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A review by mxsallybend
Of Iron and Gold by Lexa Luthor
5.0
Of Iron and Gold is the first book of The Kingdoms of Gyldren by Lexa Luthor, and if you're new to her work, there's a lot to unpack here. This is an F/F Omegaverse romance in a medieval fantasy setting, and that probably doesn't explain much, so let me break it down.
Omegaverse stories feature Alphas, Omegas, and Betas. Betas are the common folk, average men and women; Alphas are bigger, stronger, and generally dominant; while Omegas are smaller, weaker, and generally submissive. There are pheromones and animalistic urges involved between Alphas and Omegas, with one rutting and the other in heat, driving a need to breed (complete with knotting) and mate for life. It's a powerfully erotic dynamic, and one that crosses gender lines into both F/F and (more commonly) M/M relationships.
Whereas M/M stories introduce an MPreg (Male Pregnancy) aspect that allows the Omega male to become pregnant and carry children, F/F stories make use of a G!p (Girl Penis) element that allows Alpha women to impregnate their mate. If you're familiar with the futa/futanari genre of transgender fiction, then you can probably already visualize this. Depending on the story, these relationships can be anything from the norm for society to something illicit and taboo.
Here, Luthor takes the taboo approach, with Aubrey's crude dismissal as a degen (or degenerate) a key aspect of how she came to be a slave, presented to Princess Kinsey as one of four possible Alphas from whom she is to choose someone to impregnate her. Kinsey's father (the King) is outraged by the implication that his daughter be sullied by a degen, but the Princess' aversion to male Alphas makes the She-Alpha, Aubrey, a curious temptation.
There's a lot going on behind the story, with personal and political motives clashing as much as responsibility and romance. Even though Kinsey is permitted a choice in Alphas, it's an arranged breeding for political reasons that she cannot escape. As for Aubrey, she's been forced to subdue her Alpha nature to survive years of slavery, a situation caused by Kinsey's father's conquest of her homeland, and she's fighting herself almost as much as she is the attentions of Kinsey. There is a romance here, but it's necessarily slow to develop, with both characters having to navigate a mess of conflicts to find their way to one another. That allows Luthor to explore her characters, endear them to us, and give their friendship the strength to generate passion.
If you're into lesfic or WLW romance, then the dynamic between Kinsey and Aubrey will melt your heart, and if you're more into Omegaverse or futa erotica, then the passion between them will have your heart racing. It's a wonderful blending of genres, and Luthor does a fabulous job of writing as well to curious newbies as to diehard fans of the genre. I raced through this, needing to know that they'd be all right, and I loved how they overcame the obstacles to find their HEA.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2023/12/31/book-review-of-iron-and-gold-by-lexa-luthor-fantasy-romance/
Omegaverse stories feature Alphas, Omegas, and Betas. Betas are the common folk, average men and women; Alphas are bigger, stronger, and generally dominant; while Omegas are smaller, weaker, and generally submissive. There are pheromones and animalistic urges involved between Alphas and Omegas, with one rutting and the other in heat, driving a need to breed (complete with knotting) and mate for life. It's a powerfully erotic dynamic, and one that crosses gender lines into both F/F and (more commonly) M/M relationships.
Whereas M/M stories introduce an MPreg (Male Pregnancy) aspect that allows the Omega male to become pregnant and carry children, F/F stories make use of a G!p (Girl Penis) element that allows Alpha women to impregnate their mate. If you're familiar with the futa/futanari genre of transgender fiction, then you can probably already visualize this. Depending on the story, these relationships can be anything from the norm for society to something illicit and taboo.
Here, Luthor takes the taboo approach, with Aubrey's crude dismissal as a degen (or degenerate) a key aspect of how she came to be a slave, presented to Princess Kinsey as one of four possible Alphas from whom she is to choose someone to impregnate her. Kinsey's father (the King) is outraged by the implication that his daughter be sullied by a degen, but the Princess' aversion to male Alphas makes the She-Alpha, Aubrey, a curious temptation.
There's a lot going on behind the story, with personal and political motives clashing as much as responsibility and romance. Even though Kinsey is permitted a choice in Alphas, it's an arranged breeding for political reasons that she cannot escape. As for Aubrey, she's been forced to subdue her Alpha nature to survive years of slavery, a situation caused by Kinsey's father's conquest of her homeland, and she's fighting herself almost as much as she is the attentions of Kinsey. There is a romance here, but it's necessarily slow to develop, with both characters having to navigate a mess of conflicts to find their way to one another. That allows Luthor to explore her characters, endear them to us, and give their friendship the strength to generate passion.
If you're into lesfic or WLW romance, then the dynamic between Kinsey and Aubrey will melt your heart, and if you're more into Omegaverse or futa erotica, then the passion between them will have your heart racing. It's a wonderful blending of genres, and Luthor does a fabulous job of writing as well to curious newbies as to diehard fans of the genre. I raced through this, needing to know that they'd be all right, and I loved how they overcame the obstacles to find their HEA.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2023/12/31/book-review-of-iron-and-gold-by-lexa-luthor-fantasy-romance/