When in Rome.....

......A plea for the mighty bastard, Gaius Fabius.

I’ll preface that I have read all three books available in the series by JP Kenwood, this one gets the story rolling. I personally love book three, but after hearing the characters voiced, I’m positive all of them will be fantastic in audio format.

The narrator is splendid in his ability to jump through each character so effortlessly. Although, I was a bit taken aback with his voice for Allerix, it grew on me, and now I find that I’m looking forward to more dialogue with him involved.

What makes these stories so lovely is the immense research and detail the writer has put into the series. I applaud the intensity to which they developed each storyline with meticulous emotion and heart.

To be clear, Gaius is a jerk. Totally privileged male, treating humans as property (which is literally what happened in ancient Rome). However, he becomes endearing with noticing things like the shabby sleeping quarters for his ‘beautiful boys’ and taking time to ask about the lives of those around him, regardless of societal standing. As much as we are to despise his purchase of Allerix, it is deep down a means of protection.

I love this series, and am very certain the remaining books will be just as wonderful as this first book in the Audible series.

Listen and enjoy, you won’t be disappointed.

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Amazing!

I loved this audiobook so much!! The author and narrator did a fantastic job with this story and it left me wanting more. I was hooked from the moment I hit play and never wanted the story to end. I need more of these characters and was so sad when I heard the end because I wanted it to keep going forever. I loved the push and pull between these two characters from such different cultures. Gaius is a man who knows what he wants and goes after it. This time it was a captive named Allerix. What mades this book even better is it was from the POV of both men. I loved getting to see the world through two completely different views. It brought so much more depth and understanding to the world and these characters. Watching these two open up to each other slowly was definitely a lot of fun. I can't wait to find out what else is in store for these amazing characters and this world.

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Staying alive means keeping your Dominus happy

The audio of this book is amazingly fun. The story opens in the modern day at an archeological dig as a potential ancient murder scene has just been uncovered. The story then moves to the early 2nd century, where the victorious Commander Gaius Fabius Rufus is celebrating his victory over the Dacians with a rather expensive trophy--a new Dacian pleasure slave. The strength of this story lies in the well-developed characters and their relationships with each other, their masters, and their station in life. Everyone, even Commander Fabius, has a Dominus, and the dangerous business of staying alive in the ancient Roman empire revolves around keeping Dom happy. The book reaches an action-packed climax that had me immediately reaching for book 2.

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Excellent

J.P. Kenwood is a new to me author and I am kicking myself for waiting so long to listen/read Dominus. You will need a fan and ice cold water this book is so steamy. The narration by Hannibal and Nick is out of this world fabulous. If you enjoy a sexy slow burn historical romance you will love this book. Note it ends on cliffhanger.

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Loved the audiobook!

This is an excellent audio book. The narration was great and made the characters and storyline of a book I love come to life. I was immediately drawn back to this wonderful story. Ancient ruins, ancient life, sex, romance, a mix of Roman history and culture, political intrigue: what’s there that one can’t enjoy and love? Definitely erotic with a mix of suspense and intrigue. Highly recommend!

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Star-crossed lovers

Updated review: I loved this book when I read this and I loved it even better when I listened to it. Great book.


Storywise, this book is incredible. It was set in the ancient Roman Empire when glorious Romans blatantly indulge themselves with pleasure slaves of both sexes.


The story focuses on the victorious general Gaius and a former Dacian prince called Allerix who's now the pleasure slave of the General. The story is quite complicated with a lot of characters to catch up. There was a lot of usage of Romanian, Italian and some Latin. Though I can always find the translations on google, it would really have been fantastic if they provide the translations of those sentences at the bottom of the page. I also wish there was a glossary since there really are a lot of characters to catch up to. However, I'm a bit disappointed that after around 300 pages of this book and approximately 5 hours of reading, this book was still at the mere beginning of the journey of these star-crossed lovers. I checked the description of the second book in this series and that one is a bloody cliffhanger too. I wonder how many more books there will be in this series before it eventually reaches either to a HEA or a tragic ending. Although story wise, the novel was incredible, sexwise, this book was ok. The smut could be a lot hotter and wilder if the author indulged us with a bit more explicit scenes.


I loved both MCs, Gaius and Allerix, and a lot of other interesting side characters. Gaius is firm but kind and a caring master and Allerix is a battered soul who is now recovering from the love and care of his master. There were a lot of sexual practices and indulges of these notorious Romans in the book which are sexy and attractive. The relationship between these two MCs is not easy and will take much more time to achieve an indestructible one. The plot and the ploy of these glorious Romans where they play games for the power and pleasure is simply enticing and fascinating. I’m really looking forward to reading the next book.



4 Star-crossed lovers stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Marvelous!

4 Blue Roses
4.5 Blue Flames

Dual Narrators Hannibal Hills and Nick J. Russo delivered a marvelous historical journey to ancient Rome, an unrestrained imaginative erotic fiction. The wonder and incredible love between a master and his slaves, with a BDSM kink undertone. Hannibal Hills is new to me, his introduction was a howling success. I always enjoy discovering a new narrator for my “Hall of Fame”.

Listeners will fall in love instantly with these unique characters, their quirkiness and their ancient life stories. We hear their POV from mainly 4 different primary characters and to make matters more complicated, one of them are in current time period, Rome. This character performed by Nick J. Russo searches for answers as an archaeologist, but an undertone of unanswered or secretive questions kept me latched on and captivated by the unusual circumstances.

The rest of the plot takes place in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Trajan (98-117). This was masterfully done!
As a lover of all things history, I never lost interest nor did I get confused as the author weaved their tale, she knew exactly when to infuse eroticism into the story line. I’m so glad I found this author, and I hope to hear so much more from her. This series, caught my attention and I’m hooked!

This world where masters own slaves and slaves are spoils of war, freed slaves becomes masters and new slaves like Allerix, who is the captive Dacian prince.

He is playing a curious long game. That is precisely the crux of the fucking matter. We don't know who is going to end up in a heap of bones as discovered by the archaeologists. We all know shit is about to hit the fan, but we don’t know the radius of it.

I definitely recommend this audiobook. Especially, if you like your historical fictions, an unpredictable plot and hot almost primitive, but not cruel sex scenes.

I swear BDSM was born here!

Happy Listening

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Brilliant evocation of ancient Rome

I've loved this series in print, but the audio book has added depth and passion to the fascinating maze of Roman politics, passion and ambition. Gaius Fabius Rufus comes to fierce dominating life in this edition- I'm going back to reread the rest of the series and hope the voice actor is back for the audio books!

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Hot, steamy and authentic M/M ancient Rome

I enjoyed being immersed in this story set in ancient Rome at the time of Trajan MUCH MUCH MUCH more than I expected to, and found the characters of Gaius Fabius and his pleasure slaves very compelling, especially the newly-acquired Dacian, Alle. This is a story arc that continues over multiple volumes, and I can't wait to listen to the rest! Highly recommended!

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Thrilling historical romance

Wrapper Story (Modern Rome)
This is a modern day story that’s unfolding across the series and related to the main story through an archeology find.

Main Story (Past Rome)
When the story started, Max, a beleaguered recently freed personal slave and new slave handler, is our narrator who’s trailing along his master (Dominus) Gaius, our main character who burst into frame — aggressive, excessively confident, and overwhelming. We then meet Theo, Lucius (Gaius’s best friend and forbidden lover), Hadrian (from actual history), and our other main character Allerix, the Dacian captive, the slave for sale.

The story becomes intriguing starting from there and we are thrust into the Roman high born life style, the lives of pleasure slaves and others. What follows is two threads of stories that intertwine the politically oriented life as a powerful adopted son of Trajan and that of a somewhat reluctant pleasure slave who’s considered as unnatural because of his love for a man in his former life as a Dacian prince but now able to explore his sexuality freely but at a loss of his freedom.

There are hidden layers in the story that unfolds. Characters are intriguing and interesting. Dialog is sharp and smart. You really get to see multiple social strata through the eyes of multiple characters and at times you are hanging on by the seats of your pants — worried, anxious for what’s coming to some of the characters — given a glimpse of trouble looming ahead for them.

The story started out a bit rough but once you get past the first two chapters, you’ll fall in love with the story and the characters. Gains grew on me though he really started out as horrid by modern standards. By the end, I had reluctantly handed my heart to him.

Narration
I’m a big fan of Nick J Russo and it’s great listening to him for the wrapper story who makes it easy to get into the story. Hannibal Hills is a new to me narrator. He did a great job for sure — Gaius really jumped out at you in a wonderful way. His voice for Allerix was not as pleasing to me (personal taste). I’ve read the book but the tension, the laughter, the love, all came alive with his voice narration. In the end, I really liked it.

Summary

Here’s the thing. This story is so true to history in its world building, characterization, and so immersive in Roman custom and culture that from a modern day perspective, it is harrowing to read at times. I cringed at how horribly slaves are treated. I wanted to fling the book away — or stopped my ear in this case. In that time and place, things were likely worse than described in the story. We are happily reading a romance with promise of a happily ever after. I cannot guess how that HEA will come about because the future seems shaky and uncertain.

The story has plenty of heat, passion, laughter, friendship, and love and also abuse, cruelty, and violence. They come hand in hand. This is not a story for everyone. It’s a roller coaster of a ride — for lovers of historical romance, dark romance, kinky romance, polyamorous romance, with a bit of political intrigue and life and death situations thrown in.

Did I enjoy it? Absolutely! Would you enjoy it? Most likely — just keep in mind that when in Rome, you should at least think or feel like a Roman. :) So, stow away your modern sensitivities briefly and enjoy the ride.

Note: This story does end in a soft cliff hanger as it's the start of a 4 book series. There's so far 2 more books after this and one more to come soon (in book form).

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6 people found this helpful