A Taste of Gold and Iron Audiobook By Alexandra Rowland cover art

A Taste of Gold and Iron

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A Taste of Gold and Iron

By: Alexandra Rowland
Narrated by: Casey Jones
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The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century"—a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

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

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court - the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation that results in his humiliation. To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.

©2022 Alexandra Rowland (P)2022 Recorded Books Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Literature & Fiction Royalty Science Fiction & Fantasy Romance Heartfelt Feel-Good
Engaging Romance • Excellent World-building • Distinct Character Voices • Tasteful Intimacy • Compelling Plot
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It might be a little predictable but the character development is great and some are just wonderfully written. And the narrator does a great job. Super fun.

Slow start but by the end I’m laughing so hard.

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The story was good. The world well build and wonderful main characters.
I also really loved the person narrating this story. Nice voice and well read

Lovely story

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I am sad there is only one book in this series (so far?) I would love more and love to know more about the other aspects of this world that were only hinted at. It’s such a rich world with potential to keep growing. I am so hoping there are more to come for this series :)

I need more of this universe

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im in love with the chemistry the book builds to prove the depth of consideration and longing the love interest have for one another. the world building is informative and helps round out the setting. I appreciate that the main characters grow on their own and together to deal with trauma and self esteem, showing the drive the characters have to deal with their own issues and not solely rely on the other. a true delight to listen to!

fantastic world, fantastic characters, fantastic growth

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I loved how the author handled the MC's anxiety. The relationship building was perfect. It felt very natural and didn't take away from the main plot of the story. With that said, it is a slow burn because of it. I don't think that is necessarily a bad since it feels more believable. I would have liked to know more about this world and had this unique power of "tasting" where a metal came from be used more than it was.

Beautiful men in a beautiful world

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The first quarter of this book is slow - but if you can delight in Evemer's funny, biting sarcasm, and sympathize with Kadou's chronic anxiety attacks, then this book offers a delightful slow-burn romance between a lord and his vassel.

The narrators voice is smooth as butter, sweet as honey, wonderful to listen to, and great at emphasizing emotion or humor when the story calls for it.

The political intrigue in this book is fun, with enough depth to be interesting, but not particularly twisty. It serves the function to put our heroes into interesting situations and built romantic tension more often than it serves to interest you in the politics themselves.

Queer Romance with a political fantasy backdrop

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Damn this was good. I had so much substance and the characters kept getting funnier.

Wowowowow

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I normally don’t listen to long novels due to how the pacing can be slow. But the pacing was perfect with their romance and the drama of the evil plot that set them to both clash and come together as one. The culture that the author made is incredible and put on display naturally without long drawn out explanations or winded history lessons. Though it is incredibly lbgta friendly it doesn’t set itself in opposition with more conservative views as many lbgta literature seems prone to do. It is again displayed naturally without needing to point out how right they are compared how wrong others are. In all I loved the world the author created and hope for more later within this place they had created.

Loved it

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The world Alexandra Rowland had come up with is wonderfully beautiful - I was a bit skeptical at first since the description of the book is a little lackluster (and in hindsight, not entirely accurate). Don't let it discourage your interest - this book had me totally enraptured.

The slow build between Kadou and Evemer is wonderful, but if you aren't a fan of slow burn, you'll find it extremely frustrating. Personally I prefer a longer, drawn out approach to romance and attraction so I found it very much my speed.

What wasn't really my speed was the ending. While everything was wrapped up neatly, it all seemed to happen a little too fast at the end. It definitely came off as a HFN ending, with an off screen impending threat - after basically 18.5hrs of story, I wished there was more closure for Kadou and Evemer's future, especially since I think (as of writing this review) that this is a stand-alone book.

I don't think I've seen other reviews mention it, but it's SO refreshing to see a world with a trinary gender system that is presented without fanfare. I was confused at first since Rowland uses unique pronouns but once I caught on I was so delighted! There was one spot where I had some doubt about something that was mentioned-- without giving anything away, having a binder on or anything that compresses the chest while also potentially having broken ribs would be a very, very bad thing. It wouldn't "hold everything in place" so to speak.

Beautiful

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I tend to be a bit picky when it comes to romance books even though I love them, (especially LGBTQ as a queer person) as they can corny and predictable.

I absolutely LOVED this book! The writing was detailed to the perfect amount, never bordering on too much or too little, and the characters were easy to get attached to.

The performance was beautiful! Characters were easy to distinguish even just based off of voice and they were perfectly matched for the characters.

I really hope this author makes a sequel, loved this! I finished this in the span of 4 days after working from 4am-7pm each day, if that gives you an accurate idea for how much I enjoyed this.

A Divine Romance with a Compelling Plot

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