Wonderful book. So much conflict in this world! I enjoyed the journey with Sadie and Navin and look forward to more from this group and world. So much more to be resolved!! 4.5/5

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this eARC!!

After Calla takes their throne in the golden court, she and her friends set out to become allies with the ice wolves and onyx wolves before the coming conflict with the silver wolf king, Nero.

I think A.K. Mulford is truly a magician. All her books have very well written conflicts and romance and character development. The one thing I think is a little silly (while still incredibly creative) was the choice to have magical music. However, the seeds of this plot line were clearly already planted and very well thought through. Very excited to continue the story in the next book.

I really should’ve made that tally. Because yet again another of my most anticipated releases of 2024 fell completely flat. I think I’m the most upset by this sequel compared to others because book 1 was such a fast paced, interesting magic system and unique world building. Meanwhile book 2 said we are going to have our main character and one of side characters go on two separate never ending boring hikes. Cool cool love that said no one ever.

Anyway, The only thing saving me from giving this book a lower star rating is because of the Sadie & Navin plot line it was by far the most interesting one. And the only part of the plot that brought new depth and magic to the world being built. Now yes there were still parts that frustrated me especially when Navin betrayed her and then 2 seconds later lol nvm all good time to sleep together. I had to do a double take because that was not the same badass Sadie we had in book 1.

But the even worse offense cames from Calla story line. Why is our MFC, our Queen, being given the slowest plot line. I feel like the only thing Calla accomplished was new ways to have sex with Grae in extremely dangerous situations. Also Calla’s “woe is me” attitude felt like a total 180 from the badass character we had in book 1.

I apologize I feel like all I did was bash this book. The book wasn't bad, just way too slow. Even with all that said I still plan to continue on with the series and I still recommend the series as a whole.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager/ Avon for providing me with an ARC to read and review.

All fantasy books need to start with a recap! This took me a while to get into, mostly because I was trying to remember the characters and what happened in previous books. I remembered Calla, Grae and Briar pretty well but this book was more focused on Sadie and Navin. It took me a while to warm to Navin because he's such a liar but I did fall in love as the story went on! I really enjoyed this book overall. The spice level was pretty satisfactory in my opinion 🤣 if you don't like spice it could be overkill.

I am the hugest fan of AK Mulford after book 1 of the Golden Court romantasy trilogy. I cannot wait for book 3 and highly recommend this series as well as her High Mountain Court series of which I proudly display on my shelf!

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Still pretty disappointed that this was nothing like the authors other work...but after enjoying the first book i thought reading this one would be fun.

it was ok. I loved the wolf aspect to it and the main characters in depth stories but I have a feeling that the author will write many books with in this world and I just dont think its for me. It feels very YA while also not being YA? I cant totally put my finger on it.

A.K. Mulford books have been mentioned in several of my fantasy book groups, so I was excited to give The Golden Court trilogy a chance. I greatly enjoyed this second installment in the series. Mulford writes delightful characters and has a very engaging writing style. I would not hesitate to recommend this series to anyone who enjoys reading romantasy.

The next great installment of Queer Romantasy.

This book is the sequel to A River of Golden Bones, and while we do see some of our favorites, it does primarily focus on a new couple: Sadie and Navin.
The world building really shines in this book, letting readers delve into the wonderful mind of A K Mulford

I am chomping at the bit for book 3!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of the book.

This is the second book in the trilogy. I liked the first book, A River of Golden Bones (4 stars), but the second book really took off on a dangerous journey for the characters. Once again this is told through two points of view (Calla and Sadie), which I really liked. One is trying to get soldiers from one kingdom, while the other going on an undercover rescue mission. The ending has me begging for the third book to come out now.

3.75⭐️ I really loved A River of Golden Bones and was excited to move into A Sky of Emerald Stars.

I particularly loved Calla and was so invested in her fated mates romance with Grae. My heart was full as I watched her love and protection of her twin sister Briar and the loyalty and growing connection of the found family was so beautiful.

As we moved into ASOES it felt like Calla lost herself, and I longed to see the fierce, independent warrior who was leading a revolution. Although I enjoyed seeing her let Grae and Briar lead with her I hope that some of her fire and strength of leadership returns in book 3.

The majority of the story followed Sadie and Navin, which I didn’t enjoy as much. I loved the impulsive, fiery, stabby Sadie of book one but as we got to know her better in ASOES I found her frustrating and annoying. Unfortunately I didn’t take to Navin in book one and therefore I did not care for his relationship with Sadie at all.

I adored the found family created in book one and therefore when they were separated I wasn’t as invested, I missed this element.

I enjoyed this read, but sadly I didn’t love it. (And recognise that this is a me problem so I know others will love it just as much as book one) But I do appreciate the story path and I am looking forward to book 3… especially after so much political nastiness and so many horrible betrayals!

The beautiful cover art and book blurb gave me high hopes for a great read. A.K. Mulford is a very talented fantasy writer, as displayed in the well executed world building and the smooth flowing POV transitions between Calla and Sadie. I found myself enjoying Sadie’s POV chapters much more than Calla’s storyline. I struggled to see Calla as having the qualities of the great sacrificing leader referenced in book one. In contrast, it seemed this displayed her emotions and actions as impulsive, flighty and constantly needing her mate to prevent her from responding rashly to conflict. I believe the author was trying to show Calla’s deep love of those around her but it came across with a drama queen vibe instead. Overall, I felt the book added value to the series but I have mixed thoughts on whether I’ll reach for the next one when it’s published.

*I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This is the second book I the series and it was a great continuation of the series! The romance was the perfect amount and I loved the world building and plot!

A Sky of Emerald Stars by A.K. Mulford is the second book in The Golden Court trilogy. The story picks up after the end of the first book. Calla is trying to rebuild her Golden Court kingdom with her family and other constituents, however these plans are put on pause as Ora, Calla's friend and mentor, is captured by a rival Wolf King. Sadie is tasked to try to uncover the rival king's secrets while Calla seeks allies from the Ice Wolves. The story is told via two points of view, Calla and Sadie, as they both work on their mission with their respective groups.

I'll admit I struggled when I first started the book because I forgot some of the characters and plot of the previous one. Once I refreshed my memory, I was able to jump right in. Similar to the first book, ASOES is a fast-paced adventurous story. A lot happens in this book and it was a bit of a wild ride at times. Getting to know the characters better was fulfilling and I enjoyed seeing the various relationships (romantic and plutonic) continue to develop. For fans of spice, there was a handful of spicy scenes. There's representation of LGBTQIA+. I really enjoyed this story and am really excited to read the last book in the trilogy.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for granting me an advanced reader copy of the ebook. A Sky of Emerald Stars is expected to be published on December 24, 2024.

**3.75 stars

I was so so so excited to get approved on netgalley for this arc. However, after an explosive first book (in a good way!), this book definitely fell flat.

It wasn't bad and I still greatly enjoyed it however, there were a lot of slow sections that were a little hard to trudge through. Also, the spicy scenes were at the oddest times. The characters weren't as enjoyable in this book and every seemed a little negative through the whole thing.

That being said, I really liked some of the new elements and surprises introduced into the storyline and thought that lore was very interesting. The last 25% of the book was great! Plot twists that had my jaw on the floor!

I think this book had second book syndrome and was setting up for the third book - which, by the way I'm really excited for!

This is an eARC review.

I still don’t think this series is for me. I read the first book because I was approved for an eARC of the second book, but quickly found it wasn’t my thing. This was slightly better. I enjoyed the dual pov…especially Callie’s point of view, but other than that it was hard to feel attached to any part of this story.

I didn’t realize when I requested this book at this was book 2 in a series, so I had to go back and read book 1 before reading book 2. Overall, I really enjoyed both books. Specifically for this book, I have to say that I liked that the dual POV was two characters that were not romantically interested in each other. Most of the dual POV romance/ romantacy books are usually the love interests for each other and I found it refreshing that the dual POV was not that.

I also found that this book, as well as book 1, is a great asset to people who are questioning their gender and gender norms as well as allies who may not understand someone who is ‘merem.’ These books give a lot of good insight to the thoughts and feelings of people who are questioning themselves. We also love representation, which this book is great for!

It was a great book, it’s a good series and I can’t wait for the next book to come out!

I enjoyed this a lot more than book 1, but I don't think I'm the right person for this. Most of it is wolf clan politics which I did not care for.

It switches between Calla and Sadie's POV which was fantastic. While I am not a fan of Calla, I absolutely adore Sadie. Her storyline was my favorite, but she was the only character I actually liked. Everyone else felt flat.

I was bored a lot. The best part of this was anytime someone betrayed someone else which happened more times than I expected. I thought the story would take off after that but the pacing stayed decently slow.

It felt like the characters picked the weirdest times to have sex. It never moved the story or relationships along and just felt like a smut break which I feel hindered the flow of the story. But also, if I thought my enemy was going to be there soon, I'd get out of there and not be trying to have sex. It felt odd.

Overall, the betrayals were great and so was reading about Sadie, but it did feel like a setup for Book 3 rather than having its own solid plot.

CW: explicit sex
No Content Warnings are listed in the ARC but there's a spot for them and THANK YOU. That's a sign of an adult book and that this won't be marketed incorrectly as YA (which was my experience with book 1). I'm very happy to see that.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Do you judge a book by its cover? I do. And this cover is beautiful! Unfortunately for me, the story line feel a bit flat. After coming off a faster-paced, battle-heavy Book 1, the sudden drop in pace was disconcerting and, quite frankly, left me bored. The plot line with Sadie and Navin was by far the most interesting one, albeit still frustrating since it seemed like she was mad at him for his betrayal a whole 2 seconds before she jumped into his bed. I just felt that a badass warrior like Sadie, would need more convincing to forgive someone she viewed as a traitor.

The Calla story line was sllooowwww. I really struggled to get invested in their plot line. It felt an like their story swung from "Poor, poor me" to "I need to have sex right now" and back again, over, and over, and over without any kind of range in the middle.

The book wasn't bad, just too slow and boring for me. I had to force my way through it, which was made all the more disappointing by how fast I finished Book 1. I guess we'll see what Book 3 has to offer . . .

The Golden Court is rebuilding after the reign of an evil sorceress. Sadie is exploring how she will fit into this new world. The rival, Nero kidnaps the queen's friend and all hope for peace is lost. Sadie is tasked to travel with Navin and Maez to try and win new allies while being undercover, But Navin has his own secrets and Sadie is focused on both her attachment and loathing of him, The Queen is forced to seek help from another pack but the queen is unwilling to help rescue Ora. Sadie and Calla struggle to gain support for the upcoming war and they realize the world is more than it seems.

I enjoyed the dual POV of this book because it let us see all the different pieces of the story aligning and builds the tension of knowing a war is coming. Both FMC are strong and exhibit character growth as they start to come into themselves. They both face struggles but continue to push through.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVoyager for the eBook ARC of this book!

A Sky of Emerald Stars is the second book in the The Golden Court series. This book picks up shortly after the other book left off, where the characters are trying to navigate their new roles in the kingdom.

Calla is now a new ruler who has to prepare their court for the eventualities of war with a neighboring kingdom. They are also trying to establish their newly found sense of self while being a diplomatic leader in other courts.

Meanwhile, Sadie, a new member of the Golden Court, is feeling lost. No longer a member of a pack and feeling thoroughly betrayed by the person she once loved, she has become self-destructive. However, when the kingdom is in need of new alliances, Calla calls upon Sadie to fulfill her duty. This means making a dangerous quest to a brutal court, unfortunately with her ex as the guide on the journey.

I do have to say that, while I did enjoy this story overall, I found the pacing more challenging this time around. I really loved the first book, to the point I remember reading it in one night, but this one took me some time. Part of my struggle was that I loved Calla’s character in the first book and while they still have POV chapters, I was not expecting such a significant lack of this character’s presence.

When it came to the second POV, Sadie was initially frustrating because of her self-destructive actions and her love interest was equally frustrating because of all the secrets he kept from her (their relationship was like pairing Nesta’s behavior from the beginning of HOFAS with Xaden’s secret keeping in Iron Flame).

Gradually, these two do work themselves out and their adventures allowed them to grow as characters, making the storyline much more interesting. Their adventures also expanded the world even more which was really exciting. I loved seeing the new places that the characters traveled to and the different ways they approached the quests they were on.

If you are looking for a story with multiple villains, monsters, betrayals, secrets, epic quests, battles, shapeshifters, magic, a bit of fairy tale retelling, and spice, this series is one you should check out.

Highlights:
✨ Dual POV
✨ Enemies-to-Lovers
✨ LGBTQ+ rep
✨ Werewolves
✨ Quests
✨ Magical songs
✨ Secrets & betrayals
✨ Spice

Note: This is the second book in a series, and book one should be read first in order to fully understand the characters and worldbuilding.