A Spartan Love by Kayla Jameth Book Blast, Review & Giveaway!

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Hey guys, we have Kayla Jameth stopping by with a book blast for her newest release A Spartan Love, so check out the book, read Gig’s review and then click that Rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~

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A Spartan Love

by

Kayla Jameth

Alone, Andreas toils on a remote farmstead for a Spartan overlord. When a kryptes enters his world, Andreas fears for his life. The dread warriors stalk and kill helots—like Andreas’ father—as part of their training.

Andreas sees only one way to save himself: he must tame the fearsome warrior.

But what began as self-preservation develops into attraction. Yearning for the company of someone other than his ferret Ictis, Andreas decides to trust the Spartan warrior and risk the fate that claimed his father.

Born to rule by the sword, Theron sees the world as his and acts accordingly, taking everything Andreas offers and reaching for more. However, love between men in Sparta is considered shameful and requires either exile or suicide to redeem Sparta’s honor. Now, only the gods can save them from the terrible price Sparta extracts from men who desire other men.

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About Kayla

Kayla Jameth grew up on the family farm in Ohio, baling hay, raising cattle, and making maple syrup. An unrepentant tomboy, her father taught her to weld before she graduated from high school.

She attended Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University and later, Texas A&M University in her pursuit of veterinary medicine, taking her farther away from her rural roots. You can transplant the county girl, but you can’t make her a city slicker. Besides, it was only going to be for a little while, right?

But it wasn’t all hard work for Kayla, her sojourn as the princess of the Celestial Kingdom left her with the title sir and a costume closet the envy of many knights, lords, and ladies. See? She does have some ladylike qualities complete with the title of Lady to back it up.

After declaring for years that she was just a veterinarian who wrote not an author, Kayla now finds herself living in Spring, Texas (practically Houston) and writing m/m erotic romance. The location is probably a bigger surprise than the genre. Never the kind of girl to discuss makeup and clothing designers, she would rather be outside getting dirty with the boys.

Kayla shares her home with a cat, two guinea pigs, a gerbil, three guppies, a husband and a son and daughter.

Author Contact:
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Giveaway!

Win a short story from Kayla Jameth
(Just click the link below)

Kayla Jameth Rafflecopter giveaway!

(Ends 15th December 2014)

Review

Kaylar Jameth - A Spartan Love 300x450Title: A Spartan Love

Series:  The Epics of Apollo’s Men Book  01

Author: Kayla Jameth

Genre: Historical, Ancient Greece 

Length: Novel (236 Pages)

ISBN: 978-1-63216-267-0 

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (8th December 2014)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Gigi

BlurbSpartan Love: Book One – The Epics of Apollo’s Men 

Alone, Andreas toils on a remote farmstead for a Spartan overlord. When a kryptes enters his world, Andreas fears for his life. The dread warriors stalk and kill helots—like Andreas’ father—as part of their training. 

Andreas sees only one way to save himself: he must tame the fearsome warrior. 
But what began as self-preservation develops into attraction. Yearning for the company of someone other than his ferret Ictis, Andreas decides to trust the Spartan warrior and risk the fate that claimed his father.

Born to rule by the sword, Theron sees the world as his and acts accordingly, taking everything Andreas offers and reaching for more. However, love between men in Sparta is considered shameful and requires either exile or suicide to redeem Sparta’s honor. Now, only the gods can save them from the terrible price Sparta extracts from men who desire other men.

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5629

Review: This thoroughly researched historical love affair is set in ancient Sparta, and focuses on the separation of the classes, the development of a Spartiate form boyhood, through training and then advancement. It helps that I had many classes in mythology and thus familiar with Greek and Roman pantheons, without it I may have been lost. The author does provide a lengthy list of characters, words, definitions, and mythos in the book to help the reader understand the setting.

Andreas is a helot, he belongs to the tract of land that a Spartan owns. His life goal is to work the land and produce enough food to support his Spartan and hopefully feed himself. It’s a solitary life because his father was killed by a Kyptes and his mother died of illness.

Leaving him to care for his flock and farm the parcel of land alone. Andreas isn’t exactly a slave, more like a part and parcel of the land. The Spartan who owns his land, get’s Andreas to work it in the bargain, but can dismiss him if Andreas finds someone else suitable to work it for him. So it’s a step up from a slave, but way below the rank of Spartiate, or Spartan citizen. 

Spartan warriors are raise from the age of 7 to survive on their own, to depend on each other for survival as a band of shield-brothers. These shield-brothers, while expected a certain amount of closeness and loyalty, are forbidden to become sexually involved as lovers. If found to be the case they are expected to kill themselves or be exiled. Once they do well in the Agoge, which is like a really rough elementary school, they may be selected to go on to the prestigious Krytes, soldiers who live off the land, steal for the things they need, and righteously kill any helots who may pose a threat or uprising, or any helot up after dark, or just any helot that stands out from the crowd. This killing is a way for the Spartans to keep the lowly natives in check, and train their young lethal killers in the art of stealth and ruthlessness. It is by the hand of one of these Kryptes that Andreas’ father is killed.

So you can see the many ethical, and moral dilemmas that arise when Andreas find himself attracted to and in love with a Kryptes who is stealing from him. He could be killed, his neighbors could shun him, not to mention his father was killed by one. On top of all that, even if this Kryptes, Theron, does want more from him, if they are discovered as lovers, the Spartans will destroy Andreas and possibly Theron too. 

And so the drama builds. It’s a slow rolling build-up, feeding the stray thief, fighting emotional and sexual feelings, giving in to those passions, denying once more, hiding, and desperately trying to keep what they have in the face of certain death.

The sexual buildup is slow, but honest. The fear of discovery nail biting. And the sadness and desperation that comes from the division of the classes stifling. Throw into all this strife, the interesting aspects of how both classes worship their gods and it’s both education and entertaining. Each god is tied to a force of nature or an aspect of human life, love, health, hearth, home, healing, the weather, protection, you name a purpose and there’s a god to pray to for help with that issue. The author sprinkles these things in flawlessly throughout the story. The plot got a little bit confusing at first when the gods are actually part of the action, not just a deity Andreas or Theron is praying to for divine intervention. But it’s there and it works. 

A Spartan Love is just one installment in an epic, so be prepared for a cliff hanger.  This is enjoyable reading if you love history and Greek/Spartan mythologies in general. I was entertained and enlightened! 

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