City of Jade by L.J. LaBarthe

CityOfJadeLGTitle: City of Jade

Series: Previously published short story City of Gold, 2011 Dreamspinner Press
  
Author: L.J. LaBarthe
 
Genre: Historical Romance, 1311 Silk Road

Length: Novel (350 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Heat Level:  Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts

Blurb: 1131, The Silk Road . Gallienus of Constantinople, a scarred soldier who used to work the city gates, enters a new phase of his life when he meets and falls in love with Misahuen of Gyeongju. But prejudice of same-sex relationships dominates Byzantine society, and both the Emperor and the Church denounce such love. Should Misahuen and Gallienus be discovered, the punishment is castration or death. Fearing he’ll lose Misahuen, Gallienus decides to go with Misahuen when he leaves the city forever.
A former farmer, Misahuen fled war-torn Korea and journeyed to Constantinople with a merchant caravan. He didn’t expect to take such an interest in a wounded soldier at journey’s end. But he understands the danger, so he and Gallienus join another caravan as guardsmen and begin a two-thousand-mile trip along the Silk Road. Now all they have to do is persevere to their final destination without the truth of their relationship being discovered and being killed because of it… or by the other dangers along the Road.

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3911

Reviewer:   GiGi

Review: A lengthy love story about a refugee of war-torn Gyeongju (Korea) Misahauen; and wounded soldier Gillienus of Istanbul (Constantinople). As the two men meet and fall in love in a city that is not accepted of gay lovers, they decide not to risk death or dismemberment by the Empire if their forbidden love is discovered, instead joining a caravan traveling with a wealthy merchant and his family in 1131, along the Silk Roads to China. Misahauen and Gillienus hope make a home for themselves in a more understanding land among an accepting culture. The story seemed slow going and repetitive at first but then I quickly drew a parallel to what life must have been like traveling for an entire year by caravan. Moving at a slow pace, making camp, selling wares and packing camp on a nearly daily basis. That life must have been very repetitive and the time seemingly long while on the road. So I developed more patience and explored along with Misahuan and Gillienus as they traveled these trading routes to the east, city by city, discovering differences in food, craft, religion and other cultural practices along the way. This story is a historical novel set during the Byzantine Empire along the trade routes between Constantinople, the City of Gold and Shoaxing , the City of Jade, China; cutting through the holy lands along the way. If you are a history buff or art history buff and have a curiosity about the middle and far eastern cultures, you will enjoy this story. The journey is long, full of obstacles, but I felt I’d bonded with the main characters along the way and was sure cheering for their much-deserved HEA by the end.