I'm so sorry. I appreciated the ARC read but I couldn't finish it because I had to DNF about 50% through. It just wasn't for me unfortunately

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher books for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

"After all, everything was always about coin. The evil that made the world go round."

The Last Leviathan - Anacostia Miller
Pub date: June 21, 2024
★★★★☆

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honesy review. Enjoy!

Maeve Cross, the Princess of Farlight, was sent to a political marriage out of her will by her father in exchange for military power. Instead of being a sit pretty wife of a violent man, she pursues her freedom in the open sea by infiltrating a pirate ship. There she met the captain of the ship, Captain Leviathan whose ruthless yet charming at the same time. He doesn't want to do anything with her and never intend to in the future, but the inevitable attraction between the two leading to something feels forbidden. The invisible wall separates them is leading to unfold never ending nightmare, horrendous pasts, and long lost memories. Unfold the truth behind the glorious Farlight Isles.

Pirate fantasy romance, just from the prompt told me it's a fun one. I appreciate the author's effort in putting so much details in the ship's life, especially a pirate's one. Everything feels alive: the ship crew (Gunny is my personal favorite), the officers, the system they have, the hard and dirty work they did. I'm loving all of it like sign me in, i wanna join you guys too!

As for the romance, the tension between Maeve and Levi is well-built with a little tease here and there. They're this close yet keep resisting each other is having me biting my nails all the time. They had their ups and downs, sometimes it gets almost romantic sometimes it gets angsty at its best. Since it's an adult romance, there are some suggestive thoughts and talks and ofc spicy scenes multiple times. The smut is pretty graphic and blunt, if you're not smut enjoyer maybe stay away from this one.

A little ick for my part is that i found some inconsistency in the characters and how they can went from a to z real quick. Also some things proceed just too instant and brief to my liking. Maybe the author can take this into consideration for the sequel. Not gonna lie i'm excited for the next book, can't wait!

"The Last Leviathan" by Anacostia Miller is an absolute ride from start to finish! If you love pirates, magical adventures, and a bit of spicy romance, this book is definitely for you. Maeve, our badass heroine, escapes a forced marriage and ends up on a pirate ship led by the mysterious and oh-so-dreamy Captain Leviathan. Seriously, their chemistry is off the charts!

Maeve isn't your typical damsel in distress—she dives right into the pirate life, sword fights and all. Leviathan, with his brooding looks and secret past, keeps things interesting. The enemies-to-allies romance is a slow burn that will have you hooked. The plot moves at lightning speed, and while I wished for a bit more of Leviathan's captain vibes, the story more than makes up for it.

If you’re into swashbuckling adventures, magical creatures, and a romance that sizzles, "The Last Leviathan" is a must-read. Can’t wait for book two!

I loved this book! It really had everything you could want - love and adventure and magic and pirates. Will be recommending and adding to our library.

This was an great read! I loved the adventure, spice, romance and the relatable characters. I also appreciated the fact that the story never shielded away from hard subjects. This book had everything - magic, elves, pirates, high stakes and romance. I adored it and I cannot wait for the sequel as this one ended on a cliffhanger.

I REALLY wanted to love this book, I just couldn’t get into it. I will most likely try it again soon.

Holy crap did I just devour this book. Did I stay up way to late and my husband asking me if I got any sleep, yes, yes I did stay up to late and gosh darn in it a nap is now in order but it was just so good!!! I freaking loved it! I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately where everything just seems like all the other books but whew did I enjoy this book! I loved these two MC's and I cannot wait until the next book, like when, when is the next book, I need it NOW! Sea dragons, girl with a fight to her, and a crew I want to be a part of, sign me up, a pirates life for me! (have I used to many !!!! in this review, yeah...oh well!!!)

DNF at 25%. I don’t think this is for me but I can see why other people would like it. I don’t think there was enough world building and everything felt very surface level. The FMC is instantly attracted to the MMC but she also hates him, for no real reason. Then suddenly even though she’s been super sheltered her whole life she’s very adaptable on the ship and learns quick. The side characters all seem very interesting and it seems like there will be a great found family vibe. I think this could be interested but it just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Netgalley, Anacostia Miller and Hot Tree Publishing for this e-ARC

Rating: 4.75/5
Spice: 3.5/5

I usually do not congregate to books that have pirates but this may change my views for the future! I loved reading about the love story between Levi and Maeve. They have grown so much as characters and were both able to recover from their trauma together which was really awesome.
This book follows the journey of Maeve a princess who is forced to marry Nathaniel, where she wants anything besides having to be with a male she hates. She later escapes onto a pirate ship where she happens to meet Levi the captain of this ship, She later falls in love with the captain where they are conquering their healing journey together especially both of them coming from complex paths.

“The Last Leviathan,” by Anacostia Miller

Maeve, a princess, is being married off to a horrible man. In order to prevent this, she runs away and ends up on a ship as a stow away. Captain Leviathan does whatever he needs to to protect his crew and Maeve wasn’t something he expected. They are drawn to each other despite all their differences. Leviathan must decide if she is worth the danger to his crew.

I really liked this book. The pirates and sea creatures were so interesting, and I was in love with it. The relationship was tense with enemies to lovers who couldn’t help but being attracted to each other. I loved all the twists and turns of the plot and how the book ended was so good. Super worth the read and I can’t wait for the next book. 4 out of 5 stars.

-Sirens/ Sea Dragons/ Fae/ Elves
-Arranged Marriage/ Royalty
-Pirates
-Enemies To Lovers

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

This book was more sex focused than I usually read which is why I ended up not finishing it. Just wasn’t exactly for me but I do think it will be a hit with all the smut girlies and I love that for them!

Review: The Last Leviathan
✨: 3.75/5
Genre: romantasy
1️⃣ emoji: 🏴‍☠️
Format: ARC NetGalley

Princess Maeve Cross has been bartered off in marriage to a royal A, if you know what I mean. She escapes en route to the honeymoon, and stows away on a departing pirate ship. The ship is led by Captain Leviathan, named after the magical water dragons that were hunted to extinction to steal their magical powers. Turns out Maeve’s daddy, the king, is actually more of a tyrant, which is news to sheltered Maeve. Captain Leviathan isn’t so happy to find the daughter of the hated king as a stowaway on his boat. Luckily, they’re both super hot, and are going to fall in love.

➕: I really like the plot! Lots of twists, cool magic.

➖: The romance was a bit over the top. I’m more of a slow burn gal- this was way too predictable, lots of cheese. Lots of sex scenes if you’re into that. I could have done with a little less and gotten back to the actually pretty good plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hot Tree Books for an eARC of this novel!

Not to be that person, but I need the next book immediately! This was so good! It hooked me from the start, and I was so thankful that I trusted my gut and requested this book. I read it in one sitting (with a dinner break). It has a lot of elements I love, like pirates, enemies to lovers, and dragons. I enjoyed the dynamics and strong characterization of every character. My only complaint is that I really hate when characters use pet names that are "typical". If they fit the character, eh, but it's fine. But I will never find someone who says sweetheart or darling very hot. I know this is a personal thing, but it happened so often that I just was drawn out of so many scenes.

Well, what all can I say about this book? I loved it. I thought the writing was really good, well phrased and good pacing. I thought the world building was really intriguing. The plot is intricate, but not too complicated. The bad guys are absolutely the worst and are easy to hate.

I really loved the found family that usually comes with a good pirate story and this one didn't disappoint. The FMC was not a delicate flower even though she is labeled as a princess. The MMC is appropriately tough when he needs to be but also able to be vulnerable when it counts. He's definitely a smexy shifter. I liked all of the characters evolution. Others mention the banter, I agree it was really good.

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because I didn't find it believable that Maeve could do everything she did so well and so quickly, I hate to say Mary Sue but it came across that way at times and it took me out of the fantasy a bit.

Overall I think this book has a really bright future, I predict it being super successful and seeing a lot of hype on the Romantasy socials..

Looking forward to the next installment!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free e-arc of this book.

My Rating: 5 ⭐
Spice: 3.5 🌶

Ever since OUAT’s Killian Jones (Hook) I have had an unhealthy obsession with
pirates. This book was my first time diving into the pirate theme and I’m now
mad that I waited for so long.

Anacostia is a screenwriter and it absolutely shows in the way every page came to
life in my mind. I devoured this book in one evening and ended it by dreaming of a
world where I could stow away on a ship and find myself a Captain Leviathan. She
expertly painted a kingdom full of mythical creatures, such as elves, leviathans, fae,
and more.

Maeve is every bit the sheltered, ignorant, princess you expect and her immaturity
shows at times. Luckily it doesn’t last long before we see her determination to be so
much more than just a princess locked away in a tower. We see how strong she is
from the very beginning, and how she keeps her head high regardless of her
circumstances, but we also quickly see how hard of a worker she is and how badly
she wants to escape the life of a Princess to live one of freedom.

Levi is the crude, stubborn, ruthless pirate captain you expect him to be. His crew,
his ship, and being an honorable man are three pillars of his personality. We see his
soft and kind heart when it comes to his main mates who I quickly fell in love with.

The tension, banter, and attraction are quick to build between Maeve and Levi. The
romance is a slow burn but is worth the wait. The filthy mouth of Levi mixed with the
virginal innocence yet burning curiosity of Maeve makes for a dynamic that leaves
you unable to read fast enough.

As someone who doesn’t read a ton of fantasy, this book was perfect for me. I can
see how a true fantasy lover may want more action or more world-building, but I
genuinely loved the balance. It was fantasy enough to keep me in this mythical
world while having plenty of plot, and twists, but not hard for me to follow.

You can guarantee I’ll be waiting for book 2!

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Hot Tree Publishing, and the author Anacostia Miller for providing me with this ARC in exchange for honest review.

The plot:

This book follows the FMC Maeve, who follows a runaway princess, who along her journey meets our dear Captain Leviathan. Initially, I was drawn by the premise of this book, mostly because it checked all the boxes in terms of tropes, but it fell kind of flat. I had a hard time connecting with both our main characters, but also with the story itself. At some point it did feel like I was reading a script, as the monologue felt very forced or clipped at times, and that threw me a little bit off.

There were some things in the book that drew me out of the storytelling, such as why Maeve did not fall ill with seasickness considering she'd been sheltered for most of her life, and therefore have never been on a ship before. The book focused more on other parts of the storytelling, which is completely fine, but for me, I get drawn into books when the descriptions seem "realistic" (in a fantasy / fiction-way) in terms of feelings and such.

The romance is very insta-loveish, which is fine in some cases, but this felt a tad bit rushed. As this books is an adult fantasy novel, it does contain spicy scenes, which I am a sucker for. I do think the author wrote these very well, but they did seem to overtake the plot at some point. There is a very fine line between too much-smut and just the right amount - unfortunately this did end up being too much (not in terms of smut, but in terms of the plot itself).

The world building:

I also really would have liked some more world building. There was next to none in this book, but again, the author chose another another direction with other focuspoints, which again is fine - I am just used to reading books with vivid descriptions of the world I am reading about.

My overall rating is:

I did want to love this book, but it just did not do it for me. I liked the premise, and I do think the author did a good job. I just was not that hooked. I do believe that I, as the reader, could feel that the author put a lot of work into writing the book, and I will read the 2nd book when it comes out, just because I liked the plot. But it is safe to say that I wasn't blown away by The Last Leviathan. The plot is what gives my rating another .5 stars.

If you love books with found-family, a runaway princess, an overprotective pirate captain and insta-love, this book is just right for you, and you should give it a try.

⭐️ 3 / 5
🌶 4 / 5

I absolutely loved the opening of the story. It was really entertaining, though it wasn't laugh out loud funny for me but still I chuckled. The romance was a bit too insta lovey for my liking. I'm not that into so much spice but that is a personal preference.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for ARC. I received my copy in exchange of an honest review.

The Last Leviathan, first book in The Guardian of Farlight Isles series follows Meave, a young princess who is forced to marry a man that she hates the most. So she escapes in her wedding night and gets into a pirate ship which is leading by Captain Leviathan, a mysterious man who can be the greatest enemy for Meave, or maybe her savior?!
I always enjoy reading Pirate books. They're like having a journey on sea with a band of people who gives you feeling of being with your intimate friends. Navigating, fighting, having drinks on deck, playing cards with the crew, meeting some sea creatures like Sirens, Merrows and Leviathans, these are all the things that I expect from a Pirate book that hopefully I found in this book.
I liked the characters and their connections but I wasn't ok with how the storyline and the plot was going on. It felt rudimentary and irrational. I mean... Look at how Meave and Ronin attracted each other from the first sight, or how soon Meave, an imprisoned princess for whole of her life, gets into the crew and learned to live on a pirate ship and even fighting. Is that so easy to take a sword and leading a rescue mission?! Well, I can't stand this part at all.
After all, I like to see what's gonna happen in upcoming books so I'll absolutely pick them up.

Plot: ⭐⭐/5
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐/5
World building: ⭐⭐/5
Plot twist: ⭐⭐/5
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶/5

Pirates, dragons, fae, hidden pasts and secrets in the present - adventure and suspense from beginning to end, with a lingering simmer keeping things real. Fun for romance fans and those who love an epic adventure!