ŷ������

Hi Mel! Sorry I missed your post on my thread last week. I changed the notifications on the thread so I can see them now. 😆But yes, regarding Tavia Lark's Prince and Pawn, I'd absolutely be down for a BR if you're still interested! Let me know when you want to read it and I'll catch up with the first two books!

Mei! I'm sorry I'm a greedy greedy romance reader and went and gobbled it up! I'm on the author's other Radiance series now. The Perilous Courts books are delicious though, and if you still want to read Prince and Pawn and the others, it's all still fresh, so I would love to chat about them with you.

However, I know that's not quite the same as the beat-by-beat updates of a BR. Did you have another in your queue you'd like to read?

Copying a list of a bunch of romance I suggested to Gaea in the Silver Swords thread:
I've really liked the Amy Rae Durresson that I've read, so I have The Court of Lightning and the Reawakening trilogy high in my queue. KJ Charles's Spectred Isle, Jordan L. Hawk's Widdershins and Hexbreaker series, Salt Magic, Skin Magic, P.S. I Spook You, A Taste of Gold and Iron, Spells and Sensibility, oh! Wild Sky, Even Though I Knew the End, A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, ooh! Can't Spell Treason Without Tea...

Absolutely understandable!! I am too. 😂 That series has been on my TBR too and I can see myself binging it, lol! 😊 I'll definitely drop some thoughts about it when I get to them!!

Oh boy, what a wonderful list! I tried to narrow it down some, but really open to doing any. If you and Gaea have any planned, I can join for those too. I do like dragons so I'm game for Reawakening and Court of Lightning is a novella so I can do that no prob. 👀

Spectred Isle
A Taste of Gold and Iron
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance
Wild Sky
Even Though I Knew the End
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea

Nice nice. I don't have any specifically planned with Gaea, but I think that she's also down for some romantasy. I can poke her in her tracker and see if she's interested.

My only thing is: I should probably wait at least a couple weeks to get caught up on my current buddy reads. See, I know myself. If I have a 600-page sci-fi tome and a 200-page romance novel, I'll try to sneak in the romance novel every time. Like, "Just a leeetle one won't hurt." [5 Romances Later...]
Uh, not based on current true events at all. *sweats nervously*

No worries, I'm not in a rush at all! I too have a bit on my plate this month and also some library books due soon lol!! 😂 We can do March if that works better for you (two)! But yeah, very flexible on dates. Just lmk whenever!

(Hahaha, I've been there tooooo and am the same way.🤭)

Hello hello! I'm also flexible for us buddy reading whenever~ Got any idea which book/s you'd like to start with? Of the ones we've been listing, Spectred Isle, A Taste of Gold and Iron, Can't Spell Tea Without Treason and A Strange and Stubborn Endurance are the ones that have been grabbing my attention the most.

Yes, March would work better for me, if that's alright. I'm fairly open and flexible for March/April.

I think my first choice would be Spectred Isle, because I adore KJ Charles, so I have some high confidence that she can deliver. It's also a bit shorter, so could be an easy romantasy test run of sorts.

Obviously all of the above are on my TBR, so I'm also looking forward to a cozy tea mystery, or princely politicking in the future.

I'm good with Spectred Isle! I've been meaning to read KJ Charles and haven't yet!! Perfect opportunity for this to be my first. C: Any time in March is a-okay with me!

Let's start with Spectred Isle then! I also haven't read anything by that author. So, does anyone have a date in mind? I've only got one buddy read in March (15th) and that's assuming I end up continuing that particular series (most likely but one can never tell~). How about somewhere in the beginning of March? Then we can try squeezing in another one later in the month if needed haha

Sounds good! Oh, I do hope you both enjoy KJ Charles - she's my favorite romance author! There have been a couple misses, but her relationship conflict and resolution is so so good. Hopefully this one doesn't disappoint.

I also only have the Heartstrikers BR on the 15th (assuming I continue) so should be-- aw crap. *checks* Hahahaha! I just realized. I also have KJ Charles's new release The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen on my roster for March 7. I'd almost suggest a substitution, but that one is a straight-up historical without magical/paranormal elements. Well, we can do Spectred Isle on the 1st then maybe? And you're welcome to continue binging more with me after if you'd like! 😂

Wow, that's great timing, lol!! 1st works for me! 😊

1st it is then!

Cool! I put in the request, and cross-posted to the invite thread in case anyone else wants to join. See you then!

It occurred to me that I need a 2023 FBR Wrapped. Not just of the BRs I read, but of some favorite comments and moments.

January
Basically all of the Silver Swords Team Challenge Thread. I got way too excited in TBR stalking and bestowing gifts. I love that Yanique and others got in on the planning and roleplay.
You may have this cuetlaxochitl of my favour.

Trolling Horns of Hammarad and the other Teams with smutty book covers.

Bemoaning my local town isn't a cobbled fantasy like Legends and Lattes

Heartstrikers is an anime, Bob is heralded with bagpipes, and I tease that ninny Estrella for her centuries of reading smut instead of studying orbital mechanics.

February
A Gaggle of Demons interfering with Penric's love life

My head is oversaturated with cocks and I feel like I need to mediate under a freezing waterfall to cleanse

March
I get my Book Fairy Books!

Pretty much the whole Spectred Isle BR -  Brennan Lee Mulligan References "I can't believe they got me out of my clone sleeve, for this shit."   and Dr. Seuss Poetry and Mei and I as the Royal Arbiters of Kissing

July
Sadistic Book Mood Whims

August
♪Buddy Read Dropout��

September
Exit Strategy - Imagining Gurathin teasing Murderbot

October
*Cheery Cursed Sitcom Music starts playing*
♬Too Many Books!��

November
That Time I got Drunk and Saved a Demon straight-up performing Hamilton

Klunatics Kult Meeting

December
Murderbot acquired! *fanfare* and face squishing.

Mighty Morphin' Reading Rangers

Capri!!! I WAS LITERALLY ON PAGE 14 AND ALREADY SCREAMING AT MYSELF FOR NOT READING THIS EARLIER

(view spoiler)[This paragraph already has me like yup, I'm so gone for them

The courtiers were nondescript except for one: a young man with an astonishingly lovely face—the kind of face that would have earned a small fortune on the slave-block in Akielos. Damen’s attention caught and held. The young man had yellow hair, blue eyes and very fair skin. The dark blue of his severe, hard-laced clothing was too harsh for his fair colouring, and stood in stark contrast to the overly ornate style of the rooms. Unlike the courtiers who trailed in his wake, he wore no jewellery, not even rings on his fingers.

As he approached, Damen saw that the expression that sat on the lovely face was arrogant and unpleasant. Damen knew the type. Self-absorbed and self-serving, raised to overestimate his own worth and indulge in petty tyrannies over others. Spoilt. “I hear the King of Akielos has sent me a gift,�� said the young man, who was Laurent, Prince of Vere.

People elsewhere are like oh book 1 is completely fucked up and not romantic at all and i obviously havent gotten anywhere yet and I intentionally didn't read anything about this, but im already sold, thanks

ALREADY CRAWLING IN CH 1 ALONE PLEASE PACAT

He took a wary step forward. “No,�� said Laurent, with satisfaction. “Crawl.�� Crawl.

I'm crying because I accidentally read this as sweetheart because of an earlier part 😂

“Sweetmeat?�� said Laurent. He held the confection delicately, between thumb and forefinger, just far enough out of reach that Damen would have to rise up onto his knees in order to eat it from Laurent’s fingertips. Damen jerked his head back.

“Stubborn,�� Laurent remarked mildly, bringing the treat to his own lips instead, and eating it. (hide spoiler)]

THE ENTIRETY OF THE BATHING/WASHING IN CHAPTER 3

I'm so finishing this book tonight/tomorrow for sure 🤣 I started reading super dark romance a lot more last year so I feel like I definitely prepped myself well! I'm glad I waited a bit! 😂 I wasn't sure where ch 4 would go ahhhhhh but man i am loving the back and forth and like the observations of both guys so much.

With the things/titles I've told people I enjoy, it makes so much sense now why so many have been like "what do you mean you haven't read them yet GET TO IT 🤣"

I need work to go fast so I can get back to readingggg

Mei my love! I'm so excited that you're finally reading this! Yes!! 🤩🤩🤩❤️❤️❤️🎉

Keep it up sharing all the moments and quotes with me! Damn, Laurent's bratty little sweetmeat bit by itself gave me a tiny fissure of excitement bringing back his character. Oh, and if he did pull a silky "sweetheart" there... could you imagine!?

The timing of this is also so so cruel, because I just binged Rachel Reid's MM hockey Game Changers series, and I am simply wrung. out. Seriously, book 6 destroyed me and I am nursing a massive book hangover with no one to talk to about it. Completely different from Captive Prince, but I am still a wreck.

There was this one "what if we had never met?" moment, and literally I started happy-crying, because I was so glad that they did get to exist, if only on paper, and get to love each other. 😭😭😭

Damn it, this stupid series got me to actually watch real live sports! In a way that other sports romances have never done. You can tell the author is definitely a hockey fan. I can't even say every book in the series was a five-star read, but the cumulative effect of getting to know this cast of characters, by the time I got the book 5 and 6, I was doomed.

And then there is Captive Prince, which is in its own category of life-changing. And so tonally different. And the WRITING! So many oniony layers and complexity and unspoken GENIUS on the part of Pacat. Just on a technical level and Epic Scale I know the two don't compare. But I'm still stuck in this current emotional disaster, and can't bring myself to smother the sweetwarmhurty fire to leap into the the cold, calculating, twisting, spectacular soul-destruction that a reread of Captive Prince will be. I need to burn and smolder in this particular conflagration a bit longer.

...I may need to get a t-shirt for my fictional gay hockey team now. 🏒🏒🏒

I NEED TO MAKE A QUICK COMMENT TO SAY OMG MEL, i've been meaning to read that series for SUCH A LONG TIME. This is definitely the push I needed to get on that. 👀🥰💖

Just ofc after capri and dark rise/heir 😂

Also I 1000% totally see myself rereading capri so i'm sure one of these days we'll find a time to as well!! 💖 Definitely will be back with more quotes!!!

Oh really!? If you read Game Changers let me know so I can do a reread along with you! I know, I had it sitting in my TBR for ages, and started with the second book Heated Rivalry, which seemed to be the most popular, but it does sort of spoil you for book one. I didn't mind it so much, but just letting you know.

And I'm not saying I **can't** catch up with CaPri, I'm just going to need a bit of breathing room. We'll see.

OMG and I just saw in my email that the Dark Rise special edition is finally shipped and on its way!!! So much excite! It might actually be the perfect time to pick up more Pacat!

I'll definitely let you know!!! And no rush at all 🥰

I accidentally only checked out books 1 and 3 frrom the library so I have a couple people ahead of me for book 2 😭 (so i'm going back to The Foxhole Court for now!!)

AHHHH Mine shipped too!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!! I still need to order capri and dark heir but they said that they have plenty of stock still so i'm going to wait a bit 🤣 (they also said if you order both dark heir and capri at the same time they will ship out heir first separately!)

The same artist as dark rise/heir!!!



Here are the rest of my thoughts on book 1 though!!

THE ENTIRETY OF CH 5 AND THIS QUOTE 🥵

(view spoiler)[There was a metallic sound as he pulled against the cuffs, his hands fists. He turned towards Laurent. It was a mistake to look at him. Even in the shadows of evening, Damen could see the relaxed arrangement of Laurent’s body, the marmoreal perfection of his features, and the detached unconcern with which he gazed at Damen, not bothering to so much as glance down at Ancel’s moving head. (hide spoiler)]

I feel like I will need to read like 382883 books with laurent-like and damen-like MMCs after this and I am almost scared to ask if you guys have any recs because I want the answer to be yes here are 1000 books, but I'm bracing for the answer to be no one else is like Laurent and Damen unfortunately

Ch 6 (view spoiler)[as in laurent? If so, they messed up then as he is blond

Erasmus blushed and said in a very soft voice: “In case he found me pleasing, I was being trained for the Prince.�� “Were you?�� said Damen, with some interest. “Because of my colouring. You can’t see it in this light, but in daylight, my hair is almost blond.�� (hide spoiler)]

(I LATER REALIZED I MISREAD THAT PART)

Ch 8 (view spoiler)[ i hope this stays a constant theme because I love him feeding him kalwjelkrj

“Sweetmeat?�� said Laurent. In the stretched-out moment that followed, Damen thought explicitly about killing him. Damen leaned in. It was sickly sweet. He didn’t let his lips touch Laurent’s fingers. A great many people were looking at them. Laurent washed his fingers fastidiously in the gold washing bowl when he was done, and dried them on a little square cloth of silk. (hide spoiler)]

CRYING LMAO CH 8 (view spoiler)[ It was a surprise, but on reflection, it had been happening all night. That a man of Torveld’s honourable reputation would choose Laurent as the object of his affections was difficult to swallow, but perhaps Torveld admired reptiles. Curiosity blossomed. (hide spoiler)]

I also love the small details just showing how utterly little laurent cares about this: (view spoiler)[ just 0 fucks LMAO

As Damen watched, Torveld’s servant produced a peach, then a knife, then cut a slice at Torveld’s instruction, offering it to Laurent, who blandly accepted. When he had finished the morsel, the servant brought forth a little cloth from his sleeve with a flourish for Laurent to clean his immaculate fingers. The cloth was transparent silk, edged in gold thread. Laurent returned it crumpled. (hide spoiler)]


CH 10 I NEED MORE!!! LAURENT IS PERFECT

(view spoiler)[ Damen looked at Laurent with new eyes. The drug, in his own country, was infamous. He had sampled it himself, once, as a curious sixteen-year-old. He had taken only a fraction of a normal dose, and it had provided him with an embarrassment of virility for several hours, exhausting three cheerfully tumbled partners. He had not bothered with it since. A stronger dose led from virility to abandonment. To leave residue in the goblet, the amount had been generous, even if Laurent had taken only a mouthful.

Laurent was hardly abandoned. He was not speaking with his usual ease, and his breathing was shallow, but these were the only signs. Damen realised, suddenly, that what he was witnessing was an exercise in sheer iron-willed self-control. (hide spoiler)]

Can't wait for the inevitable fuck you moment for the (view spoiler)[ regent

In so curious about nicaise and where this will go with him tbh :eyes:

I love everything about book 1 I CANT WAIT TO START BOOK 2 SJDKVRJJW

also there might be another book box doing capri but i'm not sure if it's paperbacks or hardcover (WILL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS I KNOW!)

“Laurent. Why must you always defy me? I hate it when we are at odds, yet you force me to chastise you. You seem determined to wreck everything in your path. Blessed with gifts, you squander them. Given opportunities, you waste them. I hate to see you grown up like this,�� said the Regent, “when you were such a lovely boy.�� (hide spoiler)]

Ahhhh! Sorry I'm so overdue to reply to your update!

OMG just reading your quotes and snippets is bringing it back.

CHAPTER 5 lives in my head rent free. 😳😳😳
Dear lord, the power dynamics at play just destroy me.

And yes, I know what you mean by just wanting 10,000 more versions of these characters. But also just them and again and again but more. In Dark Rise I was salivating at the little YA tastes and echoes that I got from Pacat in those characters there. But damnnnn, I'm also just really wanting her to write another adult series for a no-holds-barred assault on my emotions.

Or you know, I can reread Captive Prince again.
Sorry, no, I haven't started. 😓
Yes, I still want to hear more from you!

IT'S OKAY MEL, PERFECT TIMING!! I just got my library loan for book 2 and I have to believe it was you responding that manifested it. 😂I plan on starting later tonight but I'm finishing up The Raven King as well!

Funnily enough, some people in the Fairyboot discord are also wanting to buddy read Game Changers too so I'll be throwing those updates at you as well over time!!! 🥰 I'll probably DM you with a life update sometime this month too (nothing bad, but I finally got my tea and hung out with friend and love our letters) 🤣

Guess what else is perfect timing!? I GOT MY BOOK BOX TODAY! It's so so pretty and I love that we get to be special edition shelf buddies!

Also: AH! Prince's Gambit! I really need to get my act together and catch up because I have so many feelings about book 2 and I need to be there to experience them alongside you! Do not hold out on me Mei, I need like, all the micro-moments of squee and shock and awe! All of them!!! 😐😐😐

And yes, I look forward to another life update, darling. I hope it's all good things. <3

So I found myself falling into a manhwa/manga/graphic novel hole BUT I'LL BE BACK TO IT SOON LMAO. AHHH I'M SO HAPPY YOU HAVE YOUR DARK RISE TOO <3 You'll get EVERY SINGLE SECOND, MEL, DON'T WORRY!!!

In the meantime, I saw Prince and Assassin is free at the moment!!!

Ooh thanks for the heads up! I have my copy of Prince and Assassin already, but I got my friend to pick up a copy! He's not as big a reader, but I swear, by The Power of Gay, I will get him to read some of these beauties!

So Good News, and Bad News, and Good News! (I really do owe you a proper life update eventually!)

Uh... Good News is that the Hockey continues to take over my life and hyperfixation shows no sign of stopping. 🏒🏒🏒

Bad News: the Arizona Coyotes my hometown team got relocated to Utah.　😭😭😭

The Worst of the Worst of the Cringiest news: I made a poster to say goodbye to the team and shared it, only I was in the most terrible rush to get it done and didn't even notice I wrote "Farwell" by mistake!" You do not understand the depths of public shame I felt. Like, the players themselves saw this! I literally fell to the ground keening and had to play Tetris for a half an hour to block out the self-loathing of this most egregious failure. 😱😱😱

Good News: In search of consolation, or at least unconsciousness, and finding neither, I needed distraction. Bullet-proof distraction that intrusive shame could not penetrate. Hockey players fucking was not going to work. Too close to the subject of shame. Clearly, it was time. Time for PACAT.

So yes, I finally picked up Captive Prince again!

Chapter 1
OMG Laurent entering the stage for the first time! Damn that reaction. I love rereads, being able to notice and pick apart details, knowing what you know...

I'd forgotten that Jokaste is given the very first lines in the series. She plays a larger part later on, so I'd almost forgotten that she leads the very first scene.

And ohhhh Damien. I love how it's established from the start how "straightforward" he is. Slow to figure out the betrayal, even as it's soon shown that he's clearly intelligent and understands strategy. Calling Adrastus a fool if he thinks he'll ever be trusted again after this. Willing to bide his time for the correct opportunity for escape.

And can we talk about how from the start their better judgement is clouded by each other? Careful Laurent can't help but ungag Damien to hear what he has to say, and Damien can't help but taunt him in his own language, and react to Laurent's goading. Mm! So much juicy content from square one!

Chapter 2
I'd also forgotten how soon we get the whole arena scene with (view spoiler)[the rape wrestling spectacle. I guess if you weren't already prepared for depravity, this is your exit sign. A brief description, all said and done, considering how much it shocked me the first time around and stayed in my memory.

But wow, that kissing the boot bit after. How is it that similar scenes feel like playacting in comparison. I mean, Laurent is playing... toying, with Damien, but he sure isn't acting when it comes to the power he wields in the situation.

And I love how thrown Laurent is by Damien's refusal to rape the boy. Dare I say, needing to go for a ride to take a moment to reassess?

So much court information already conveyed as well. You get a sense of what others think of Laurent. Crude gossip about his tastes in pets, or lack thereof.

Trying to remember about Damien being drugged in the baths before the fight: it's implied that it was Laurent rigging the match, but I can't remember if that was actually the case... (hide spoiler)]

I am an utter cad and miserly swine to do this, but I have completely blown through several chapters without comment.

All these events happen just so quickly, one after another. How is it that I remember these scenes so well?
The bathhouse
The cross
Laurent narrating his exact instructions before motherfucking walking away!
How Erasmus's coloring was chosen for Damien.
The burns on his legs. ;_;

And just every single fucking line that Laurent says, playing the entire court, and yet unable to help but show his hand to Damien.

Oh, and I just live for Laurent being caught flat-footed every time at Damien's altruistic tendencies.

Chapter 7
An example of how Damien is smart:
Laurent: "What makes you think I will tolerate any of this, even if I believed what you are saying to be true?"
Damien:"Because you can end this conversation any time you like."
The way he just cuts through Laurent's bullshit like butter.

Immediately followed by how Damien is an idiot.
"Very well. Let us play this out. You’re concerned for the wellbeing of the other slaves? Why hand me that kind of advantage?"
"Advantage?" said Damen.
"When someone doesn’t like you very much, it isn’t a good idea to let them know that you care about something," said Laurent.
Damen felt himself turn ashen, as the threat sank in.

An upstanding, straightforward, moral, idiot.

Because I need to remember Damien calling a spade a spade:

In the bathhouse:
"Your little speech about fair play fooled me about as much as your show of obedience. You have worked out, with whatever native intelligence you possess, that it serves your interests to appear both civilised and dutiful. But the one thing you’re hot for is a fight."
"Are you here to goad me into one?" said Damen, in a new voice that seemed to rise up from deep within him.

In the gardens after Laurent is reprimanded by the Regent:
"Because it’s going to anger all those guards you’ve taken so much trouble cultivating," said Laurent. "They tend to dislike servants who place self-interest above loyalty."
Expecting a direct assault, he was unprepared for one that came at him obliquely, sideways. He set his jaw, let his gaze rake up and down Laurent’s form.
"You can’t touch your uncle, so you lash out where you can. I’m not afraid of you. If there’s something you’re going to do to me, do it."

I love how Laurent missteps, expecting Damien to be more conniving than he is. And Damien missteps, expecting Laurent to deal openly with him. They're both like, "What is wrong with you?"

Okay I still can't stop.

He turned towards Laurent.
It was a mistake to look at him. Even in the shadows of evening, Damen could see the relaxed arrangement of Laurent’s body, the marmoreal perfection of his features, and the detached unconcern with which he gazed at Damen, not bothering to so much as glance down at Ancel’s moving head.

Pacat, are you fucking kidding me? Did you seriously, in the throes of the glory that is this scene, hand us the word marmoreal?

������·����·����·����
/��ä��ˈ��ô��ŧə��/
adjective LITERARY
made of or likened to marble

Let us be clear. This is a LITERARY blowjob. 🍆🧐

Chapter 7
Hehehe, all introverts should have a barbarian handler at parties to scare away conversations. :)

As a result, courtiers kept one eye on Damen, giving him a wide berth. Laurent used that to his advantage, using the propensity of courtiers to fall back in reaction to Damen’s presence as a means of extricating himself smoothly from conversation.
The third time this happened Damen said, ‘Shall I make a face at the ones you don’t like, or is it enough to just look like a barbarian?��
"Shut up," said Laurent, calmly.

After languidly jousting with his uncle:
"Your life would be a lot easier if you stopped baiting him," said Damen.
This time coldly, flatly, "I told you to shut up."

Chapter 8
Nicaise and Laurent, man. I'm trying to not let future feelings run away with me. But in this moment, it's just so pleasing to have a snippy little bitch to play with Laurent. It's nice to have an audience who can appreciate the game.

"Whatever you’re planning, it’s not going to work."
"I think it will, though. Bet you your earring."
"If I win, you wear it,�� said Nicaise."
Laurent immediately lifted his cup and inclined it towards Nicaise in a little gesture sealing the bet. Damen tried to shake the bizarre impression that they were enjoying themselves.


I'd somewhat forgotten Talik, the muscled female pet from eastern Vask.
She said, "We are waiting. Ancel will perform. He is popular, 'in fashion.' You’ve had him." She didn’t wait for him to confirm this statement. "How was he?"
Well instructed. Damen’s mind supplied the answer, sly as a suggestion murmured in his ear. He frowned at it. He said, "Adequate."


After Damien eavesdrops on Laurent and Torveld's intimate tête-à-tête on the balcony:
"You took your time," Laurent murmured as he passed Damen.


GOD, I love everything about this. Damen's amusement at Laurent being pursued by Torveld. The crumpled silk, like you highlighted yourself. The teasing callback to Nicaiste stabbing him with a fork. Nnrrrrrgh, it is the courtliest of courtly intrigue and banter, and I am lapping it up like a dog!!

Laurent was acting with the carefully bland manners of one trying politely to manage a difficult suitor. Damen thought with some amusement: boxed in by your own cleverness. As Damen watched, Torveld’s servant produced a peach, then a knife, then cut a slice at Torveld’s instruction, offering it to Laurent, who blandly accepted. When he had finished the morsel, the servant brought forth a little cloth from his sleeve with a flourish for Laurent to clean his immaculate fingers. The cloth was transparent silk, edged in gold thread. Laurent returned it crumpled.
"I’m enjoying the performance," Damen couldn’t resist saying.
"Torveld’s servant is better supplied than you are," was all Laurent said.
"I don’t have sleeves to carry handkerchiefs in," said Damen. "I wouldn’t mind being given a knife."
"Or a fork?" said Laurent.

Chapter 8
I can't stop quoting every single line.
But Erasmus had something Laurent lacked: a vulnerability, a need for caring, and a yearning to be mastered that was almost palpable. In Laurent there was only a patrician coolness, and if the purity of Laurent’s profile drew the eye, Damen had the scars on his back to prove that one could look, but not touch.


I don't think I appreciated Nicaste as much the first time around, but this time I love him. The different side of Laurent that he brings out as his protégé of sorts. The fellow feeling there. I mean, their relationship on paper is so so deeply messed up, but the mentor-mentee brotherly sort of bond that has developed is immaculately wrought. I think this scene really shows how to Nicaste, Laurent is his rival, to Laurent, Nicaste is his younger self.

‘You planned this!�� said Nicaise, his low voice was a hiss. "You wanted him to see—you tricked me!" In the same voice a lover might have said: How could you! Except there was anger there too. And spite.
"You had a choice," said Laurent. "You didn’t have to show me your claws."
"You tricked me," said Nicaise. "I’m going to tell��"
"Tell him," said Laurent. "All about what I’ve done, and how you helped me. How do you think he’ll react? Shall we find out? Let’s go together."
Nicaise gave Laurent a look that was desperately, spitefully calculating
"Oh, will you—enough," said Laurent. "Enough. You’re learning. It won’t be as easy to do next time."
"I promise you, it won’t," said Nicaise venomously, and he left without, Damen noted, giving Laurent his earring.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i love all these quotes aklsdjklawejr i need to read through your comments and will react soon but i got sick over the weekend so have been sleeping a lot 🤣

EW NEYW! Not sickness and plague! May you soon be recovered from said malady, so that we may continue our obsessive quotations over these delicious characters! Dear lord, Laurent, I just want to eat him! But like... kind of in the way you might want to eat dirt - in that you know there is probably something severely wrong with you.

Laurent: Did you just compare my pristine self with filthy soil?
Me: |||||*ΦωΦ*)m
*stares*
*tail twitches*
*pounces and bites arm*

I really wish I did digital drawings, so I could better depict cartoon Laurent flailing in disgust with a rabid fangirl attached to his arm.

MEL I'M DEAD AND DYING BECAUSE PRINCE'S GAMBIT IS SO GOOD I JUST AKLWJEKR i blazed through so much of it and just finished ch 19 while my friend shares to me ch 19.5.

There's talk of new US covers that will have ch 19.5 that people have been seeing in Barnes & Noble so I'm going to scour through some stores nearrby me soon since they unfortunately share the same ISBN as the old editions. 🤣

I've highlighted so much of this book i'll probably go back to DMs soon (for realsies this time) so I'm not just copy pasting the whole thing 😂

In the meantime I must apologize for not giving you live play by plays as promised awklejlkrj but AT LEAST MANY REACTIONS WILL BE COMING YOUR WAY.