Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This had an interesting premise but fell flat for me. Basically the selection but dragons. Too immature. Sometimes YA romantasy is still good but here it just wasn’t enough.

I got lost in this story really nicely. It was intriguing and I read the series to get out of a slump from TOG and it was perfect.

When the Dragon King announces his search for a wife with enough magic to produce a heir, and sends out sniffers to do so, Arwen is on the radar with a secret of who she is.

However when she finds out a little secret — it puts her in more danger where the king would end her himself if he knew. I really loved the amount of potential danger within these pages where it creates tension you could cut with a knife.

This book definitely gives off The Bachelor vibes with how Arwen is not the only one brought forth, all hoping they’re the next queen the sit in the lap of luxury. With Arwen being such a strong female lead she doesn’t remotely fit that mold.

I enjoyed the plotline and the story building was wonderful here. It is well written and perfect for a YA romantasy read.


Thank you Bloom Books and Leia Stone for the eARC!

In The Last Dragon Queen, Arwen Novakson lives in a land where Fae with diluted magic live and money is scarce, and Arwen only has a little magic herself. When a the Dragon King announced that he's searching for a wife who has enough magic to produce the next royal heir. The king sends out the magic sniffers and Arwen's mom begins to rush Arwen out of the city. Now Arwen's mom is faced with telling her of a secret about who Arwen really is. Arwen is chosen to present herself to the Dragon King's castle as a possible wife only to find she is not the only one selected. She must have more magic than all the other possible young women.

As she spends her days in the castle, Arwen learns a terrifying secret and of the Dragon King finds out, he would kill her himself.

I really enjoyed the set up for this book with some The Bachelor TV series vibes. All these girls hoping they are the next Dragon Queen - to live a royal life of luxury where money will never to be an issue while being on the arm of the gorgeous and powerful Dragon King. Arwen is a strong female character that is the ying to the Dragon King's yang. Story perfection!

Thank you to @sourcebooks and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Read The Last Dragon King of you enjoy:

👑Romantic fantasy books
🐲Marriage of convenience
👑Dragons and shifters
🐲Magical lands

I love dragons, so I was excited to read this one.
However, it turned out to be a bit of a letdown. Despite being a fan of the author and having enjoyed several of her series, I found Arwen's character to be somewhat immature and indecisive. Her choices seemed contradictory at times. Regarding the male character, his connection with her felt more like an obligation due to the demise of others, rather than a genuine affection. While they do find happiness in the end, the conclusion unfolds in a somewhat predictable manner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it has a great plot and story line, some really loveable characters and a lot of twists and turns that were not fully expected.
It’s well pitched for a YA Romantasy read and hits a lot of well loved tropes such as competition for love, rags to riches, and enemies to lovers, it’s full of deceit and heartaching decision making which made it a lot of fun to read and put down.
It’s not without its flaws, the female lead is ‘not like other girls’ to the point where the other females around her are fainting at the sight of blood or prancing around in pretty dressing with nothing else to talk about than the gardens, there is the exception of the captain of the guard who is a great character and displays good strong female representation in a well rounded way.
The writing isn’t matured but I don’t dislike that, I quite often enjoy writing that’s not overly poetical or complicated, the writer keeps things simple but there is a lot of telling and not always a lot of chance to work things out as a reader, great for teens but those looking for a story with something to get your head around may find this off putting.
I picked this up at the right time. It’s perfect for a late night read where you want to feel some emotions. The extreme decisions to be made and situations characters are put in did make my heart hurt and I love that in my reading.
For me a great experience, il definitely be continuing the series to see how the authors writing progresses.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

With all of the romantasy books coming out lately, and some really great YA dragon-specific novels in existence, this book needed to stick the landing on everything: writing style, world building, character development, interesting and new plots, etc. I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me.

The premise sounded great: the dragon king needs an heir, but his wife has to be magically powerful enough to birth a dragon child. Arwen is certain she doesn't have enough magic to be in the running, but a long-kept secret about who she really is threatens to up-end everything.

The writing felt immature and there was a lot of telling-not-showing. Arwen has "not like the other girls" syndrome: she doesn't like dresses, she wears pants and hunts, and has zero social graces and seems rather proud of these facts. She treats other women kindly, but seems to look down on them if they like different things than her or are squeamish about anything.

I could possibly recommend this book to teens just dipping their toes into the romantasy genre that specifically wanted books about dragons, however, there are better-written books out there.

Arwen is such a likeable character and is so strong, both physically and her will power. She is determined to help her family and her people, and that made me a huge fan of hers as the FMC. Drae gave me mixed feelings about him as the MMC. I enjoyed how dedicated he was to his people and that he did seem to truly care about and love Arwen but leaving her constantly on the backburner and making her feel like a backup turned me off a bit.

For me it was a quick and light fantasy read and while I enjoyed it, I do wish that it was a bit longer so that the plot could have been more developed. It just felt rushed at certain times in the book. There wasn’t really any spice in this and would probably be perfect introduction into romantic fantasy for a teen or as a New Adult book. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but I felt like it had the potential to be so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this book, it was a quick read. A bit cliche in areas and any tension/drama/conflict was resolved a bit too quickly.

The world-building was good, and the fantasy world presented in the book was quite unique. And while I enjoyed the book, I felt like certain things were rushed a little and I felt that I was missing some character development.

However, this book has a little bit of everything, romance, magic, intrigue, and dragons set in a medieval time. It kept me hooked so I could find out what was going to happen. Arwen, the main female character of the story is focused on honor and friendship. There’re so many twists and turns through the story.

It was a good way to start the Kings of Avalier series. I recommend to everyone who likes a fantasy book with some twists.

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

I'll admit I went into this with low expectations. While the synopsis intrigued me, there was something about it that made me think the writing quality may not be great. And that's exactly how I felt reading it. The story itself was decent, but it also didn't do much to separate itself from like books in the genre. Overall, I'd recommend passing on this one, unfortunately, Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

I really enjoyed the book I believe it had quite a bit of action which was great and I found it quite believable. The relationship between the king and Arwen and I was quite sad at the thought that they weren’t gonna be able to have kids together and get married and have a proper relationship And I was quite glad that it all came together in the end and they had two beautiful little girls and I’m quite excited to read the next three books in the series

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I enjoyed this story, but certain parts, particularly the beginning and setup, felt rushed. I wish there had been more content to support character development and to give the side characters more dimension. Because there wasn’t much opportunity to meet the townsfolk or exchange more than a few conversations with castle staff, I struggled to care about the plight of the kingdom and the magnitude of responsibility put on Drae.

Similarly, I liked the world-building and the lore that made this fantasy world unique, but wish there had been more. I suspect this will expand with each novel focusing on different kingdoms and their stories.

If you’re looking for a quick fantasy read to escape reality for an evening and don't want a debilitating book hangover, The Last Dragon King could fill that niche.

This book offers it all: romance, magic, and high-stakes intrigue. From the beginning this story kept me hooked and had me thinking about it long after I had finished it.

The world building is rich and immersive. The realm was vivid and enchanting. The dynamics of the magical war brewing in the background create a sense of urgency, elevating the stakes for our heroine.

The love story is heartwarming and heartwrenching! There was a delicate balance between the romance and the looming threat that overshadows Arwen and the Dragon King's connection. The tension had me on edge, flipping pages to find out what was going to happen.

I felt like the writing style was very smooth and easily transported me into the world that was created. The pacing was well-balanced with intense action and quiet scenes that allowed the character's qualities to shine through.

In conclusion, "The Last Dragon King" is a captivating fantasy novel that successfully blends magic, romance, and high-stakes drama. Leia Stone's ability to create compelling characters and a richly detailed world makes this book a must-read for fans of the genre. The story's emotional depth, coupled with the looming magical war, ensures that readers will be eagerly awaiting the next installment in what promises to be an enthralling series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

DNF at 14%

Give it a shot if you like:
-YA fantasy
-magic
-war
-fae
-dragons
-royals
-medieval times

I love all of these things, so I had high hopes for this one. And the cover and description drew me in. It almost seems like this book was kind of thrown together and rushed form the 3 chapters that I read. The writing wasn’t for me. Several phrases and words are repeated within the first 3 chapters. The storyline has a lot of potential, but I feel like it wasn’t executed correctly. It may be just a me thing. Lastly, I wasn’t connected to the characters and did not have any interest in continuing the story.

Thank you to Bloom Books, Leia Stone, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Exceptional read. I could not put it down and stayed up way too late missing out on sleep. I was enraptured by the story from page 1 through to the end. Fast paced, lots of action with s little angst snd a fabulous HEA. Romantasy at its best, enjoy!

Good Read. The last dragon king was a good read. I love Leia’s stories and this one did not disappoint. This book did feel short though and jumped forward in time a few times where I would have liked to be able to see the details of that event or timeline.

I read this book in a day! I couldn't put it down! I loved Arwen and her strong character - focused on honor, loyalty and friendship. So many twists and turns and truly heart wrenching at times - I found my heart pounding and wondering what I would do in Arwen's place. Great read - ready for the next in the Kings of Avalier series!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book when I started it, but the more I got into it, the more intrigued I became. The dragon king needs an heir. Arwen likes her life as a hunter providing food for her family. So when she finds out she’s one of many eligible women to be chosen to marry the king, she’s less than thrilled. Who will the king choose? This book gave me all the feels. As the characters navigate the through the obstacles surrounding them, I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out or if I’d like the outcome. But I was here for the ride.

This took me 3 days to read. That’s it. I could NOT put it down. It was so good. World building was great, adding details in the course of the story without spending several pages on it. Short chapters that moved SO FAST. By the time I got to the third chapter, so much had happened I couldn’t believe it was only the third chapter. The FMC had a full range of realistic emotions and while single POV, enough came out in the dialogue that we got a good feel for the MMC. I laughed, I cried, I grieved. And the art work. Oh my heart! The art work in the book is just beautiful! And that last chapter, from his POV...*chef’s kiss*. Give me more, I am completely invested!