We have a lot of eARC’s and we want to promote them a little bit more. So we decided to do some more Bookish Beginnings On Friday. A Taste of Gold and Iron has been a book I see a lot on bookstagram lately and I was lucky to get an e-arc. It’s a bigger book and I’m hoping to read it during my vacation later this month, so I wanted to talk about this book.

This meme was created by Rose City Reader. The idea is to post the first sentence or so of the book you’re currently reading. After that you talk about your initial thoughts about the sentence, book or anything to do with that.

The Goblin Emperor meets “Magnificent Century” in Alexandra Rowland’s A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

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 which 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.

“Halfway through his twenty-fifth year and to his acute relief, Prince Kadou became an uncle.”

So this first sentence (and even paragraph, I read a little more to see if I should add it) doesn’t give us a lot to go on, but the first line isn’t something we can really judge. Even if there are certain lines that grab your attention right away.

A Taste of Gold and Iron is going to be an interesting read I think. I’m expecting a lot of politics and probably some betrayal one way or another. Also, if I read this right it’s a bodyguard romance? Yes, please! I’m a big fan of fantasy books with an interesting world, lots of politics, a little romance, and amazing characters.

I’ve read some mixed reviews about this one, but I’m still very intrigued! I’ll definitely post my review once I finish reading this book. What do you think? Is this a book that interests you? Or what was the last fantasy book that pulled you in and wouldn’t let you go? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.