and I really liked him as well as Halima. Although it is book one of a series it is pretty self contained. The cliffhanger isn't too brutal but there will definitely be some major fallout; I'll be looking out for The Kingdom Cursed by Iron later this year to see how it pans out.

In an age where romantasy books with a hot fae MMC are all the rage, I think Zara Storm does a great job setting herself apart from the rest. In The Court that Bleeds Gold, Storm dips her toes into the intricate worlds of the Seelie and Unseelie courts and delivers an authentic version of fae that I feel the majority of recently published romantasy books have been missing. Storm has definitely done her research and presents to her readers a version of the fae that is the perfect blend of ACOTAR and The Cruel Prince.

Storm creates a world that is easy to sink your teeth into...once you get about 50% of the way through.

I had some problems with the beginning. There was a lot of set up to the story, especially when trying to blend big ideas like Beauty and the Beast, Rumpelstiltskin, and the Wild Hunt, while establishing a well-detailed fae world. Things seemed a bit rushed during the beginning and I had a hard time believing some of Eleanor's decisions that allowed her to be put in the position to need to call upon Ruskin's aid. It wasn't until about halfway through that I found the plot to start running a bit more smoothly and that was when I started getting invested in the story.

And, unfortunately, because of this, I think that the romance between Eleanor and Ruskin lacked the appropriate build up, which resulted in their chemistry feeling a bit mechanical.

In terms of the actual storyline, there were a lot of things I liked. I loved the premise of an alchemist being tasked with breaking a magical curse. The side characters, Destan and Halima, were excellent. The plot twists were well developed, with hints carefully laid out throughout the story in a way that the reader could start to form ideas as to what was going on without being too obvious. I think that there were a lot of good ideas in here that created an interesting story, interesting enough for me to keep going because I had to know what happened in the end, even though the romance didn't quite hit for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this early read!

This epic fantasy romance was a 10/10 for me! The world building the Rumpelstiltskin retelling was everything I wanted it to be. The magic system, the saving, the nicknames, the romance. It was everything!

The Court That Bleeds Gold by Zara Storm is a fantasy retelling of an old tale. These can be a hit or miss BUT this is definitely a hit in my opinion. Zara Storm did an excellent job of revamping the folklore and making it her own. I was definitely engaged in the characters lives by the end of the first chapter. The world she created in her book was imaginative and somewhere I could definitely see as I read through the pages.
Eleanor is a human trapped marrying a terrible king. When she wants out she somehow makes a deal with Ruskin a fae Prince. Anyone reading fantasy novels knows making deals with fae is dangerous. This is their story.
I will say I can not wait for book two. Zara Storm has really written a wonderful debut novel and I am glad I read it. I definitely recommend it to all who enjoy fairy tales, folklore and fantasy novels.

I loved the synopsis it looks so promising & the story does some justice to it to some extinct.
This was a good take on Rumpelstiltskin × beauty & the beast retelling.
Although I've guessed the last plot twist about the history of Ruskin & Leah, but I couldn't guess the Plot twist before that & it was a major one. That hit me right at my face.

There is something with Ruskin & Eleanor 's chemistry that feels off to me, don't get me wrong, I like the characters individually & did enjoy their time together, but something feels off. Like I don't know one second, they didn't like and the next second there is attraction between them. Maybe it's just me.

Apart from that, the cliffhanger still gets me hooked to wait for next book and to continue the story.

This book was just... Amazing!!
Definitely up there with ACOTAR (for me)

✨️Enemies to Lovers
✨️One Horse
✨️Slow Burn
✨️Cursed Prince
✨️Evil Sister
✨️Magic
✨️Wild Hunt
✨️Seelie/Unseelie

✨️Desperate to escape marrying a brutal king, I make a deal with a Fae Prince and find myself his captive.

We follow Eleanor, an alchemist who is on the brink of creating gold through metallurgy, on her journey into Faerie. She must overcome challenges, discover secrets and do the impossible to return Faerie back to its former glory.✨️

This book was incredible! I got major Rumplestiltskin vibes from Ruskin!
This book was brimming with suspense, adventure and amazingly flawed characters that developed and grew as the story went on, the romance that was sprinkled in only added to the experience! The world-building was fun and immersive. We didn't get too in-depth about the magic system, but this is only book one!

As a new reader of Zara Storm, this book put them on my auto-buy list!
Seriously, it's so good!!! GO READ IT!

Thank you to Netgalley and Zara Storm for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give an honest review!

3.75⭐️/5 (rounded up to 4)

I would recommend this book if you enjoy:
- Fantasy romance
- Slow burn
- Enemies-to-lovers
- Fun side characters
- A STEM FMC
- Rooting for the villain

I wasn't expecting to like this book because I've never read Rumpelstiltskin and I don't remember much of Beauty and the Beast except in the literal sense.

The story follows Eleanor and Ruskin who meet when she calls on him after trying to escape the king of Styrland that she was arranged to marry. Ruskin agrees to help her in exchange for her help in metallics and whisks her away to the faerie realm.

It was a bit difficult to get into at first but once the FMC was in the faerie realm, it definitely held my attention. The cast of characters were written well and I especially enjoyed the side characters Desten and Halima.

I wasn't expecting some of the twists that happened (like why Ruskin needed her in the first place) which is why it was feeling like a 5 star read for me alongside Ruskin (hello!), but my feelings towards it changed after the constant waffle of Eleanor's thoughts as they became repetitive. I think if we had gotten Ruskin's POV at literally any point other than the beginning, it would have stayed above a 4 star.

Additionally, it slowed down considerably in the latter half which made it and the ending (I didn't like it and hope it gets better) feel rushed in the way that the author did it so that there would be other books in the series. I will probably read the sequel when it releases to see what happens but if we're in Eleanor's POV for the entire book again, I probably won't enjoy it as much.

This book has the slow burn enemies-to-lovers trope which I enjoyed but it felt more like a subplot which I didn't want it to be. I liked the scenes where they interacted and the spice was written well, in addition to the author's actual writing style, but I wanted more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶

A Court That Bleeds Gold is a fast paced, dark fantasy that follows a young woman who learns how to create gold from useless metals. After getting in a sticky situation, she makes a deal with the fae prince, and finds out that not all is as it seems.

I enjoyed this book, it was a quick and easy read. I loved the world building, especially when it came to the Seelie world, as well as the Faerie Farye being surrounded by mushrooms. I also enjoyed the use of traditional fae mythology, where they are tricksters, unable to lie and use the Seelie/Unseelie traits.

The story mixed natural elements and alchemy with magic to create a fun and refreshing take.

Unfortunately, the story wasn't as dark as I was expecting, and only really showed dark themes at the end. I also found Ellanor to be rather pushy and didn't have any character development.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it to anyone who wants something easy and fast paced.

While this book didn't blow me away, it was still an intresting read. I personally haven't come across any rumpelstiltskin retellings, so the idea was fresh for me. The characters follow the typical fantasy format but are still relatively lovable. The only thing I didn't really enjoy about this book was that there was really no build up for the romance. There was smut but the lack of romantic tension made it somewhat bland to me. I will probably be picking up the second book when it comes out just to see where the story goes.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this debut by Zara Storm.
If you are a sucker for a fast-paced story, slowburn romantasy, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, fae and human romance/spiceeeee ... then this is the book to read.

If there is one thing i love, it is a broody fae male becoming unbroken because of girl. This book got me wanting to scream out the rhyme three times so Mr Ruskinnnnn can say, "You called."

ANDDDD the library scene got me giggling like a little girl and putting my brightness down on my tablet.

Needless to say, I'm excited for the next book in the series.

Disclaimer: I obtained the arc from netgalley

A start to what looks to be a fantastic series. Perfect for romantasy and fantasy lovers, as well as those who like to read about fae or fairies. Although I could see some of the twists and turns that were coming that only made me want to read on and get to that point! There appears to be lots of drama to come from this series and I look forward to more books to come!

4.5 ⭐️ | 3 🌶️

Eleanor lost her mother at a young age and has spent all her time trying to pick up where her mom left off. Her mother was a healer and dabbling alchemist, and in an attempt to save her village from the blight, Eleanor is working on turning lead to gold. When the king discovers what she can do, he forces her to stay in his castle and tells her she is to marry him. As their wedding day approaches, Eleanor builds her escape plan, but when the time comes to make a run for it, she finds herself cornered with nowhere to run. In an act of desperation she recites a riddle to summon the nightmare fae known as Ruskin and makes a deal to secure her freedom. However, a loophole means Rus transports her back to the seelie court and tells her to get to work undoing the curse that has struck his land. As it happens, he’s actually Prince Ruskin, the crown regent and he wants “the Gold Weaver” to reverse gold into plain metal. Can Eleanor alchemise her way through this and get back to the human lands to see her father? *law and order gavel sound*

This was a really enjoyable read, especially for a debut novel. The plot to romance to spice ratio was perfect.

Thanks to @netgalley and @zarastormauthor for a chance to read and review this arc! I look forward to reading the sequel.

I was honestly a little lost during my reading journey of this book, till about the half way mark.
Zara is a talented author, and the premise was really cool the world building just was a little off for me
3/5 stars

This was such an incredible debut novel. I couldn't put it down the entire time. It very much reminded me of a dark retelling of certain folklore.

The story focuses on Eleanor, a human who has made a deal with a Fae to get out of a predicament that could end in a forced marriage. That Fae is Ruskin, who has been infamous for creating deals with humans that often end in desperate people giving up their health, talents or memories in exchange for something they desire.

This book had fantastic world building with intricate descriptions of beautiful scenery throughout. Eleanor was a strong lead and I liked how she was stubborn, but also made smart choices. I would have loved to see more of Ruskin and I'm excited to see how his character is further fleshed out.

The side characters were also a nice welcome to the story and added an element of humour/found family.

This is a must read if you are a fan of ACOTAR and Gild.

If you’re looking for an easier fantasy book with not a lot of world building then this might be for you.

This is a debut novel and I did enjoy it for the most part. I just felt like it had a lot of unused potential. I can look past the lack of world building. That doesn’t bother me too much for this sort of story. I just felt like there wasn’t enough character development for any relationship in this book like her with her dad, even her mom, her friends, or anyone she meets in the Seelie Court. Then the romance also just lacked build up for me. They didn’t trust each other and then it was like they suddenly did… I just wish there was a little bit more development of all the relationships so I could have felt invested in them.

As for the actual storyline though, I liked it. It was easy to read and comprehend what was going on. And I liked that Eleanor was very curious and smart so that helped her figure things out.
I will be happy to read the next book because I am curious what will happen with the cliffhanger. I did enjoy Ruskin as a MMC as well.
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc. All opinions are my own.

If you're new to fantasy, or are looking for something in the genre that's easy to read, this is a great option. The FMC is bold and compelling, and I found myself really rooting for her. The fairytale elements are fun and the storytelling keeps you engaged the whole way through. This story ends on a cliffhanger and I'll definitely be picking up book 2 whenever it's out.

So why am I only giving this three stars? Because it failed to live up to its potential. This was a good book but it could have been great. What holds it back is the lack of depth in both character and plot development. It feels like the author was afraid of writing a longer book, but we needed more time with these characters and in this world to really get sucked in. I wanted to feel the angst and slow burn between the two leads and it was barely there before they just succumbed and were in love. I wanted to experience more of the FMC's home and family life so I could feel the pain of her separation, but it was over in a flash and we were just told over and over how much she wanted to be home with no real investment from the reader. There was a lot of tell and not much show.

Overall, I do recommend it, but only if you're okay with a shallow, fun, quick read. I'd love it if the next book had more substance, but if not I'll just keep this series categorized in my brain as fluffy fantasy—good for when I don't want to think or feel too much.

This was an ARC Copy I received from NetGalley, thank you to NetGalley & Publisher! This review is my own words.

REVIEW
Score: 3.5/5
POV: 1st, Single (FMC)
Heat Level: 2.5/5
Tropes: High Fae; Enemies to Lovers; Scientist FMC; RumpelStiltskin Retelling

This is this authors debut novel and for a debut it was good. I would recommend it.
However, I did feel the romance was lacking. The romantic plot really didn’t start until around 40%. Even though this definitely was an enemies to lovers I didn’t even get enemy/romantic vibes until 40%.

Also in the beginning of the book we get this short insight into Ruskins POV and then the rest of the book is the FMC. I wasn’t a fan of that. I would’ve loved some of is Ruksins POV. I love that Ruskin is based from RumpelStiltskin.

The action was very well done. Especially what takes place in the last 15% of the book, was unexpected and good!

The FMC was likable, for me, for the first 50-60% and then she became so insufferable (but still a major badass). She was just insufferable when it came to the romance side. Like in the end does she even like Ruskin? lol

Overall giving a 3.5 but rounding up to 4 as I did enjoy the book, I do look forward to the 2nd (ends on a cliffhanger) but I didn’t feel it was a romance. More like a Fantasy with Romance.

3.5/5

This was such an addicting read, I could not put it down and read it in two days. I enjoyed the retelling elements of Beauty and the Beast mixed with Rumpelstiltskin. It was fun to see how those were woven into the story and it certainly made the story compelling. The main character, Eleanor, was probably my favorite part of this story. She had so much agency and was so strong, determined and curious. I loved how she never backed down from anyone or any danger and was always willing to stand up for herself and others. While the romance developed kind of quickly in my opinion, and a little bit without merit really just due to physical attraction, I still found myself rooting for the romance. I am very much looking forward to the next installments to see how everything will play out especially with how this one ended.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for granting me access in exchange of an honest review.