Live and Let Lionel by Susanne Valenti & Caroline Peckham
Savage: Okay, I’m sorry, they’ve been out in the hot, stanky ass jungle for over a week, close to two at this point, and we know there’s no shower out there. There’s no soap out there. This is survival, not Love Island. You know that pussy was STANK and there was NOTHING sexy about the smells the two of them had to have been emanating. I’m just saying. I’m very hung up on that.
Azriel definitely saw Lionel for the shady bitch he is. The other counselors were so content to have the power of the throne in their collective hands once the king was dead, they were more than content to turn a blind eye to Lionel and all he was. But Azriel wasn’t loyal to power, he was obviously loyal to Hail Vega as well as the throne. The two together. It makes sense why Lionel killed Azriel and not the counselors.
I cannot express how much I love it and how hilarious I find it when Gabriel smacks people in the face with his wing. The shriek of giddy joy I let out reading his mom do it to Hail was loud.
Lionel’s dark coercion turned Hail into quite the little drama queen.
… it cut off so abruptly? Why? I would have preferred a full length novella over that. There are so many questions left unanswered, so much unresolved. That was a nothing burger. It wasn’t “extra content” it was just a strip tease. I couldn’t have cared less about the marriage trial bullshit but I definitely wanted to know why Merissa would willingly choose Hail despite his demons.
The Shimmering Springs: Geraldine just truly cannot help being iconic.
I am so beyond sick of Washer. He’s just a disgusting pervert and someone should put him out of my misery.
Geraldine: That was pretty much exactly what I was expecting of Geraldine. There could have been more to this, but it be what it be.
Orion 1: I much prefer Orion’s POVs when he’s not being a whiny little bitch. Just losing himself in the moment with Darcy and enjoying her company.
Orion 2: Yeah, Orion is just canonically a little bitch. He just keeps making bad decision after bad decision and whining about it, yet things seem to just keep working out for him. Spare me.
Darius 1: This little OneShot only further solidifies my standing that Darius is a selfish asshole who only sees what directly affects him. Max didn’t give a shit that Seth thought Darius was all daddy dom, but Caleb immediately latches on to Seth having a praise kink with obvious interest and then pulls that dominance stunt when Seth calls him pretty? Come the fuck on. It’s so obvious that there’s been something going on there for a while. I can’t remember what review I called it in, but I knew in maybe book 3 or 4 that they were into each other and I hadn’t even gotten the Shimmering Springs or Christmas context at that point.
Darius 2: I don’t think this one was all that necessary. I felt like I was practically reading the original chapter from his POV anyway because of how completely he was wearing his heart on his sleeve for Tory. This added nothing to the story for me.
Leon: The pregnancy book prank? *chefs kiss*
Seth 1: Caleb was down so bad without even realizing it and I love it.
Seth 2: I knew it was going to come out like that, but I really thought it would be the final book, not next to last. Really, I think I expected more push back from the Heir’s even in the end, so, I like having one of the Heir’s perspectives for it. From the POV of either twin if seems sudden, but knowing the inner thoughts and how they were seeing the twins in that final battle, it shows that it was a long time coming even for them.
“Live and Let Lionel” None of that even had a single thing to do with him except for the very very beginning of Hail’s chapter?? Regardless, I enjoyed these little OneShots. Just, maybe a different name would have been more appropriate.