Kerry Adrienne

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


… (más)

A story for everyone

This charity anthology has a story for everyone; whether you like shifters, same-sex, mature or historical, you will find something to enjoy. Two dozen stories, and almost as many variations of second chances. This was a bit of a rush job and it shows in the need for editing, some tales more than others. My favourite stories include Aria Bliss' Renewing Hearts, part of her Watercress Falls series, and CK O'Connor's Once Burned, Twice Loved, appealing for Bake Off fans. I should also mention Lia Davis, Linzi Baxter, and RC Wynne, and for me, these five stories more than justified the cost.… (más)