It was good but I have read similar books to this before and feel like they offered more. It was by o means a bad book and I'm glad I read it, but it needed more originality to the story.

I really struggled with the writing style in this book, I really liked the story idea and the setting was great but sadly the characters and writing let this down.

I love historical fiction but I had a hard time finishing this book the authors writing style was hard for me to follow

I love reading fantasy books and historical fiction with LGBT characters but I haven't come across one that's set within the time of the Roman Empire which is a time prepaid I definitely need to read more of! I loved the setting and the time period as well as the brothers relationship; although it was more graphic than I thought it would be and sadly I found it really cheesy and predictable.

I was looking forward to reading Karrie Roman's Sons of Rome because it takes place in a time when Rome was trying to conquer and rule the world. I have visited many Roman sites in the U.K. and even took a class on deciphering Roman carvings, and it is not every day that historical M/M fiction travels to Rome, so I dove into this one with loads of anticipation. Karrie Roman does a nice job of developing the setting and describing life in a Roman soldier’s camp, but when it comes to the characters, this book is boring. Very, very boring. It simply could not hold my attention. I struggled to get to the halfway point, and, despite that being the place in which the anticipated ambush finally begins, I had no interest in continuing to read.

Neither Drusus or Caius, the main couple in Sons of Rome, have any spark or chemistry. They are about as exciting as wet paint. The first quarter of the book is Drusus admiring Caius and leading him on, then backing off because he’s afraid of getting his heart broken. The next quarter of the book is Drusus throwing his fear aside and taking Caius as his lover. Unfortunately, this does nothing to improve the characters. Caius is a wallflower. He has no personality, and nothing that reveals what it is that attracts him to Drusus with such unwavering focus. The way his character is written leaves him flat and completely undeveloped. The scenes between Drusus and Caius are repetitive and break down to nothing more than Drusus admiring Caius’ young body and then engaging in some fairly standard, frills-not-included sex. Their attraction is based on physical appeal and has no substance.

I had no interest in the rest of the story. I couldn’t bring myself to care about whether Drusus and Caius had a happily-ever-after or not. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it beyond the 50% mark. Apologies to the publisher. I appreciate the opportunity to read this ARC, but this one ended up on the Did Not Finish pile.

I wanted something different when I picked this up and I kind of loved it. I've got to give Roman major kudos for conveying a unique tone with tons of historical flair while also delivering the hot Roman legions romance, too.

✓ (with a side of ±): Drusus is a stoic, and his narrative voice, actions, and dialogue reflect that. I loved the distinct voice and how well it fit his mentality. (And I generally liked him.) That being said, he could also be a little frustrating and his narration bordered on dull at times, but it's in character! Because stoicism.

✓: Such historical flavor! I loved the side politics that played such a huge role in the overall plot and added intrigue, and how Roman commented on slavery and the conscription of the legionaries and how while the two shared similarities, they still had differences and privileges of class.

✓: The story just doesn't revolve just around the romance or only on Drusus and Caius. Their century's journey and mission probably takes up as much page-time as the romance, and Dru's men and his brother serve important roles in the story, too. Also, while not as central as the romance, Dru's relationship with his brother plays a b-plot point.

✓: I liked the pacing and overall plot of this. Especially considering this involved a military/adventure plot, I expected a specific Plot Pattern A or Plot Pattern B, and instead found something different and much more pleasing overall.

✘: This is my preference and a slight criticism, but probably the biggest flaw I saw was that I thought the story would've been better with a second point of view and maybe like 100 extra pages. Admittedly, I'm much more accustomed to that format, but more than anything, when you're combining instalove, off-balance power dynamics, and a guy that's a little too perfect (Caius, who's a natural fighter and the most guy beauuutiful Dru's ever seen and innocent and smart and so empathetic and ridiculously good looking and etc.) and a guy who's stoic, it would've been nice to balance out Caius's perfectness and Dru's more stoic, alpha personality with his POV. I think it could've taken a ~3.75 book to like a 4.5 to 5.

✘/±: It's maybe not a huge con overall, but I really hated one plot point towards the end. (Spoiler on Goodreads)

✘: Again, this is a personal preference, but I sort of shipped Dru and his BFF more and thought they had more chemistry? I liked Dru and Caius together, but I think I would've preferred it if that relationship had been the thing that sparked Dru and his BFF hooking up and falling in love? (But I did ship Dru and Caius, I promise.) Maybe this could be another story with different characters from one of the other centuries? It could be called it Brothers of Rome? I mean, it could be a thing, right? I'd read the hell out of it. (Obviously.)


tl;dr: I loved this. Can lgbtqia Roman legionaries be a thing, please? Also, I really want Karrie Roman to write more historical romance, because she killed it.


Disclaimer: Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the free ARC, with no incentive or coercion on your parts.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

One of my favourite books this year has been Axios by Jaclyn Osborn, so when Sons of Rome appeared in my radar I had to read it. I was in the mood of another superb story with magical characters and a soulwrenching romance during ancient times. Sometimes expectations kill books before starting them, but that is the curse of the readers. Let’s see what this book got right and what it got wrong.

We travel in time to meet Drusus, a Centurion in the infamous Legions of Rome during the campaign to conquer Germania. His time serving the Empire is almost over and he can’t wait to get rid of his obligations to Rome. But several new recruits arrive at the camp to join his century. One of them is the brother he left behind a lot time ago, Calpurnius, and other is a friend of Cal called Caius. The gorgeous Caius who makes Drusus’s heart beat harder than never before. Is love among the Legion in times of war futile or will they be able to overcome every obstacle and live happily ever after?

As in every worthy Romance book ever written, we are in front of a twofold story: the romantic part per se and the war efforts of the Roman Empire. Let’s focus first on the latter. The start is very promising. All the main characters are legionaries, so we are meant to face some action sooner or later. And there is a nice plot brewing with false loyalties, traps and overconfident war leaders. All the ingredients to keep the readers biting their nails waiting for the next problem to come out of the shadows and engulf our dear characters. At least, that is the theory. In reality, the author prefers to cook a halfhearted sandwich with stale bread that has left me with a weird smell stuck in my nostrils. It has been a waste of a cast and a waste of a plot. What should have been an epic adventure told in several chunks with increasing emotion, it becomes a dull exchange of blood and mud in a couple of rushed battles. And once that is over… the book is just and endless epilogue…

So, what is the main focus of the book? The romance. Yeah, it starts great with Drusus’s doubts about his future with Caius. With those stolen stares and those first shy moments where both of them were about tu combust from lust. It looked like an impossible love, where Dru was about to leave the military life and Cai was about to start it. It has a nice depth and the antechamber for some good emotional punch in the stomach (I’m still wating…). They were very hesitant at first, so when Drusus finally gives the step to embrace a relationship with Caius I couldn’t be happier. Sadly, that same moment is the same as the one where the romance becomes unbearable. They go from 0 to 5000 thousands so fast that it felt like a bus hitting me full force. The shy and scary love becomes an obsession that must be overexplained and overadorned over and over again, throwing shovefuls of sugar to the reader. In a book with Roman warriors during a time of war I was expecting to be drown with blood and mud, not caramel. It gets annoying pretty fast. And that is not all. For reasons I have yet to understand, the rest of the characters become the savage guardians of the new love life of Drusus and Caius. As if their lives didn’t have a meaning until then.

Thankfully, the characters are enjoyable and the only good thing about this messy story. Drusus is obviously a good guy, different from the other Centurions in the way he treats his men. I have loved reading about the friendships he has forged along the way. It helps a lot that he has such great companions like Calpurnius, Marcus or even Brutus. The best parts are the dialogs among them when they are just cracking jokes and throwing friendly jabs at each other. Too bad we don’t get too many of those (they had to be cut down in order to have the umpteenth love proclmation…). The weakest character is by far Caius. What do we know about the guy? He is mostly silent or badly injured during many chapters, so he is barely developed as a character.

I can’t finish without mentioning the travesty that is the very beginning of this book. I don’t mean the prologue. I mean the warnings about the content. Yes, we have the classic warning about sex and violence; but we also have a really stupid one: “The death of a minor character“. Are you kidding me? That is a huge spoiler that has drained all the emotion from the actual death. I can’t see the point of mentioning something like that as a warning. It is actually very infurating if I am honest.

The book is just OK. A very low grade of OK that ia only salvageable thanks to the characters and some good scenes. I’m trying to think to which kind of reader it could be appealing, but I’m getting a blank…

Reviewed excerpted from my blog post over at PanCis LGBT2SQ+ Romance Reviews (https://pancis.wordpress.com/2019/11/14/sons-of-rome-by-karrie-roman/)


Overall Rating: 3.0 stars

Library recommendation: Recommended for public library LGBT2SQ+ historical romance collections.

Warning: Hereafter, you chance spoilers. I will try never to reveal major plot points, but to review any book, you must reveal some parts of the story.



Number of titles I have read by this author: 1

Love story speed: Instalove

Relationship dynamics: The Ancient Roman Centurion (H1) / The Subordinate Legionaire (H2)

Sexual content: Some, including masturbation; “on-screen” and explicit

Gender Identity: Cis (H1) / Cis (H2)

Sexual Identity: Gay (H1) / Gay (H2)

Triggers: Slavery (normalized due to time period); significant age difference; graphic descriptions of battle/close combat; post traumatic stress disorder (supporting character)

Acceptance Rating: 5 stars

Acceptance Rating Explanation: Even if it is historically inaccurate, the attitude in the book towards homosexual relationships is completely accepting (my reading notes say “it’s all good”).

Grammar/Editing: My ARC had some typos and awkward phrasing, which has hopefully been fixed for the published version.

Review: This fast-paced novel is set during the events of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. While most of the historical context in the novel appears well-researched, there are a few details that the author has taken some (unacknowledged) artistic license with, so aficionados of Ancient Roman history should be willing to suspend some of their disbelief in reading this story.

The modern equivalent of the relationship between Drusus and Caius is an office romance: the boss is reluctant to violate his professional ethics, but his employee wants to throw ethics out the window. This novel is written almost exclusively from a single point of view: that of Drusus. As a result, Drusus seemed quite well-developed, while Caius seemed one-dimensional in comparison. Their relationship, while somewhat sweet, therefore fell quite flat for me. There is little that is more disappointing in a romance novel than one of the main characters feeling like a generic paper doll. This is further unfortunate because some of the supporting characters – Cal and Marcus, specifically – are as compelling as Drusus is, and are as thoroughly developed. In several respects, these characters rescued the plot for me and compelled me to read through to the end.



Full disclosure: I received a free advance review copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love historical romance, but I don't think I've ever read one set in the Roman Empire before. It's not a time period I have a ton of experience with, beyond the basic stuff I learned in the Alabama public school system. Plus, my Master's in History was focused on Colonial America so this is set waaaay before the time I studied in college. (Speaking of, if y'all know of any good historical romances set in the colonial period, hit me up.)

Sons of Rome takes place in Germania in 9CE. Drusus Tuscus is a Centurion with only 3 years left of his manditory 20 year military career. He left his mother and 4 year old brother behind, and now all he wants is to wait out the last of his military service and go home. A fresh group of recruits are brought in to bolster the Roman legion before they move further into Germania for the summer, and with them comes his younger brother Calpurnius and his friend Caius. Now Drusus has to focus on leading his century while keeping his little brother safe and dealing with his undeniable attraction to Caius.

As I said before, I cannot verify the accuracy of the historical aspects of this novel, but I think my lack of expertise helped me immerse myself more in the story instead of focusing on its accuracy. I want to start with the relationship between Drusus and Caius. We stay in Drusus's head the whole time, so we get a lot of his thoughts, his worries, and his dreams. There is a bit more of a disconnect when it comes to Caius. We see Caius some in the beginning, and we experience Drusus thinking about Caius, but don't get much of his thoughts and dreams until about halfway through the book.

At first, I was worried that Caius was going to stay a cardboard cutout of the person for the entire book, but Roman pulls it around toward the middle and made me more invested in their relationship. I likes that the other characters got more attention at that point as well. In the first half, the only secondary character we get much of is Marcus, who is Drusus's right hand man and who has been secretly in love with him for years. Once the story starts to really pick up in the latter half of the book, more secondary characters are expanded on. I think the lack of personality in the secondary characters might be one of the biggest weaknesses of the book overall.

One of the biggest strength, though, has to be the casual acceptance of a gay couple in a historical period. And I don't care if some people get mad because historical accuracy demands that all queer folks be miserable and die unhappy deaths, alone and unloved, yadda yadda. If I wanted to be depressed I would read the news. This is a romance novel, and I came here to be entertained and be hand-fed a happy ending. I loved that the century just accepts that Drusus and Caius are together. I love that they can hold hands openly once in a while and it be fine. I love that Caius meets Drusus's mother and it's fine. Happy queer stories are becoming more common now, and the queer community deserves to see more and more piled on every year. Bring me all your happy queer stories and you can keep all your "historical accuracy" over there.

I think Sons of Rome is a pretty solid story, with a sweet romance between two men who are making due in the best way they can.

This was well done. I’ve read a little about this time period, and it was pretty accurate to the true events. Cai and Dru were a very sweet couple, that I was very happy to see get a happy ending.

The premise sounded intriguing and while I love this setting/time period, the characters left me wanting something more.

I've never been a fan of insta-love, to be honest, so it was difficult to get over that for me. The characters generally seemed a bit too flat, but it gave the book a kind of history book vibe I guess, which maybe was the point? Basically all of the conflict was external, there's no real character development so much as the characters continuing forward as is. It was a fun read, but nothing particularly memorable. The premise is great so I just wish it had been a little bit more interesting.

A decent love story set in ancient Rome. I enjoyed reading this one, but I don’t think there was anything especially memorable for me.

I really love the premise of this book, what could be better than a m/m romp in the Imperial Roman Army? And I so, so wanted to love it. Sadly it just didn’t come together for me.

As an armchair classicist, I enjoyed the details the book weaves in about Rome at this time under Augustus. This is an interesting time period in the empire and a perfect setting for a bit testosterone-filled drama. However I’m afraid that’s mostly where the positives stop for me.

I found the book’s few characters (we only really have four which are more than just names or one-line descriptions) to be undeveloped and thinly constructed. They all seem far too faultless, too perfect, too selfless. I wanted more grittiness, more realness, more hardship, more pugnacity.

For me though, the fundamental issue with the book is pacing. Everything happens far too quickly to be even a tiny bit close to realistic. I don’t demand true realism in the books I read or do I don’t mind a love-at-first-sight storyline but I do want to understand what draws our two characters together so quickly and passionately. If it was purely a physical attraction, that then gives way to lust-come-love storyline, I might understand this instant ardor, but Drusus and Caius have exchanged no more than a few meagre sentences before Drusus is thinking he is hopelessly in love.

I also found a lack of tension in the story, as key pieces of information are resolved so quickly and simply it is risible (no, Calpurnius doesn’t like Caius in that way and yes, Caius is interested in men). The hastening of the story is also aided by our characters who all seem to be mind-readers (either that or Drusus really does have the most atrocious poker face). It's a real shame, as had some of these revelations been more drawn out, the moment when our couple does come together would have been so much more rewarding.

Word-wise this book does feature some truly cringey sentences, for instance “Drusus swallowed a gasp at his naked perfection.”, which really could have been toned-down. Though after a while I actually enjoyed these lines as I started seeing this awestruck quality as a fundamental aspect of Drusus' character. I could however have done without the use of the pet names Dru and Cai, which were grating and so odds with the more formal, and perhaps period-appropriate language also used throughout (Gratitude, Centurion etc).

All this being said, I found this book to be a fairly enjoyable way to pass a rainy Saturday afternoon and look forward to reading more from this author in future.

Many thanks to NineStar Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this review!

This was a great book!! Love set in the Ancient past, it had great characters and a engaging story that kept you interested through out the story.

I'm so sorry.
I really wanted to like this one. I never read a romance that followed the story of two legionaries, and I was really excited to get into this one when I saw it recomended to me. But... Apart from the writing of the author, at least when it comes to war descriptions and ambientation, I liked nothing from it.

Not only the romance was rushed, forced, being clearly an instalove with no interest, but also the characters were sadly plain to me. We get to meet Drusus, the Centurion of his legion who is close to finally retire, and Caius, a new legionary that, next to Drusus's little brother Calpurnius, will now be part of Drusus' legion. None of them show any personality, apart from some sarcastic side we can see in Calpurnius. All we can see from them from the very beginning to the very end is how much they love each other. A love that is never based in anything more than how beautiful Caius is and how much Caius likes Drusus back.

I don't mind an instant attraction, I find it normal and acceptable. What I can't sadly enjoy is when the whole relationship comes and stays because of that. We don't get to see Drusus and Caius talking enough to simply see how their personalities are. Their first meetings are all full of Drusus thinking how much he wants to bed him and how little he can, and then they all change to both talking about whichever topic that could lead them to know if they like each other (example: Drusus asking Caius about getting married to a woman once his duty is over so Caius can say he likes men).

We go from that attraction to a pure and mad love that drives Drusus crazy every page. And once the drama of the book starts (I couldn't say a percent, lets say before the 50% read) all we get is Drusus saying "I don't want to lose you Cai" and Caius saying "I am okay Dru.". Nothing more, their conversations don't change at all. Days go by and that's all they say.

The main characters are plain, but so are the secondaries. As I said, Calpurnius is the only one you get to see some side of him, which is useless because his character is ignored even by his brother (since Drusus only cares about Caius, it doesn't matter how much the story tries to let us think he thinks of Cal, he never cares enough because Caius is there being the love of his life). Then, the other members of the legion, they only have one attitude. Marcus, he is only refered to as "the man that loves Drusus and is not loved back", and the other legionaries (which I don't remember their names anymore) are the "fun one who wants to go with prostitutes", "the quiet one", "the mad one who is actually in love with a prisoner who doesn't speak more than once."

I'm so so SO sad, because even of the huge instalove, it could have been saved if the characters would have been somehow... characters, not just names repeating the same words over and over again.

At least I enjoyed the ambientation. I can't confirm if it is logic or not, since I'm no expert on the Roma era nor the working of the legions, but there were details that didn't work for me but I allow them to exist since, well, it is a book. A romance. I don't ask for full accuracy.

I also liked the author writing style, even though sometimes I felt it a bit out of place. I'm used to read romance, so I'm also used to the words, expressions, and more that we get when we read sex scenes. In this book, in the other hand, I felt them... *cringe*. I explain: their conversations are of course related to their time. Based on the fact they spoke latin, they don't communicate as the narrator when we get to read the... well, narration. So, for me, reading them talking with such a vocabulary and then read things like "He drizzled the oil on his cock, tossed the bottle, and then used a hand to stroke his length," or "his cock pulsed and spurted in Caius's tight hole"... I don't know now. I know romance is like that when it is written, but I think some stories need it to be more delicated. And this one was one.

But, also, this relationship is built 100% based on how hard Drasus gets every time he stares at Caius, so... I guess I can't complain.

Also, as an extra detail, I didn't enjoy the abuse of names in this story. They literally mention each other every time they talk ("Hello, Dru" "Hello, Cai" "How are you, Dru?" "Well, Cai. And you, Cai?" "Well, Dru. Thanks for asking, Dru.") but that I confess is a thing I know it hits only me. But, still, I wanted to comment.

realy enjoyed this book,and hope for more about this world.
I loved the story about these brave men,the era and about the everyday live.
You can feel,read and see,that the author put effort in the background and
history.(for me).and sometimes that age and era are more modern and accepting
than the present time and era.
I have read this book twice and will be reading again.

5 stars

I began this story this morning and couldn’t stop reading it. It seemed a simple premise at first, but I found the writing completely engaging and I loved the characters.

When Drusus was a young man he left everything he knew behind him for a life in the Roman Legion. He’s Centurian when his younger brother, Cal arrives as a new recruit. Cal is with his best friend, Caius. Drusus is immediately drawn to Caius but keeps his distance. He already knows that he will find it difficult to watch his younger brother fight… he doesn’t want to lose his heart to someone only to be constantly worried about him in battle.

Caius proves himself to be a formidable soldier… he can definitely take care of himself. Drusus’ defenses, however, weaken and he finds himself getting involved with Caius.

I can’t speak to the authenticity of the writing about the Roman Legion… I haven’t read enough history to have an opinion. It was certainly authentic enough for me to get caught up in the time and not question it. The battle scenes were pretty horrifying and there was a real sense of desperation at some points. I had a lot of sympathy for the characters and their plight. I can’t imagine living in a society in which I had to commit years of my life to an army without having a choice.

The relationship between Caius and Drusus is quite lovely in spite of the difficulties they are facing. Their dream of living on a farm together and growing old… is a lovely one. There are many times during the noel that their future is uncertain and I really felt for them. A lovely story that I would gladly recommend.

I really loved this, packed full of chemistry and romance, it’s steamy, fast paced and such an enjoyable read. I didn’t put it down and completed this in be sitting, once you start you are enveloped in the characters world completely, the descriptions are so good, you could almost be back there with them. Highly recommended m/m romance.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

A hot, steamy ride, Sons of Rome has everything you could possibly want: an angsty romance, age difference, and historical accuracy! With a fluid writing style and sympathetic characterizations this is a must read for fans of m/m romance.