This is one of my new obsessions of 2023- this is such a fantastic fantasy romance! It has everything that you love in the genre.
The writing style is easy to read, yet immersive and rich. I’m so excited to see this world expand.

I’m eagerly awaiting book two in the new year- can’t wait!

For fans of slow burn, enemies-to-lovers fantasy books! This was a fast-paced read with great tension and world building. The banter between Arwen and Kane was sizzling!

If you love slow burn romance with on-point tension and enemies-to-lovers trope - well, just stop searching and read this book! Bonus, good world-building, with just a couple of gaps that could definitely be filled in the second volume. It's a fast-paced easy read, that will entertain you whether you are a romance, fantasy or romantasy reader (cause a pinch of magic never hurts, let's face it!). Plus, the main character's name is Arwen - and since I interpreted it as a nice wink to LOTR, I kind of fell for her from the start.
Definitely recommended if you're trying to getting out of a reading slump or you're looking for some lighthearted, cute reading.

Like a fantasy Enemies to lovers (or not), set in an interesting new world? This you need to pick up this book.

Arwen has lived in her small village in the Realm of Amber her whole life. She has not had the easiest life, but she loves her Mother and her siblings without question, and she loves her job working as a healer. Of course, she has a special affinity for Healing, so that helps. Her realm has been at war with the wicked kingdom of Onyx for a while now, and her Brother was called up to serve and they have not seen him for almost two years.

But then one night everything changes, and due to an act of courage she is caught up by Onyx soldiers and swept off to the wicked kingdom of Onyx where her life changes, and not for the worse. But can she trust everything she sees and is told in Onyx?

This was a fun book, one that set up perfectly for the next. I expect this to be one of those great series that will take us all over the well-set-out world, and on quite the emotional journey.

I absolutely adore this book.

The blurb does it no favours - it is a fast paced, well built fantasy romance that has kept me fully engaged and page turning to finish it in one evening. It has been brilliantly written for a first novel, my only mild criticism would be that it is a little slow to start, and I’ve found overdone naivety/innocence in a FMC a little too common recently. That said, Arwen definitely comes into her own, and all the other characters are thoughtfully included if occasionally a little light on backstory - but likely for plot reasons.

The fact I need to wait nearly a year for the sequel is quite frankly heartbreaking.

I absolutely adore this book, it’s has so many tropes everyone loves, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, slow burn romance with a small amount of spice, twists and turns, lots of banter ❤️
The worldbuilding is fantastic, there’s fae, shifters, witches, dragon, everything you could want in a book ❤️ I can’t wait for the second one 🥰

This took me a while to get to on my TBR and then a while to get into as I haven't read much fantasy lately. I enjoyed it but I wasn't blown away. I found it a little of an uneven read. I will continue with the series though and will see how it goes, perhaps I just need to be in the right zone to get the most out of it. Definitely top marks for the cover though.

<I> ‘Whether you know it or not, Arwen, there is a wild strength inside of you.’ </i>

I’m sad to say I enjoyed the idea of this book a lot more then the execution 😞

Unfortunately, I found the world building patchy, the plot hazy and the character development non existent. As much as I wanted to like Arwen, her thoughts and actions never felt compatible. She would say how she couldn’t trust people and how she was aware she didn’t know much- but despite her having months to look through libraries and educate herself she never really tried to learn more, and she instantly spilt her ENTIRE life story to the first friendly ear. I enjoyed the fact that she was a gentle FMC, but sad that this also seemed to mean she was also, to put it bluntly, an idiot.
We were also told, repeatedly, that the king is dark and cruel and evil, but we never really saw this and his character sadly felt very two-dimensional.

I will hopefully be reading the next one as I am curious about the world and hopeful we will have more character depth and a more clearly described world!

***Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review***

Brilliant! My type of thing, and the writing was brilliant. The perfect mix of spice, twists and world building. Will be looking out for the next book!

I found the writing style initially very hard to get into, but as the book continued, it ended up becoming much easier to fall into reading pages after page. The characters pulled me into the story, I'm excited to see more of Arwen and Kane, my guess is this is very much the beginning of a bigger world waiting to unravel so I can see why we didn't get to know more about them. I've given the book a 3.5 but I can see myself reading the next as well!

This was perfection! I just loved everything about it. The storyline, the romance, the world building, the characters, and the enemies to lovers trope is just my absolute fave! I started getting ACOTAR vibes about half way through - the strong FMC, the Fae, royalty, and the family element too. I am very excited to pick up the next in this series!

CAWPILE score 8.86

So many things happened in this book and for me, that's a great pacing, because it didn't feel dragged at all.

It has a little bit of mystery and I guessed most plot twists, but I still enjoyed them. There isn't a lot of spice (which for me is great, because I really don't like it when the book has a bedroom scene every 5-10 pages). There is a war, a dragon, fae (and some are shapeshifters), a nerdy secondary character that knows a lot and doesn't care about what others think, witches and politics.
I generally like books about healers and this was no exception and I can't wait to read the next one

This book was so good! It was intriguing and really drawed me in. I'll be reading more of this authors work.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely ate this book up. I finished it within 24 hours. The world building was fantastic. The FMC and MMC had my heart aching for them. I loved all the twists and turns. If you like fae, shifters, dragons, only one horse, Grumpy x sunshine and a small hint of spice, you will love this book. Gutted I didn't read it sooner

A Dawn of Onyx is a fantasy romance that hooks you from the start and doesn't let you down. I loved all the twists and nothing felt predictable. I can't wait to see what comes next in this trilogy series and seeing the characters develop, especially Arwen and Kane. Although some parts were a bit cliché, this still didn't stop me loving this and I do recommend to anybody who loves enemies to lovers.

Ohhh what a glorious ending! By the end, I was heavily invested in the characters and their stories. The plot twists were delicious and I couldn’t put the last half down. Excellent read and I can’t WAIT for the second !!

I had trouble connecting with the characters and the story. I do not think I am the target audience, sadly. 😔

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

An enemies to lovers set in a world of beautiful named countries and a world of magic and mystery. The relationship between the main characters is great, and has good banter. As someone that suffers from panic attacks and anxiety, it is refreshing to see a main character deal with it and read about how they manage their attacks.

Also, this book has dragons, among other things, and it's a refreshing read. There is some spice, but it's not heavy which actually works well for the main plot line.

It's filled with twists and turns and provides and easy and enjoyable read. I really enjoyed it.

3.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the copy of this book.

TW: abuse, gore, threat of s/a.
A solid start to a fantasy trilogy. The general set up is simple but it does make for a nice and quick read.
The side characters (and the dragon - iykyk) like the swordmaster and commander were probably my favourite parts of the story.
My main issue was with Arwen’s flip flopping. One page she would be furious at Kane and on the next she would be flirting. I get that this was supposed to be enemies to lovers but some consistency would’ve been nice. There were also some writing clichés: “released a breath I didn’t know I was holding”, the “towering” man trope etc. Also, I’m sorry, but Barney is such a non-fantasy name.

All in all, a decent pick if you’re wanting to get your teeth into the fantasy romance genre (and don’t mind wanting to kill the FMC throughout the book). You will probably see some of the twists coming but you’ll enjoy the journey anyway.

Summary

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Spicy rating: 🌶️🌶️ 1.5/5

Fluff rating: 💖💖 2/5


I genuinely loved this book. It had been sat on my TBR for too long and I regret putting it off so much now. Although at least it’s less time to wait for the sequel.

It was a stunning fantasy romance with some epic twists that had me reeling. When Arwen offers to pay for her brothers crimes against the King of Onyx to keep her family safe, she gets drawn in to a and becomes part of a world of more than she though possible with intrigue, adventure, betrayal, prophecies and new found family.

The characters were so dynamic and Arwen was surprisingly relatable (for someone riddle with power/magic)and has some excellent growth. Kane is brooding and mysterious and everything we love in a morally grey MMC. And it’s not just the main characters. Mari for example was so beautifully chaotic and entertaining, love love loved her.

The plot was gripping and the enemies to lovers element was really well played out. The reluctance, the tension, the angst, the pining, the slow burn. It was all just beautifully done.

Golden’s writing style is easy to follow and well descriptive without being overly so (which is a common problem in fantasy genres). The pace of this story was perfect. It was heartbreaking and emotional in all the right ways and it hey epic battle at the end of the book made it impossible to tear my eyes away!

Romantasy lovers this one is for you.

I cannot wait to read the next instalment of the sacred stones trilogy.