that right series 🤝🏻 right time feeling is unmatched and that’s what A Reign of Rose was for me!!! this series is my new OBSESSION. what an epic conclusion to Kate Golden’s romantasy debut series!

first things first: KANE RAVENWOOD put the man in the HALL OF MF FAME. he is simply EVERYTHING you could ever want in a morally grey hero.

the character growth of both Kane and Arwen was pure perfection😭 seeing them go through hardship after hardship and then the acceptance that they’re stronger together 🤧 your honor I LOVE THEM

*slight spoilers ahead—read at your own risk!!*

the pining. the separation. the heartache. the reunion!!! the absolute nonstop action. this book was a rollercoaster ride and i ate up every single second of it!!! i teared up, i gasped, i swooned.
and i truly didn’t know how the end was going to play out, which i loved! i love a fantasy book that can keep me guessing!

THE SIDE CHARACTERS in this book are also unmatched! the possibility of future books has me so curious and absolutely itching for them 👀

thank you ENDLESSLY for this ARC in return for my honest review! i can't wait to read it again and again (and add the physical copy to my shelf on pub day!)

read if you love:
+ villain gets the girl (!!!)
+ side characters who steal the show
+ romantasy with spice (“good girl”😮‍💨)
+ did someone say bathtub scene?
+ morally grey heroes
+ the sweetest reunions 😭
+ emotional rollercoasters
+ prophesied heirs
+ swoooooony quotes
+ found family

Wow! What a fantastic ending to The Sacred Stones series! After the epic conclusion of the previous book A Promise of Peridot, I was so eager (and a little scared lol) to get back into this story, and from the moment I started, I knew I was in for an emotional rollercoaster. Kane Ravenwood, the brooding King of the Onyx Kingdom, and Arwen Valondale, our fierce warrior queen, go through so much, and I was 100% invested in their journeys. I actually inhaled this book in one sitting, staying up late into the night to finish it because I just couldn't put it down until I found out how it ended! lol .

The story picks up right where A Promise of Peridot left off, and I was immediately sucked in. Kane’s mourning the loss of Arwen and is traumatized by what happened to her at the hands of his father. My poor brooding and heartbroken hero! He was so devastated, and he really struggled when he lost Arwen. But this is also a poignant time of self-reflection, and reading about his thoughts and feelings added so much depth to his character and made me love him even more.

I always say Rhysand from ACoTaR is my favorite book boyfriend, but Kane gives my bat boy a run for his money. Oof, Kane’s growth throughout the series is just amazing. Watching him go from a closed-off king to someone who would literally do anything for Arwen was so satisfying. And Arwen! She really comes into her own in this book. She’s no longer just carrying everyone else’s burdens. Now, she’s embracing her power and destiny. Together, they’re amazing, and their love story is everything!!

Oh my word, this romance! I've loved it from the first book, and it just keeps getting better and better. There are a lot of ups and downs, and their road is never easy, but the chemistry between Kane and Arwen is always electric, and their relationship is the heart of the story. I just adore them together, and the love that they share is beautiful as are some of their more tender moments together. My heart may have melted a time or twelve, especially when Kane professed his feelings. Sa-woon! Their love is tested in ways that push them to their limits, and the question of whether they can save each other while saving the world adds a poignant layer to the narrative. And the spice is pretty steamy, so be sure to grab a fan! lol

The writing style is another highlight of the novel. Golden’s storytelling is so engaging and well-crafted, and the pacing is great. She knows exactly how to mix action, emotion, a layered and interesting plot, and those quieter, introspective, and romantic moments to keep me hooked from start to finish. The pacing is spot on, too, with just the right balance of heart-pounding tension and emotional depth. And the twists! Just when you think you know where the story is going, it takes a totally unexpected turn, which I loved.

I also need to give a shout-out to the secondary characters and the amazing found family elements. The banter, humor, and friendships are so perfect. And Griffin and Mari’s “will they or won’t they” tension is everything, and I’m seriously hoping for a spin-off about them. Hart also brought a lot of fun to the story. I definitely want to read more about him! Though the conclusion is great, I could easily see a spin-off with some of these exceptional characters.

A Reign of Rose is an epic and heart-pounding finale to a series that I’ll be obsessing over for a long time. Special thanks to Kate Golden, NetGalley, and Berkley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

“𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮. 𝘈𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴.”

A Reign of Rose | @kategoldenauthor

this book was perfection. the utter emotional state I was in after finishing a promise of peridot so I thank the gods everyday for giving me the opportunity to read this book early and it did not disappoint i love this series with my whole heart and i’m so sad it’s over but I feel like this was the perfect conclusion to end the story and definitely leaving it open to maybe do a spin off for some certain characters 👀

I’m not going to go into this one too much since this is the last book in a trilogy so I don’t want to spoil anyone that hasn’t read them but if you’ve read the previous books this one picks up pretty much right where a promise of peridot ends so obviously kane and arwen are going though it and all the twists and turns and from the get go it’s full of action so it definitely kept me on the edge throughout.

-romantasy
-dragons
-magic
-captivity

thanks so much to berkleyromance berkleypub and netgalley for sending me an e-arc of this book I felt like I won the lottery getting this!

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I devoured this book in just a few hours. I'm not even sure I moved once while reading it! I was completely entranced in Arwen and Kane's story and needed to see how this was all going to end. And I loved every stage of it. I swear Arwen is a cat with nine lives because this girl throws her whole being into saving everyone around her rather than herself. I don't know if I could be her friend going through that grief over and over again.

Both Arwen and Kane have grown so much from when they first met and I loved seeing all of their changes throughout these 3 novels. And Arwen's brightness rivaling Kane's doom or gloom is quite comical. As is Griffin being super stoic. These characters have so many great quirks, its amazing.

I love Arwen's animal and I totally called what it was at the beginning of this book. I'm so glad I'm right too!

I'm hoping there might be a spin off series from this world in the works! Mari, Ryder, Leigh - they all need their story told and I'll be one of the first readers to read it if I'm allowed! Such a great series that I'm so glad I dived into and experienced! I wont be forgetting this world any time soon!

Thank you to the Kate Golden and Berkeley for an ARC of this book!!! A Reign of Rose is book 3 and the final book in the Sacred Stones Trilogy. This book is 5 stars and a perfect ending to Kane and Arwen's story. This book put me through an emotional rollercoaster ride. The characters you have previously fallen for are put through so much and am happy to say that they get a happily ever after!
This whole series is 5 stars, maybe even infinity stars! If you like underdog heroins who constantly underestimate themselves but always find the strength to do what is right or save those She loves, then this is the series for you! I hope you love Arwen as much as I do!

Though enjoyable, this conclusion to a pretty typical fantasy romance fell a bit flat, and after writing this review, I probably won't think about this series again. Golden is a good writer, her pacing keeps your attention, her characters are relatable, the world building has enough to stand on, the romance is believable, but there was nothing here that made this series stand above other romantasy. I wanted to like this book and series much more than I did unfortunately.

First I would like to say thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review this book as an advanced reader copy. I picked up the first two books of The Sacred Stones trilogy this summer and completely devoured them. I feel in love with the characters and this world. I felt like Arwen and Kane was truly one of the best love stories I had read in a fantasy romance series.
So to dive right into this book! A Reign of Rose picks up right where A Promise of Peridot leaves off, and if you’ve read that one you know what a MASSIVE cliff hanger that was. This series and Kate Golden’s writing styles does such an excellent job of giving you a deep story with plot twists, but does it in a way that doesn’t drag out scenes or leave you feel board at certain parts of the story and I really appreciate that about this trilogy. It is action packed and give you the character development that you need with their own bought of adversity but doesn’t leave you waiting for a resolution for the entire book. A Reign of Rose really gave me everything I was looking for and tied up all of the final plot points. We finally got some answers to the questions that we’ve been looking for in the first two books and were stones blessed with the spice that we love between Arwen and Kane. I really liked the ending also, because I feel like it was left an excellent space where there could be a spin off series written fast forward in the future 18+ years or even a side novella for our friends Griffin and Mari.

A seller conclusion to the end of this fantastic fantasy romance series ☺️ I absolutely loved seeing these characters learn and grow and become a family through all the ups and downs of this series. October cannot come soon enough because I know everyone will love this💕

★★★★☆

What a fitting ending to such a compelling trilogy. The journey of Arwen, Kane, Mari and Griffin was a whirlwind over this series, especially in this last instalment, but it was an exciting, addicting, and intense one that had me as a reader filled with mixed emotions.

This book picks up after a major cliffhanger, starting with intense situations for both Arwen and Kane. The suspense was a page-turner and the entire time you just can't help but root for these two to find their way back to each other. I liked the political aspects of this book and how it shapes the arc of each character, including for Mari and Griffin and their stories, although I was hoping for more of a conclusion to them. Maybe the author has a spinoff in mind for them -- I hope so!

It fell a little flat for me around the middle and I actually started to feel a bit slump-ish, but when the pacing picked up again I didn't want to put it down! Also the language sometimes felt a bit like overdoing it in regards to scenery, analogies, dialogue, etc.

I do love this trilogy, and would especially recommend it to anybody wanting to get into fantasy or readers who love politically driven fantasy.

First I want to say thank you so much to Kate Golden for this ARC! All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I can’t believe the series is over, it’s so bittersweet. I remember first seeing this on TikTok before it was released as an indie and now here we are 2+ years later with the final book and it’s all been trad published!
I want to get my one complaint out of the way before the rest of my review - there was overuse of the term male/masculine in the descriptions. I think this is something that comes up a lot in romantasy books and is really verging into the territory of being overused in a distracting way.
This was a great conclusion to this trilogy. I love our characters and their arcs. This book had some ups and downs that left you feeling like we couldn’t resolve whatever was coming but ultimately it worked out. I loved the line “Do not equate bravery with fearlessness” and I think it described so much of Arwen and the way that she was throughout this book. She was facing a lot but ultimately worked through the fear and did what she had to.
The romance aspect of this delivers. I love that we see our MCs snatching moments for eachother where they can while not ignoring the realities of their world. They also grow and learn together, which, we love to see it.
This book ran the gamut of emotions. I think this is a great one for romantasy lovers! I love Kate Golden’s world she created with this one, I love the characters and their friendships and alliances, etc.

I’m so appreciative to receive ARC for the third and final book of The Sacred Stones Trilogy. I commend Kate Golden on her first series and being a published author. I could not wait to read the third book after reading the cliffhanger from Promise of Peridot. Arwen is so tough and has been through a lot and I loved seeing her more feisty side. I wish there was more. I wanted more fleshed out story and more depth. I really want a Mari and Griffin book! It was a nice end to the series. I will be writing a review on social media as it gets closer to the release date. Way to go, Kate! You are on my author list to read everything you write.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it as a whole, and I am glad to have embarked on this adventure with Arwen, Kane, Mari, and Griffin, but at the same time, many aspects of this book fell a little flat.

This book picks up a few weeks after the end of A Promise of Peridot, and things are dire for Arwen and Kane. The beginning of the book is easy to devour, the pace is good and it alternates between Kane’s desperate plan to kill his father and Arwen’s time as a captive in Lazarus’ palace. For those of you who don’t enjoy it when the main characters are separated, don’t fret, they are reunited before the middle of the book. After that though, I found it hard to remain invested in the book. The middle felt long, the characters were back to planning Lazarus’ defeat and there was a lull in the pace that made it too easy to get distracted and read something else instead.

The fact that our favorite witch and grumpy guard are absent for almost half of the book didn’t help either. Eventually, the gang is all reunited, but we almost don’t see Mari and Griffin until the second half of the book, and I missed them. I am also sad that Mari and Griffin only had a handful of interactions with each other in this book. I needed more of them, I miss their banter and push and pull from the previous books.

As is the case in the previous books of the series, there is a good mix of action, magic, and politics in this book, but I am not sure how I feel about the politics part. Kane and Arwen have to turn to the Rose Kingdom to try to negotiate an alliance that will help them in the war against Lazarus, and they present Rose’s history and its Queen as an important part of their plan, but we never heard about the Queen or Rose’s past before this book. They casually mentioned events and elements like we should have known about them, but it was the first time they talked about it. It would have felt less jarring, or out of the blue if we’d heard more about Rose and its Queen in the previous books before it became such a key aspect of their plan and political maneuvering.

The action and fighting scenes were good. It was a mix of magic and sword fights, but as is the case with the rest of the book, I feel that there is a little something missing. The ending was good but felt a little underwhelming and rushed at the same time. As I said at the beginning of the review: lots of mixed feelings.

Kane and Arwen are still forces to be reckoned with. A strong and fierce unit, with swoon-worthy moments, and spicy ones too. They remain mostly the same throughout the book though, there is not much character development, as the focus is more on the plot and finding a way to defeat Lazarus. Arwen grew so much in the first two books though that I didn’t mind a book where her character development was not as present. The same goes for Kane, I think most of the growth for them was done already in the previous books. We could feel from the start here that they are strong, confident, and a tight unit. Arwen is not looking for meaning and purpose anymore, and she is not afraid to die either, Kane shows us that he is willing to do almost anything for Arwen and for his quest to end Lazarus, but without becoming a “bad guy” in the process. He will sacrifice himself without hesitation but understands that Arwen would never forgive him, nor would he, if he crossed the line and sacrificed others in his quest to kill Lazarus.

Aleksander is such an intriguing character! I need to know more about him. Hart Renwick is also an interesting new character, but just like Aleksander, we saw him very briefly, and then he was absent for the rest of the book. I understand that the author wanted to focus her attention on the main characters and their relationships, but I think I would have been more invested in the plot if we’d seen more of Aleksander and Hart.

I recommend this series to any fantasy lovers looking for their next adventure. Overall, this was a good and entertaining finale to the series, and I am so happy I agreed to read an ARC of the first book back when it was released, because Arwen, Kane, Griffin, and Mari are wonderful, and their adventure was full of magic, politics, and action, but I still feel that this last book fell a little flat. After the explosive ending to the second book, I was hoping and expecting a little more from this final installment.

This was the ending I needed 😭😭 Arwen really came into herself during this installment. The way she sees connections as strengths and not weaknesses. Arwen continued to help Kane become the King he was meant to be. A lot of foreshadowing from previous books finally came to fruition in this one. I cannot wait to see what future spin offs from this series come out of it.

What a satisfying ending to this incredible trilogy! 5 stars all the way! Although, if I'm honest, there have been a few hints in this final book that this series (or at least some of the characters in them) is not over. Hmmm.....

Like the other two books in her series, Reign of Rose is fast-paced which I'm not mad about. It doesn't seem too quick where you think the author is rushing through things, it's just action packed and things are happening all the time (think the last 100 pages of a Sarah J Maas book and that's all of Golden's books throughout the whole thing).

There were multiple things I loved in this book including the despair she writes Kane's POV in. You can feel into your very bones how exhausted and depressed he is from him thinking Arwen is dead (this isn't a spoiler - she's not dead but he doesn't know that). When they reunite and the banter picks up right where they left off, it brings me so much joy.

And don't even get me started with Mari and Griffin... are we getting their book?!?!?! Because that would be awesome.

If you like romantasy, you'll love this series. It's a bit "trope-heavy" but is also welcomed and you sorta know what you're getting into. Although there were a few plot twists that spiced things up a bit in this book. I highly recommend this series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a stunning and epic conclusion to one of my all-time favorite Romantasy series! I had the absolute pleasure of being an ARC reader for all three books, and they were so wonderful. Book three really amped up the action, spice, and emotions. I binged this in two days. So good. Can't wait to reread on audio.

Looking forward to whatever you do next, KG! TYSM for letting me be an ARC reader!

I really enjoyed it. Will be purchasing for our library members. Very excited to add this book to our catalog.

3.5 ⭐️

It was a nice closure for this fantasy trilogy. I must say though a lot of this book felt flat. For more than half of this book I was bored. It’s only near the end that it started to pick up and that some plot twist happened. The ending was satisfying but I’d recommend overall to listen to this series instead of reading it. I feel like it’s the best way to enjoy it.

♾️ The perfect ending to this trilogy that I never wanted to end.

This was immaculate and my favorite book in the trilogy - which is insane because book 1 was also an infinity rating. I legit didn't want this to ever end and I am so sad it's over 🥹

Kate Golden crushed this debut trilogy. It is such an amazing fantasy series!!

Honestly, the ending blew me away. BLEW ME AWAY. The action in this book was everything. It was go go go and those are genuinely my favorite types of fantasy books (once you get all the world building)

Kane.. is still everything
Arwen.. is even more badass
Mari + Griffin.. are some of the absolute best side characters EVER
Hart.. is a new side character I am obsessed with. His lines had me laughing so hard

Chapter 14 WAS EPIC
Chapter 21 WOAHHHH 🥵

I will also say this series starts out as new adult but I think I'd consider this book in the trilogy to be more "adult" because it's hands down the spiciest.

Highlights
"Everything... it's all for you."

"Whatever you want, I'm game for." 🤭🤭

"Must I tether you to this bed, my king?"
"I'll be good."

"I love you. I'll love you wherever I am, whatever I am. Always."

-romantasy
-dragons
-magic
-captivity
-banter
-plot twists
🌶️🌶️

This was a good conclusion to this trilogy and i loved the romance, lore, battle and questions that were answered in this book. The spice was spicing, especially when the mmc talked her through it. The main characters were badass, i liked the training sessions, fight scenes and all the longing and chemistry. This is a dual pov romantasy that has action, spice, dragons, politics, queens, kings, war, shifters and so much more. Thank you Berkley for this arc!

This was a great conclusion to this series! After inhaling the first two, I feel very fortunate to have received the ARC, especially when the story was still fresh in my mind. Books 1 and 3 are the best--slow beginnings and satisfying endings. If you thought book two suffered a little of middle book syndrome, fear not. This was expertly paced, especially in the beginning when the two main characters were apart. I think the alternating perspectives with engaging storylines really saved what could have otherwise been a dreadful period of the book (it's never fun when two lovers are separated). I will say, the book is a little long. Maybe a side quest or two could have been trimmed, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. **Spoiler alert** I was initially frustrated that we kept not seeing Arwen's shifting (only those back tingles!), but I'm glad it was revealed only at the end--it would've spoiled everything had it come earlier. And, please, please give us a Griffin/Mari book! I feel like there's enough teeing up for that, so I hope it happens! Merci, again, for this ARC. It was a fun ride.