A Kiss of Iron by Clare Sager – Possibly My Favorite Slow Burn?

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“For the women who are, behind their smiles, fucking furious.”

Goodreads / Storygraph

Summary

In a world where magic is forbidden and danger lurks behind every mask, A Kiss of Iron follows a clever and resourceful woman who finds herself entangled in a deadly game of secrets, seduction, and survival. 

When she’s forced into a bargain with a powerful fae lord, she discovers that power—and desire—can be more treacherous than she ever imagined. With morally gray characters, slow-burn tension, and lush world-building, this fantasy romance is perfect for readers who love danger with a dash of decadence.

Thoughts on the Plot

If I am being honest, there are a lot of aspects about the plot that don’t fully make sense. 

A lot of events happen that don’t have a solid reason for why they are happening. 

The writing was very wordy, with prose stretching things out that could’ve wrapped up quicker. 

This made it appear as though a lot was happening when, realistically, not too much was really going on. 

There is a ton of romance and tension and while this book is spicy, it’s a lot of teasing and wanting and yearning. 

I quite enjoyed the slow burn in this one and it took me right back to my early days of reading Fantasy Romance. 

Would I say that Kat and Bastian (our main FMC/MMC) fall into the enemies to lovers category? No. 

It’s more of a hate/distrust of each other than it is enemies. 

I will also say that I lost a bit of enthusiasm with this story as it continued to unfold. Where I found characters and the storyline interesting at first, things began to go downhill. 

There also isn’t a ton of world-building in this book. It really focuses in on misogyny and the imbalance of power men have over women. 

In terms of plot, this book is really driven by characters and power struggles between genders. 

Thoughts on the Characters

Our main character, Kat, is stuck in a crumbling estate, forced to survive on her own, while her husband is off gambling. 

One evening Kat robs a highwayman who later turns out to be a powerful fae, and she is invited to court to serve as one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting. Which doesn’t fully make sense, but that starts the story.

I really liked Kat for the most part. I wanted to watch her burn it all down. 

Unfortunately, I began to really dislike Kat the further the story went on. 

Especially with her actions at the end of the book. 

Bastian, on the other hand, carried the story for me. 

I found I really loved his personality and charm and wit. I loved how he let his guard down around Kat, despite knowing everything he did. 

The tension between them was also had my stomach in knots. The slow burn and yearning and teasing between the two of them. 

I ate it up. 

The side characters were either charming or infuriating. There was very little in between. 

Kat found some enjoyable characters, while most of them just seemed to have it out for her. 

Which really plays into the misogynistic elements of the story. 

So do keep that in mind if you’re not in the mood for a “rage against the patriarchy” type of story. 

Overall Thoughts

I rooted for Kat the whole story until about the last 10% percent. 

I felt like in this aspect, I preferred Bastian a lot more. 

He is definitely book boyfriend material but unfortunately he fell a bit short in the end. 

I think if you enjoy spicy fantasy romance and want something full of feminine rage, this one is for you. 

Also a side note, I did start the second book in the series but ended up DNF-ing. The characters felt even less like themselves in the first book and the prose felt more like the author typing out the characters stream of conscious and it just became a bit too much. 

For A Kiss of Iron, however, gets a solid 4 stars out of 5 stars. 

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