This book is a captivating and immersive read that hooks you from the first page. The writing is beautifully crafted, with vivid descriptions and strong character development that makes the story come alive. The plot is well-paced, balancing moments of tension with quieter, reflective scenes that allow the characters to grow. The themes explored are deep and thought-provoking, resonating long after the final page. Whether it's the emotional depth, the twists and turns of the plot, or the unforgettable characters, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys rich, engaging stories. Highly recommended

Loved loved loved it. A great wrap up to a series I really enjoyed. I really liked the couple that were the narrators and the focus of the romance side of this book.

I will ready anything Freya Marske writes for the rest of my life. I loved getting to know these characters and the conclusion to the The Last Binding series.

Jack and Alan had such a fun dynamic, and brought a very new type of spice to the series. Meanwhile, we got to see plenty of our previous two couples from books one and two. The whole series was tied together nicely and I love this world that Marske has created.

A Power Unbound is exactly what you would expect from Freya Marske: an exciting magical historical London with the most delightful queer characters. I was especially looking forward to this as a self-proclaimed Lord Hawthorn enthusiast and I must say, despite the pressure of having to tackle many threads and create a satisfying conclusion, Freya delivered an incredible story of Jack Alston's (aka Lord Hawthorn's) dynamic and love story with Alan Ross (much better executed than in A Restless Truth) and a truly powerful ending to the Last Binding trilogy. This book had me giggling at the clever banter and tension-filled interactions between Hawthorn and Ross, furiously turning the pages trying to catch up with the action, and tearing up at all the cameos and the bittersweet feeling of seeing a favorite series end perfectly.

What I don't get is why the plot points of the book, which weren't at all bad, seemed like segues between increasingly elaborate porn vignettes.

I absolutely adore this trilogy and the balance of romance, magical plot, and spice that Freya Marske weaves together. She's definitely on my list of must-read authors now. I'll definitely be checked out Swordcrossed VERY soon.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy of this title in exchange for honest feedback.

A stellar end to a near-perfect trilogy. Freya Marske writes fast-paced, delicious romantic fantasy that grips your attention and doesn't let go. It's bittersweet to wrap up this trilogy and say goodbye to these characters -- I would be delighted if Marske decided to return to them someday, but the trilogy stands wonderfully on its own and wraps up well.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This series is an absolute delight, and the third installment does not disappoint! I have loved getting to know and falling in love with these characters, and I'm so sad to see the series end. I'll happily read anything Marske writes.

A Power Unbound, like the first two books in the series, is told from alternating points of view of the main couple. In this case, it’s Lord Jack Alston (aka Hawthorn) and Alanzo Cesare Rossi aka (Alan Ross). However, unlike A Restless Truth, which was almost entirely set on an ocean liner and only mentioned many of the characters from A Marvellous Light, in this book, the team is back together. With all the major players finally in one place, the group is attempting to find the last piece of the Last Contract before the bad guys do.

First off, I have to address the relationship between Jack and Alan. It’s extremely compelling, as all the relationships in this series have been so far, but I wasn’t quite as invested in their relationship as I was with Edwin and Robin’s. I will say that they do “enemies to lovers” much better, and their encounters – at least to start – are more about playing a role than any real sort of feelings. That’s not really my thing. But this has been the slowest of slow burns, as it builds on their interactions from the previous book, and once you get to the end, everything feels worth it.

I am so unbelievably happy that everyone is back together. I missed Edwin, Robin, and Adelaide, and I am super in love with the found family aspect of the group and their meetings. The group splits into different factions every so often, so there are a variety of different dynamics that get to be explored. This ragtag bunch of misfits really do care for each other, even if some of them aren’t very obvious about it.

A Power Unbound introduces the concept of wealth inequality, which has been absent from the other two books. In A Marvellous Light and A Restless Truth, the two main characters – and therefore the points of view – were on similar if not equal standing. However, Jack and Alan are on opposite ends of the social spectrum. Seeing Alan with his family – who are essentially all living on top of each other – makes you understand his motivations and helps you understand him so much better. Having his perspective gives him depth as a character instead of treating him like comic relief.

In the past, there have been book trilogies where you can tell that the concept just eventually fell apart – where everything the series has been building to just topples under the weight of its own premise. (I can name a handful of them off the top of my head.) That is decidedly not the case in A Power Unbound. Three books in the making, and the final battle is delicious. In fact, the last approximately 50% of the book is spent setting everything up for that ultimate confrontation. And it ends in potentially the only way that it could end, and yes, I’m being deliberately vague.

I honestly cannot recommend this series enough. The characters, the relationships, and the world-building are all amazing. The mysteries are compelling. With all three of these books, I could not put them down. And A Power Unbound is the perfect conclusion, as it wraps up the main arc while still leaving enough open-ended that Marske could return to this universe if she so chooses.

The sweetest conclusion to this lovely trilogy. I can’t believe when I first met Jack in Book 1 I didn’t like him. Loved the found family element as well.

A Power Unbound was a fantastic conclusion to a trilogy set in a world I wanted to spend more time in. I appreciated the development of Hawthorne's character (which began in A Restless Truth) from someone kind of remote and removed from those around him to the fighter and commander he once was. I liked how the class disparity between Hawthorne and Ross added to their relationship and also played out in terms of privilege within magicians as well as between magicians and those without magic. There was a lot of spice and banter between our couple, and we were reunited with couples from the previous books as the story concluded with a very fitting end.

What an excellent conclusion to the series. I enjoyed the one before this, but I didn't love it as much as the first, so I was interested to see where this one would go = and whoa did it go. Honestly a brilliant conclusion to the series,

WHAT a conclusion!!!! While I was a bit underwhelmed by the 2nd book in this series, I was absolutely blown away by this final volume. Marske keeps the stakes incredibly high for the entire book, and there were multiple times where I had to set it down & almost scream because how on EARTH were the characters going to get out of it this time?? I LOVED getting to see more into the minds of Alan & Jack (especially Alan), since they'd both been written so interestingly prior to this volume, and their depths were pretty opaque previously.

Genuinely SUCH a good conclusion, it did not disappoint in any way. I cannot wait to read whatever Marske writes in the future!!

Freya is a master at storytelling and has quickly become a fave author of mine! I loved how all of the couples came together in this story to finally solve the mystery. The banter was great, the spice amazing.

I loved this conclusion to the series, and the way that the magic system was reformed due to the actions of the characters. I also absolutely adored the relationship between Alan and Jack because it felt inevitable and if their dynamic had been written any differently, it would have felt odd for their characters. I was really impressed by how well Marske was able to pull off this concluding book and wrap up the whole series, because it felt like there was not a lot of ground to cover in this book but somehow the plot points all made sense. I will definitely be reading whatever Marske puts out next.

A stunning finale to an excellent series! I absolutely adored the first two books in this series and this was an excellent way to end it. The found family trope is so strong in this book and I still love discovering new pieces to the magical world that I fell in love with and the locked door element that Marske added. This was everything I wanted and more!

I liked this! The narration style seemed different again from book 2 ([book:A Restless Truth|59807966], but it's been so long since I read [book:A Marvellous Light|53217284] that I'm not prepared to even try to compare them.

This book's main character seemed pretty unredeemable when he appeared as a side character in the first book. He was more of an actor in the second book, and now we get his tragic history that contributed to him being a damaged jerk.

There's a lot of action and a lot of threads. It moved very quickly and, upon reflection a couple weeks later, I can't say for sure if all the loose ends were fully tied up, but I can tell you it absolutely didn't matter.

The mystery is solved, and a new set of rules sets up for a possible spin-off series. I'll be very excited to see what this author has in store next!

eARC from NetGalley.

It’s no secret that I LOVE this series and I’m genuinely gutted this is the last book, but what a finale it is! Everything came together perfectly and I could feel the pieces falling into place as the last reveals were made! The plotting for this is honestly immaculate.

I adore Jack, he’s my grouchy little cinnamon roll and I screeched like a banshee when my suspicions were confirmed about this being his book! I just KNEW he’d have an angsty backstory and I wasn’t wrong! BUT, while it’s heartbreaking, it brought a hopeful message about letting go of the past, grieving and forgiving yourself that eased the pain a smidge.

Having that that, I shan’t be letting go of my rage towards George (at least not until my next re-read) and I won’t be taking criticism for it at this time.

ANYWAY! Aside from George, the cast of characters are memorable and well loved so I was ecstatic to see them come together to provide a brilliant ensemble cast! While the focus is on Jack and Alan, everyone got a chance to shine! Speaking of our main duo, the tension between them was *chef’s kiss* I loved them in ART but they blew me away in this! The spice! The feelings! The BANTER! Absolutely phenomenal.

Honestly the banter in this series is top tier and I just love Marske’s writing! It’s humorous, atmospheric and can rip your heart out with a single sentence. Not to mention careful wording that evokes the era and conjures distinctive imagery to match the book’s themes! It’s so easy to get pulled into the book and feel right at home.

There’s great LGBTQIA+ focused historical detail and so much imagination! I was thrilled to discover a house that takes its protection duties VERY seriously, but I also love the cats cradle based magic system and the fun Marske has with it!

I’m going to miss this world but the series really goes out with a bang and reaches an incredibly satisfying conclusion! The blend of romance, magic, banter, loveable characters and brilliant writing & world building have made this an all time favourite of mine and Marske and auto-buy author!

I mean, it’s not often you find a series that’s a solid 5 stars all the way through!