kate golden – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 500 pages
Author: Kate Golden
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From Kate Golden, author of viral phenomenon A Dawn of Onyx, comes the seductive, action-packed conclusion to her sweeping Sacred Stones trilogy.

They must save the world—but can they also save each other?

Kane Ravenwood, King of Onyx Kingdom, would go to the ends of the continent for Arwen Valondale, but what if she’s beyond even that? Broken in ways he never imagined he could be, Kane must find a way to fulfill the prophecy and kill his father, Fae King Lazarus. And after what he’s endured, he’s willing to save Evendell by whatever means necessary—even if that spells his own death.

Little does Kane know, he’s not the only one fighting for revenge. Arwen is no longer afraid to fight—no sacrifice is too great, no enemy too daunting. Now, nothing will stop her from destroying Lazarus and his allies, because she knows if she fails, both realms will be doomed forever.

I’LL TAKE IT.

This is one of those five stars where I could pick at the plot a bit but I was in a good mood and had such an enjoyable time reading this conclusion that I’ll let it slide. I loved how romantic this book is. The romance is the focus and it plays together so well. I love Kane. I love how protective and brooding he is while also showing that soft side to Arwen. It’s really charming and brought the swoon. I enjoyed Arwen’s character too. She had some amazing sentiments I would have loved to have highlighted in a kindle copy because they were very resonating.

The plot took some unexpected turns and I liked watching this story unfold. The audiobook production is great and I appreciate having dual POV. I thought most everything wrapped up well and I felt happy with how it came together. This world was cool to explore and I liked the magic system too. I will definitely be reading whatever Kate Golden writes next.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: moderate – high
Romance: multiple open door
Violence: high

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 456 pages
Author: Kate Golden
Publisher: The Daisy Press
Release Date: December 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Captured by a king of darkness. Forced to find the light within.

Arwen Valondale never expected to be the brave one, offering her life to save her brother’s. Now she’s been taken prisoner by the most dangerous kingdom on the continent, and made to use her rare magical abilities to heal the soldiers of the vicious Onyx King.

Arwen knows better than to face the ancient, wicked woods that surround the castle on her own, which means working with a fellow prisoner might be her only path to freedom. Unfortunately, he’s as infuriating as he is cunning—and seems to take twisted
pleasure in playing on Arwen’s deepest fears.

But here in Onyx Kingdom, trust is a luxury she can’t afford.

To make it out of enemy territory, she’ll have to navigate back-stabbing royals, dark magic, and dangerous beasts. But untold power lies inside Arwen, dormant and waiting for a spark. If she can harness it, she just might be able to escape with her life—and hopefully, her heart.

COLOR ME SURPRISED.

I did not expect to love this the way I did. I put it off for a bit because it seemed too hyped and I wanted to see more reviews. Then on a whim, HERE WE ARE. 4.5 stars of romantasy goodness.

This had a much more true slow burn that worked better for me than a few recent books. I loooove hidden identity plots so dang much. Even when I know it’s coming, still makes my day. And this kept slowly revealing Kane’s history and nature and I loved every second of it. I thought Kane and Arwen had some actual chemistry and I enjoyed the banter between them. I liked seeing them get to know each other and have some soft moments amidst the action.

And plenty of action was had! I loved that it kept a pretty fast pace with enough things going on that I rarely felt a drag. Within that though is my one small complaint. A lack of world building. More of it made sense towards the end, but I have MANY questions about the dynamics of everything.

I think the FMC could use a bit more work, but as far as character arcs go, I am very much on board with the sequence. I am soooo excited to see how book two continues the development of characters and storyline.

It was a good read y’all.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy romance
Language: some strong
Romance: 1 open; + some innuendo
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: war themes, physical and magical altercations, near death experiences, loss of a mother, weapons violence, kidnapping, attempted sexual assault