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.

I wanted to love but but it is just not for me - i ended up DNF-in about 35% in - just not the book for me

Thank you NetGalley for this arc. I really liked this one. I actually liked it better than the first one. Overall, it is a great sequel to the Golden Court series. A lot of spice, very suspenseful, and the buildup for the next book is amazing. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book.

A big thank you to NetGalley and AK Mulford for this eArc!

What a continuation to The Golden Court series! A Sky of Emerald Stars picks up where the previous book ended and adds an additional perspective to Calla: Sadie. Sadie, Calla, and the rest of the new Golden Court are trying to find a peaceful alternative to the war that is undoubtedly looming. However, to complicate matters even further, King Nero kidnaps Ora, making the need for peace much harder to achieve. The Golden Court splits up, Sadie, Maez, and Navin heading to Valta and Calla leading the rest of the group to Tiagos to try to get their rulers on their side and to uncover the secrets around them. More specifically, Sadie must face the person who appears to be hiding something major from them, Navin, as Calla struggles with their new responsibilities to their court and to themself.

I really enjoyed this book, the worldbuilding was clear and enticing, and the Wolf/Human dynamic only became more interesting. While all characters have grown since the first book, there were moments where both Calla and Sadie felt reduced to one characteristic or emotion. Nevertheless, the twists that Mulford introduces feel new and tie well into previously established plot points. As always, Mulford writes a spicy, constantly tempting romance that perfectly fits the story. I am very much so looking forward to the next installment, and would highly recommend this book!

4.5/5

I was so excited to go back to the world of The Golden Court! And unlike The Five Crowns of Okrinth, we stay with the main character of the first book and we get to see Calla be Queen. The characters and character relationships are so good in this one. A.K. Mulford is incredible at creating complex relationships with each and every character, and that is no different with Sadie.

I can't wait for the next and final installment of this great series! I wonder if we will get another POV in that book....

A Sky of Emerald Stars is the anticipated follow up to A River of Golden Bones. We get to continue the story of Calla and their court from the POV of Calla and fellow Wolf Sadie.

I liked the dual POV of this book. We get to see how all the pieces and people are aligning for the next book and it does leave you on the edge knowing a big war is coming.

Calla is really a great character and I really found their struggle to maintain their identity really authentic. Sadie is clearly working through some things of her own but she seems to really start grasping herself by the end.

This was such a great follow up and had a lot of great momentum to propel you forward in the story. I am really looking forward to how this story plays out and I really like the authenticity of the different characters.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for a review.

Loved this book! I read the first book and could t wait to read the next book! I loved the characters and the story!

What can I say? It really didn't work for me. I borrowed the first book so I could go into this one knowing what was going on, and I thought A River of Golden Bones was pretty good (lots of interesting self-discovery, romance, lore), but this one really lost the magic. If I were more into New Adult fantasy books, I could see this clicking more, but I don't see this crossing over the way similar books have.

I preferred the romance in this book to the romance in book one! I gave the first book 3 stars but book two was a solid four star read, and was set up perfectly for the third book in the trilogy, which I will definitely read after book two saved the series for me. I don't think the book stands on it's own, so readers probably do need to start with book 1 in order to appreciate the series. There was a great romance with some spice, some very cool magic, and lots of surprises and betrayals in this book that kept me reading and engaged the whole time!

I really wanted to love this book, but I just feel like it fell flat very quickly and didn't pick up speed. The premise was interesting but the execution was lacking.

This book!!!!!! I thought the first book was amazing and wasn't sure about this one being a dual POV with Calla and Sadie but oh my gosh I think I liked it even better!!! So many twists you don't see coming! The plot and writing are absolutely amazing and the spice is on point. So different from other fantasy series. This book sucks you in from the first chapter to the last. I love the diversity of the characters and the message of being true to yourself. I can't WAIT until the next book!!!!

I just absolutely had so much fun getting to go along on these characters journey. I was just swept away and I just absolutely can’t get enough of this series or its wonderful characters. This author just has away of drawing you in with her wonderful stories and you just can’t get enough of them. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for giving me an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

So, after the first book, I thought I was prepared for how spicy this novel was going to be— I was wrong. If I thought the last book was spicy, good lord this one was a Carolina Reaper— and I, famously, have the spice tolerance of a piece of limp lettuce. There was a lot of eye rolling involved.

The spice level would have been fine if the plot had been interesting, but unfortunately, this was a classic second book in a trilogy— a lot of set up for the last book and not a lot of actual plot. What little plot there was just seemed like interludes between the sex scenes, like the characters themselves were annoyed with the fact that they had to do things besides have constant sex. It was a shame, because the plot was actually really interesting, and the book, like the previous one, was really well written! There was just WAY too much sex, and not enough story.

Thank you so much foe the opportunity to ARC read.
Things I liked: I liked the variety of characters, the plot twists were incredible, the world building was well done, I liked that this book was dual POV, it was nice to read another perspective with the first book being all from Calla's POV, the different types of magic was interesting and the relationship between characters was relatable.
Things I didn't like: I didn't like Calla, I actually had a hard time with all of the characters for whatever reason. The flow of the book was up and down making it hard to keep my interest at times.
Overall, this was a good continuation in the series and set up the premise for the third book nicely.
I rated this book 3 stars.

4.5 stars

Book 2 continues to fall Calle and Sadie on their journey. This novel continues similarly to book 1. We get Dual POV and I thoroughly enjoyed Sadie's POV. I was happy to see the story develop further, and the political and relationship aspects captivate me as a reader. The book continues to have lots of action but still focused on the characters themselves. I'm excited to see where the next book will take us.

One of the worst things about reading ARCs in a series is that I will need to wait even longer to read the rest of the series than if I had read the story after publication. A Sky of Emerald Stars is a book that I was very, very excited to read, and there was very little in it that disappointed me. A. K. Mulford writes compelling fantasy novels and always manages to add in characters who have been under/unrepresented in books historically, and I appreciate seeing those stories play out. The magic system that is introduced in this book is unique, and not one that I've seen before, so I found it to be really compelling.
There were a few tropes that I, personally, don't always like, but overall this book was excellent and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to take a deep dive into a new fantasy world that starts with a fun take on several fairy tales, includes fates mates, and fun and unique magic.
I will be EAGERLY checking to see when the next book is finished, because I can't wait to continue with this story.