A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

While the podcast is currently on hiatus, that break was our gain, as we were able to engage the two in familiar, delightfully intelligent banter-albeit via email instead of on-air-about bathhouses as pivotal romantic settings, using magic to strip away layers ( emotional ones) or reaffirm loyalty, and how to write a scene to move the plot and the love story along at the same time. Despite their contrasting plot elements, these romances are in clear and fascinating conversation, which comes as no surprise considering that Rowland and Marske make up two-thirds (with Jennifer Mace) of the Hugo Award-nominated podcast Be the Serpent. Set in an alternate Edwardian England, A Restless Truth carries on the mystery of missing magical artifacts from A Marvellous Light, with determined Maud Blyth embarking on a maiden voyage of sexual self-discovery with rakish actress Violet Debenham while investigating a murder at sea. This Fall, authors Alexandra Rowland and Freya Marske both released queer fantasy romances: In the secondary fantasy world of A Taste of Gold and Iron, fretful prince Kadou must battle anxiety attacks as he investigates a counterfeiting conspiracy, while developing a better understanding of the reciprocal relationship between himself and his stoic bodyguard Evemer.

In these books, the fates of kingdoms or magic itself are nearly as important as whether the love interests will finally kiss and/or declare their love.

But the growing subgenre of fantasy romances maps those swoony beats onto grand stories of magic and murder, kidnappings and sabotage.

Falling in love and following along with romance tropes already inspire that swept-away feeling of being on an epic adventure of the heart.

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland