Stoned by Shelley Munro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Blurb…
Life is a chariot race for Marc Angelo and Tarquin Navona. Friends, rivals and rock stars of Circus Maximus in ancient Rome, they wow the fans with their daring driving and take their choice of lovers. A fine life indeed—if Marc weren’t harboring feelings for Tarquin. It’s difficult to behave normally when he craves physical contact with his friend’s muscular body, but Marc resists, too afraid of losing Tarquin entirely.
He needn’t have worried. Fate has plans for them.
Very long-term plans…
When a powerful sorcerer catches Marc and Tarquin with his wife, he curses them to imprisonment in stone. Centuries pass, and Marc’s love and lust for Tarquin only increase. His friend doesn’t have a clue, but that’s the least of their problems. They have no idea how to escape their predicament—and may be doomed to spend eternity Stoned.
So what did I think?
I quite enjoyed this short story, mainly for it’s uniqueness. It was a sweet story with a happy ending that tried to cram in quite a lot of content.
Reading a book with a time travel component was a bit of a first for me. It was an interesting concept and an interesting combination/contrast of the historical and the modern. I liked the view of homosexuality in Roman times and how that coloured the main characters views on their feelings for each other, or rather if they would act on their feelings.
The story focused on the situation the men found themselves in, cursed for eternity, or so it would seem, but lacked some depth into the whole situation. I think a longer story was warranted, something that would answer all the questions – exactly how did they end up ‘stoned’?, why did the curse break specifically?, more details on how they kept abreast of the times…..
There are lots of things happening in this story – the action in ancient times, the curse, the relationship between the men, the event that breaks the curse, Tarquin’s encounter with the neighbour’s daughter, the men’s separation and reconciliation.
However I felt the end was too abrupt. I think I would have enjoyed to see more of Marc and Tarquin once they had established a life together.
All-in-all I liked the story, read it in one sitting, and was interested enough to want to check out other work by this author.
I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
❅❅❅❅❅❅❅
To find out more about Shelley Munro and her books visit her website.
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