Damian & Demetrios by J.P. Bowie
Slave to Love, Book 2
MLR Press
Ancient Historical M/M
ISBN: 978-1-60820-417-5
Reviewed by Lisa




Patrician son of a Roman Senator, Damian Valerius is a young man sheltered from the harsh life of those less fortunate and spends his days sculpting in the studio behind the family villa.

For proprieties sake Damian accompanies his younger sister Portia to the gladiator games though he personally abhors the senseless violence and death.  Wishing to leave one minute and rooted to the spot the next Damian is captivated by the sight of the gladiator Demetrios fighting in the arena.

Sold to pay his father’s gambling debts Demetrios isn’t the average slave/gladiator. When the two men meet at a party Damian is still fascinated by Demetrios’s beauty, but also with his intelligence and wit.  Damian begins to weave dreams of them being together, yet Demetrios knows that realistically there is no way the patrician and the slave will be allowed to be with each other. However, their problems are nothing compared to what the Emperor Nero has in mind for them to deal with.

A grounded gladiator and an idealistic patrician fall in love in Damian & Demetrios.  Fate throws every difficulty imaginable at the pair to make them prove themselves time and again.  Damian can’t and won’t listen to reason after falling in lust and love with Demetrios.  It’s his inexperience with life that gives the young man his strengths and unrealistic views, no matter what he’s faced with.  Damian & Demetrios is an action packed, non-stop love story with the added punch of Emperor Nero being in charge.

S’mores optional.