3 -⭐⭐⭐

The Last Dragon King is the first novel in the YA Fantasy Romance series, Kings of Avelier. Each book will follow a separate couple but there is an overarching storyline to pay attention to as these kings face a threat to their entire realm. In this one we follow Arwen and Drae. Arwen is a young hunter from the village of Cinder in the far regions of Embergate that rarely is looked upon...until the Dragon King announces his search for a new bride. As a mainly human in the world of dragons, Arwen does not anticipate to even book looked upon...until a secret is revealed and she quickly learns to survive Arwen must win over the king before he discovers the truth...and kills her.

This book started so strong and was such an easy read.

Arwen is a feisty heroine we love who can kick butt, be witty, and has an innate kindness to her. I loved seeing her take action and not hold back.

Drae is a character I struggled with as I truly felt for him with the loss of his children and need to complete his duty. It is only explained later the importance which rubbed me the wrong way but we will get to that. I could see his struggled between duty and a growing connection to Arwen.

This book is a YA romance so while there is one spicy moment it is very loosely describe so I would say 1 spicy pepper. It is slow burn and the tension between these two is HIGH as they have to describe between duty, safety, and love.

Now, the story had this initial premise that intrigued me with a bridal competition with magic before evolving into a political intrigue against a looming enemy that help open things up. I enjoyed the side characters that engage with Arwen and helped fresh out the world by showing us small corners that covered by the politics and lore. The fantasy world of dragons, the fun twist of modern weapons being made in this world, and the villain continued to draw me in. Yet the focus on the Dragon King needing an heir gradually took over the story in a way that I felt was very forced. He lost his previous wife to childbirth as well as suffered miscarriages and his entire focus is this (this isn't a spoiler, it is mentioned at the beginning); even though he cares for Arwen there is this struggle to find the right Queen to bear his children and they offer some weird solution that turns moot. Arwen gradually loses her fierceness in the name of this story element and I was sort of bummed - I wanted to see her in a more regal form.

Overall, I thing there is promise here but the ending didn't stick the landed like I wanted it to. I will check out the next book though as the introduction of that king as me VERY curious.

Thank you Bloom Books for this review copy.

The Last Dragon King has a lot of mixed reviews but personally I really enjoyed it. It was easy to read, so great if you’re exhausted and don’t feel like keeping up with 286 characters and their backgrounds. 😂

Told from the pov of Arwen, a strong young woman that has helped to provide for her mother and sister by hunting. She also has been completely unaware of who and what she truly is.

The Dragon King needs an heir, and has summoned all eligible young women, including Arwen.

I thought this was well written, with a little romance but nothing smutty, which I didn’t expect anyway as it’s labeled as YA. I certainly will be wanting to read book 2.

Bonus for me was finding out that the author lives in the same town as I do!

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

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Pub Date: 26 Dec 2023

I was excited to check out this book as Leis Stone seems to be making a name for herself as an upcoming romantasy author. Unfortunately, this book really didn't work for me.

I really enjoyed the first few chapters, however. I thought the main character was interesting, had a unique voice, and was appropriately fiery and independent. The writing was also fast-paced and drew me into the world quite quickly. While I didn't feel like there was anything overly unique on the world-building front, it seemed to still lay a fairly good foundation for what seemed like a promising love story.

However, once the romance began it quickly began to go down hill for me. I understood the basic premise about child-bearing and the difficulties therein. But I feel like the way the author approached this romance left a bad taste in my mouth. It had a strong "purity culture" vibe to it that I was most assuredly NOT for in my romance. Beyond that, I felt like the romance we did get happened too quickly and wasn't built on any true connection between the characters, It felt very juvenile at times; again something I absolutely do NOT want from my romance book. And to really hit the last nail in the coffin, the "love story" spends a significant chunk of the last quarter of the book with the two romantic leads discussing how they can have affairs to get around the child/miscarriage issue, which, again, was fairly yucky and not what I wanted from a romance novel. Of course, they don't go through with this and it's meant to be a great moment, but it was the definition of "too little, too late."

I'm not sure where to go from here. The author has some other book coming up that I'm interested in checking out, but this wasn't was such a miss for me, that I'm unsure whether it was a one-off or whether this author just isn't for me. Either way, given how many great romantasy books are coming out, I think readers can find better offerings than this one.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this!

I honestly think I’m not the right audience for this book, this is DEFINITELY YA, so it’s written simpler. I believe Cinder village is supposed to be a nod to Cinderella, so that’s fun. Arwen is okay. She’s giving very much “I’m not like the other girls” vibes throughout, so much so it became repetitive and a little frustrating. Some of the dialogue was cute, but there’s no real character development/relationship development. The characters weren’t necessarily unlikeable, but I didn’t feel any connection to them. This book was very short, so many of the events felt rushed/come out of nowhere. It felt almost like I was reading a draft and chapters may be missing because it skips through events so abruptly. It was an okay read! Maybe better for a much younger audience.

This book is written in the 1st person with one point of view (Arwen’s) for a majority of the book until the final chapters. It follows Arwen, a girl born in a poor village when she is selected as a potential bride for the Dragon King. It is a relatively fast paced, short book with decent writing.

The Last Dragon King started off with so much potential, the story had so much potential….but then it just didn’t live up to what I was hoping for. The world building was ok, most of the characters felt pretty flat to me, the plot was rushed and underdeveloped. The romance was meh, the spicy scenes were minimal. Too much revolved around the wombs and children, it got a little too weird at times. The writing style along with the main character were immature at times as well.
I liked the idea of this book and this story line, it was just too rushed for me. If you like shorter books and avoid high fantasy because of how the world and character development drags on, this book might be right up your ally. If you are into pregnancy tropes this might also be for you. I’m still currently debating if I will reach for the next book in this series or not. Overall, I would give this book a 2.5.

“If I don’t love anyone, then they can’t destroy me when they die.”

“The Last Dragon King” by Leia Stone is a fantasy romance about Arwen. Arwen thought she only had a little magic but when the King is in search of a new wife to carry his child, he must test the magic in all the girls. The King has so much magic that he needs a woman that has strong magic as well or both the mother and child will die during the birth which leads him Arwen. When she finds out that she is very powerful she is whisked away to the palace for a marriage selection process. Arwen must hide her secrets and her disdain for carrying a child with the King. But once their feelings grow it gets harder and harder to hide the truth of her lineage.

I loved this book so much. I absolutely love marriage selection books and Arwen is a super strong female main character. I love how brave she is and her struggles with her temper but still having compassion and kindness. It has a ton of magic and action which made it so I didn’t get bored at all. I will definitely be reading the next book when it comes out. 5 out of 5 stars from me.

-Multiple POV
-Pregnancy Trope
-Marriage Selection
-Dragons
-Magic
Strong FMC

"The Last Dragon King" introduces Arwen, a resilient and hard working protagonist thrust into the role of provider in the wake of her father's death. Born and raised in an almost forgotten town, her life takes an unexpected turn when the Dragon King selects her as his bride, unraveling a perilous secret she must conceal.

While the premise held promise, reminiscent of a fusion between "The Bachelor" and "The Hunger Games" with Dragonkin, the narrative fell short due to the characters and pivotal plot elements.

The female protagonist adopts a regrettable "I'm not like other girls" stance, disparaging fellow women who embrace more feminine lifestyles. Any budding connections with female friends is also abruptly severed, contributing to a disheartening narrative choice.

The Dragon King himself lacks redeeming qualities, exhibiting a personality akin to wet cardboard, and perpetuates harmful stereotypes by applauding the protagonist for not conforming to traditional femininity.

Additionally, the development of the central relationship takes an unusual turn, and an uncomfortable endorsement of purity culture in the latter part of the book diminishes the impact of the intimacy between the MCs. "The Last Dragon King" thus emerges as a narrative marred by questionable character dynamics and thematic choices.

The Dragon King is looking for a wife and any woman of child bearing age are being asked to present themselves for magic testing. They must have enough magic to be able to produce an heir for the king. Arwen doesn't believe she has a chance, being only 1/10 dragonkin and is shocked when the kings ‘sniffers’ tell her she is being chosen as a possible wife. She is thrown into even more shock when her mother tells her a secret, one which could get her killed if the Dragon King finds out about it.

Gotta say I thought this book had a lot of potential. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. I liked Arwen, but sometimes she came across as too stubborn and immature. I also didn't like that Drae’s magic, and by extension the dragonkins magic, was tied into him having a child. It just didn't make sense. I did think the world seemed interesting. Especially the night queens kingdom. They seem to be in the industrial era whilst everywhere else is medieval. However I dont think it's enough for me to continue the series.

Rating 3 stars
*I received a review copy from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review

It’s roller coaster of emotion. It is well written and a quick read. It flows and is fun. Arwen is interesting to follow.

I also liked the pictures through out the book.

But the plot has one glaring plot hole that once I caught on kind made the whole story not quite work out. The king is looking for a really powerful woman to have his child…. And his general is that but is never even considered.

This book was alright. I think the plot was very rushed, I felt as if I were reading an abridged version of the actual book. Because of that, I felt no connection to any of the characters and found myself very confused as to how things evolved so quickly. I felt this story had potential but was so rushed that it fell flat. Additionally, all the information is spoon fed to the reader, you don’t need to think about anything happening because the author gives it all on a silver platter. The basis of the story was interesting enough to finish the book but I felt nothing for characters I should have felt a connection to. I did not feel sad at any of the deaths and I did not really care about the progression of the love relationship. So many characters and backgrounds could have been further explored to give the story more depth and complexity, but for some reason the author believed it better to time skip? Sad to see the potential was there, but fell short.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

This was such a fun read!

I read it nonstop and devoured the book in just a few hours (3 hours to be exact😆). I truly enjoyed this book. The pacing was fast. The world building was easy to follow and understand. It was action packed and very exciting. And lastly, my favorite, the romance was swoony.

The things that led me to rating it 4 stars is the ending. It just ended abruptly and it felt like a chunk of the story was missing. I would have loved it of we got a glimpse of the family life of Arwen and Drae.

This novels includes magic, dragons, and other creatures, but this novel focuses more on the dragons. Drae, the king of dragons has a problem finding a woman who will be strong enough to bare his children and also have them be born alive. If he cannot have an heir, the dragons will lose their powers and be susceptible to the Nightfall Queen. Arwen lives in a village, supporting her mother and sister by hunting. Her life is simple, but the Dragon King comes looking for a woman to bare his heir and Arwen gets chosen, but she doesn’t have dragon blood, or does she? Arwen learns the truth about herself, know what she must do. Drae is getting weaker and a bride needs to be found soon who can carry a baby to term and survive. With the Nightfall Queen attacking and Drae and Arwen trying to figure out things between them, it will be a rather bumpy ride. I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an arc. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Last Dragon King started strong, faltered near the end, but then recovered. This book wasn't tagged as Young Adult, but it read like one. It was action packed, and fast paced. There wasn't a lot of world building nor was there an overly complex plot. The major appeal for me was that it is very, very entertaining. I could not stop turning pages and read this straight through in one sitting. It's also a complete story with a happy ending.

The drawback was that a very emotional and pivotal decision was made in a rushed and careless way. It really hurt the development between the two main characters and if it had not happened so close to the end, I might have stopped reading. Thankfully, the story recovered in a matter of pages, but it would have been better for the book if it had not happened that way at all.

Arwen lives with her mother and younger sister in a small, poor village. Her family counts on her to hunt for the food they eat. The king is looking for a new wife and Arwen is taken to the capital city to see if she holds enough power to carry his heir.

I thought this was a good story overall. I like the premise of it. I felt like it was kind of rushed towards the end but glad to see there is a second book so many we will get more answers in that one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was not for me. Started out really promising, interesting world, premise was good, but then the female main character turned AWFUL. It became so clear the author was trying too hard to make the main character a female “not like other females” character and it was not done well.

(This review contains spoilers!)







I am one of those people who are very easily entertained by anything I read. I did start and finish this book in a matter of hours because I was interested in the overall story. However, there are a lot of things in this particular book that I couldn't turn a blind eye to. Again, I am generally nice when rating and reviewing books because I respect that authors have a story to tell and it takes a lot to not only write it, but to publish it.

The dragon shifting was one thing that caused me to cringe internally., and a lot Not because of the fact that they are dragons, but because for practically every single shift, it is mentioned how they need to "get naked". After the third time, it just became too repetitive for me. Time to shift, need to remove clothes, shift back, get dressed. I think it didn't need to be mentioned so often because the reader gets the idea.

Then there's the fact that the dragon king needs an heir or else his power weakens and his people die. That storyline is interesting in itself but my issue came again from redundancy. Arwen mentions her womb/only being wanted for her womb maybe five too many times. Those womb mentions just felt really awkward to me but I could just be picky.

The relationship between Arwen and Drae felt underdeveloped. Maybe I like slow burn romances but I would have liked to see a lot more development of their feelings. I know Drae didn't love Joslyn but his feelings toward Arwen just felt really rushed anyways. Well, both of their feelings really. Also, kissing right after she's killed? I know Arwen felt bad, but really? She was imprisoned and interrogated by Drae and suddenly she loves him too.

The whole mistress plot was for lack of better word, icky. I am really really sorry because I want to be nice, but I was getting so annoyed by this whole story of desperately needing an heir, Drae loves Arwen but chooses Joslyn for safety, and the best, Drae loves Arwen, they can't have their own child, but they marry anyway with the agreement that he will sleep with maybe three other women if necessary......what...

There's also the major "not like other girls" mentality Arwen has and the purity culture during their one intimate scene which were, again for lack of better word, cringeworthy at best. The war/battle scenes also did not feel fleshed out enough but I am still sad for Regina.

All that said, I am more interested in Raife's and Kailani's story so I won't abandon this series just yet. I think there's potential for future books so I'm a little hopeful. This story, for me personally, was 2.75 stars, rounded up to 3 for Goodreads.


(Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book.)

What a great story, full of adventure, suspense, magic, and romance. The tension between Drae and Arwen is palpable through the pages and their connection is off the charts, the plot is full of secrets and mysteries, I love Arwen and her personality, and the king is the best of the best, love him, another great fantasy romance that kept me entertained from beginning to end. The Last Dragon King is the perfect combination of adventure, fantasy and romance. Highly recommended

The title made me want to read this book all on its own. Dragons, magic and a strong FMC? Sign me up!

I thought the book started out really strong. Fast paced, it quickly grabbed my attention and I didn’t want to stop reading.

The King needs to find a new queen and produce an heir all while in the midst of war. our FMC is the provider of her family and is strong, smart and of course, there is more to her than being human.

This felt instalove to me but I didn’t hate it.

I loved the magic and wish there was more. In fact, that’s exactly what this book needed- more world building, more magic and more chemistry.

Overall, I enjoyed it this book!

At least it was a quick read. Arwen is the long lost dragon queen and he is the king and their ultimate goal is to make babies. I am sure there was more to the story but the word womb kept being mentioned every other paragraph.

“My dream woman would have hair the color of moonlight, she’d want to hunt and shoot bows and arrow 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.”

Arwen isn’t like other girls. She hunts and is super powerful and beautiful. Her only friends died in front of her but that won’t stop her from seeking passion with the king. Also she is a virgin because purity matters.

Read if you’re into that I guess. I was not

Thank you for letting me read this and review it. I personally did not like it as I thought I would. The concept sounded amazing which is why I thought I’d read it. Per synopsis. But the absolute execution of said concept wasn’t good. It was there somewhat. I just couldn’t finish it. DNF. Personally I don’t think I can rate this. It was a first book in a series. Maybe it gets better?