I really liked this book! I love a slow burn, fates mates, spicy situation and this hit the nail on the head so well. A favorite series of mine! Also- the world building is absolutely delicious.

Book Review: A Sky of Emerald Stars

If you’re a fan of slow-burn romance, magic, and rich wolf lore, A Sky of Emerald Stars delivers an enticing ride that’s full of twists, turns, and plenty of spice (3 out of 5 peppers!). The story beautifully intertwines themes of love, betrayal, and self-discovery while offering an inclusive representation of LGBTQIA+ relationships.

Pros
• Wolf Lore & Transformation Details: The intricate world-building around wolf culture and their transformations is both vivid and captivating, immersing you in their mystical reality.
• LGBTQIA+ Inclusion: The relationships feel authentic and well-rounded, providing much-needed representation in fantasy romance.
• Powerful Women: The female characters are strong, multifaceted, and carry the story with grace and fire.
• Mates: The fated mate trope is used effectively, bringing an intense emotional depth to the connections.

Cons
• Vague Verbiage: Some of the terminology and magical concepts could have been explained more clearly, which might leave readers confused at times.
• Pacing Issues: While overall engaging, some sections move too quickly, which can make certain scenes feel underdeveloped.

Final Thoughts

The story’s twists will keep you hooked, and the ending leaves you desperate for the next installment. Despite minor pacing issues, A Sky of Emerald Stars is a must-read for anyone who loves wolves, magic, and emotionally charged storytelling. It’s a howling success in its genre!

Silver Wolves have taken Ora, a traveling musician dear to Calla, Queen of the Golden Court. Calla sends Sadie, former member of the Silver Wolf pack, to forge an alliance with the Onyx Wolves while Calla travels to the Ice Wolves. If they fail, the Golden Court will have little hope of rescuing Ora. Sadie’s now trapped on a diplomatic journey with Navin, the human she fell for—before he betrayed her. Sadie must use her wits to discover Navin’s secrets, but she’s better at stabbing…

Sadie and Maez had a great friendship, full of teasing, genuine care and a kick in the pants when needed. Navin was delightfully mysterious and I was hooked to discover more. The world-building was good, with unique magics and monsters.

This one felt slower to me than book one and had too many setbacks and too little hope for me.

I also have mixed feelings about the spice. Sometimes there was well-crafted romantic tension and important character development that hooked me into the intimate scenes—but other times, it felt like explicit moments were there on page just to be there.

Overall, this sequel did a good job of continuing its exploration of gender roles and expression while adding more complexity to the world and conflicts. I hope the next book moves the plot along faster and gives the group some wins (other than romantic ones) alongside challenges.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

This was just an okay book for me, it was a good sequel but it dragged a lot at the beginning which made it difficult to get into the story. This sequel had 2 POV's which is always fun but one POV (Sadie's) was way more fun and exciting for me than the other. I kept wanting to get back to her POV whenever it would switch over. While I enjoyed parts of this I just felt that I still did not have enough world building to feel invested in the story. There are parts of this world that are very interesting but are not explained in a thorough enough way to make them exciting. I still want to read the next one to see how the story concludes but I will just be more cautiously optimistic for that one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for granting me access in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Golden Court series, and as well as following again through Callas POV we now also get Sadies

Sadie is part of the Royal Guard and when one of Callas friends, Ora, gets captured, Sadie is tasked to find out the secrets of the rival Wolf king, Nero. Sadie has to do this with her friend Maez and Navin who broke her heart before.

Calla also has to make allowances to work against Nero and save Ora along the way, and this includes seeking help from the Ice Wolf pack leader, Ingrid who is making this quite difficult. Lucky she has Grae by her side!

Sadie and Calla both have their work cut out navigating Wolf and human dynamics and politics, and also maybe new enemies/ alliances where they could never have expected it

What a journey! I loved seeing more of Calla and her sister Briar together, as well as more of Calla and Graes relationship. Sadie and Navin were also great to get to know better too, and Maez as well (who also happens to be mated to Briar)

There are a lot of connections, going ons and twists and turns here but AK pulls it all together so well it doesn't feel overwhelming and really draws you in

Can't wait to continue this series and find out what happens next after all that has happened in the first 2 books to where we are in the journey now!

This second book in the series is out this month in the US and January in the UK. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the review copy, all opinions my own

I definitely think this book is one that I need to reread in order to fully appreciate the characters. Especially Calla. Throughout the first book, and several times throughout the second book, I found her to be insanely insufferable. With that being said, though, I enjoyed this more than book one, and that certainly helped me want to pick it up and continue reading. The first 75% felt a little slow, but the last 25% - I think it was worth it. The romance was slow burn, the twists and turns were intriguing. Overall, I enjoyed this and I'm excited to continue on with the series, but there was... something... that felt off, and I think a lot of it had to do with how flat the characters felt at times.

Okay. So. The first book in this series had me invested by the end of it. I was fully behind Calla, rooting for their journey, and ready to follow their story. Then book two starts, and now the POV is split between Calla (about 40% of the time), and Sadie (the other 60%). In the first book, I found Sadie to be whatever. She was a bit spoiled, a bit whiny, a bit angry. But that wasn’t anything particularly outstanding or out of th e ordinary for a side character in a fantasy novel. Fast forward to book two, and Sadie became the single most obnoxious, infuriating, childish character ever. I nearly DNFed the book solely because I hated her chapters so much. The tantrums she threw, her inability to think about anything but herself, her desire to just kill everyone, which felt less amusing and badass and more felt idiotic and short-tempered; none of it made me root for her or care about her and her wounded ego/heart (same thing, in this case) over the human man she was swooning after.

As the story went on, and more interesting plot points were added in, I found myself growing more invested, especially as we are now seeing the other wolf packs in other kingdoms, and learning about the political dynamics that Calla and their court need to navigate, with even more magic woven into the universe.

The last 20% of the book, as I am realizing is the author’s MO, seemed to amp up a lot, and gave me new plot points that I am very excited about for book three and its potential (some elements felt very reminiscent of Shadow and Bone, but maybe that’s just me). There was some betrayal, some near death, some plot twists, and some new openings for a following book that could take the plot anywhere, really. Calla remains my favorite character, but now I am cynical about the POV focus and anticipate that book three could be following ANY of the characters we have seen in the series thus far. Sadie’s story got more interesting as the book went on, and as she got happier (read: laid), she became more tolerable to read about.

On the whole, this gets 4⭐ ️, and I look forward to what comes next in this series!

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Thank you Netgalley for the ebook arc of this book. It’s rare that I enjoy the second book more enjoyable than the first, but she nailed and the series gets better each time she releases a book. I unfortunately don’t like the narrator that they have chosen for the book but at the same time I love when they keep the same voices for an entire series. The voice for Grae sounds like a kid gargled gravel, and then tries to sound like an adult, but besides that this book deserves 5 stars. This book starts off right where the first one left off with Calla trying to rebuild the Golden court, annd trying to track down Grae’s father since he decided that all the gold was his and took it and ran and while trying to rebuild her friend gets kidnapped by a rival Wolf Court.
There’s a LGBTQ representation with a polyamorous relationship, and definitely a lot more spice than the first. The artist for the covers also like to “hide” the pride flags in the covers for the books.


⭐️ POLY REP
⭐️ FOUND FAMILY

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
4 / 5 ⭐
This book was very interesting! I read the first book, A River of Golden Bones, on audiobook and appreciated the continuity of experience between the two formats. I enjoyed the conversational nature of the prose, which truly felt like the reader was in the mind of each character during their respective points of view. Speaking of, I loved getting so much of Sadie’s point of view! The way she processed information about Navin and the new magic we learn about was relatable and compelling. The social and political commentary in the book is just below the surface, but didn't feel heavy handed. I appreciate that the author waits until very late in the book to give us the context on the title, so the emotional impact is so much greater.
Recommend? Yes!
Continuing the series? Yes!

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this book early.
As someone who has read all of A.K Mulfords romantasy books and series and loved them I am sad to say this one felt to convoluted to me. The world was still amazing and I was really interested in the battles and aftermath of our group defecting from their "known" pack to become more independent take back control of their own court, but our Characters who showed so much strength in the first book looked weak and gave off the impression of girls in High School who are so focused on Poor me no one likes me, but also I'm not like other girls, to being Horney every random second as their only happy moments. I wish we would have got to focus more on the strategy and plot of the book. All in all I will still read the 3rd book cause I do want to see the story finished and hope it gives us more focus on the action and plot

I really enjoyed the first book, A river of Golden Bones, so I was very excited to get the ARC of this one. However, it mainly followed Sadie and Navin and while I enjoyed this book, I had some issues. I liked how fiery Sadie was in A River of Golden Bones, but in this book she came across more annoying and frustrating. I also did not take to Navin so well, but overall this was a good story, well paced and I can't wait to continue the journey.

A book in a series that does not have that 2nd book syndrome!
This in my opinion was just as good as the 1st book, I really liked the multiple POV's! I have read quite a few of this author's books and this series is my favorite so far. The writing is detailed just enough, the characters are fun and engaging, and the story is exciting!

4/5 Stars

Quick Summary: Tensions are rising in the world of Aotreas. Follow Sadie, Navin, Calla and Grae as they work to help find allies for the Golden Court.

The second book of this shifters series picks up with Calla working towards stabilizing her kingdom while also being worried about rising tension between her court and Nero's (the Silver Wolves). Calla and crew come together and agree that they need allies on their side if they are to go to war with the silver wolves.

Sadie travels with Navin and Maez to go to Valta to look for allies. This journey is told from the POV of Sadie and works on her relationship with Navin which fell apart when he left Sadie to be with his brother. I found this POV a lot of fun to read and enjoyed it. The dynamic between Navin and Sadie was a slow burn, but you knew that they were going to get back together. I enjoyed how much she struggled with her feelings towards him only to recognize the inevitable!

Calla leads Grae and Briar to the Ice Wolves to see if they can get allies over there. Calla, in my opinion, is once again unbearable. She continues to struggle to take charge and then complains when things don't go her way. Honestly, I feel like her relationship with Grae was a little flat, Calla is probably the reason why I rated this a 4/5.

Overall I really enjoyed this installment, this book might have fallen a smidgen to middle book syndrome, but I was entertained by the plot twists!! I am so upset that I read this book before the next one is announced because I will be not so patiently waiting :).

Thank you to Netgally, A.K. Mulford, Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Please announce the next book soon :).

Five stars. A Sky of Emerald Stars (Book 2 of The Golden Court series) is a perfect read. Action packed, found family, fated mates, queer romance, gender exploration, wolf shifters, tension and spice- what more could you ask for?

"You deserve to be exactly who you are, unconditionally and without fear."

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

This series is just soooo good! I love how different it is from normal wolf-shifter books, and that it is turning typical tropes on their heads. Not only all of that, the representation in this book is just phenomenal. And the twist this time! I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and all the potential. Argh I need more people to read this so we can discuss! Definitely a must read book! 4⭐️

2SLGBTQIA+ Fantasy Steamy Romance about a wolf-shifter who grapples with her new life and embarks on a deadly mission while the new Queen juggles pack politics and a brewing war.

4/5 stars: This is the second entry in Mulford's The Golden Court series which is a 2SLGBTQIA+ Fantasy Steamy Romance and follows a wolf-shifter who's grappling with her new life as a royal guard and embracing more human beliefs embarks on a secret mission with a musician she's inexplicably drawn to even after she learns his deadly secret. Meanwhile, the new Queen finds themselves juggling pack politics and a brewing war over Wolf and human interactions even as they plot to rescue their kidnapped friend with a determination to remain true to themselves. The two shifters soon learn their world's more than it seems and it will take everything they have to fight for peace. Mulford's world building and magic system is interesting and continues to unfold. Told in dual POV, Mulford's writing and character work are stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. Sadie and Calla are interesting protagonists, they're both dealing with big changes and I look forward to seeing how continue to tackle them. Additionally, I appreciate how Mulford includes diverse characters that span the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum. Oh and as there are two romantic pairings, there's plenty of hot and steamy OPS scenes. Mulford does touch on some very sensitive topics, so take care and check the CWs. This can't be read as a stand-alone, so be sure to pick up book one, A River of Golden Bones.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Wow! This book is Sadie’s book but has Calla’s pov also. It goes back and forth between their POVs. I loved this so we still get to know what Calla is doing and getting Sadie’s story with Navin. It picks up right after the first book ends. It has some spice in it also. It is definitely romantasy. I love the world! It has a map so you can see where the places are they are going. I love stories with maps! I like to follow the characters with it and their journeys.

This book has some adventures, betrayals, surprises, and crazy moments in it. I hope the next book comes soon!

A good follow up in the series. I love the discovery of the over arching storyline. The pov changes were well executed. The war games have begun and there’s no time for wallowing. I do feel like there should have been more connections between team A and B since mates can mind speak.

Could have done without the angsty what am I thing. There are clearly other life threatening issues needing attention. Other large logistics issues like entire populations needing homes and provisions. It would also have left more time to ponder and avoid walking into traps left and right. Maybe taken the time to set their own traps. Figuring out that their own house was full of turn coats.

While it is good to have a good self image and recognition of self. Sooo much could have been avoided.

My second A.K. Mulford book and I have to say I enjoyed it more than the first one. We had so much going on with a few twists and turns, I couldn’t put it down! The pace was spot on and I didn’t feel anything dragged on or was just skimmed over.

Calla is definitely an interesting character and considering she’s a wolf shifter, I knew it’d a goodf read! And not to mention the entire fated mates with Grae? I also enjoyed Sadie and Navin and how they had to work together when Ora was kidnapped. I loved the mystery around Navin and all the secrets - it was a great addition to the plot.

I feel as if book 2 had so many new components brought in that by book 3, everything will be tied together flawlessly. This book is for any fantasy reader, is LGBTQ friendly, contained enemies to lovers, found family, fated mates, etc. I’m looking forward to book 3 and can’t wait to see where it takes us on our next adventure. Anything wolf/human dynamic will always be on my TBR!

I felt like this was a strong follower to book 1. The action continued at about the same pace, maybe faster or slower in some spots. We got to see additional character development for Briar, Calla and Grae, while also following a new set of main characters.

The slow burn was there and there was also a good amount of spice towards the end.

I think it’s a great set up for a future book and I’m looking forward to seeing where this series progresses to.