Thank you to Tordotcom and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC!

This was an intriguing political drama, with wonderful slow burn romance, excellent mental health rep, and very well done lgbt rep. I enjoyed it a lot!

ATaste of Gold and Iron was fantastic! Prince Kadou finds himself questioning whether his life is in danger but when his men are too quick to act on those feelings people end up dead and Kadou is held accountable. To prove to his sister, the Queen, of his loyalties, Kadou undertakes an investigation, along with his newly appointed guard Evemer, into a break in at the ship builders guild where the authenticity of the money there is in question. Arasht coin is some of the most finely made so a threat to their currency is a threat to Kadou. Things escalate when one thing leads to another and the break in leads them to a much larger issues at play.

The beginning of this story plops you in the middle of this fantasy world with no explanations. I found I was getting whiplash trying to figure out who was who and how they were important. The beginning was dragged down with this and I wish a little more describing happened. Once the story got going though, I wasn’t able to put it down. In a world where someone who becomes pregnant retains full claim on their child unless they specifically share that claim with the child’s sire gives so much power to women. I quite possibly liked that element the most. I also really like the magical element of metal tasting. I wish it played more of a part though, as being the title of the book makes you think it would.

Kadou and Evemer sexualities were never brought into question. If you are LGBT+ that is just how this world accepts you. Having their relationship be a subplot to the investigation it started out strained and organically evolved. Those are some of the best kind- the romance that you can’t see coming. The book also touches on mental health with Kadou’s struggle with anxiety and panic attacks. This book normalizes so much and was so refreshing to read. I very much enjoyed this book!

This book was extremely difficult for me to finish. Despite my desire to enjoy this queer historical fantasy set in a fictionalized Ottoman Empire, I wasn't able to do so because the plot falls flat, and the development of the romance isn't particularly compelling. In addition to these issues, the narration of the first several chapters feels disjointed, and some of the character rants are overly repetitive.

The characters also didn't do much to improve my reading experience. The protagonists are uninteresting, and their base personalities are lifted directly from the characters of gay erotica novels written by straight women. Some of them are also annoying as hell. The best example is Prince Kadou, who acts oppressed by his status despite being privileged. Why should I care about him, a privileged member of the royal family, and his problems as one of the most important people in the kingdom? Until Chapter 15, you can read passages like "He was not allowed to be himself. He was not allowed to want for himself." The antagonists are also incredibly boring, with no mystery surrounding their evil plot. The reveal of the villains is also unimpressive. It's far too predictable, and the stakes are far too low.

However, a few things did stand out to me. Tadek and Evemer, who, while tied to the fanfiction tropes in which they're summoned, made me hope for some depth to the story. They deserve to be in a different world with a different plot so that their characters can be properly explored. Another example is how the author chose to address Tadek's fuck buddy status and Kadou's anxiety disorder. Both are handled well and deserve to be commended.

After I finished the last chapter, I read the acknowledgements section and admired Rowland's perseverance. I hope she reads reviews like this one because I appreciate her determination, and if she incorporates feedback from readers of this book into her future projects, there's a chance she'll create a novel with strong world-building and an unforgettable cast of characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This is breaking my heart because this book was absolutely one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I was SO convinced I would adore it, but... after two months of trying my best and failing to trudge through, I'm finally setting it aside. I might give it another try someday when I'm feeling a bit more patient, but the plot isn't pulling me in at all, the writing is not quite there, and worst of all, these characters are wholly and painfully unlovable.

I know when I’m absolutely besotted with a book I can't help gushing about it and I wanted so much to feel this when I finished reading “A Taste of Gold and Iron”. I did like this diverse very slow burn enemies to lovers queer fantasy romance standalone once I got into it, I just wish it had been more epic fantasy. Overall for me it lacked a satisfying plot and worldbinding, the magic was literally just a taste but I did love the Ottoman Empire inspired setting and the prince/bodyguard trope. The romance building is the main focus and it may have been the slowest of slow burns but it was quite endearing, and the mental health representative is written with care. I could see how much passion and gentleness this author puts into diversity and the characters developments, that’s where the author delivered their magic. My fantasy soul was not completely fulfilled, but my romantic heart is content with the beautiful love story.
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I’ve seen a lot of love for this story, and I know for many this is a golden read. It certainly has the perfect cover. I have the The Broken Binding edition and it’s pure eye candy!!

A Taste of Gold and Iron was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind, but I was really confused. Just within the first chapter there was so much info dump and story after story. I only got through a few chapters before giving up. I might go back to this story one day.

I was very excited for A Taste of Gold and Iron to come out, especially after seeing it compared to The Goblin Emperor. I hate to say it, but it did not live up to the hype. I found both main characters unlikable and hard to empathize with, and their chemistry non-existent. I love romantic fantasy, but here, I think the romance was forced and honestly should have taken a back seat to the plot. Last complaint: NOT ENOUGH MAGIC! But props to Rowland for queer representation and a non-patriarchal society (see...there are some positives).

Overall, I had to slough through it when I usually finish books in a day--it just couldn't keep my attention. This one was meh for me; not terrible, but not terribly good.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing an advance copy, my resulting review is unbiased and honest.

Just finished this book and I’m still breathless. What a beautiful slow-burn romance!

Alexandra Rowland drew me in with her meticulous writing and her ability to put all the feelings into these ~500 pages. I had no idea that a slow-paced book like this could be so captivating. Everything Evemer and Kadou went through is so vivid and you can’t do anything else but feel with them.

Beautifully written and plotted.

Just know, there’s not much Fantasy. It’s really more a romance story with a light Fantasy background.

I will admit that I was brought in my the politics and world building for A Taste of Gold and Iron, and the interesting dynamic between Prince Kadou and his bodyguard Evemer. Unfortunetly....the relationship didn't seem to develop organically and it was rather cold and stale. I also wish this was less 'fade-to-black' because it is at the point where we see no touching between the two characters beyond what their job requires and I just couldn't find their attraction believable.

Such a good fantasy book! I really enjoyed the diversity and found the writing captivating. It had me hooked and I raced through it.

There are two reasons I really loved this story. It has a gorgeous romance and in addition, among all the politics and intrigue, is an excellent depiction of anxiety. But there is so much to this novel that I think even if you don’t prefer romance, you will still find yourself enjoying this story.

The author introduces an intriguing world to begin with. The Prince Kadou is not the ruler, his sister is, which is intriguing enough. Then add in that she is not married to nor intends to marry the father of her child. Kadou has interesting skills, the ability to touch-taste precious metals which will aid him or possibly bring about his downfall, depending on the intrigues and conspiracy they must combat. 

As for the romance, I love that the pair do not start out liking each other. Evemer is very dedicated and while he eventually grows to like Kadou, the two must come together to combat the intrigue and political conspiracy that could ruin the kingdom. I love that part of the worldbuilding is in their interactions, explaining how society is run in this fantasy world but also giving us a taste of the diversity and characters that are incredibly interesting. In addition, Kadou struggles with anxiety, fear as he calls it and it is an excellent depiction of that condition as we get to see how he deals with the condition and finds ways to work with it in his daily life. 

While I fell in love with Kadou and Evemer, it is not only these two that are so fun to read. I also love the secondary characters, Kadou’s sister, his previous bodyguard, the variety of people surrounding and protecting him. It also offers such a diversity with those who don’t identify as male or who identify and gender neutral, all written so seamlessly into this breathtaking world.

If you love rich worldbuilding, diverse characters, and a truly gorgeous romance between two men, I highly recommend this novel. I wanted more immediately and am hopeful there will be a second novel set in this world with these characters.

I made it 100 pages into this book and although I was not disliking my time I was also not invested in either of the main characters, which is something I care a lot about in a fantasy romance. The anxiety representation was great and I thought the character work overall was excellent but I did not care for the mystery plot and since I was not invested in the chemistry of the leads I decided to stop and try a different work. This was probably a case where the romance was just a bit too slow burn for my taste but would be something I would recommend to other fantasy romance readers.

A delightful political romance, deeply invested in questions of economics and morality as well as trust and family. It's also a perfect slow-burn romance, with all the best tropes thrown in for fun -- enemies-to-lovers, just one bed, kissing-as-distraction, and so on. A richly imagined and joyfully rendered tale.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

3.5/5 stars

I very much struggled with how to rate this one - I didn’t dislike it at all, but I never felt like I was dying to get back to it either. The writing itself was beautiful, the characters well developed; however, the plot was lacking and the slow burn romance was so slow that neither commanded my attention. And by the time the plot picked up, it was wrapped up so quickly and neatly that I felt I blinked and it was over.

The biggest challenge for me was pacing - as in the book is on the longer side but had very little plot to drive and support it. Plus, the most interesting little tidbits that were mentioned were often of little consequence or never mentioned again. The author clearly has a beautiful world and spectacular characters in her mind, but the best developed character ever written will still fall flat without a story to drive them.

Overall I would recommend this book to people that enjoy historical fantasy and a very slow burn, but I’m not sure it will be for everyone. I loved the characters but needed more story to hold my attention.

I very much enjoyed this MM fantasy book!

Unique magic system, double crossing, slow burn romance, grest world building and a matriarchal system!
This book had me hooked from the beginning. Also did I mention a slow burn romance? My favorite kind! Besides enemies to lovers that is. Totally recommend!

This was a very compelling read for sure. It took me a lot to get through it though , not sure if that was the writing style or just my general mindset when I read it but I did find myself quite confused at points. Some things took me a bit to understand and I didn’t fully understand everything by the end. I did really love the concept of the magic though I think a magic system centered around currency is very interesting and I haven’t read anything like it!
I also enjoyed the characters though some could be somewhat difficult to get into. I loved the family dynamics though and the royalty aspect so it didn’t bother me to much that the characters weren’t my favorite ever. Loved the tropes as well truly fun to read and I would love to pick up another book with the bodyguard prince forbidden romance situation. Overall good interesting read would like to read more like it.

A Taste of Gold and Iron centers around Prince Kadou of Arast, who is the brother of the sultan Zelhia. He is in the spotlight from being part of the royal family, but he also suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. I went into this novel knowing there was good mental health representation, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it was written. Being that it is a more medieval type royalty book, sometimes you never know how they’re going to handle mental illness—sometimes they refer to it as demons or something that needs to be exorcised out of the person.

After an altercation which leaves a few guards dead, Kadou is forced to choose between taking a “vacation” or moving out of the public eye. Due to his anxiety, moving out of the public eye seems less like a punishment than a reward. He is assigned one of the newest, yet brightest, guards, Evemer Hoskadem. At first, Evemer’s thoughts of Kadou are clouded by the loss of his comrades, but soon he learns about the reality of Kadou’s mental state. It all seems so natural, with very realistic emotions and feelings.

As with most books involving royalty, I get myself lost in all of the character and governmental world building. One of the coolest parts in this book (and even where the book got the name) is the ability of some of Arastian people to taste metal by touching it. I really wish this was expanded upon. I expected a lot more to come from this part of the book, and was kind of sad it was glossed over.

This book reminded me a lot of Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. It’s not necessarily similar, but the vibes are and both books checked a lot of my boxes when it comes to queer fantasy. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

CW for panic attacks, anxiety, mental illness, blood, kidnapping/confinement, bullying, violence, and animal death

A slow burn and enjoyable read. With character, you like spending time with and a mystery you don't need to think too hard about. An excellent fluff of queer fantasy romance. IF you love the cover, you'll love this.

This year is really wrecking me. I thought I had found my favorite book when I read “Right Where I Left You” and when I read “So This Is Ever After” and then again when I read “Sofi and the Bone Song” and “I Kissed Shara Wheeler” and especially after I read “A Strange and Stubborn Endurance”. But I had no clue what was coming. NO FREAKIN CLUE. BECAUSE THIS BOOK? THIS BOOK!!!!!!!

First of all, the anxiety rep in this book is just fantastic. The way a panic attack is described, the way you feel while you’re panicking, the before and the after: it’s all absolutely perfect. There’s very few books out there that describe anxiety as well as this one did because it’s hard to explain the feelings even if you’ve felt them. So that was just perfect, right off the bat.

Secondly, Kadou is literally the sweetest person ever. He’s like Charlie Spring but older and with more anxiety. He overthinks everything, blames himself for the smallest of mishaps and does everything he can to make himself as small as possible as to not burden anyone else. He respects people’s feelings and does his best to do no harm but when threatened, he will not rest until everyone he loves, and everyone in his care, is safe. Although the overthinking and the anxiety are a large part of Kadou’s personality, his kindness is infinitely larger. And that is what made me love him.

Thirdly, Evemer. I have to be honest, the instant I met Kadou, I was ready to protect him with my life. So when Evemer comes into the picture, already despising Kadou without even knowing him, I was on edge. But then, slowly, day by day, Evemer began to see who Kadou truly is and started changing. It wasn’t instantaneous: Evemer is one of the least trusting people in this entire book. He needs time and space and proof to see who someone is and if they’re a good person or someone pretending to be. Even before he fully accepted Kadou, however, Evemer read him like a book and did his best to keep the distance between Kadou and the people that made him uncomfortable, *cough* Siranos *cough*. Evemer was a tough shell to crack, especially when compared to Kadou. But he is loyal to a fault, caring, in his own way, insecure of his deepest feelings, gentle, when need be, and sharp the rest of the time. He’s soft, kind but can turn those feelings off in a split second. I just love him. So much.

Lastly, this entire book was just brilliant. Every part of it was written so well. I keep going back and rereading parts because some of these scenes are so well done, that even know, a week later, they’re living in my head rent free. (*SPOILER* My favorite scene is where Evemer tells Kadou that he wants to teach him how to fight and then Kadou knocks him flat on his back in one punch. I didn’t describe it well here but COMEDIC GOLD, that scene is. *SPOILER ENDS*) And again, I just keep going back and rereading the parts where Kadou’s anxiety is described because it helps me know that I’m not alone. Above everything, though, I keep rereading the emotional growth that both Kadou and Evemer go through. They start off as two people who keep their emotions under wraps and at the end, although they’re still keeping their emotions under wraps from the rest of the world, they don’t hide from each other and that’s growth.

This book is yet another, this year, that’s fighting for that #1 of the year spot and I just cannot, in words, describe to you how much love I have for it. It’s amazing, it’s fantastic, it’s brilliant, it’s beautiful and above all, it’s full of emotion.

I really wanted to like this book. The cover is stunning. Unfortunately the writing was too dense. I'm going to give this book another shot in the future because I really want to like this book.