Beautiful One

by Kerry Adrienne

In Athens, the Great Dionysia festival rouses citizens with wine, song, theater, and debauchery. Politics and scandal paint deep shadows across the portrait of the city, and wolves in sheep’s clothing roam the streets and the stage.

Shy Kallistos faces Sophocles in the theater competition, play for play against the celebrated master. Success beckons like a siren’s song, but the dark allure and smoldering desire for a new acquaintance rouse feelings Kallistos never imagined he’d feel.

Alexios spent many cold nights singing to the sheep and stars before traveling to Athens to help Sophocles. He longs to feel the breath of audience applause on his face and will do anything to become a famous actor. Now, losing his heart to the competition forces him to make difficult choices that may jeopardize his lifelong dreams.

Of Minotaur masks and men…where is life truly lived? On the stage or in the heart?

This book was first published in 2013. It has been significantly revised to release here.

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, M M Romance, LGBT, Fiction, Queer

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 2013

About the author

USA Today bestselling author, repped by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency. Believer in human rights. Love my kids, my cats, and music.

Reviews

[nemo ☠️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun craic, but insubstantial and unremarkable.

[Irene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kind of cute but very shallow.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with historical Romances...

...is that the author has to get not just historical details right, but also historical attitudes. This is just a costume drama with modern people in chitons. I can put up with minor historical errors especially if they forward the plot (death was always OFF stage in Athenian tragedy, just to name one of the more obvious, but it works in the story).

Yet the author clearly doesn’t understand how ancient male-male relationships work: attitudes about sex, etc. I read *historicals* for that slightly alien view of the world. (And the ancient Greek view WAS alien in interesting ways that can lead us to question our modern assumptions, yo.) If I want people who think just like us, hey, there’s contemporary stuff.

Let ancient characters be properly ancient, not just in their world, but in their *worldviews*. Nailing the worldview is the “extra” that earns the victor’s crown.

[Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for pitch-perfect research in a little-known period, presented (on the whole) without too much shovelling in of facts. Though it would be interesting to know whether Adrienne's assumption that Sophocles only won the Dionysia though dirty dealings had any basis in contemporary accounts (can't remember any myself). But the assertion makes for an unusual and potentially interesting set-up.

I was far less convinced by the characters, however, who are not terribly well-developed (this is a novella), nor by the way the plot played out. Still, since this was free (Bookbubs, I think), it's worth it for a more than decent description of C5th BC Athens.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would you do to succeed? Alexios is a shepherd who dreams of being an actor. Kallistos is a rising young playwright about to go up against the famous and popular Sophocles competition. Against this background these two young meet and fall in love. I adored this story. I felt like I was amid the madness of the Great Dionysia festival. These two guys have to choose what is most important to them. I heartily recommend.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

A little slow to start, though the prose was nice. It reminded me of a play in its self with a climactic end.

[Lexee Toste · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay read for me. The story was interesting. It is set in ancient Greece during a festival and competition of plays. We have Alexios is has been tasked with sabotaging Kallistos' play. Alexios just wants an opportunity to act and that's why he takes this task from Sophocles. Kallistos wants to succeed so bad against the great master. He knows that this could be his only opportunity and wants to make the most of it. Neither expects the chemistry and draw that they have to each other. It changes everything for them. This is a bit of a slow burn. Neither is really ready to act on their chemistry or growing feelings as they don't feel that it's the right time and they both have jobs to do and trying to focus on that. There really isn't a lot of sex or sexy times in this story. It's a little explicit but it's such a small part of the book. I just had a harder time connecting to these characters this time around. That's really what caused me to give the rating that I did. The story wasn't bad, I just didn't connect to it like I usually do. It's on the shorter side so was a quick read.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a novel, but only an outline for a novel. I can say two good things about it, firstly the English is excellent (which is sadly rare), and secondly, it is short, so the agony is over fairly quickly. The narrative arc is utterly predictable, and the story is far too short to develop any of the characters at all. The historical background is interesting but there are many obvious mistakes. In brief, it's utter drivel. If the author were to develop it into a full-length novel, with greater characterisation and development of the characters, and further complexity in the plot, it might be decent. As it is, I say only read it if it's a freebie.

[Ken Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theater in Athens

A MM story set at the time of Sophocles, during the festival of Dionysus. The principal characters are spelled out quite well, the Athenian agora and environs painted with a broad stroke. Pleasant plots woven cleverly to satisfying conclusion.

As I am a gatherer of books, I collect books and ebooks from a variety of sources: Goodreads wins, BookBub, BookFunnel, Riffle, Prolific Works, emails from authors and publishers, and others. I do lose track of their sources. But, as a reader, I feel I should give an honest, unencumbered review for all I read.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a creative, well-written book. An LGBT historical romance, it features a playwright who is facing Sophocles in the theater competition during the Great Dionysia festival and a sheepherder who has come to Athens hoping to become an actor. They meet and are attracted to each other, but things are not all as they seem. The writing, the descriptions and the character fit the timeframe and brought the time period to life for me. I enjoyed this book and would read others by this author.

[Kimberley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kallistos was a play writer his dream was to preform on stage. He did not like being around people so that would be a issue. Sophocles had won for years and had no issues using others to get his win this was a great book I highly recommend it

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, short, but well thought out book that was a true joy to read.

[Penumbra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful One was chosen for my May Dusty Bookshelf read through The Challenge Factory.

This story is told in third person through the eyes of both Kallistos a playwright, and Alexios, a shepherd boy striving to be an actor.



Beautiful One is a love story between Kallistos and Alexios during the Great Dionysia, or City Dionysia, festival in Athens. It plays out over approximately four days, so the story is not long, but it packs a lot into a very few days, and is to me, an appropriate length for the story.

Kallistos is a shy, but very talented playwright. He comforts himself with the writing of his plays never believing that he will find someone to love him, or for him to love. Because of certain mechanizations by Sophocles, his playwright rival, Kallistos meets Alexios. Spending time together, Kallistos falls in love with Alexios and has reason to hope that they can have a future together, until he finds out Alexios’s secret.

Alexios is an ambitious shepherd boy who desires to become an actor. He makes a deal with Sophocles to sabotage Kallistos’s plays in order to become and actor in Sophocles’s plays, only he doesn’t take into account what a kind and gentle person Kallistos is. Soon, Alexios finds himself falling in love with him. Now, he needs to confess to Kallistos what he was hired to do.

I liked how the author slowly built the tension of the two falling in love, Kallistos’s hesitancy to open himself up to Alexios and how he blossomed when he finally did. Some may find the story slow-paced, but I found it appropriate for this story and what event was taking place. I also loved how the author played out the discovery of what Alexios did to Kallistos and what happened when Alexios confronted Kallistos.

The one other thing I loved was the small symbolism of Aphrodite’s white dove of love that showed up very early in the story. It would periodically show up at appropriate times to Alexios and Kallistos. Alexios didn’t believe in the gods and he got Kallistos to question the things he was taught, so the fact that despite their beliefs, the white dove still showed up, was very interesting.
Even though this was a fast, short read, I think the length suited the story. It was easy to read without stilted historical grammar, there were few errors and I enjoyed the MC’s. I give this story 5 Stars

[Vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in ancient Greece, Beautiful One is the story of two men who just want to be successful. But when they meet, their chemistry is off the charts and it changes everything. Will they focus on their future together or on their jobs?

[Sandra]

Part of the 2013 Holiday Party in the Erotic Enchants Group!