I just absolutely love this series so much. That ending though!?? I need book 3 in my hands right this second!

Kate Golden does a phenomenal job of immersing the reader in the world she's created. This book had everything, and Arwens struggle with her emotions and situation and over coming it was everything.

4⭐️ Thank you Berkeley Romance for an e-ARC!
I enjoyed the first book in this series overall, but I think this was a great follow-up. At the very beginning I was a bit confused since it had been a while after finishing the first book, but once I remembered I became immersed in the story.

I like Arwen and Kane and their romance-I was rooting for them to get together and I enjoyed seeing their moments!

The fantasy aspects weren’t super hard to understand and the concept of the world-building and the kingdoms with different stones is cool!

I binged a good portion of this in a short time! I won’t say what happens, but THAT ENDING. reading I was already looking forward to the third book but now I’m especially excited for its release! All in all, this was a solid sequel, and I’ve enjoyed reading this series so far!

This was beautiful. I absolutely love how the story is unfolding, and the ending was GUT WRENCHING. I guessed what would happen maybe 2 pages before but then second guessed myself like “No there’s no way she’d do that!” WELL SHE DID THAT.

I can’t wait for the third book. I recommend this for anyone that is a fan of magic, fantasy, and broody male characters. Also if you want to have your heart ripped out and stepped on. ❤️

A sophomore success that promises an exciting book 3 in the series!

It is SO rewarding to see an author refine their craft and improve and this was so evident to me in this book. I loved A Dawn of Onyx, but it was so fun to see the improvements in Golden's writing and character/plot development.

I appreciated getting to see calm (and not-calm) moments between Kane and Arwen where their chemistry was able to shine through and I LOVED getting to see Arwen step into her own power and confidence. She has come a long way. And that ending definitely has me counting the days until book 3!

A Promise of Peridot is an exciting continuation of The Sacred Stones series that raises the stakes in every way. More passion, more magic, more action. You'll be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next.

Thank you to Kate Golden and Berkley Publishing group for an ARC copy of this book for an unbiased review

A Dawn of Onyx was one of the first books I read in 2023, and I was excited to start a new romantasy series that showed such potential. It probably would have behooved me to re-read A Dawn of Onyx before A Promise of Peridot, but ah well. Arwen and Kane continue to be excellent characters. The spice is spicing in this book. The side characters are so good and well fleshed out, and the twist and turns were great! I'm so excited to read the next book, and I really wish more people knew about this series. Fourth Wing who?

I have been waiting for this second book since reading A Dawn of Onyx. I really enjoyed the characters and the battle between good and evil. Plus, who doesn't love a tall handsome fae who wields shadows? I was excited to pick back up in book two. I really enjoyed A Promise of Peridot overall. All of the side characters have my heart. I found the will-they-won't-they of the two main characters kind of meh. I also thought there was maybe too much in the book? Every time we were taken to a brand new part of the world, the characters quickly left. I would have like to sit in a few of those adventures a little longer. I did NOT like the plot twist at the end mostly because I don't like the trope it's headed toward. I really hope this doesn't play out in book three. Gross.

Firstly- thank you NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for the ARC copy of A Promise of Peridot ✨

HOLY MOLY. What a ride this book was. Here is a series of my face from beginning to end:
😞😏🫨😬🫣😱😬🥵🧐🫣🫣😳😧😮😬

Kate Golden truly knows how to leave you craving more at the end of a book. My jaw was on the floor. I may have even said “WHAT?!” out loud with my husband and toddler fast asleep next to me.

Shadow daddy Kane. 🖤
This man had me saying “SIR” out loud several times.
While he’s full of danger and can 💀 without moving a muscle, he’s really just a cinnamon roll of a guy.

Our girl, Arwen, is going THROUGH it. I personally loved her growth through this story. I’m nervous for her in this next book, however.. 🫣

This message is for Kate: I need more of Mari & Griffin. Like a novella. It’s a NEED.

Dawn of Onyx & A Promise of Peridot are truly so original and like a breath of fresh air in the romantasy genre. I seriously can’t wait for book 3, A Reign of Rose! 🥀

❗️A Promise of Peridot is available April 11, 2024!

An enjoyable continuation to a pretty standard romantasy series

Kate Golden's sequel to A Dawn of Onyx delivers on promises of slow burn romance, groveling morally grey men, a complex political landscape, and a powerful FMC accepting her fate in a prophecy meant to be her doom. Arwen's struggle to come to terms with both Kane's betrayal and her fate are heartbreaking (a few tears were shed) and very well done. I love a two POV book, especially since Kane knows so much more about the world than Arwen and I loved being in his head (except when he was monologuing about being a monster or making comments about how petite Arwen is). The plot is fast paced, with nearly non-stop action, twists, and turns. The characters are complex and relatable, but I NEEDED more Mari and Griffin!

I bounced between 3 and 4 stars for a while, and decided that since I read the book in 2 sittings, it'd get 4 stars.
First off, I was LOST at the beginning. I ARC read the first book so it may have been that it was just too long ago for me to remember all characters, but I was overwhelmed by the onslaught of names and if they didn't make enough of an impact for me to remember even their names...well...
Second, the world building felt a bit simply for an adult fantasy book. I don't think the religion with the sacred stones is super clear or actually important (other than to replace "god" with "stones" in curses)
Third, I am not a fan of the epilogue because it kind of ruined the cliffhanger ending and it gave me the ick in terms of where book 3 might go.

I will definitely still read book 3 when it comes out, as well as anything else Golden publishes.

I love this! It was such a good read. The tension, the romance, the friends. The ending was so shocking and I’m excited for the final book. I felt like the pacing of this book was perfect.

First, I want to say thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC. I read A Dawn of Onyx a few months ago and was so excited to receive the second book of this series! Second, ummm…. The cliffhanger?! How am I supposed to wait months for the next one?!

Ratings:
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Romance: 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 4.5/5
Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 3.5/5

What to Expect:
✓ Dual POV (my fav)
✓ Lots and lots of pining and angst, particularly from the men
✓ Great world building/exploration of new kingdoms
✓ Slow burn romance
✓ Lots of action throughout
✓ Fun secondary character dynamics

Thoughts:
Ugh I just am loving this series. And I love Kane, Arwen, Mari, Griffin, and everyone. In this book, we get way more world building which I loved. All of the new monsters, new magic, and traveling around to all of the other kingdoms really made the story fast paced and enjoyable, and I never really felt like the story was lagging.

Where this book really shined for me was the characters. I really loved the friendships and relationships throughout, especially Mari and Griffin. Bringing in Fedric also added an entertaining dynamic for angsty sad boy Kane. Arwen did a lot of necessary growing throughout this book, and of course the romance between her and Kane is swoon worthy.

The ending was an absolute wild ride and certainly made me NEED to read the third, which luckily is showing as coming out in the fall ♥️

Unfortunately, though I enjoyed parts of it, this book series isn't for me. Although I did enjoy the overall plot, the MCs just don't connect for me and the tropes fell too obvious in this series.

This was a great follow up to book 1, I loved the romantic tension, and the side characters were so great! Can't wait to finish the trilogy!!

stronger than the previous book in the series. strong work! i quite enjoyed it. thanks for the arc, would recommend quite a bit

After finishing the first book, I immediately had to jump into this one. The story just gets better and better. I loved the development between the characters, the romance, and their overall mission in the plot. Arwen is now one of my favorite book characters. I already need book 3 asap.

Could I be screaming anymore for this book? I honestly don't think so!

I couldn't put it down, and thankfully was traveling across country which gave me tons of time to read this amazing story. I am absolutely in love with Kane, he is top tier fantasy man through and through. I love the side characters of Mari and Griffin and would not be sad to have a spin off one book of just them. I really don't know what else to write that wouldn't be a spoiler, just know this series is top tier trifecta fantasy romance at it's best.

A Promise in Peridot is an excellent sophomore novel and in my opinion delivers more than A Dawn of Onyx. The relationship with the characters (THE TENSION!!!) is better, the plot and pacing are more succinct and clear, and the stakes are even higher. For every trope and genre typical reliance, there is an excellent spin or gratifying pay off for everyone, which was something the freshman novel lacked in. Kate Golden really did something with the cliffhanger and I am mad I have to wait as long as I do!

I loved this book! I need the next one immediately! This whole series is so good, very quick with no slow parts. My one negative is that there was no good spot to stop reading for the night... It was too hard to put down! I have book one in my staff picks section at my store and I've been getting everyone ready for this one. Thank you for the great read!

OBSESSED. I am so in love with this story. And A Promise of Peridot did not disappoint!! It started right where A Dawn of Onyx left off and kept me engaged to the end…I mean I finished in 2 days. I rarely do that now.

This book had me IN MY FEELINGS. Why was it so emotional for me? I don’t know but I devoured every bit. Cried a lot of sad and happy tears. Couldn’t stop giggling at points, and then wanted to throw my kindle at the end. In the best way! I can’t wait to get a physical copy to transfer all my annotations!

….some things I loved…. Kane being KANE <3 he’s so dark and dreamy. The amount of action was perfect. The SPICE was amazing. The fact that I felt immersed in this story as if I were a character on the same adventures. Ugh I cannot wait for the next installment! Thank you NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing, and Kate Golden for this masterpiece. 5/5

Thank you to the Kate Golden and Berkeley for an ARC of this book!!! I loved A Dawn of Onyx and couldn't wait for this book to come out in April! I'm so lucky to get to read it early. This book was fantastic, all the angst and drama. The world expanded in this book and I felt everything! This book took me on an emotional roller-coaster and it was a fantastic ride! All I could do was read this book. I stayed up way to late to finish it and when I wasnt reading it it was all I could think about. I still have my physical copy on pre-order and will absolutely reread this series again and again.

Unfortunately, this book series just isn't for me. Although I did enjoy the dual POV and overall pining and tension between our two MC's, their decision making was difficult to wrap my around, often taking me out of the plot.