Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book.

Brilliant! This the first book in the trilogy by Kate Golden. The story centres around Arwen, who is our FMC, and her journey to kick ass and hopefully not fall head first for her captor.

Overall, it was an interesting read. I enjoyed the banter and relationship between the characters. I look forward to seeing what development occurs in the next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. This was a very enjoyable fantasy romp that left me wanting more. Excellent pacing and a gripping story made this book a great read for me. If you like dragons, magic and romance (of the slow burn variety) definitely give this book a go. I am very excited to read the sequel.

I'd heard great things on this from New Adult reviewers so gave it a shot and it was fine, but didn't quite keep my interest all the time.
Many Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will start with the positives on this- So the main thing i loved about this was the writing style. It was fresh,clean and i did find it flowed very well. The pacing was spot on and the worldbuilding was minimal, but was fine for the story being told.
I didn't mind the characters but i didn't particularly love any of them either.

okay so now to my potential slight rant on the plot- The market at the minute for fantasy enemies to lovers books is at an all time high so making books kind of stand out, especially when you read a lot, can be daunting and overwhelming to authors which i massively get and appreciate. However when you pick up a book expecting something different and come out of it based on the premise but recently seem to read new books that come with a close to carbon copy of quite a lot of other books just released it's kind of difficult to enjoy as you sit and swear you have read this story before and question your sanity. I did this for about half of this book and it was absolutely distracting to the point i debated a DNF. I feel bad, but also i'm seeing this more and more across all genres but this is the most pronounced example i have seen in a long time.

The romance also felt....forced. Like i had no moments of chemistry fizzle on the page for me where i was like"ah there, thats the moment" but it never came.

Overall if you want a fantasy romance then yes this is a solid book, but it's just not standing out to me in any way that makes it more than 2 stars.

somehow found this book in a store and it was incredible! my first venture into kate goldens writing and it certainly won’t be the last, her writing is everything i look for in a fast paced read that emotionally connects with you and it felt like these characters saw into my soul as i felt myself relating to them at points and the journey this book took me on was one of my favourites of the year!

Engaging, fast-paced action. The world is slowly explored through the eyes of the heroine, so various secrets are revealed until the last pages. It feels like this is just the beginning of the story, it doesn't look like an epic fantasy yet, but a nice story with which we can spend an afternoon and root for the characters.
There is some brutality, a delicate romantic thread, war, fighting, healing, magic, fae.
It feels like we've only seen the surface of the story, I'm waiting for the next part, maybe the story will gain more dimension there 👑🦎🗡
In places I felt the atmosphere and inspiration of ACOTAR

4/5⭐️

• A dawn of a new favourite •
What a wonderful first instalment of the new romantasy trilogy ‘The sacred Stones’ by debuting author Kate Golden.
The story flowed effortlessly with thrilling plot twists and turns. The world-building was rich and imaginative, but perfectly balanced and easy to picture and grasp. The characters, especially the MCs, Arwen and Kane, drew me in and held me captivated throughout from the first to the final chapter. I can’t wait to see how their story will unfold. I loved the informative and revealing bonus chapter from Kane’s POV with his realisation: “Oh Gods. I was fucked.” And it’s kind of the same sentiment you have as a reader finishing A Dawn of Onyx, knowing you’ll have to wait until April 9th 2024 for the sequel. I look forward to follow Arwen, Kane and friends on their journey in A Promise of Peridot.
Thanks to Quercus Books, Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for the eARC of A Dawn of Onyx.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher/author for accepting my request to read and review a copy of A Dawn of Onyx!

This book was one I had heard so so so much hype for. All the FBAA girlies were callin it a new #1 - the new OTP - and I was SO EXCITED

And yet, 40% into this book I had absolutely zero desire to keep reading.

This book was straight up a carbon copy of like 3 other NA fantasy romance books/series, in terms of plot. In terms of world building…. Sorry..: where was the world building?

I am always HERE for a spicy enemies to lovers but I was beyond BORED reading these two characters interact. There was ZERROOOO chemistry or intrigue. Actually, I felt more chemistry between myself and the decision DNF than I did with these characters. WHERE IS THE PIZZAZ?? WHERE IS THE SWOON??

I keep finding books of this genre to be so disappointing and unoriginal lately and as awful as it sounds this was no exception.

While I appreciate that smutty fantasy has become so much bigger, I wish that more time and effort was being taken to create works that are enticing and engaging

I loved A Dawn of Onyx from start to finish. From the very first page I was immediately drawn into Arwen’s life and the magical world around her, and I quickly found myself addicted to Kate Golden’s writing.

This book has an interesting magic system, one that’s pretty different to anything I’ve read before, thanks to the different kingdoms and how they all work. There’s also a couple of surprises, one of which may or may not include a dragon!

Kane Ravenwood is a badass book boyfriend, encompassing everything I love about male characters in the romantasy genre — he’s hot, powerful, protective, and so secretive and mysterious it’s hard to trust him for most of the book. Whether he’s wholly good or bad still remains to be seen, and at the moment he’s firmly morally grey. Arwen has a great way of dealing with him, and I loved her character. She’s intelligent and headstrong, perfectly matched to Kane and his broody persona.

A Dawn of Onyx is a fast-paced addition to my romantasy bookshelf, and I can’t wait to read the sequel, A Promise of Peridot. I’m already fully invested in Arwen and Kane, and I loved this book so much I had to buy a signed copy. Roll on book two!

An enemies to lovers slow burn romance. With plenty of secrets and mystery’s to be uncovered

I loved Arwen’s character and that her desire to help and heal often overrode any preconceptions of her enemy.

The mystery and twists had me gripped and the romance had me wanting more can’t wait to see more in the next book. I need more Mari and Griffin.

Only reason for 4 stars is sometimes the pacing was off overly fast during dramatic parts and slower in other areas.

This is one of my new obsessions of 2023- this is such a fantastic fantasy romance! It has everything that you love in the genre.
The writing style is easy to read, yet immersive and rich. I’m so excited to see this world expand.

I’m eagerly awaiting book two in the new year- can’t wait!

For fans of slow burn, enemies-to-lovers fantasy books! This was a fast-paced read with great tension and world building. The banter between Arwen and Kane was sizzling!

If you love slow burn romance with on-point tension and enemies-to-lovers trope - well, just stop searching and read this book! Bonus, good world-building, with just a couple of gaps that could definitely be filled in the second volume. It's a fast-paced easy read, that will entertain you whether you are a romance, fantasy or romantasy reader (cause a pinch of magic never hurts, let's face it!). Plus, the main character's name is Arwen - and since I interpreted it as a nice wink to LOTR, I kind of fell for her from the start.
Definitely recommended if you're trying to getting out of a reading slump or you're looking for some lighthearted, cute reading.

Like a fantasy Enemies to lovers (or not), set in an interesting new world? This you need to pick up this book.

Arwen has lived in her small village in the Realm of Amber her whole life. She has not had the easiest life, but she loves her Mother and her siblings without question, and she loves her job working as a healer. Of course, she has a special affinity for Healing, so that helps. Her realm has been at war with the wicked kingdom of Onyx for a while now, and her Brother was called up to serve and they have not seen him for almost two years.

But then one night everything changes, and due to an act of courage she is caught up by Onyx soldiers and swept off to the wicked kingdom of Onyx where her life changes, and not for the worse. But can she trust everything she sees and is told in Onyx?

This was a fun book, one that set up perfectly for the next. I expect this to be one of those great series that will take us all over the well-set-out world, and on quite the emotional journey.

I absolutely adore this book.

The blurb does it no favours - it is a fast paced, well built fantasy romance that has kept me fully engaged and page turning to finish it in one evening. It has been brilliantly written for a first novel, my only mild criticism would be that it is a little slow to start, and I’ve found overdone naivety/innocence in a FMC a little too common recently. That said, Arwen definitely comes into her own, and all the other characters are thoughtfully included if occasionally a little light on backstory - but likely for plot reasons.

The fact I need to wait nearly a year for the sequel is quite frankly heartbreaking.

I absolutely adore this book, it’s has so many tropes everyone loves, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, slow burn romance with a small amount of spice, twists and turns, lots of banter ❤️
The worldbuilding is fantastic, there’s fae, shifters, witches, dragon, everything you could want in a book ❤️ I can’t wait for the second one 🥰

This took me a while to get to on my TBR and then a while to get into as I haven't read much fantasy lately. I enjoyed it but I wasn't blown away. I found it a little of an uneven read. I will continue with the series though and will see how it goes, perhaps I just need to be in the right zone to get the most out of it. Definitely top marks for the cover though.

<I> ‘Whether you know it or not, Arwen, there is a wild strength inside of you.’ </i>

I’m sad to say I enjoyed the idea of this book a lot more then the execution 😞

Unfortunately, I found the world building patchy, the plot hazy and the character development non existent. As much as I wanted to like Arwen, her thoughts and actions never felt compatible. She would say how she couldn’t trust people and how she was aware she didn’t know much- but despite her having months to look through libraries and educate herself she never really tried to learn more, and she instantly spilt her ENTIRE life story to the first friendly ear. I enjoyed the fact that she was a gentle FMC, but sad that this also seemed to mean she was also, to put it bluntly, an idiot.
We were also told, repeatedly, that the king is dark and cruel and evil, but we never really saw this and his character sadly felt very two-dimensional.

I will hopefully be reading the next one as I am curious about the world and hopeful we will have more character depth and a more clearly described world!

***Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review***

Brilliant! My type of thing, and the writing was brilliant. The perfect mix of spice, twists and world building. Will be looking out for the next book!

I found the writing style initially very hard to get into, but as the book continued, it ended up becoming much easier to fall into reading pages after page. The characters pulled me into the story, I'm excited to see more of Arwen and Kane, my guess is this is very much the beginning of a bigger world waiting to unravel so I can see why we didn't get to know more about them. I've given the book a 3.5 but I can see myself reading the next as well!

This was perfection! I just loved everything about it. The storyline, the romance, the world building, the characters, and the enemies to lovers trope is just my absolute fave! I started getting ACOTAR vibes about half way through - the strong FMC, the Fae, royalty, and the family element too. I am very excited to pick up the next in this series!