Title: Touch of Gold

Author: Annie Sullivan

Pub. Date: August 14, 2018

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

King Midas once had the ability to turn all he touched into gold. But after his gift—or curse—almost killed his daughter, Midas relinquished The Touch forever. Ten years later, Princess Kora still bears the consequences of her father’s wish: her skin shines golden, rumors follow her everywhere she goes, and she harbors secret powers that are getting harder to hide.

Midas learned his lesson at a price. What will Kora’s journey cost?

This will be a spoiler free review.

I’m seriously regretting postponing reading this book. I’m also condemning any and all thoughts that I had leading up to its release in 2018. I regret it all, and I’m so thrilled to have finally read it. I read Tiger Queen last year and enjoyed it, so I had pretty decent expectations going into this one. I definitely didn’t expect to absolutely fall in love with it and read it in roughly four hours.

Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters, the take on Greek Mythology. It was an enjoyable read through and through.

I really like Kora. I loved how her whole journey is about self-acceptance. To step up and be a leader, even when everything tells you to run in the opposite direction. Her character development is pretty solid – starting as a scared, shy girl who trusts too easily. She’s very naïve to the way the world works and how people work. She learns and grows into someone who is willing to risk their life for the people they care about; she fights bad guys and ultimately learns to accept who she is and finds power in that…in herself.

As for the secondary characters –

Jfc, I wish Royce were real. Give me a ship captain and I’m a goner. Give me a guy with a tortured past, who wanted to find solace and companionship with the only other person who might understand him. Sign me tf up.

Aris felt too good to be true, but Royce…damn. You just want to hug and protect him, and I was hooked from the moment he was introduced. I was actually really hoping he’d be the love interest instead of Aris…read the book and find out how it all goes down.

I loved Hettie. While she seemed a tad annoying and self-centered at first, it was really fun watching her walls come down. She’s wild, free and passionate. I loved Rhat and his I’m a soft teddy bear personality. Then there’s the twins and I’m always a sucker for a goofy set of twins. Think, Fred and George Weasley. Tons of fun and shenanigans.

My only complaint is this – I wish the book had been longer. Simply because I loved it so much, I want to spend more time in this world with these characters. I was in the mood for a shorter book – a quicker read, but I desperately wish the pacing had been a little slower and a little more drawn out. I know there is a book 2 coming out this fall…so I guess it’s a really good thing I have an eARC. It’s one of the big reasons I read this book now, incentive to get to Curse of Gold.

If you liked the Daughter of the Pirate King Duology, I’m almost 100% positive that you’re going to enjoy this book. I got the same feeling from this book, that I did from that duology. Just a wholly fun, enjoyable read, with a vibrant world, temperamental characters, sailors/pirates and just a whole lot of drama and action. If you like Greek Mythology and authors giving it their own spin, you’re probably going to like this book. Make sure you check it out – you have enough time to be caught up before book 2 comes out this fall!