Rather than have a post for each of these books, I thought I’d do a mini-review-post for them. They’re a mixed bag of ‘stuff’ that I’ve read over the weeks, fitting in novellas/novelettes where I can. They have no bearing on one another and share no sense of theme.
The White Lion – Scott Oden
A pretty good tale of friendship and vengeance set on the backdrop of the late crusades.
Would be great to have a bit more background on the characters and their connections to make the thirst for revenge feel more worthwhile. But a pretty solid novella with lays the groundwork for more.
I read about this book on Scott Oden’s blog and read that there’s an intention to revisit the main/titular character; Tancred of Antioch/The White Lion, so will keep an eye out for that as I’d like to know more about the character, he seems like a rival for several popular historical fiction characters and well, that sort of this has it’s appeal, does it not?
If you’re looking for a quick historical fiction read involving a twisty plot without the historical jargon, then snap this one up.
The Templars Pet – Ella Brooks
A swift, smutty read that ticked the boxes of what I was looking for at the time.
Lila Greenwhisk is a goblin far from her tribe and trying to make ends meet in the city of Honeyford. It’s not going well until happenstance brings a Templar to her door – where she faints, he carries her to bed and, you know, the usual stuff happens in erotic short stories. In the same order it always does. Oral. Then PiV.
I chose not to question things about this story to much like; why did she faint?
And of course, having a Templar for a lover solved all her lifes problems, like running a bakery and being a goblin!
It was fun though, nothing groundbreaking, but it didn’t need to be.
Forbidden Affairs – YJ Wong
This book was written by someone whose first language isn’t English. The sentence structures made little sense and honestly, I skimmed most of the book. It was meant to be about an Empress falling in love with her eunuch servant; it had so much potential, but the lack of writing ability made it unreadable.
Sex Life of an Ottoman Eunuch – Obedient Submissive
I was clearly looking for something when I read these books. I didn’t find it. I was after something sweet, intimate and romantic. This book went into far too much detail over a certain surgical procedure – which I guess is the whole kink, no shame – but it wasn’t for me.
That part isn’t why only 3 stars. There was something ‘off’ about this book in terms of formatting. The dialogue was stilted and nothing really seemed to flow well. The main character was content to ‘go along’ with his fate a little too easily; from castration to reinvention of his sex life. I dunno, something was just very odd about it all beyond this not being my ‘thing’
Help! One of our Eunuchs is Missing! – L.J. TrafforD
This book was so much fun! Set on the backdrop of Rome, Erperor Nero has lost his wife and it is the job of eunuch Sporus to dress up as the Emperor’s beloved Poppeae. So when Sporus goes missing, along with novitiate Philo, it is up to palace secretary, Epaphroditus to figure out what’s going on.
A completely bonkers mystery plot featuring quirky characters, memorable creations and… hippos!
Honestly, this isn’t what I was expecting going into this book and I absolutely loved it!
Tragic Fangirl 
Short and Sweet revuiews- I like the format.
Look up Alessandro Moreschi- he was the last castrato and lived long enough to be recorded singing.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks a lot for the compliments.
And I sure will, thank you!!
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Is it just me or are eunuch always going missing on Friday when you’re trying to take off early?
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