And while this is an important theme, it's not allowed to swamp the very sweet and tender love story of a cinnamon roll cook and a twisty lawyer-type finding one another. Some of this is pretty grim of its nature, but it seemed to me handled with care, especially the tangled and distorted emotions around a 'good' slave owner that arise when their victim has known nothing else. In this series starter we have two men recently freed from enslavement grappling with various issues-how to cope with their new lives, relationships with their former households, and fallout from things that were done to them. I adore the alt-ancient Mediterranean world with its cats-in-a-sack politics, sexual fluidity, very dark elements, and wonderfully realised setting. Honey & Pepper is a standalone m/m romance and also the first book in the When in Pheme series set in an imaginary ancient world.Ī new AJ Demas book is always a delight. And they’d both better hope that Kallion’s vicious former master will just stay dead. Nikias can supply both, and maybe, with the help of Nikias’s skill in the kitchen and Kallion’s excellent collection of wine, they can fight past their misunderstandings and the disasters of their pasts to something deeper.īut when civil unrest roils the city and old threats resurface, the trust these two have built will be tested. What he really needs is a skewer of octopus fritters (with extra sauce) and a friend.

When he sees his crush attacked in the street by an outraged ex-client, it seems it’s finally Nikias’s chance to be the hero.

Newly freed from enslavement, Nikias is making a life for himself in the bustling city of Pheme, working at a snack stand, drinking with a group of anti-slavery radicals, and pining for the beautiful law clerk next door.

Honey and Pepper by A.J. Demas