*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy*

I am *shook*. This was a goddamn rollercoaster of emotions and I want to bill A.K. Mulford for the emotional turmoil they put me through (LOL jkjk).

This was an amazing book 2. I loved it. I sent reactions to a friend who just read it, and let's just say I was unhinged...

A Sky of Emerald Stars is one of the best second books in a series I've ever read, and I'm so desperate for book 3. Gnawing at the bars of my enclosure to get book 3.

4⭐️ for audiobook performance / 2.5⭐️ for overall story, rounding up to 3
(Giving 4 stars on this audio ALC to focus more on audio performance; gave 3 stars on my ebook ARC version review)

This second book in the series was just ok for me. I found myself not really caring about Sadie and her plotline all that much and Calla's plotline just seemed to fizzle out and be all about their gender identity. While I genuinely appreciated and felt seen by the representation Calla's character provided, I felt it really overshadowed what should have been the larger plot, unnecessarily. I understand the purpose behind it, but I found the overall plot a little on the boring side because of that. And that disappointed me. I felt it kind of defeated the purpose of the rep. Not to mention Calla's character just seemed to fade into the background despite being a main character. I wanted them to shine in this book and take charge in their new-found inner space and identity. Instead they just seemed to cower under scrutiny and not really allow themself to truly take their power for what it was without question. Again, just a little disappointed they kept allowing themself to seek approval and acceptance from others instead of just living in their truth and kicking ass.

I also thought that for a YA book, this was pretty spicy. I don't typically mind it, but it's kind of jolting when it really isn't expected, in terms of language. So for most of the book, it's kind of YA language, and then all of a sudden we're in adult spicy language... I don't know, it just felt a little awkward to me.

The audiobook performance was great. Both narrators did an incredible job and gave very dynamic performances, which I enjoyed. Both narrators were truly "voice actors" here and not just reading words on a page. Again, great performance.

I like the first book in the series for what it was to me and I gave this one a shot based on how the first one made me feel, but after this I don't think I'll continue with the series unfortunately.

Happy reading friends! 🤙🏼💕

Thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for an early copy of the audiobook. This review is my honest feedback and given voluntarily.

The story is interesting and we got to see more of the world. The smut though feels like it’s there just to be there. Doesn’t feel natural at many parts.

This was a slow start for me, and I struggled to get into the story again. But the second half had me listening constantly! I love the narrators, Bridgette Bordeaux does an amazing job (as always!). The magic system and relationships really sets this story apart for me. I cannot wait to see how this all plays out in book 3.

This book was an amazing second book in this series. I absolutely love all of the characters and the narrators do a great job! I love Bridget Bordeaux and everything she narrates. I liked that this book followed 2 main characters that were separated so you got to see what was going on with them both at the same time instead of making it separate books. The ending made me excited for the 3rd book but it didn’t make me want to scream and rage because of the cliffhanger which I thoroughly appreciated! Can’t wait until the next book comes out so I can find out what happens!

A Sky of Emerald Stars by A.K. Mulford (Book 2: Release Date Dec 24)

Okay, I’m pretty sure the second half of this book my anxiety had anxiety 😂 I honestly ended up loving this book, and now I need answers for what’s to come. I literally need them and I needed them yesterday. This world has such a unique magic system, history and storyline I’m becoming so invested. Not only that the representation, the character relationships, and growth that occurs is *chefs kiss* I loved that we got more points of view, and learned so much more about characters from the first book. Also the spice and plot twists 👀

Needless to say: I blushed, giggles, laughed, gasped VERY loudly, and tried to speed read various times 😂 if you enjoyed book one, please for all that holy read book two.

4/5 🦝🦝🦝🦝
3/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️

What you’ll find:
* Fated Mates
* Found Family
* Wolf Shifters
* Insane Magic System
* Battles & Quests
* TENSION & SPICEY SPICE
* Forced Proximity
* Second Chance
* LGBTQ+ Representation

Unlike in the first book, A Sky of Emerald Stars has a dual POV, the first being Calla, and the second being Sadie, a member of Queen Calla’s court as she embarks on a mission to help save the humans and the Golden Court.

This book did not fall victim to second book syndrome! I found this equally as entertaining as the first book. I loved Sadie and Navin’s relationship. Navin is down baddddd and I love that in an MMC.

The conflict at the end did feel a little rushed, but other than that I have no complaints. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to listen to the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Sky of Emerald Stars by AK Mulford is the second installment in the Golden Court series, a fantasy romance saga of werewolves, royal courts, and political intrigue. Following the reign of the tyrannical sorceress Sawyn, this book introduces new conflicts as the Golden Court rebuilds and faces the looming threat of the rival Wolf King, Nero. With dual points of view, the story splits between Sadie Rauxtide, a royal guard on a mission to secure allies and confront her attraction to the enigmatic Navin, and Queen Calla, navigating diplomacy, personal identity, and prejudice in their quest to save Ora and preserve peace.

Unfortunately, this sequel didn’t improve my experience with the series. While the addition of Sadie’s perspective initially seemed promising, her characterization felt frustratingly similar to Calla’s. Both protagonists are consumed by self-doubt, impulsiveness, and explosive anger, which made their actions feel repetitive and juvenile. Their personal struggles overshadowed the broader stakes of the plot, detracting from the high-stakes revolution and potential for rich world-building.

The narrative itself felt disjointed, with revelations that lacked impact and pacing that made it hard to stay engaged. What could have been an intricate exploration of identity, diplomacy, and resilience instead became bogged down by underdeveloped emotional arcs and predictable conflicts.

For the audiobook itself, both narrators did a decent job at narrating their main female protagonists, but I felt both narrators struggled when it came to the male character voices.

Though A Sky of Emerald Stars aimed to blend themes of self-discovery and adventure, it ultimately fell flat for me. With this installment failing to address the issues I had with the first book, I’ve decided to part ways with the Golden Court series. Fans of the first book may still find elements to enjoy, but this series hasn't capture my interest enough to continue.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This sequel didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but held some interesting elements nonetheless.

I wish there were more Calla chapters. I think this book is divided into ⅔ Sadie chapters and ⅓ Calla chapters, or maybe even ¾ vs ¼. I really loved her character in the first book, and her relationship with Grae, so of course I was a little sad they only got this little page time.

Sadie was… well… she was whining a lot and definitely felt like a flat character. She got on my nerves for the largest part of this book. Partly (but not limited to) it was because I would have preferred for her to follow through on some of the (threatening) promises she made, yet she didn’t.

The plot twists in this story (plural, because yes there are multiple twists that will blow your mind), on the other hand, managed to surprise me and get me more invested while reading this story. Also, just like in the first book, identity and discovering who you are, coming to terms with limitations and short sightedness, yet never giving up, play a major role in this story, and I loved that.

I’ve read the ebook and the audiobook, both were great. The writing style and the way the narrator brings the story and characters to life are definitely two reasons why you should pick up this book (written or audio) if you’ve read book 1 already.

Still, I’m eager to find out what will happen in the next and last book of this trilogy.

3,5/5 stars for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the ALC.

This book picks up right where A River of Golden Bones left off, and it starts out sprinting! Cover to cover, you’ll find this stuffed full of action, spice, witty banter, romance, and even more political plot twists. I don’t recommend reading this super close in time to the High Mountain Court series as there are a few names that overlap and confused me, but the story and character development are great!

I really just couldn’t get into this book this time. The pacing of the book was really slow and nothing major happened that would grab your attention. I listened to the audiobook and I just couldn’t remember anything memorable about it in which I remember liking the first book. Just overall I I didn’t like it.

I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

I quite enjoyed going back to the Golden Court and seeing what comes next in Calla and Grae's story and was pleasantly surprised to see that Sadie has gotten her own POV chapters in this book- and I loved where her character was taken.
We are following two different storylines in this one as Calla and Grae appeal to the Queen of Taigos for an alliance against Nero and his tyrannical rule while trying to rescue Ora. I enjoyed this storyline less but I am less enamoured with political storylines, and was annoyed (although not surprised) with the Queen of Taigos' attitude toward Calla.
But quite pleasantly, the other storyline put Sadie and Navin together with Maez on their own mission, which gets derailed so quickly when we learn Navin's secret, and I couldn't be happier. It was so much fun to see Sadie try to deny her feelings toward Navin and learn why she was so attracted to him, and learn more lore based in this world. I feel there's much more to come from A.K. Mulford in this world and I'm excited for what comes next.
I enjoyed this book in audiobook format and one of the only issues I had with this book was that one narrator was a drier reader than the other, so keep that in mind if you go the audiobook route. If that bothers you, I would recommend reading it physically.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Sky of Emerald Stars by A.K. Mulford (Narrated by Bridget Bordeaux; Vico Ortiz)
Adult Sci-Fi & Fantasy Romance, LGBTQIAP+
Expected Pub Date Dec. 24, 2024 

Book 2 of The Golden Court trilogy following A River of Golden Bones

The Golden Court is rebuilding with new leadership, new beginnings, and new court drama. Calla is forced to seek alliances from surrounding kingdoms to prepare for War with rival wolf King Nero. More magic is introduced and a continuation of Grae and Calla’s story and Sadie goes on an adventure with Navin to find allies of their court. To avoid spoiling anything with details regarding this sequel, I will instead leave some expectations. 


🌏World-building
👯Dual POV (Calla and Sadie)
😡😘Enemies to Lovers
🐺Wolf Shifters
💞Second Chance Romance
👥Fated Mates
💋Spice
✨Magic
😱Secrets/Betrayal's
🐲Dragons
😮Twists
👑Royal Court Politics
👀Magical monsters

If you enjoyed book 1, you would also like this book, which was just as enjoyable, if not even a bit better, in my humble opinion. 

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review

Diving back into this fantasy and loving Navins storyline. (S)he is my favourite character. I love the romance with Sadie and how they struggle to love each other and how that plays out. I loved book two more then book one as we get so much more from all the characters that you just can't help but love them. I am ready for the War. I'm so invested now and the wait is going to be so hard.

I received both the book and the audiobook as an arc and reading them both was so nice!

I listen to audiobooks only about 10 percent of the time and I really enjoyed this one! It was done so well and I loved it! I liked listening to the audiobook much better than just reading it because the voice narrators were chosen perfectly. Would highly recommend listening to this over reading!

Aaaaah! NetGalley, big thankies! To prepare for this ARC, I reread A River of Golden Bones, and it was glorious! Vico Ortiz and Bridgette Bordeaux brought this production to life beautifully!

And I am so glad we get to see the evolution of Calla’s confidence and leadership skills as they take on their queen role. We find out early on that Ora was taken by Gray’s father, and Calla and co adventure off to (hopefully) gain the alliance of the Queen of Taigos and her court.

Meanwhile, we get to Sadie a whole lot better! She goes on a quest with Navin (the human who she was totally crushing on in book one, but definitely got blindsided by him choosing his brother over her in a battle) and Maez to gain different allies for the upcoming war. Navin has secrets, Sadie wants to gain them, but she is also battling with the fact that he left with his brother and didn’t come to see her in the new Golden Court.

Shenanigans, betrayals, betrothals, and magic happen on both journeys, leaving us craving more with that ending!

Mulford continues to make me laugh, cry, and sweat with every book she writes, and this is no exception! ✨

I was lucky enopugh to receive this audiobook while being able to read the eARC and I feel like doing this helped me to enjoy this book. I re-read the first book prior to starting this book again to freshen my mind.

I loved the consistency in using the same narrator as the first book. The character’s voices were flawless and continuous as the last book. I love how Bridget Bordeau and Victor Ortiz bring the book and characters to life. I look forward to book 3 to finish out this trilogy.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperAudio for this early eAudiobook of ‘A Sky of Emerald Stars’ I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Note: A Sky of Emerald Stars is part of ‘The Golden Court Trilogy’ and it is pertinent to read the first book in the series to understand what is happening in this book. The first book of this series is A River of Golden Bones and follows Calla’s journey to reclaim the family birth right and Golden Wolf throne. This book picks up where the first book left off and Queen Calla is trying to rebuild her court, protect her people from the Silver Wolves, and gain allies to her throne.

A Sky of Emerald Stars primarily focuses on Sadie and Navin. Sadie is part of the Golden Wolf guards and Navin is a traveling musician that the Golden Wolves meet during the prior book. Sadie is sent on a mission by Queen Calla to accompany Navin and find out his secrets after he betrays Sadie. They have feelings for each other and Sadie is devastated after she is betrayed and struggles to work with Navin on the mission until she finds out all his secrets and more pieces come together.

At the same time Navin shows up at the Golden Court, Queen Callas finds out her friend Ora has been kidnapped by the Silver Wolf King and they are working to get them back. This book is essentially following two groups of Golden Court members on separate missions to work towards the same goal of protecting the kingdom and all the wolves and humans who live there.

Again, just like the first book of the series, I really enjoyed this book while I was reading. It wasn’t my favorite fantasy book of the year, but I still found the story very enjoyable and worth reading. I will continue on with this series when the third book comes out because there were a lot of twists and turns along the way and I found that the unpredictability was very enjoyable.

I want to thank NetGalley, A.K. Mulford, and HarperAudio for making it possible for me to listen to the audiobook ARC of this book and give my review.



Audiobook: Narrator was easily understandable and easy to follow along with.

<i>A Sky of Emerald Stars</i> is the 2nd book in the Golden Court series. We step back into the world as Sadie is drowning her sorrows and Calla is trying to create peace in her new kingdom. Instantly, I liked that we got to see a new character point of view, and we got to see such added depth in other characters from the first books.

Sadie has been tasked to join Mavin on a journey to gain allies but she doesn't know if she can trust him after he suddenly left at the end of the first back. Sadie is stubborn and so is her pride, she struggles to forgive Mavin and his secrets and all that is still unknown in the world around them. This was a delightful slow burn story, admittedly there were times where the pacing felt slow, overall it was very enjoyable. Calla is trying to create alliances and is struggling with how much of their identity they have to give up to fit into the mold of what other wolves view as a ruler. We ended up with a very layered complex story with new and old characters that built a fantastic 2nd book!

The audio brought the story to life and the narrator had such distinct voices for each character that it was like listening to a play, you could feel the passion in the delivery and the emotions really came through. It made for a fun, immersive, and at times quite tense atmosphere, all lending to the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and can't wait to see what is in store for our characters next! I would definitely recommend reading this one! Also as a side note, I absolutely loved the LGBTQIA+ representation, and special attention spent on different expressions of gender. Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Sky of Emerald Stars is book two in the Golden Court series, following A River of Golden Bones. Please read A River of Golden Bones before reading this book. They are not stand-alone.

I can say that I was not a fan of the writing style of this book. It switches back and forth between POVs of two different characters, Calla, who was the main character of the last book, and Sadie, who steps up in this book as another main character. Both POVs are told from the first person POV, which adds to the confusion of what is happening to who. It also really halts the momentum of the story often when something happens in one chapter and leaves on a cliffhanger, and then the next chapter is told from the other person's point of view who is doing something else. It really halts the building momentum, which I didn't like. I wasn't able to get invested in one part of the storyline without getting dragged to the other and my attention getting pulled away from what was happening.

The pacing was a bit slow and nothing really major happens that grabs your attention and the book isn't really memorable. I listened to the audiobook completely, and then the second half again, and yet I still can't really remember what happens and nothing really stuck. What I do remember was enjoyable, but I do wish that there were more twists and turns to keep be engaged and more time spent in one POV before moving back to the other. There is also a heavy emphasis on gender roles and gender identity in this book and it goes more in depth into the characters finding out who they are and becoming more comfortable with themselves.

The romance was shoved in your face a lot since they go back and forth between two different couples. Something bad happens? Add in some spice. Need to hide from someone who holds your fate in their hands? Throw in some spice to tempt getting caught because that's more important than your mission and kingdom. There were so many times where it was really not needed and seemed so out of place. The new romance in this book between Sadie and Navin was more of a slow burn than Callie and Grae's in the first book due to unfinished business that the two have but the chemistry is there.

Our side characters were great. I still loved Briar, and how supportive she is of Calla and her new found queendom. I really hope that Briar and Maez are able to actually going to be able to spend more time in peace.

Will I continue this series? Maybe. I enjoyed the first book a lot, but enjoyed this one a little less. I would probably give the next book a read.

Thank you to A.K. Mulford, Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.