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Dominus

Dominus, Book 1

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Dominus

By: JP Kenwood
Narrated by: Hannibal Hills, Nick J. Russo
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Summary

In AD 107, after a grueling campaign against Rome's fierce enemy, the kingdom of Dacia, Gaius Fabius, returns home in triumph. With the bloody battles over, the commander of the Lucky Fourth Legion now craves life's simple pleasures: leisurely soaks in fragrant baths, over-flowing cups of wine, and a long holiday at his seaside villa to savor his pleasure slaves. On a whim, he purchases a spirited young Dacian captive and unwittingly sparks a fresh outbreak of the Dacian war; an intimate struggle between two sworn enemies with love and honor at stake.

Allerix survived the wars against Rome, but now he is a sex slave rather than a victor. Worse, the handsome general who led the destruction of his people now commands his body. When escape appears impossible, Alle struggles to find a way to preserve his dignity and exact vengeance upon the hated Romans. Revenge will be his, that is, if he doesn't lose his heart to his lusty Roman master.

Dominus is a plot-packed erotic m/m fantasy that transports listeners back to ancient Rome during the reign of the Emperor Trajan (98-117). This is the first book in an alternate history series - a tumultuous journey filled with forbidden love, humor, sex, friendship, political intrigue, deception, and murder.

©2014 JP Kenwood (P)2019 JPK Publishing Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Fiction Ancient Rome Revenge War Ancient History Rome
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3.5 Stars

At first I wasn't sure how to rate this. The narration was excellent. Some of the sex slave voices had me cracking up, to be honest, but overall, they all sounded so different it was easy to keep in mind who was talking.

The story itself started out in Rome as a battle has been won and Gaius learns of a sex slave sale. He ends up finding a man there that was taken prisoner and waiting to be sold as a slave. After spending too much money, Gaius wins as highest bidder, then takes his new toy, Alle, back to his home by the sea. Once there, Alle plays a fool, pretending not to speak the language, not understanding what is asked of him, but when he finally sees Gaius for the first time as his owner, he can't leave.

Gaius lives in a world plagued by ancient battles and aristocracy. He's one of the soldiers that fights battles and comes home the victor. He's well known and his brother is next in line for the throne. But in every life, there are politics that keep people uninformed and dangerous.

Once he tries to break in Alle, his newest toy, he realizes how much he's wanted someone just like him, to have and enjoy. But when his world gets turned upside down, he's not sure how much he can take and survive.

I loved the writing. It was so well done. My only downside was how much sex there was (a lot!) and how the story didn't really get going until more than halfway through. I felt I knew a lot about the history of Rome, but wanted more in the way of story line. Otherwise, the characters were actually redeemable and endearing for the most part.

Remarkable story

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Listener received this title free

When I read the synopsis for this book, I was interested. When I heard it was coming out on audio I was thrilled. Then I listened to the book and I’ll admit I’ve struggled a bit with writing this review. Some reviews are easy, some are challenging. Some books I finish and I immediately put pen to paper (metaphorically) so I can write down my thoughts and share them right away. Other times I sit back and think about what I’ve listened to. Try to find the right words. This was definitely one of those books.

I’ll start with the narration. I was somewhat surprised to see Nick. J. Russo was one of the narrators. He’s reliable and competent, to be sure. Recently he tackled N.R. Walker’s SIR, which definitely required an accent of sorts. He’s not my first thought when I think of accents, and when I realized his part in this book, it all made sense. His role is minor but important in starting and then tying up this part of the trilogy. Hannibal Hills carries the load of narration in this book and he’s a great choice. This is his first m/m book but he’s done plenty of others audios, including many on the dark side. Since this book has moments of great darkness, he’s perfect for this story.

So on to the story. I’ll start by saying there’s a lot going on. Plenty of characters, tons of intrigue, and several different storylines. This book is the first in a trilogy, so all this world building makes sense. The year is AD 107 in the Roman Empire. Hedonism abounds as does violence. This book has plenty of both. I’ve read other books from this ancient history including Axios by Jaclyn Osborn and Nova Praetorian by N.R. Walker. I enjoyed both of those tremendously, and so had high hopes for this book. Compared to the world we live in today these books tell of a time when survival wasn’t guaranteed. Gladiators and Spartans lived and died by the sword. The level of violence in all these stories matches their times.

I liked Allerix. As a slave he was, of course, sympathetic. I liked that he kept his agency, using his cunning to survive. I am definitely interested in seeing where this plot lines goes as he becomes more entrenched with his captor, Gaius. I am hoping books 2 and 3 will eventually be put out on audio so I can see where thee story winds up. I love a good enemies-to-lovers story and with one whose stakes are this high, I’m excited to see what happens next. The book ends of a cliffhanger so consider yourself forewarned.

Intriguing

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Listener received this title free

Fun story that took me a while to get in to. Many characters and also different names for each of them got me confused in the beginning.
But after a while I got more in to the story and it was entertaining.

Nick J Russo only does the prologue and epilogue that is set in modern days. And just after this first book I don’t really understand the connection of that to the main story. But I love Nick’s narration.

Hannibal Hills narrates the main story and does it well. There are a few high pitched voices that don’t suit me, but that is personal taste. My main problem is that he uses accents for some side characters that I have a hard time to follow as a non native in English. But as I got more and more into the story it was easier to understand and therefore enjoy.

Fun story set in Ancient Rome

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I have the paperback of this book, but the narration by Hannibal Hills really brought the story to life. When it finished I came straight to Audible to get book 2 but it isn't out yet. The story is addictive and the narration, pretty damn flawless. Good job all round.

The Narrators first MM was a triumph!

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I'd read this book (and the others in the series) last year and was very excited to be able to listen to it when it came available on Audible. The world of ancient Rome that the writer created came even more to life in this audio version: from the sights, smells and sounds to the food and drink of the time plus all the other minutiae of daily life, in other words, terrifically researched historical fiction. And then when you add in the great plot and wonderfully diverse, flawed but compelling characters as well, it was just magnificent. And the two very talented narrators only added to that enjoyment, especially Hannibal Hills who handled the large cast of voices so expertly. His Gaius Fabius was definitely my favourite but he managed to make the others equally distinctive and memorable too. I sincerely hope we get the chance to enjoy the next books on the series in audio format too.

Every bit as good as I'd hoped for

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