4.5⭐ Great way to end the month! This is another one I slept on and should have read sooner!

I got the earc from netgalley but I had also bought the paperback and audio.

Highly recommend the immersive experience. While I didn't love Lucy's narrator, 🐍 more than made up for it!

I noticed some minor changes with the text which I actually appreciated.

Erik is the perfect villainous MMC. I love when he wants to hate her but just can't.

Livy is a great FMC. Not too innocent, she had a little bit of an edge and a will to survive.

So good!

LJ Andrews has done it again—The Ever King is a breathtaking masterpiece and a stunning addition to a series that just keeps getting better. From the moment you dive into the world of the Ever Kingdom, you're swept away in a tide of vengeance, heartache, magic, and slow-burning romance that grips you and never lets go.

Erik, the scarred and brooding king, is the kind of morally grey character I live for—haunted, driven, and deeply complex. His thirst for revenge makes him dangerous, but it’s the unexpected vulnerability he shows toward the princess that absolutely shattered me. The tension, the stakes, the emotional unraveling... it’s all so exquisitely written.

And the worldbuilding? Absolutely spellbinding. Vikings, pirates, fae, and sirens all collide in a dark, beautifully woven tapestry of lore and longing. It’s a world you feel—salty wind in your hair, danger in every shadow, and a love story that burns like wildfire beneath the surface.

If you’re a fan of villain/innocent tropes, dark fantasy romance, and stories that feel both fierce and deeply romantic, The Ever King is not to be missed. I’m completely obsessed with this series, and I can’t wait for what’s next.

Oh. My. HECK. The love I have for this book!! Pirates and Vikings?! The romance and tension! Perfection!

So many romantasy books these days say they have morally grey characters, but this book truly does. Erik Bloodsinger is everything I want in a morally grey MMC. The love he has for Liv and desire to protect her, but simultaneously isn't afraid of what it takes to do so. *chef's kiss*

Thank you to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC of The Ever King! I can't wait to dive into the rest of LJ Andrews' backlist!

I’m so thankful to have been gifted this ARC and just finished reading The Ever King and to say I’m hooked would be a MASSIVE understatement! I fell in love with The Broken Kingdoms so when I heard she was doing a spin off series within the same world but new magic, kingdoms and characters I was immediately excited. This story is a little darker, and grittier. Erik is everything and I wanted to slap him and kiss him at the same time. Livia is a badass and the emphasis on mental health with her was fantastic! Their banter is so good annnnnd his blood is poison and she likes to bite 👀👀 I also loved the small nods to The Broken Kingdoms but I didn’t feel like I needed to understand those books to live fully in The Ever Kingdom. The magic in The Ever is unique and has the ability to be truly terrifying and the world itself is somewhere I’d love to escape to.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

🐍 Enemies to Lovers
🗡️ Forced Proximity
🐍 Vikings x Pirates
🗡️ Dark Fantasy
🐍 Possessive and aggressive MMC
🗡️ Villain gets the girl
🐍 Spicy
🗡️ Dual POV

“Such venom.” With one knuckle, I stroked her cheek. “Careful with your threats of my untimely death, love, or you might end up stealing my heart.”
✨
✨
Eric, king of the Ever kingdom, is seeking vengeance against the king who locked him in his own realm. Livia is the daughter of the man Eric wants to get revenge against and becomes his tool for vengeance when he takes her to the Ever kingdom. Livia should hate Eric and the kingdom he’s dragged her too; however it’s not that simple. She has been drawn to Eric since they were children, and there’s something about the Ever kingdom that calls to her. Desires and vengeance will collide but will betrayal unite Eric and Livia or cement them on opposite sides?
✨
✨
This is my first book by Andrews, so I have not read the Broken Kingdoms series. I did not feel hampered in anyway or like I was missing anything by jumping into The Ever King. However, based on how thoroughly I enjoyed The Ever King, I will be going back to read Andrews other series. Eric and Livia are everything in this book. The banter had me begging to know what was going to happened next between them. I also really enjoyed Livia’s character development throughout the story and how she came to terms with what she wanted. The supporting characters in this book were top notch. I particularly enjoyed Celine, Sewell, and Aleksi. The plot pacing was sufficiently fast paced where I didn’t feel like the story drug on in any way. I highly enjoyed the world building as well as the magic system development. I highly recommend checking this out if you enjoy forced proximity, enemies to lovers/villain gets the girl, slow burn, interesting magic systems, touch her and ☠️, and found family vibes. Fair warning, though, this story ends on a cliffhanger, and it’s brutal. Be sure to check TW before diving in.

It was fine?

This felt like just another romantasy read. There is literally nothing really special about it other than the fact that we are on a boat. The main characters were tolerable, the romance was fine, and the plot was basic. I never felt a pull to any of the characters in this book.

Yeah, it was fine.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Oh my goodness! What can I say about this book that will make any sense after that ending!!

This book was everything damn thing I was hoping for! I was absolutely hooked from the very first paragraph. I just simply can’t get enough of the Serpent and his Songbird! I did not want this book to end.

This world that LJ has created is so unique and beautifully crafted; full of such vibrant and immersive detail. The magic system is creative and unique, not like anything I’ve read before. The nicknames, the slooow burn, the tension and banter between Livia and Erik…all 🤌🏻💋 I mean, Erik Bloodsinger can come kidnap any day now!
And it also has a great cast of side characters that will have you rolling!

Fae Pirate King x Viking Princess, true enemies to lovers, found family, slow burn & tension, betrayal, touch her and ☠️, forced proximity, villain gets the girl, morally grey MMC and ROMANTASY to its core!
Read 👏🏻 This 👏🏻 Book 👏🏻

Bonus content:
Okay, just WOW!! The new bonus chapters are epic!! I love Sewell so much! To get a glimpse at how he came to be who and where he is in The Ever is just chilling. My heart is broken for our beautiful Fleshripper.

A gigantic thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for the advance copy of the upcoming traditionally published book.

Such an immersive world if you read the parents books! I love the blend of piracy and fae fantasy. The Male main character’s journey from unassuming beginnings to a leader facing insurmountable odds kept me hooked, while the found family theme added depth and warmth to the tale. Each twist and new character layered beautifully into a story that felt epic yet deeply personal. Everything you would want from enemies to lovers and that ending. Woah!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️|🌶️🌶️|🖤🖤🖤

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group|Ace Books, NetGalley & LJ for the ARC.

Updated Review:
Updated review for the bonus chapters.
The bonus chapters: LOVE
After reading now The Ever Queen & the Mist Thief. I’m more familiar with certain characters and I ate these chapters up. I also enjoyed that these chapters gave some additional insight on certain characters. Much needed back stories! 💕

Original Review:

“Is that what we are, princess? A serpent and a songbird?”

3.5, rounding to a 4⭐️

Enemies to lovers, found family, banter, AND pirate fae romance, yes please!

*please hold my cup while I swoon over Erik*

LJ wrote this book beautifully. The world building and magic system was perfect. The story had exciting and entertaining. I didn’t read LJ’s previous books so I was confused here and there but it didn’t make this book any less enjoyable.

While I loved Erik, Liv was a little harder to like. While I understood her sheltered made here naive and lacked some street smarts, her character really didn’t development. I hope we she her grow in book two.

The pet names became annoying too 😑

Overall, I enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the second book.

*disclaimer: my darkness and spice rating might not be the same for you. Please do your own research before reading*

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This review lives on my Goodreads already, but I will also plan to post on my Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/weekendcoffeereads/) on 8/1 ahead of its publish date!

This book scratched a pirate fantasy itch I didn’t know I needed scratched! I loved the setting and this world that’s focused on the sea and on sailing. It feels viking-ish, which was really enjoyable for me, and unlike anything I’ve read. And the pirates. THE PIRATES. YES PLEASE. If you like Pirates of the Caribbean, then this one will be for you. It feels so similar, with a possessive romance thrown in for good measure.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the characters in this book was Livia’s anxiety and the representation of that. It felt really accurate. I also adored how Erik responded to it. That alone made me fall in love with him as a male character. There were also some really lovely side characters too. Sewell, my love🥺 When this book is traditionally published in September, there will be some bonus chapters about him, and trust me, they’re worth the read💔

I was hooked on this book the whole way through. For me, it felt like the pacing was perfect. It was also really beautifully written. There were so many amazing lines (I was highlighting A LOT). The romance was top tier!!! I usually am not a spice person, but this spice felt easier for me to handle. I think the build-up was done so well that it didn’t feel rushed to me in any way, and that’s why I liked it!

It left on such an incredible cliffhanger!! I am itching to get into the next book ASAP. And I CANNOT wait to see Erik in an absolute unhinged rage.

All in all, I LOVED this one. 5/5⭐️s for me, without a doubt!

LJ is always a top read for me and an immediate pickup!

I devoured this book and cannot wait for more! I absolutely LOVED the characters and the world as always. I love that this can easily be a standalone series but ties in to all the other series and characters across generations. This might be my favorite story yet!!!

I absolutely loved watching their story unfold and watching the world develop!

I absolutely adored The Broken Kingdoms and I’m desperate for more of the characters’ stories. So, naturally, I HAD to read The Ever King.

Note: I recommend reading all of LJ’s The Broken Kingdoms series before starting The Ever King/Queen. I think without it you’ll be pretty confused and not invested in the characters. All of the characters outside of The Ever are the main characters of The Broken Kingdoms series and this book starts ten years after the first series ends, picking up with the children from the first and their lives now. We also get glimpses and updates on the adults’ lives too!

This is a true enemy to lovers story. It has fated mates, touch her and die, fae/sea folk and magic, found family, and a semi-slow burn.

Spice level is higher than The Broken Kingdoms, in my opinion. I’d say like 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5ish.

LJ is a master of world and character building and The Ever King gives us a dual POV so we can better invest in the two main characters. These characters met as children and formed an unlikely bond. Now, they’re from enemy groups.

LJ is really good at disclosing her trigger warnings at the beginning of each book, so be sure to check that out. Most of her characters have ensured some sort of tortured or cursed past, but end up being the best kind of morally gray.

If you haven’t read any of LJ’s work, I highly recommend you start The Broken Kingdoms NOW so you can read The Ever King shortly after!

When someone asks me for the best Romantasy book I’ve ever read, I don’t even hesitate … this is the one I shout from the rooftops every single time. It’s pure perfection: a story woven with heart, drenched in every emotion you crave, with a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance that will have you aching. Every page is a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat, stay-up-all-night kind of experience. And Erik Bloodsinger? He’ll snatch your dark little heart before you even realize it … and trust me, he’s never giving it back.

I have truly fallen in love with a Pirate King!! The Ever King was a beautifully written tale of enemies to lovers. Erik Bloodsinger and Livia have stolen my heart and thrown it to the Ever.

What starts off as a simple story of a pirate king taking a princess to get back at her father turns into so much more. Livia seems to pull Erik from his darkness and brings him back to the light. But she also cherishes his dark ways, loving all of him. Erik in turn protects her and teaches her their history. They were always meant to be.

Spoilers ahead!!! When Livia and Erik are betrayed at the end, and he decides to head to her homeland, my heart literally stuttered. He is going back to her father to ask for help for her rescue!!! I am both excited and terrified for The Ever Queen!

Thank you for the arc of this traditionally published version of The Ever King. I absolutely love the additional bonus chapters at the end of Sewell, Gavyn & Celine. I’ve always wanted to know more about their history and the events that led to their current circumstances.

This book is incredible! One of my all time favourites! Pirates, Fae, epic love, amazing side characters with rich history/backstory, it’s just amazing!!! I love Erik and Livia, Erik is one of my absolute favourite MMC’s. I’ve read The Broken Kingdoms and I really recommend reading that first to give the background but this is an incredible story in itself and can definitely be read without it.

2025: 5+ stars
Updated to add the bonus material on the new traditionally published version is so good! Love seeing some more back story to Sewell and Gavyn!

Thank you to BerkelyPub for the eARC of the new edition. My thoughts are entirely my own.

2024: 5 stars
Absolutely loved this book! Couldn't put it down for any stretch of time. The writing had me hooked. So many favorite quotes.

Erik and Livia were such great characters with a lot of growth. He's definitely super dark and murdery and would be a horrible red flag in real life, but in this Pirate/Viking fantasy? LOVED IT. Livia starts off as a little tame and then really expands and figures out what she wants and, spoiler alert, it's the murdery King.

There's a problem they work together to solve and such a depth of emotion and tension before they finally give in.

What a cliffhanger at the ending and so looking forward to book 2!

Wow. Andrews did it again. Another 5-star adventure that gripped me from the first page. I read the Broken Kingdoms series prior to reading the Ever King, and the emotional impact that made was insane!
This book has it all- enemies to lovers, found family, “who did this to you”, touch her and die, and the sloooowest of slow burns. I LOVE the way there were so many little intricacies tied in from the prequel series. It added such a wonderful spark for me throughout this book! Although I still would’ve been entirely gripped by this book even if i hadn’t read broken kingdoms.
LJ Andrews has a way of completing consuming her readers with her writing. It’s just absolutely incredible. This was a 5/5 star read for me. It has so many of my favorite tropes, witty banter, perfect adventure, and a cliffhanger ending that will leave your jaw in the floor. Absolutely wonderful. I cannot wait to start the next book!!

4⭐️

Thank you so much to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book as a ARC!

This was such a fun, dramatic, and totally addictive read. The Ever King gives all the L J Andrews classic fantasy romance vibes—dark magic, a fierce heroine, a broody, morally grey king, and the kind of slow-burn tension that keeps you up way too late, without feeling like a step backwards into the broken kingdoms series.

The world is super immersive without being overwhelming, and the emotional payoff is so satisfying. It’s the kind of book that feels like a whirlwind in the best way—angst, power plays, high-stakes choices, and just enough softness beneath the armor.

I loved it so much, I’ll be considering making special editions of this series to sell. If you’re into romance with bite, power struggles, and that addictive fantasy drama, definitely pick this one up.

Stayed up late absolutely devouring The Ever King and so excited to read The Ever Queen next. I didn’t know when I picked this Duology up that I was being sucked into a 13 book universe but now I have to fully commit. I really enjoyed how different this book was from other fae fantasy books. Each character has different magical abilities and this book mainly focuses on a long time rivalry against the Earth and Sea Faes. It included mystical creatures such as sirens and elves and prophecies with plenty of action and the romance/spice did not disappoint. The banter between the MMC Erik & FMC Livia was enjoyable and had just the right amount of slow burn. I would highly recommend this Duology to anyone who loves Pirates of The Caribbean, Metal Slinger, The Bridge Kingdom, Peter Pan.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book Tropes:
-Enemies to Lovers ⚔️
-You’re Mine x I’m Yours
-Touch her & die
-Morally Grey MMC
-He’ll burn the world for her ❤️‍🔥
-Fated/Bonded Mates
-Pirates x Fae 🏴‍☠️

Spoiler(ish) Free Summary: Erik Bloodsinger, The Ever King kidnaps Livia, a Princess of the Earth Fae Kingdom after 10 years of waiting for his revenge against her father & seeking a magical mantle in order to cure his kingdoms poisoned lands. Erik & Livia become undeniably drawn to one another, as they travel back to his kingdom of The Ever. Throughout the story, Livia begins to uncover her powers full potential and falls deeper in love with The Ever King the more he reveals his darkness to her. The Ever and its people call to Livia and Erik begins to realize that the ways he’s known to rule and the solution to healing his kingdom may be through her. Together they must change the ways of their people and unite their kingdoms.

*This book does end on a cliffhanger so I highly recommend having the 2nd book The Ever Queen available. The audiobook is also great to follow along with as it’s Dual Narration.
*I did not read any of L.J. Andrew’s other books that are set in the same world as The Ever King however I enjoyed it and understood it regardless as this can be read without diving into her other series.

Thank you Berkley for the traditionally published book!
I read this originally when it was indie and absolutely loved it and love it even more now! The bonus content is a definite plus. Erik and Livias story is so good. Livia is the daughter of Elise and Valen who are from the Broken Kingdoms series but you do NOT have to read that series first! I love Erik and Livias character growth in this book as well as how natural their relationship grows. All of the side characters both Livias family and friends and Erik’s are hilarious. The banter and sass we get from Livia is A+. And Erik is the ultimate morally grey MMC.
If you love pirates, fae, a stolen princess, and a protective MMC you’ll love this book!