I loved the book at the start, it was really strong, I loved how strong willed Arwen was and stubborn but I feel like the Arwen we got at the start of the book wasn't the Arwen we got at the end.

I found it unrealistic that a girl who has never fought in an army, never had any proper training and didn't know she had magic, was able to learn everything she needed to know in three weeks. If it was a couple of months I think I would have believed it more.

I'm not overly bothered about the relationship itself, but that wedding night was a let down. I feel like the only reason Arwen thought it was a magical experience is because she'd never had sex before. Obviously it must have improved, but still.

Overall the book isn't bad, it just didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

I would literally read anything Leia Stone writes and love it. She's amazing, and the last dragon king is no exception. Thank you so much for the ARC and letting me go on the ride!

Definition of underwhelming.
I love fantasy, I love dragons but this reminded me of what I used to read when I was 13 on Wattpad. It felt like too much happened in only one not-that-long book, it felt rushed and kind of all over the place at times.
And once again I’m left perplexed at how the not-like-other-girls discourse is STILL going in 2023, like please, I thought it’d be done by now.
It rubbed me the wrong way how the FMC could accept the MMC having mistresses but it was a relief for him when the FMC said she couldn’t possibly have someone on the side too, like… the double standards of it all. And the purity culture too, omg.
I didn’t buy the love story at all, where did it even come from? Also, the characters were ALL FLAT, I couldn’t care less for them or what was going on.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dragon King Drae Valdren is seeking a Queen. More importantly, a Queen with some form of powers - enough to hold a child to term, so his kingdom may have an heir. Arwen is a huntress, supporting her family with her kills and she is living a secret life. Only that life is so secret, even she doesn't know. During a magic test, she is selected with other women to head to King Valdren's palace to be paraded, wooed and ultimately selected to be a future Queen.

While this book featured quite the 'instalove' story, I still enjoyed it very much. It felt much shorter than it's 350 pages. To me it felt like a man mourning the loss of his wife and children and not being allowed to heal, who then stumbles across the women of his dreams in a life changing moment. Arwen was fierce and strong, but also could be quite immature at times - but who wouldn't be for a women of only 18 years. Drae, at 21, has some growing to do as well, but I'm looking forward to seeing over the next books the development of all the characters involved as well as the new ones being introduced.

The Last Dragon King is for you if you love a good old "Save the kingdom marriage contest", a he falls first gently simmering romance and mysterious found powers. It is definitely more on the YA Romantasy side of the coin, but still enjoyable for older fantasy seekers as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Bloom Book & Leia Stone for an advanced copy. The entire Kings of Avalier series is available now.

**READER NOTE** - I do implore; there is off page mention quite often of infant death and children born sleeping and maternal death after traumatic birth. This one is most likely not for you if you have sensitivities with those topics.

I thought this book sounded good, unfortunately it was just... not for me.

There will be spoilers so be warned.

It was off to bad a start with the cougarin of all my pet hates in fantasy books, the biggest is when the creatures are just existing animals with a changed letter or on this case adding 'in' onto the end, then we had cougarin, elkin, ratins, rabbitins, and even goatins and I think I nearly put the book down and left it for good.

The pacing was all wrong. Like a LOT happens in this book, there's the competition, there's battles, an engagement, murders, huge revelations, a random 3 week jump at one point, then there's a 9 month jump because Arwen obviously falls pregnant the moment they're married and it was just all wrong.

The purity trope is gross. The dialogue was too modern for its setting and repetitive (Hades was used as an exclamation/swear word 45 times)

I gave it 2 stars instead of one because it did hold my attention enough to read in a day but it was definitely a hate read.

I don't think I'll be continuing with this series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is the first in the Kings of Avalier series. I enjoyed this book. I will be reading the next book book in the series when it comes out. The author takes the times to develop the female main character and also takes time developing the relationship between the main characters. This book has some world building setting up parts of the series. This book has no spice, if that's what you are looking for this book is not for you. I did read this book all in one sitting.

Overall Rating- 4.25/5

Just wow. This book took me for a whirlwind ride with the different (unpredictable) plot twists. Arwen is the type of badass FMC you hope to read about and Drae is such a dream. This book is the perfect combination of Fantasy and Romance without one over doing the other.

Oh boy this was a tough one. The pacing is SO FAST it almost felt like most of the book was just listing bullet points of an outline instead of a cohesive story. Everything is glazed over so fast is just nonstop whiplash. She hates the king, then they like each other, then he says he’s marrying someone else and she’s mad again, then she gets offered a position in the guard and she’s happy again. It’s just nonstop back and forth but with no details to even explain what’s going on.

At the beginning of this story - the FMC was supposed to go through some sort of competition to prove she had enough magic to survive birthing the kings heir. All they had them do was touch an orb that determined magic level? Soooo no competition? This part confused me so much because why even add that into the story.

The phrase “or whatever” was used so many times and it constantly had me rolling my eyes. An example of this “I was prepared to pledge my allegiance to the king and be knighted or whatever into his army.” This felt like really lazy writing or was done purposely to make the FMC sound insufferable.

The king and the FMC need to be naked to shift into dragons and she talks about looking at his bare ass multiple times. This wouldn’t be a huge issue other than the fact that it’s irrelevant to the story and yet we have to hear about it 65 times.

The FMC swings a sword one time and that was all it took for her to be offered a position as a royal guard. Idk about anyone else but I would not feel safe in a city being protected by guards who didn’t have to do literally anything to join.

After falling for the king and getting rejected - she immediately tried to get with her sword trainer Cal and wanted him to kiss her. Then the king was like dang, I don’t rlly like my fiance Id rather have you. She says no and kisses Cal who then tells her the king said he’s not allowed (bc i guess she’s a backup womb for the king to breed.) 🥴 Again with the back and forth in a span of 5 minutes. This felt incredibly middle school and had me cringing internally.

Don’t fret about the love triangle. The fiancé dies tragically in the next sentence so I guess we don’t have to worry about that. They were betrayed by someone in the royal guard (they really should vet members better.. nobody is surprised)

The king and FMC have a steamy make out session immediately after the fiancé death. Like she literally hasn’t even been dead for an hour??? I CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP.

This was so utterly pgfainful to read. I really tried to stick it out and push through but I DNF’d at 74%

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the free copy! I absolutely loved this story and plan on adding the follow on romances to my reading list! It combines dragon shifters with a princess competition and joining the royal guard. Definitely fourth wing mixed with the bachelorette kind of vibes. It’s a friends to enemies to lovers romance and the follow on books seem to each follow a different romance that build to a larger overall story. I can’t wait to read what comes next!

I had high hopes for this book. The overall plot sounded interesting. A girl with hidden magic, dragon shifters, a king looking for wife…all the things I typically enjoy in my stories. However, this one felt like it was missing something.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was pacing. The story felt rushed and I found myself wishing we could slow down and really flesh out the story more. There was a little too much telling and not enough showing.

I had similar thoughts on the character development. I really wish we could have spent more time developing the characters and their relationships more. It all just felt rushed and it was missing the tension and build up.

The spice was pretty mild, so this could almost be considered a Young Adult novel. I feel like younger readers would probably appreciate it more? Idk…

It was a fast read and did enjoy the story. I don’t regret reading it, but I was left wanting a bit more.

The last dragon king- Leia Stone
4⭐️
Im going to be honest, I don’t know if I love or hate this book. The emotional rollercoaster this took me on is probably not good for my well being. And then to realise that even after that cliffhanger the next book isn’t even about Arwen? All of that emotional damage for nothing? I really need to breathe and chill before smoke starts flying from my nose.
Anyway, I enjoyed the fast pace of the story, loved Arwen (most of the time) I did feel like I could see all the twists coming from a mile away (didn’t make it hurt any less though) but overall I did enjoy it. If felt like a mix of The selection and A ruin of roses (both great series) I would recommend you read this book! But you better hold tight to your reading tablet or book, or it might fly straight into a wall at some point;)
Thank you NetGalley and Leia Stone and BloomBooks for this ARC! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Leia Stone's The Last Dragon King is the first installment in the authors The Kings of Avalier series. Each of the books in this series will feature a King, the women he falls in love with, as well as a happy ending. 18-year-old Arwen Novakson lives in Cinder Village with her mother and younger sister. Ever since her father passed away, Arwen has been the hunter-gatherer of the family. In this world, there are Humans, Dragonfolks, Elves, Fae and Wolves.

It is not unusual for mix-breeding to take place which leaves offspring with diluted magic. Cinder Village falls under the control of Drae Valdren, the Last Dragon King due to the fact that his Queen died in childbirth leaving no heirs when he's gone. On the day of her biggest kill and right before May Day where all single boys and girls get together to hopefully find love, she's shocked to find that the kings army turns up in her little town, a town the king never visits.

Apparently he's searching for a bride someone who wields enough magic to carry an heir to full term. This should be a dream-come-true opportunity for Arwen, but she soon learns a terrifying secret about the strength of her magic from her mother. Arwen is likely the most dangerous person around with magic that can cause irreparable damage to Drae, and if the king ever discovered the truth, he would have every reason to kill Arwen himself.

Thanks to her mother's dark secret, Arwen tries to run from being found out. Needless to say, she doesn't get very far. She's topped by Regina Wayfeather, Captain of the King's Guard, and Arwen's idol, as well as Drae Valdren who demands that she be subjected to testing. But, much to her chagrin, when the magic sniffers discover that she does, in fact, have powerful magic, they command her to present herself at the king's castle in Jade City as a possible wife.

Chosen to travel to Jade City along with other women of the Kingdom, Arwen is decidedly not like them. Not at all. Instead of all the pretty dresses, and all the parties, and intermingling, Arwen would have loved to have been chosen to work with her hero Regina Wayfeather. The fact slowly comes out that Arwen comes from a line whom were enemies to Drae's family thought to have all been executed. If is treason to even be alive. But Drae needs an heir to save the dragon folk and the magic that is slowly fading.

Arwen finds herself trying to protect herself from being charged with treason, and possible death. Protecting herself becomes more and more challenging as her magic and her feelings for the king grow. Especially as she must watch him court other women. Arwen can't help but fall for the charming, empathetic Dragon King, but she knows being together would put everyone in danger—herself, the king, anyone with dragon magic. With a magical war brewing, Arwen must decide how much she is willing to risk and how much she is willing to sacrifice for love.

*Thoughts* As I said above, this is a series which features a Dragon, A Fae, an Elf and of course, a Wolf. Each of their stories can apparently be read as standstone's even though they all face the dangers from the Nightfall's army who wants to destroy them. This story has vibes of The Selection, and The Bachelor to name 2 of hundreds. The story moves slowly for the most part, but there are action scenes and battles that will keep the ardent reader happy to continue to the end. Wasn't a fan of the MC telling the FC that he would marry another and then choosing to sleep with others in order to be able to provide heirs. Thankfully, this is a gook with a happy ending.

2.5 stars - The Last Dragon King is the story of Arwen, a huntress from a small village, who is chosen as one of the contenders to become the Dragon King’s next wife and provide him with an heir. But Arwen is more powerful than anyone realizes, including her or the Dragon King, and so she takes on a vital role in helping the kingdom in the midst of a brewing conflict that endangers the survival of her people.

The trope of dragon kings looking for a spouse/mate/womb is not necessarily a new one - dragons in general seem to have a revival - but the author does offer some interesting twists to it that I haven’t encountered before. One of those is the use of machinery to counter the power of dragons and magic. I was incredibly intrigued by that idea. One would think that in a universe with magic eventually someone would come up with a way to counter it. The fact that I haven’t read many romantasies exploring this topic made me even happier to see it addressed here.

The writing is easy to follow and the length is not overwhelming while also providing enough space to get acquainted with the world and the characters.

Personally, however, I am not a fan of 1st person POV. I tend to be ok with it when it’s in past tense and the writing is captivating, but in this case it just didn’t work for me. Additionally, I don’t like modern idioms or language in a fantasy setting. “I’m no snitch” and “but nah, I’m not mad” just shouldn’t be in a book that otherwise uses fantasy/classic expressions. It just doesn’t work for me.

Regarding the characters, I actually enjoyed the way the dragon king was written. His motivations for the way he went about choosing a spouse were relatable and he showed commitment to his role while also not sacrificing his values in the end. Arwen was written in a way that may have reflected her age and inexperience with romantic relationships - maybe she just hasn’t yet realized that you don’t have to compare yourself to her peers to be your own woman. Unfortunately, if that was the intention, statements like “I’m sorry. I like to speak my mind” made it just way too on the nose.

This leads to be second-biggest complaint - I prefer when the author tells me about their characters through their writing rather than have their characters say things out right. It just removes a layer of character complexity that I love about fantasy writing.

My biggest complaint, however, are some of the themes that were discussed. The purity thing in particular actually made me a little uncomfortable. The mom telling Arwen there are ways to seduce a man without giving up their purity and the overall obsession with purity combined with the heavy focus on breeding made me cringe more than once. If I had known how much of the plot would center around it I would have probably avoided it tbh.

I appreciate NetGalley and the author for providing me with an early copy.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Bloom Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, this was a very typical fantasy/romantasy that I think I’d have read when I was about fifteen-ish before my standards were raised. I had issues with the romance, the plot, the character interactions, as well as the diversity (there isn’t any). HOWEVER this book was really easy to read, and if you can accept some of the issues I’ll write a little bit later I think you could enjoy this book. The book goes very fast, and it’s not hard to follow the plot nor the character interactions. Also, this book is potentially a good beginning book to continue this series, as we can see the larger worldbuilding hinted at in this novel. I looked at the plots of the other books, and even while not enjoying this one, I would consider reading the others - if only to see how the MMC’s are portrayed. I could see these novels as easy palette cleansers between other books.

Don’t read further because I get mean. Reader beware you’re in for a scare, and all that.

My biggest issue in this novel is the purity culture nonsense. SO MUCH of the inner dialogue in this novel is about how being “pure” (a virgin) is SO IMPORTANT and that you MUST SAVE YOURSELF FOR MARRIAGE. Listen, if I wanted to get that nonsense preached at me I’d go back to church so they could slutshame anyone with a pulse. There’s also the fact that a lot of the mythology worldbuilding/religion is never explained and seems to be just Christianity with the name of Hades changed from Hell. (Sidenote: Why is there a Hades? How does this relate at ALL to this story? No other Greek gods are mentioned, so I can only assume this was used because it felt more “fantasy” than simply saying “Hell.” To be completely honest, why weren't new swear words invented, relating to the world this novel is in? Something dragon related, perhaps? There also isn’t any religion mentioned, so having words related to this non-existent religion is also confusing.)

Another issue is the fact that the FMC is the TEXTBOOK case of “not like other girls.” She hunts, she wears pants, she hates dresses, she wants to/joins the army, she’s rude, she doesn’t eat daintily - etc, etc, etc. Which, there is NOTHING wrong with this - it’s just an issue when every single time she meets another woman she disparages her in her head for not being any different. She’s so UNIQUE you know? That must make her special. There is literally only ONE OTHER female character she really respects who is EXACTLY like her, and that’s it. Sure, she pretends to like the other women in this novel, but even when she’s getting along with them she’s insulting them either behind their back or in her head, and then laughs at them because they don’t like how rude she is (but she’s just like “it's because I’m so DIFFERENT”). It gets old fast.

There’s even a fucking quote from the MMC about his “dream woman” that PERFECTLY encapsulates this.
“My dream woman would have hair the color of moonlight, she’d want to hunt and shoot bows and arrows with my friends and me, she wouldn’t fuss over dresses and fashion, and she’d eat normal portions of food, not pick at salads like a bird.”
If you have a functioning brain you’ll see the issue with this quote, starting with “she’s not like other girls” and “I expect her to be skinny but I don’t want her to make an effort at it” and “she needs to be one of the boys, but also hot and feminine and sexually available to me.” Bruh.

Also, SPOILERS AHEAD:
But a huge portion of the plot is how the king needs an heir to keep his magic alive. AND he’s losing his magic at an alarming rate, AND if he entirely loses his magic everyone in the kingdom with a connection to his magic (a good 90% of the population) will die. And our plucky FMC spends SO MUCH of our time griping about how “she’s not just a womb” and only caring if the MMC likes her for “who she is” and whatnot. And like, sure, those are good points - in any other novel. Honestly, I get that she’s only 18 but yikes and grow the fuck up. There’s a reason the king sent out a notice to all women of childbearing age with ANY magic - he needs an heir, like, yesterday.

Also, if the worldbuilding in this novel made an OUNCE of sense and wasn’t just white European Christianity with a fantasy filter over it, the king would have at least 10 wives and twice as many concubines to ensure he was never without an heir and the losing magic thing was never a concern. But I digress. So when the FMC and the MMC finally get together and decide to get married, they learn that there could be an issue with a potential child due to their bloodlines. They agree to let the king have 3 mistresses for an heir, and our little FMC is so UPSET about this. And then the king decides he can’t do it, and to just risk it for the biscuit and try with her anyway. (It works because these are looney tunes rules here, but in reality he should have slept with all 4 of them to be safe.)

Not to even mention the one description of when they finally have sex. Yikes. Her internal dialogue is about how her “purity” is SO IMPORTANT that she was SAVING IT FOR HIM and she’s glad she waited until now instead of just giving it to anyone like SOME OTHER GIRLS. Miss ma’am. AND LITERALLY ALL HE DOES IS TOUCH HER BOOBS AND FINGER HER A BIT, AND THEN PUTS HIS DICK IN HER AND THEN FINISHES OUTSIDE OF HER. They spend so much time discussing how he doesn’t like these other women he has to sleep with to save his kingdom and how it won’t be like this with them, and I’m like??? Be like what? My dude, you literally slept with her like she WAS one of these random mistresses you need to get pregnant, and not like you gave a rat’s ass about her or her pleasure.

I think honestly if we cut back on all the pitfalls I mentioned, this book would be better and would have made me more invested in the world. However, if you’re fine with purity Christianity undertones and “not like other girls” nonsense, this fantasy could be a good fit. It’s quick and easy to read, and only took me like 3 hours to finish - so it’s not a huge investment of time. However, for me it felt like it was taken straight from the early 2010s and not 2022, so I couldn't get into it.

I love the concept of the book, but there wasn’t enough depth to the story. Originally it was the cover and the story line that pulled in and made me want to read the book. However, the writing is what killed me, I felt almost like it was wattpad.

The first part of the book was great, I could see a strong main character and an awesome storyline…….and then it went downhill. There was no beginning, middle, or end. I felt like everything was rushed. There is so much potential here when it comes to the idea of the story, but it seems like there was no planning.

The characters and imagery fell very flat for me.

The Last Dragon King by author Leia Stone, published by Bloom Books, is the first book in the Kings of Avalier series.

Arwen, a fierce hunter, has been supporting her mother and sister since her father’s death when she was young.

Drae Valdren, the Dragon King, has need of a new wife with enough Dragon magic to bear him strong heirs.

As the Dragon King searches for potential mates, Arwen learns that her heritage is not what she thought and she finds herself among the women being considered as marriageable to the King.

This book reminds me in some ways of the Selection series by Kiera Cass.

I enjoyed reading about Arwen’s journey through this book and watching her grow and change.

I was so excited to get this ARC, as it was my very first one! I adored the premise of it, but unfortunately some of the writing just fell through for me. There was tension and angst, but there was also way too much compromise for me to fully enjoy and feel like there was a functional relationship between the two main characters. I loved the premise though, and look forward to reading some more work by this author to watch their growth!

The language in this book feels choppy, bland, and childish. The main character is not likeable in my opinion and the plot feels rushed. The fact that there is a ceremony where “single girls and single boys of age would stand in the square blindfolded and then start walking toward each other. Whoever you reached first, you kissed” is the dumbest thing I’ve read in a book in years.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS (Bloom Books) in exchange for an honest review.

If you like ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘The Selection’ then this book is for you. It has romance, it has action, it has fantasy, everything that I adore in a book. The pacing for this book to me was too fast and a lot of these details could be dragged out for a better effect of shock and angst and so much more. For example, the big “secret” Arwen’s mom was keeping from her was dropped right away in chapter 2 and we moved on from it quickly. We could have learned more about the King’s (Drae) friendship with the other kings. The one thing I ~despised~ about this book is when Arwen agrees to getting married but her future husband has to sleep with other women to have an heir. The fact she was “okay” with it to be with him made me do a massive eye roll, but we then later learn she wasn’t okay with this arrangement but still. Anyways, I would have ATE this book up if I was 14.

If you love a fast paced fantasy-romance filled with an evil queen, a strong FMC and king that would do anything for his people - then this is the book for you!

There must have been something about this book that drew me and didn’t let go, because I read the whole thing in an afternoon. The story was easy to get into and didn’t have a big info dump of world building at the start, so good if that’s not really your thing. The story kicked off right away and moved quite quickly from there.

This book is a standalone as part of a series and because of that I kind of wished it was a bit longer. There was so much story to set up and get through that by the time it was all wrapped up in a HEA bow I still needed like another ten chapters haha. Have you ever heard the saying “Cool story, bro. Needs more dragons.”? That’s how I felt about this. Needs way more dragons.

CN for fertility issues, infant death

Thanks to #NetGallery and the publisher. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Genre: Romance/Fantasy
Format: Digital
POV: Single
Spice: 🌶️ /5
Age suggestion: 18+