The Last Princess - by Jewel Allen

Title: The Last Princess
Author: Jewel Allen
Published: 1 May 2017
Series: Islands of the Crown #2
Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis:
To the beat of war, crowns are kept and stolen. . .
Spanish Captain Raúl Calderón has accepted a daring mission in the Philippine colonies – to negotiate docking rights in hostile waters for the Manila Galleon. If successful, he can return from exile to be with those he loves. But when he is captured by slave raiders and delivered to the Last Princess, a woman known for killing those who cross her, he is thrust into the center of royal intrigue. The Last Princess is not what she seems, however, and Raúl must stay alive long enough to warn her of the danger in trusting those close to her.
Juliza Alimuddin, The Last Princess, hides behind a cutthroat reputation to protect her beloved islands. But when a mysterious Spaniard, Raúl Calderón, falls into her hands, she decides to go against her allies’ wishes and nurse him back to health. Her heart has been bruised in the past, yet Raúl brings out feelings she never thought she’d have again. Just when Juliza starts to believe in the possibility of love, however, she is betrayed and her family and sultanate put in a deadly situation. Will The Last Princess live up to her reputation when forced to choose between her people and the man she loves?
A clean historical romance from award-winning journalist and author Jewel Allen. Fans of swashbuckling tales will enjoy this action-packed novel, filled with romance, danger and intrigue of 1760s Philippines. Based on true historical events, this is Book Two of the Islands of the Crown series. Although this is part of a series, it reads as a standalone.

I received a copy of this book for free in return for an honest review.

At the beginning of the book, Julia sounds like a badass, but as the book continues she seems to become softer in my opinion.

One thing that bugged me a little was that at one stage it sounded a bit like her father was dying, yet we never found out if he actually was or not. It would have been nice to find out though to get an answer to the question.

Was Koda in on the rebellion, or did he genuinely care for Juliza? Another question without an answer, unfortunately. I’m not sure whether it could have just been me or whether there actually was no answer for that.

There was also no mention in the entire book (that I can remember) that he was a ‘cripple’. It would have been nice to have that mentioned at least once to tie in with the previous book and give readers as a stand-alone a bit of background of him.

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All books in this series:

    1 | The Spanish Exile
    2 | The Last Princess

The Spanish Exile - by Jewel Allen

Title: The Spanish Exile
Author: Jewel Allen
Published: 4 Feb 2017
Series: Islands of the Crown #1
Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis:
In the flames of war, men are made and broken . . .
The fires of vengeance burn hot for Raul Calderon. Cast aside, forgotten, and abused by those above him, Raul is forced to make his own way in life. But he has the heart of a fighter who will do whatever it takes to prove himself - including joining the Spanish army. Yet when his sworn enemy becomes his commanding officer, Raul's life quickly goes from bad to worse. Forced to witness the human misery of war and take part in creating that suffering, Raul walks a fine line between doing what's right and obeying orders. But when Conchita, the love of his childhood and now the woman of his dreams, is placed in danger, can he cross the line to save her? Or will he be forced to choose between king and country and the woman he would do anything to have as his own

I received a copy of this book for free in return for an honest review.

I thought that this book had a good plot line and I was interested to see where it went.

About halfway through the book, you tend to forget that he ever had a leg that everyone used to call cripple as it isn't mentioned again. The same goes for the fencing instructor as he never comes up again.

Leandro did my head in. I didn't like him from the first time he appeared.

I would have liked Conchita and Raul to be together, I think. But then the riots and other problems started to arise and proved that they couldn't be. My theory is that she will marry Gabriel and they will continue to do "the people's work" together.

It would have been a nice ending for the book if Raul had accepted Julio's offer and stayed a while with them. Then he may have seen his niece or nephew be born and he may have gotten out of all that mess. However, maybe all that mess would have still happened, but not as well-timed with the king's arrival.


Overall, I think it's a good book though. Plenty of action and some romance too.

Spoilers!

I'm glad that Raul didn't stoop to his level to kill him - I'm glad that they finally managed to part ways while they're both alive.

However I do think that his mother dying was out of the blue as there wasn't really any hint before that that she had a heart condition or any other health issue.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | The Spanish Exile
    2 | The Last Princess