Much like the first book in the series, it took me several chapters to become immersed in the story. Part of this is due to a slow start (the first book ended on the resting note of a cliffhanger, so this sequel had to contend with the gulley of limited action following a pivotal moment), and part of it is due to what feels like a tendency of Golden to slip into telling instead of showing. However, this sequel did deliver on expanded worldbuilding, and while cliched plot points were somewhat prevalent, that is to be expected with many of the romatasy titles populating the press right now. I appreciated the dual POV; I felt that Golden had a good handle on pacing//when to switch viewpoints. I do wish some aspects of the mythology had been more consistently fleshed out, and in greater depth, especially as it pertains to the world's spiritual systems (something that gains greater importance to the plot later in the book). All in all, I do look forward to reading the last book in the trilogy, only hoping that Golden takes her time//greater care to focus on "showing, not telling."

Arwen and Kane are back: both emotionally mangled after the devastating battle that destroyed us readers in Dawn of Onyx.

There’s a blade to be found and a war to be won while the prophecy looms heavy on their horizon. With the scorching heat between them, will Arwen forgive Kane for all he’s been hiding? Will she lean into her fate or run away and let the world burn?

With non-stop action and an ending that will make you SCREAM this romantasy will have you on the edge of your seat-- don't miss it!

Thanks so much to the publisher for an advanced copy to review.

Nope. I’m done.

This review is going to include spoilers. Go back now…






We learn at the end of A Dawn of Onyx that our hero Kane, who is a pretty nice guy, is not only a half-fae but he is the son of King Lazarus, the abusive King of the fae who rules his realm with an iron fist and now wants to rule the human realm as well just for giggles and he is using the kingdom of Amber to help him fight his war against his second born son.

Lazarus also, very helpfully, tells Arwen all of the secrets that Kane has failed to share with her, including such things as the fact that Arwen was the last born full-blooded fae (how is that possible?) and that the famous prophecy indicates that the King can only be killed by Arwen and that she will die doing it. (Which by the way it doesn’t specifically say. Like all prophecy’s it is very vague.) Again, this was an info dump in the last few pages of the story as Arwen and the survivors from the kingdom of Peridot race towards the boats to escape the Amber and fae soldiers.

Since Kane is such a nice guy, he had his people search for Arwen’s family and had them brought to Arwen when they all traveled to Peridot but during their bid to escape, Arwen’s mother is killed. This is also convenient since now Arwen can’t get answers about her being the last full-blooded fae.

This leads us into A Promise of Peridot which is mostly a story of a depressed Arwen who is whining about how Kane still kept secrets from her and now she can’t trust him. She moans that she is expected to die. She cries that her mother is dead. She is angry that Kane didn’t explain all to her. Really, how would that go, ‘I really love you too. I thought we can go to the movies tomorrow and maybe you can sacrifice yourself next week to save the world. Did I forget to mention that we have all been waiting 20 years for you get here and die for us?’

Yes, Kane realized who Arwen was because she exudes magic and light the only fae can see. That’s why everyone with fae blood knew who she was to their future. The prophecy says that there would be a falling star when Arwen was born so both Kane and his father knew when to start sharpening their swords for the big battle. Kane really wasn’t interested in who this person was who would make the sacrifice. He just wanted to find them and make them sacrifice themselves to save his people both in the fae realm and in Onyx. Of course, once he meets her, falls in love, he has a dilemma of what to do. Of course, he isn’t going to explain that he brought you to Onyx to die for everyone. Duh!

My question is why when the prophecy says “A king doomed to fall at the hands of his second son,” Lazarus didn’t simply kill Kane right then and there. Why let him live?

We spend the majority of this story doing two things: #1 – trying to find a safe kingdom for the non-combatants to stay who would hopefully fight with Onyx and #2 – trying to find the magical sword that Arwen needs to kill Lazarus. That’s prophesied to be “inside her heart.” That’s helpful.

Besides the fact that we are walking around with a moody, depressed Arwen, there are several things that didn’t make sense or were simply annoying.

Let’s start with the kingdom of Citrine. Citrine is located at the bottom of the ocean. Not like Atlantis but located in a magical bubble with regular air. It’s at the bottom of the sea but there are tides and sunsets and tropical breezes? How do they get fresh air into their bubble? There are trees (really?) but probably not enough to clear the CO2 from the air. I could go with magical lights keeping back the darkness at the bottom of the ocean but how are we getting sunsets? And tides?

Then there is Halden, a childhood friend of Arwen and her brother, who is in the Amber army and he keeps showing up to capture and recapture Arwen like he has magical powers and that power is an Arwen GPS. He has better sources than the mafia in a John Grisham novel.

Kane and Arwen keep going into dangerous situations looking for this sword as if nothing can touch them but death is a real concept and they come close many times.

As I mentioned, overall Kane is a good guy, even if he takes blame for all the worlds woes. Arwen is angry because he was planning to sacrifice her. He was willing to sacrifice both worlds to hide her away so she can be safe (for how long since no sacrifice means disaster to both worlds) and even when the Prince of Citrine is trying to woo Arwen, Kane sits back all sad and let’s him try since Kane lied to her and she should be happy.

The final nail in the coffin for me was the last chapters where Arwen is captured by Lazarus and finds herself tied to her bed with magical fae-resistant bindings (which we only learned about a few chapters before) and he is planning on making new full-blooded fae babies with her which will be better than his prior half-blooded kids. She would rather die and he tells her she can after she pops out a few puppies for him. Yuck, she was just doing it with your son a couples hours ago, Dude. This very rapey-vibed cliffhanger to the next book was a complete no for me.

In the end, the prophecy only says Arwen will make a sacrifice. It never says she will die. Maybe she can’t have chocolate ever again. That would really suck. Maybe it is simply that she will be stuck forever in a different realm than Kane. In the end, I don’t care.

This is book two in the Sacred Stones series and book one must be read first. After the ending of A Dawn of Onyx I was so completely hooked on this world.

After the Battle of Sirens Bay, Arwen, Kane and their small group are looking for sanctuary. They find it in Citrine and hope to gain some much needed allies while also looking for the weapon needed to fulfill the prophecy against Fae King Lazarus. Their journey for the weapon and answers leads them into new dangers and places that have them risking everything.

Throughout this Kane and Arwen are forced to work together even though she would rather have nothing to do with him. Their rocky relationship faces many new struggles along the way.

My heart broke for Arwen. I feel like the reaction she had to her circumstances was very realistic. After everything she has been through I think her reactions were completely valid, still I was very ready for her to get out of her funk and start doing something g about it.

Kane, I adore him. His POV really got me through the heartbreak of their situation. His struggles to do what was best for Arwen is absolutely unmatched and I loved him more for it.

The character growth and chemistry was amazing, I really loved seeing more of some of the other characters and I really hope to see a lot more of them later on.

I was shocked throughout and loved the pacing. I can not wait for the next book after that ending!

I honestly don't even know where to start with this. I put off writing this review for a couple of days in hopes my thoughts would become more coherent, because my immediate thoughts could be summed up as *heavy breathing* and *excited screams*. But honestly my thoughts are a still all over the place, so bear with me please.

Kate Golden has probably never heard of the "second book syndrome" because there is definitely none of that seen in this book. This was just as amazing if not better than the first book Well paced with lots of action-packed scenes but not too many. It's the perfect balance of character-driven and plot-driven, which is my favorite thing especially in a fantasy romance. When I read a fantasy romance, I prefer there to be some plot mixed in with my romance, and Kate Golden delivers on that and then some.

First let me talk about the characters, because they are my favorite thing about this series. Arwen's anxiety is so well done in this. We didn't see too much of it in the first book, but in this book we do see some panic attacks and they were very well done in my mind. I could feel her panic, and I related to it deeply I loved seeing that representation in this Speaking of that anxiety, Kane is a master at handling her anxiety and calming her down. He soothes her and comforts her without being overbearing, and he doesn't think any less of her because of it. Also speaking of Kane, I cannot get enough of him and I LOVED having his POV in this book. Seeing his side of things and seeing his feelings for Arwen through his pov was so beautiful, and the hurt he felt over her definitely made me cry. once or twice. Maybe more. Definitely more. I also absolutely adored the little budding romance between Mari and Griffin. There were a few times I just wanted to scream at the both of them to admit their feelings for each other and get on with it.

Now for plot- like I said before, this is a wonderful mix of both plot and character driven. A mixture of fast paced action sequences and "slow" moments of just relationship moments between characters, inner turmoil etc. Also, can we talk about the spice? Everybody say thank you Kate for finally blessing us with some Kane *ahem* scenes. I could have used some more though please and thank you for the next book.

Speaking of the next book, KATE I NEED IT NOW PLEASE! I'm gonna need Netgalley to get it up because the one bad thing about reading ARCs is waiting even longer for the sequel and that ending was a lot. Like crying at 2am while sending snapchats screaming to my friend a lot.

Wow. I don’t even know where to start with this read because that’s how much I loved it. This is an action packed second book that will leave you slightly emotionally damaged, but wanting more. The slow burn romance explored with the dual point of view was steamy and authentic. A Promise of Peridot was originally, well paced, tensioned filled, and addictive.

I highly recommend this read and cannot wait for book 3.

The story has a lot of promise! The characters feel very flat and the writing very unpolished. Don’t know if I will be continuing this series.

Thank you Berkley Romance for my gifted digital ARC

Ok wow!that was a fantastic read, its been a while since I was so engrossed in a story like this one and I am all giddy by the time I was at the ending.You know that specific feeling you get after finishing a good book, for me there was never a dull moment in the book because the pacing was just perfect and the story progresses really well from the very first chapter. If you enjoyed A Dawn Of Onyx, you will love Promise because everything gets just even better, if the first book was more like mapping out the story and establishing the world, this one was executing everything per the laid out plans. I am officially obsessed with the series

I loved the slow burn, angsty (groveling kane) chemistry between Kane and Arwen. The story focuses a lot on self growth and healing which was really well written, there were several moments that had me on the edge because of a lot of tension filled action sequences and Oh my! Griffin and Mari.. the way I wanted to read more about them. I'd love to read a novella or a whole novel about them lol just saying. It has a couple open door romance scenes but I thought they were placed well without taking away reader's focus from other things that are happening around. There are also a few new characters that were introduced and they were quite intriguing as we play the game of "can we trust them?" all the time. Overall I had so much fun reading the book and I literally cannot wait for October when the final book comes out even though I am reviewing the second one had not come out yet!

This was a such a wild ride of a book! I couldn’t put it down and had to do a re-read! I loved everything about this book. The plot, the character developments, the side characters, it was all so good. I cannot wait for book #3!

After patiently, actually impatiently waiting for the sequel to The Dawn of the Onyx, it was finally time to get a chance to read. I absolutely LOVED the first book in the series with its enemies- to-lovers slow burn and the premise of a girl having to pay for her brother's crimes, only to fall for her capture, and a ruthless king was everything. The first book leaves off on a major cliffhanger, though, so I was eager to finally get some answers I deserved from The Dawn of the Onyx. We are back to the FMC having conflicting, yet hateful feelings towards the MMC with events happening in the first book. All the while, the MMC is head-over-heals in love and cannot think straight. I thought this was a great second book for the series that answered some questions but also kept me longing for more. I NEED the third book as soon as possible for my own sake.

Ahhhhh! I devoured A Dawn of Onyx and was being honored and proud to gain access to A Promise of Peridot, which I equally devoured! From book one as a slow burn, perfect tension… readers are going to love this perfect sequel! My only complain is realizing that I might have to wait until October for book #3! Kate, if you’re ever in Fort Worth, find me! Until then, if you wonder why a B&N is outselling this, it’s because you deserve all the love!

This book was so much fun! I love the world that Kate has built. It is so easy to understand but complex enough to keep it interesting.

The adventure in this book in the hunt for the sword was great. I loved the journey through the cave and to the prison island. Arwen & Kane are so good together and so entertaining to read.

I enjoyed watching Arwen work through her feelings and figure out who she is and what she wants now. HOPE!! That’s what she wants and that’s what she allows herself to find!

What an ending!!! Arwen’s last battle is epic and a total cliffhanger! I can’t wait for the final installment of this trilogy!!

It has been more than a week since I finished reading "A Promise of Peridot. I can't pick up another fantasy book. All I can think about is this book. Kate Golden has become an auto-read author for me after "Dawn of Onyx" and has become one of my favorite fantasy authors of all time. The characters, again, were well-developed and exciting, with incredible backstories and witty and believable relationships. The world that Kate has created in the first book is colorful, magical, and fille with exciting cultures, creatures, and landscapes, just as in this second book. Kate's writing style is incredibly descriptive and immersive, the pacing exciting but even, and the story flows effortlessly. As a librarian, it's tough to recommend fantasy books for YA readers that would not measure up to A Court of Thorns and Roses for them. This series certainly does. A strong five of five stars for me. We will be eagerly purchasing this book for our library. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book voluntarily, and all opinions are my own.

This was sooo good and I really loved where the story went. I am so impressed by this fantasy romance series and I'm not sure why more people aren't talking about it. It has magical creatures, fairies, and steamy romance. It's also written very well. It did suffer a little from second book syndrome for me but otherwise, I thought it was a great read.

This is the second installment in the Sacred Stones series and I highly recommend you read A Dawn of Onyx first for the full experience of the world, characters, and plot.

A journey filled with pirates, kingdoms, secrets, treasure, and witchcraft will bring them to their most difficult task yet, will they be able to save each other before time runs out? .The treasure they seek will unravel them both as they navigate their feelings in a slow burn that is scorchin hot. Will Kane and Arwen survive despite their sacrifices? Can they find a way to destroy the one person who could doesn't care if they live or die?

Discover a world that is colorful, captivating, and full of zing in this fantasy that takes the reader on a journey leaving you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? It's time to find out if Arwen and Kane can save a kingdom before time runs out.



..

Our story picks up with Arwen on a ship sailing for Citrine. After a twist of betrayal and lies at the end of book 1 Arwen and Kane must find their way back to each other, but is it worth it? Prepare yourself for cities under the sea, jungles, magical caves that transform, hidden treasure, pirates, a prison island, and magical beasts.
Ugh! I was ready for this second installment in this trilogy as soon as I finished the first! I was so happy with the progression of this story! All the different landscapes and kingdoms we were able to explore along with the people and beasts. I loved how our slow burn romance progressed, but I won’t ruin this review with spoilers, you will have to see for yourself!

If my five stars did not say enough, I loved this book. Read the trilogy….do it.

I don’t even know where to begin, and quite frankly, there’s not a lot I can say here that isn’t super spoilery if you haven’t already ready A Dawn of Onyx, but—holy shit.

This world, despite the fact that I am absolutely REELING from that ending, is SO FUN. I loved being able to travel to different kingdoms with the gang, I loved the quest and adventure aspect, and I love everything about Golden’s writing. It’s so easy to get wholly sucked into this world with these characters. I never wanted to leave!

On top of the fantasy, the romance was freaking chef’s kiss. Adding Kane’s POV gave everything so much more depth, and I loved seeing how down bad he was for Arwen. King Kane Ravenwood is a national treasure that should be protected at all costs.

I need book three IMMEDIATELY.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kate Golden, for allowing me to be an ARC reader for this book!

I adored A Dawn of Onyx and was so excited for this one. Good news! It did NOT disappoint! This book was everything I wanted it to be and more.

Action-packed, dual POV and plenty of steamy scenes kept this interesting and made it impossible to put down. I also appreciate any author who can create a solid, unique magic system and takes time for world-building!

That ending, though, while making us wait till October for book three!? The Audacity!

Kate Golden has just became my insta-buy author. My love for Arwen and Kane grew so much in this book. The tension is still so thick from the first book, which I love because I hate an enemies to lovers where they’re already besties in the first book. This was so well written and I ate up the pages like it was the last piece of ravioli (read: I love ravioli more than life) and I NEED THE THIRD BOOK ASAP!! This was easily one of the best books I have read this year, and easily a five stars!!

This was such a great follow up to A Dawn of Onyx and I liked that it picked up right where book one ended. This book was fast paced, action packed, and I really liked that we got to see more of this world because I find it so interesting. There was a lot of character development in this book not only with the main characters but also with the side characters and I enjoyed seeing Kane and Arwen’s relationship progress. I was not expecting it to end the way it did and I was shocked and can’t wait for book 3 to come out because I need to know what happens next. Thank you so much Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC.