Virgin Slave, Barbarian King

So I liked this one way more than I did the last Louise Allen book I read. Still some instances of strange sentence formation that had me rereading, but at this point I'm guessing it's a stylistic thing for the author. I enjoyed the setting and the characters and never found myself annoyed with either one (which happened in the last Allen book I read). Looking forward to reading more of her work.

There were times when this story of a romance between a Visigoth chieftain (Wulfric) and Roman maiden (Julia Livia Rufa), based on a real relationship, sparkles and then there are times that I made me nearly throw it down in disgust.

The trials and tribulations of Julia trying to find a life within the Visigoth camp were often glossed over when it would have possibly been interesting for her to complain occasionally about the mess her hands were getting in, however she only talks about how much "fitter" she was getting. It just didn't quite gel right and made me wonder sometimes about the accuracy of the characterisation. Then Allen would throw in the scene in the baths, that made me think that it would have been better.

Sometimes the show more characters wavered between 20th century and quite accurate period ideas. It was a good read but not a great read. I think part of what disappointed me was that the author couldn't quite choose between having a story of 20th century characters with a pseudo-Roman gloss and being true to history. show less

After I started reading Virgin Slave, Barbarian King I was concerned. I really dislike historical romance books that seem to be absent of historical detail and whose main characters are way too modern in their thoughts and actions. (I have run into a few lately.) Despite that, I was entertained and ended up liking this quirky book with the provocative title. 3/5 stars

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