Whom Gods Have Favoured

Whom Gods Have Favoured

ABOUT Denyse Bridger

Denyse Bridger
Canadian born and bred, and a lifelong dreamer, I began writing at an early age and can’t recall a time when I wasn’t creating in some artistic form. My life has had several on-going love affairs that shape much of what I write, the American West, Victorian England, cowboys, a passion  More...

BUY ONLINE

Description

Pompeii lies complacent and decadent in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, the populace thriving on their depravity and their hunger for blood and Games. In the midst of the looming destruction, an ancient evil emerges, and claims not only a celebrated general of Rome, but the slave girl he has slowly grown to love and cherish. A girl who will follow him into hell itself?

While intrigues threaten to destroy him, and the corruption within his own family grows darker, Lucius confronts emotions he is both uncomfortable and unfamiliar with. Loyalty he does understand, and in the eyes of his prize slave and lover, Xina, he sees courage and strength to match his own. When Vesuvius begins to rain death on the city, Xina is confronted with hope for survival in the guise of evil...

Reviews:

Whom Gods Have Favored
By M. Nix on October 26, 2009
***** Five Stars

In the last days of Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius stirs while high ranking men like Lucius gorge on power and pleasure. Lucius purchases Xina, a beautiful slave girl in the market place. He is consumed by passion for her from the start. Jealousy, passion, deceit and danger surround the handsome general and the sensuous young virgin that has become his obsession.

Darkly emotional, Whom Gods Have Favored is an exciting and well-crafted tale plush with historical details that yanked me in until the curtain closed. Denysé Bridger's characters are complex, riveting in their vices and weaknesses. It's fascinating the way she explores the more sinister aspects of the human psyche. Lucius and Xina are lovers and much more in the making. In reading this wondrous story I got into the "making", their evolvement along the course of love. Ms. Bridger paints a somber and visually stunning portrait, hammering out line after line; a gifted wordsmith with a luminous imagination. If you haven't encountered this author before, this is an excellent intro to her style and first rate talent.

Patrice
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

4 Kisses: As noted, the setting of Whom Gods Have Favored is the book’s strongest selling point. The research is evident, and Bridger’s characters are comfortable in their world. Lucius is immediately a strong, sensual character and his desire leaps off the page. Xina, on the other hand, is a little less well defined. She is introduced as a strong, take no prisoners heroine but seems to undergo a personality change when she enters Lucius’s household. I wanted her to show him that spark, because he seemed like a man who finds it both maddening and desirable, but instead Xina retreats into typical slave-girl mode almost immediately. While this is probably more realistic, it was a little disappointing. The attraction between them feels genuine, however, and though the introduction of the paranormal element is only peripherally connected to the main characters until the epilogue, it provided an interesting resolution to the story.

Reviewed by Melanie Hayden
Romance Divas

4 Stars: Set during the time when Rome ruled the world, Whom Gods Have Favored gives us a glimpse of what life would have been like had we live in Pompeii before Mt. Vesuvius destroyed all. Much as I hated reading about the enslavement of women and the helplessness that ensued, it was definitely a part of life and Ms. Bridger did an excellent job of bringing that to view. I found myself loving Lucius, despite the fact that he was a male that was used to getting whatever female he wanted. I felt for Xina, in the fact that even though she was born into a brothel and subjected to naked men, she was an innocent in the true ways of the male, and she was just trying to survive life as a slave. There is a unique twist that takes the story in a whole new direction, and made for an interesting read. The story was a good love story that spanned the ages.

Stacey Landers
Just Erotic Romance Reviews