This was such a gorgeous conclusion to the trilogy, and so immensely satisfying. I'm in awe that Marske paid off everything that needed paying off with regard to the overarching plot whilst crafting a romance that is perhaps the most compelling of the whole trilogy, and I don't say that lightly. I was repeatedly wonderstruck by just how real Alan and Jack both felt- their inner psyches, their dialogue, their insecurities, their projections to the world around them- Marske's character writing is truly masterful. There's also a danger with romance series where characters begin to feel a bit samey as the author's proclivities for a certain "type" begins to shine through, but there's not a sign of that- romance isn't my go-to genre, but I have read enough period romance to say that this was the most believable exploration of the power dynamic that comes along with a big class gap I have ever come across- which in retrospect, makes absolute sense from Marske. I can't find a better way to phrase it than to say that Marske fully inhabits her characters- they could be doing the most mundane thing in the world, and she is still fully considering all their experiences and quirks and beliefs, and it colours her writing beautifully. Somehow, she also manages to be absolutely hilarious whilst balancing all this. The final confrontation was tense, enjoyable, and resolved in an interesting way, and the ending was genuinely so touching and sweet- I don't know if I've been as heartbroken to say goodbye to a group of characters since I was a teenager. I genuinely can't praise this book highly enough- perhaps I would find the words if I was as talented a writer as Marske. This series has a special place in my heart, and will for years to come.

A satisfying conclusion to The Last Binding trilogy! I'm not going to lie and say I fully understood every single detail of the sometimes complex plot, but the characters, their motivations, and their romances thrived on the page. I was definitely a bit more interested in the romance between Jack and Alan than the actual overarching plot but I still really enjoyed reading this book. They really had the hots for each other and hated that about the situation. So the tension & banter were truly top-notch.

Though books two and three have not hit the same perfect marks for me as the first book, I absolutely recommend this to all readers who enjoy queer historical romances with magical & mystery elements.

I also STRONGLY recommend this series on audio!

What a brilliant conclusion to a fantastic series! The connections between the characters and how the series seamlessly flowed was beautiful. I'm very excited about Freya Marske's next story.

(Content warnings: explicit sexual content, death, murder, blood, mostly minor mentions of homophobia, sexism, classism, rape)

Great conclusion to a fun trilogy :) Something about it didn't make me connect to the characters as much as I'd like to, but overall it was still a very enjoyable ride, with some great plot twist and stellar emotional beats.

In this last book of The Last Binding trilogy we get a conclusion to the events that have been set up in A Marvellous Light and A Restless Truth and follow the story from Jack's (aka Lord Hawthorn) and Alan Ross's perspective. Of corse all of our former protagonists are present troughout this book, and similar to the former books of the Series, we get magic, queers and magical queers doing a heist in the Edwardian era.

4.5*
I listened to an audio ARC.

I was very predisposed to love this, and I did! I had really enjoyed the previous two books, and had especially adored the dynamic of Jack and Alan in the second book, and to have them featuring in the own book was delicious.

I really enjoyed how they related to each other and how their relationship developed. Basically every time they were on the page together I was completely gripped. I did sometimes sulk that they weren't together *quite* as much as I would have liked!

The audio worked very well for their characters, although I found some of the gripper plot parts a little trickier to follow, so I'll be following up with a print version so I can make sure I got it all - this is probably more of a comment about my audio processing skills though!

My one issue though is one that I regularly have with historical cross class relationships, especially same sex ones that have to be hidden. I just couldn't see how their future was going to work out, not because of their individual feelings, but in a very logistical, wider societal/familial sense, and at the end, I remained....not unconvinced but definitely concerned. I think I needed a 5year on type epilogue! For me it was maybe more of a HFN?

But I loved returning to this whole world, and would only long to read more of Jack and Alan figuring it out together!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free audio ARC*

Amazing narration by Josh Dylan. I was blushing at times during the spicier bits because of his reading. And what a great read this was! The magic part remains a tad too complex for my understanding, but it's still manageable for the flow of the story overall. I thought this was a beautiful finale for the trilogy and I'm sad to see those characters go.

I've enjoyed this trilogy and I think this final book was the best of the tree - mainly because we get to see all the characters from the previous books together for most of it. I feel so invested with them all and it was great watching characters you've got to know so well separately engaging with each other and working together on a ...big mission to save magic?

Honestly, the magic system in these books, and the folklore that is built around it, is still a bit of a mystery to me. I didn't think about it too much, just sort of trusted what the characters were telling me. I felt like one of the non-magical characters for most of it, not a clue what's going on but very invested anyway.

Jack and Alan are SOOOOOOO good together too! Their stories come together so beautifully and they really work to push each other at every given opportunity. It's entertaining, hot and very, very overdue because I didn't really get that out if the last book with Maud and Violet.

If you've read this series and we're also a little underwhelmed with the second, this one definitely deserves to be read, even if it is a smidge long!

In the third instalment of her saga about power struggle, treason, heartbreak and passion, Freya Marske ramps up the pressure as she guides the characters towards the finale (The conclusion to the book is perfect and in a tone with the general message of the book, about magical obligation and responsibility. It is hard to write about this book without spoilers, but these are these are the locations of three of my favourite scenes: Jack’s library, The Barell and the oak. There. If you want to know more, please read the series. It is SO worth it.

Josh Dylan is a great narrator, especially as Alan, but I wish they gave Jack a different voice - a bit lower and more masculine. Having said that, it is entirely a personal preference, because Josh Dylan read it amazingly well - including all the steamy parts, which are particularly hard to do well!

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a free eaudio copy of the book.

This book was the perfect conclusion to a perfect trilogy and I couldn't have asked for anything more. I just wish I didn't have to say goodbye to these characters, but I am extremely satisfied with how everything wrapped up.
As usual, my favourite part about the book were the characters: I loved the main duo and I was very happy to see everyone interact with each other. It's the thing I enjoy the most with this type of series where the main couple changes every book. In the end, everything is connected and it makes for a lovely experience.
I am very curious to see what Freya Marske comes up with next, because this book and this series really had it all: emotion, well-written sex scenes, amazing characters, found family, a strong storytelling and overall it was an outstanding adventure, both for me and the characters.
I loved every second of this and I am so glad to have read The Last Binding trilogy.

Time for another romp with Robin, Edwin, Violet, Maude and Jack, this time Set in Edwardian London. The team are still trying to detect the whereabouts of The Last Contract. Violet brings Alan Ross back in to help; as a journalist he has access to many areas and goes under the radar with ease.

Ross is the child of Italian immigrants, a working class newspaper man who turns his hand to most things to make a living. Secretly he is also the author of illegal raunchy gay novella under pen name ‘The Roman’. When he first encounters Lord Hawthorne/ Jack Alston (Brother of Elsie Alston) he detests him, Hawthorne represents everything Ross hates about high class society, or so he thinks, but he soon finds out theres a lot more the Jack than meets the eye.

There’s mystery, magic, LGBT+ romance and as usual some wonderfully written Achillean sex scenes, the quaintness of the Edwardian setting balances out the spiciness and tension, as well as a sprinkling of good humour throughout.

To be honest I was a bit hesitant when I read the narrator was Josh Dylan as I had previously enjoyed Aysha Kala so much! I suppose they wanted a more masculine voice for this book, however Josh did a really fantastic job and won me over with his excellent character voicing and immersive reading style.

I really love this world and I'm honestly so sad to leave it, but the ending of this series was so clever. I spent most of the book wondering how the hell they were gonna get out of this, but the conclusion was satisfying and wrapped everything up.

I did find it a bit hard to keep track of the characters. Because of the way the books are set out, there are some characters in this that we haven't heard from since the first book so I really struggled. There was also the fact that the two POV characters were referred to by their last names or first names depending who's perspective it was. But I got it all straight by the end!

The audio was fantastic, they captured Jack and Alan's voices perfectly and was really pleasant to listen to.

I would recommend reading this series all at once so that you don't have so much to remember, but overall it was a really strong trilogy!

I blushed and laughed my way through this audiobook. Freya Marske’s world is so incredibly homey, I never want to leave, and I was thrilled to be sent the audiobook ARC for another installment in her series! The characters are as three-dimensional and unpredictable as ever, with a passion to their dynamics that the narrator brought out so wonderfully. The lyricality of Marske’s prose is highlighted once again in her descriptions, to which the narrator lent a unique voice to. Really adored this story, and I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this narrator as well as Marske, of course!

Actual rating 4.5.

What a cracking way to end a brilliant trilogy! I have absolutely adored all of these books, and thought they just kept getting better, ending on an absolute high note with this one.

You can’t go wrong with these - there’s magic, mystery, friendship, family and some seriously spicy queer romance 🌶️ I was definitely blushing whilst reading this at times!! I didn’t think cosy and spicy would really go together, but Marske somehow nails the balance - these are total comfort reads despite (or perhaps because of 😉) the soft p*rn levels!

Whilst I was mostly in it for the romance, I did love the exciting storyline in this one as everything reached its explosive conclusion, and I was especially chuffed to have all of the gang together for most of the book, and to reminisce a bit on their journey. If you haven’t picked these up yet, I can’t recommend them enough!

A powerful, touching and satisfying final installment to this trilogy that answers all of our questions and gives the characters the happy ever after that they deserve. Can't wait to see what this author will do next

Wonderful narration, and this is the perfect instalment in the series. Engaging characters, vibrant writing. My book of 2023.

Link to Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5946559435

Thank you to the publishers for the audiobook ARC!

A wonderful ending to a great series. A Power Unbound was delightful. I was already a huge fan of Freya Marske's Last Binding series and was very much looking forward to its finale, so I being approved for an audio ARC was a lovely gift. And the book more than lived up to my hopes. I loved getting to revisit with Robin and Edwin, Maude and Violet and all the other characters we'd previously met. Getting to spend time with Jack and Allan was a whole new type of special treat, though. The tension as they navigated first their dislike of each other and then their unfightable attraction was incredibly entertaining. I adored their love story. It was smart, moved at just the right pace, and absolutely sizzled once they got together.

I'm not a voracious reader of fantasy, but Marske has created a wonderful magical system in this world, that holds both meaning and beauty. It makes sense and isn't boringly complex. And I also loved how Allan's involvement in the story gave Marske the opportunity to make numerous comments on class, marginalisation, power and its abuse. A Power Unbound is the strongest book in the series due to that, imo. Both Allan and Jack are wonderful characters, so different, yet they fit together perfectly. A gorgeous romance with a lot of other things to think about and enjoy. And Marske's prose is gorgeous. Some of the writing blew me away with its beauty.

My one criticism is that I need more specifics on the motivations of the villains. Wanting ultimate power felt too vauge. Why did George want that much power when he was already such.a powerful magician? What was he planning to use it for? What drove his need? This absolutely did not ruin the book for me, but it did feel like a bit of a hole in the reasoning.

One other thing: Josh Dylan was a great narrator, he brought all the character to life, but the audio fell to pieces when he took on Allan's mother and her Italian accent. It was embarrassing. He sounded like the chef in the Italian restaurant from the Simpsons. Otherwise, he was great.

I'm definitely going to reread this whole series at some point and it will be nice to remember that it heads towards such a love, satisfying ending. I look forward to more from Freya Marske.

ETA to add one thing: There's a rape storyline--completely off page, only mentioned, that's handled very poorly in my opinion. Allan's sister, Bella, was raped and impregnated by her employer, but it's handled in a very off-hand way and there's no evidence of her trauma at all. It made me uncomfortable and I really disliked that one aspect. Otherwise, I'd have left five stars.

In this novel, we meet the mean and moody Jack Alston (Lord Hawthorne) who is living in the shadow of his sister's loss and has renounced his magical skills. However, storm clouds are gathering for the magical society of Edwardian England; the pieces of the Last Contract need collecting and bringing together by those on the side of good - before those with evil intent can get there first. Along with the various characters from previous books, Jack gets caught up in the magical battle that plays out in the grounds of his family estate. Along the way, he has to fight his attraction to criminal and pornographer Alan Ross...

This is Book 3 of The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske - and it's an absolute treat for those who've enjoyed the first two books. It might not be the place to start if you haven't as Marske's alternative Edwardian society with an undercurrent of magic takes some wrapping your head round, as does the Last Contract plot and the recurring characters across the trilogy.

For those of us who have read the previous books, it's lovely to see Robin and Edwin (the lovers from Book 1, 'A Marvellous Light') and Maud and Violet (the couple at the centre of Book 2, 'A Restless Truth') back in fairly big roles here. They make a formidable team and the characters' relationships and pasts are fleshed out a bit more in this story.

However, the stars of this show are Jack and Alan - two characters we have seen previously, but here are given their own narrative. Jack is the rakish and dangerous peer (with surprisingly liberal politics, of course - he wouldn't be a hero otherwise!) struggling with his feelings about sexy, poor purveyor of saucy (gay) stories, Alan. This is a love story across the social divide and it gets really quite rude...in the same vein as Alan's stories!

This audiobook is read well by Josh Dylan - who, Google reliably informs me, is Young Bill in Mamma Mia 2, for those who (like me) were trying to place the vaguely familiar voice. Gosh, I'm not sure how he read some of that without blushing, but kudos to him!

This brings the trilogy to a satisfying conclusion and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how the characters interacted and worked together as they fought the powers of evil. I personally loved 'A Restless Truth' more (Maud is the perfect heroine and it takes place on a transatlantic liner - my perfect setting!), but this is well-written, fast-paced and lively. I recommend it if you've read the other books = otherwise, start with 'A Marvellous Light' and fall in love with Robin and Edwin first.

This was a great ending to the trilogy!

The characters and setting were so atmospheric and it's such a unique magic system. I'm usually not a big fan of historical books but I felt it really suited this story and the characters fit into it seamlessly.

I thought the narrator of the audiobook did a fantastic job - very easy to listen to and understand. I'm glad I listened to this series as it made me feel even more immersed into the world.

It also has amazing LGBTQIA+ representation which is very refreshing to see in a historical fiction/fantasy book.

Thank you to Macmillan UK Audio, Tor and Netgalley for this audio ARC.

This was an amazing conclusion to an amazing trilogy. I have adored both of the first books and couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. What a way to end, by making sure all the threads were tied together seamlessly and just being the perfect conclusion. I adored the new central people Hawthorn and Ross and they did not disappoint. A big bonus was getting to have our beloved from the first book back in our world.