Dominus: Dominus Book 1

I'd had this on my tbr pile for quite some time and I'm glad I waited until the second book came out in order to read it as Dominus ends on the brink of a major cliff.The characters in this story are brilliantly set up in this book. J P Kenwood creates a brilliant cast of players whom I have begun to feel great fondness for, even Fabius, the central Dominus character of the story. Who is not easy to like. We see him through the eyes of all the characters around him and their affection for him suggests that there must be something about him deserving of love and loyalty. Though to be honest, I spent most of Dominus wanting to punch him.Max, his freed slave and client is a decent guy, a man finding his feet as a foreigner after years of having a master.Allerix, the captive Dacian prince is playing a long game and my curiosity about him drives me forward to read the next book.Lucius, Gaius Fabius' best friend, stole my heart a little. Through his eyes and words we learn the most about the boy Fabius was and the man he now is.Their story is bookmarked by a prologue and epilogue set in the modern day and centring on an excavation in Rome that hints at many possible outcomes for this storyline.The omniscient narrative, swinging back and forth from one point of view to another kept the storytelling pacy, though sometimes made me backtrack to be sure of who was speaking. It is easy for an Omni POV to be done badly, and this was not the case with Dominus.All in all I'm looking forward to volume 2.

I really enjoyed this book - the author is clearly skilled & knowledgable on Rome and Roman culture/ behaviours. I actually learnt stuff from this book, and was inspired to research more on other topics raised throughout the text. The characters are all mostly engaging and likeable, but I agree with other reviewers that the central character of Allerix is weakly drawn and poorly developed (he’s the least interesting of any of the slave characters, so I always felt frustrated when time was spent on him and not Simon or Nicomedes). The m/m action is hot, and not at all what I expected (it’s a different spin on normal m/m fiction). All in all I loved it…and would’ve quite happily lived in the Gaius Fabius mansion in Rome at this time!

I can see there are some mixed reviews for the Audible version of this book, but in my opinion, it was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed hearing these character come to life and made my journeys to work far more endurable. Being stuck in traffic was never so sexy! I thought the main narrator did a good job and conveyed the different characters very well. It was clear who was speaking and I found myself drawn into the story as soon as I pressed play. It made me emotional at times and also, verrrrrrry hot! I'm reading the second book again in time for its audible release (hopefully!) Congrats to JP Kenwood and the narrators for hours of listening pleasure.

This is a fairly simple story but it is well written. There are about 5 books in this series and amazon on ly holds this one and book two I hope it gets the other books so that readers can complete the full story. If the other books are similar to book one you are left at a cliff edge so you feel you must read the next book to finish the story. I already have book 2 so I hope the rest become available from amazon if not I will go direct to the publisher.

Some books are just fun to read, and this is one of them. Gaius is what I can only describe as a "bad boy". He's arrogant, ruthless, self-centred... good looking, sexy, passionate. There's so much about him that you want to loathe, and know you should, but you just can't. Gaius is more complex than he appears on the surface, and JPK does well in showing us this, via his relationship with his slaves, his Dacian captive and with his old friend Luc. I would describe this book as a "romp", and a good one at that. I look forward to the next instalment.

I like the idea of "enemy to lover" and ancient Roman setting is just perfect. It turns out to be a big dispointment and I regret the purchase. 1) It takes forever for the story to actually kicks in. 2) Names are ridiculously long and similar to each other. Half of the time I have to trace back to remind myself who is who. 3) All his life, Alle hates the Roman and Fabius in particular for destroying his country, his people and his family. All that hate melts like candle after some handjobs/blowjobs and he can't resist his master simply because he's handsome, all in a span of a few days. Likewise, Fabius is drawn to Alle for his look, nothing interesting about this character. Their chemistry falls flat and shallow. So no, I won't buy book 2.

I loved the world building in this novel. I was easily transported toRome and made to care about the characters. I preferred the Roman sections to the modern archaeology setting because I was keen to get into that world. The sex is tasteful and realistic. Can't wait to read the next in the series.

Purchased this on spec as I love reading novels about the Romans. It was not what I expected - it was better! Characters are well developed and the plot (which is further developed in Part 2) is very good. As it contains explicit passages of gay sex, it's contents is certainly for adults only. A real page turner to say the least!