“Believe you’d make it back to Akielos? Yes. I did. You were a force of nature. It was infuriating to fight you. Frightening to have you on my side.’
‘Frightening?’
‘You didn’t know how afraid I was of you?’
‘Of me? Or of yourself?’
‘Of what was happening between us.”
― C.S. Pacat, The Summer Palace
This is a collection of short stories that took place during and immediately after the conclusion of the Captive Prince trilogy.
Green but for a Season (Captive Prince Short Stories, #1)
This was my least-favorite of the stories, as it dealt with Jord and Aimeric. It provided a little bit of backstory but nothing that intrigued me. They were both sympathetic characters in the books, especially Jord. But this story didn’t really add much for me.
The Summer Palace (Captive Prince Short Stories #2)
This. THIS is the “happily ever after” for Damen and Laurent. The third book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it could have used an epilogue. I’m not sure when the author published this story, but I hope she was paid well because this brief afterward gives the readers the soft, tender, and smutty ending we deserved.
The Adventures of Charls, the Veretian Cloth Merchant (Captive Prince Short Stories, #3)
I was skeptical that a story dedicated entirely to Charls was worth my time but let me tell you, I was wrong. Following along with Charls’s thought process is, in a word, sublime. He is the kind, magnanimous doofus that every story needs. If the author ever returns to this universe, I will be sadly disappointed if Charls is not a recurring character.
Pet (Captive Prince Short Stories, #4)
This surprised me even more than the Charls story. We learn more about Ancel, the “pet” from the memorable garden scene in the first book. This is not a backstory I thought I needed but again, I was wrong. This is the classic story of how the “vain and superficial social butterfly” falls in love with the “stoic, honorable, and quiet hero.” This story charmed me so much that I will probably do a reread very soon.
