BLOG TOUR: Betrothal & Betrayal (The Empress Irini series Book 1) - Janet McGiffin

Seventeen-year-old Thekla needs her quick wits and knife to track down her betrothed, a soldier who has left her at the altar for the third time. Elias the monk travels with her to Constantinople where she meets Irini of Athens, an extraordinarily beautiful orphan her same age who has been brought by powerful Emperor Constantine to marry his son, Co-Emperor Leon. The two women join forces to survive this vigorous capital of the Roman Empire of the East which is rocked by religious and political strife. But will Thekla help the ambitious and ruthless Irini of Athens find the power that she craves?

What did I think?

Betrothal & Betrayal is set in 8th century Greece and this is a period of history I knew nothing about until I turned the pages of this fabulous book.  With a 17 year-old protagonist, it's in the YA genre but it's hugely enjoyable for adults too.

Thekla is a very strong female character and you certainly don't want to mess with her as she has a knife and she's not afraid to use it.  When her groom doesn't turn up for the wedding, she sets off to Constantinople to find him.  Myrizikos either needs to marry her or break off the betrothal, but Thekla finds that looking for her betrothed is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

What I loved most about this story (apart from Thekla herself) is the real historical figures in the cast of characters.  There is also an actual cast of characters list in the back of the book, which proves really useful as I sometimes lost track of who was who.  I was also delighted to find maps of the Roman Empire and Constantinople at the beginning of the book.

As Thekla is the main character, you could be forgiven for forgetting that this is the Empress Irini series and Irini's part grows bigger as the book progresses.  Irini is another strong female character and again, she is one I wouldn't want to cross.  Irini is married to the Emperor's heir and she is determined to become Empress, despite some devious attempts by other members of the Emperor's household to send her back to Athens.

Entertaining, enlightening and evocative, Betrothal & Betrayal is a wonderfully vivid piece of historical fiction that brings 8th century Constantinople to life and I really enjoyed my virtual visit.  I can't wait to read more of the series to see what happens to Thekla.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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About the author:

Janet McGiffin divides her time between her apartment in Manhattan, her family in Washington State, and her friends in Athens, Greece. She was born in Fairfield, Iowa into a newspaper family and learned to write copy as a teenager by writing obituaries for the Ellensburg Daily Record in Washington state. After university, she worked for the Milwaukee Health Department where she gained first-hand knowledge for her best-selling mystery series published by Fawcett Press, NY, featuring Doctor Maxine St. Clair, an ER doctor in an inner-city hospital. She worked as a press officer for the Washington state senate, then moved to Athens, Greece where she wrote grant proposals for small non-profit women’s organizations in Mediterranean countries. She also wrote a humor column for the Athens News newspaper with field archaeologist Adrian Vrettos, wrote two English language easy readers for Cambridge University Press, UK, and a series of hiking articles for greecetravel.com. She researched her Byzantine-era Empress Irini Series through extensive travel in Greece, followed by six months of research at the Bodleian libraries in Oxford, England. She enjoys hiking in Greece, England, Wales, and Scotland.

Instagram: @janetmcgiffinauthor 

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Battle for Rome (Twilight of Empire III) - Ian Ross

The Roman Empire is on the brink of civil war. Only Maxentius, tyrant of Rome, stands between the emperor Constantine and supreme power in the west.

Aurelius Castus, promoted from the ranks for valour and loyalty, is now a tribune in Constantine's army. But great honour brings new challenges: Castus is tormented by suspicions that his aristocratic wife, the mother of his child, has been unfaithful. And as Constantine becomes increasingly devoted to Christianity, Castus is forced to ask himself whether he is backing the wrong man.

All know that the coming war will decide the fate of empire. But Castus's own battle will carry him much further - into the shadowy realms of treachery at the heart of Rome itself.

The third book in the brilliant Twilight of Empire.

What did I think?

I've always enjoyed historical fiction and as a lover of Roman history, it's quite surprising that I've never read any Roman historical fiction.  I don't usually like to start reading mid-way through a series but I enjoyed this book so much that I don't think it was a necessity to read books 1 and 2 first.  I'm sure it would enhance the story by reading them in order, but Battle for Rome was immensely enjoyable as a standalone novel.

Castus is a very strong character - he commands the page as he does his army.  Although the book has a lot of fighting in it, and it's no surprise given the title of Battle for Rome, there is the human element of Castus and Sabina's marriage.  As Castus has been fighting across the Roman Empire, it has clearly left a strain on his marriage.  Has Sabina started to look elsewhere for comfort or has Castus' absence left her weak to corruption?

The only time I felt that I was missing something by not having read the earlier books was when Nigrinus was introduced.  I felt that there was some history between Castus and Nigrinus as they clearly detest each other, but there is so much treachery and backstabbing that nobody can be trusted.  I really enjoyed part 3 of the book when Castus is forced to work with Nigrinus and goes on a mission to Rome.  There were plenty of shocks and surprises in store to keep my heart racing.

Ian Ross has written a masterpiece that effortlessly transports the reader from the comfort of their home in 2015 to the Roman Empire in 312AD.  Every clash of sword and shield resounds from each page and, through Ian's descriptive writing, I could almost smell the blood and sweat of the Roman army.  This book has everything you would expect from a Roman epic - there is the opulence and splendour of Rome, power and riches of senators, madness of emperors and the brutality of battle.  I absolutely raced through it and definitely want to read the two earlier books in the series.

Special thanks go to Suzanne from Head of Zeus for sending me a treasured signed copy in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

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