ALIKE AS TWO BEES

Elin Gregory

Publisher: Etopia Press (February 29, 2012)

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Horses, love, and the tang of thyme and honey…

In Classical Greece, apprentice sculptor Philon has chosen the ideal horse to model for his masterpiece. Sadly, the rider falls well short of the ideal of beauty, but scarred and tattered Hilarion, with his brilliant, imperfect smile, draws Philon in a way that mere perfection cannot.

After years of living among the free and easy tribes of the north, Hillarion has no patience with Athenian formality. He knows what he wants—and what he wants is Philon. Society, friends, and family threaten their growing relationship, but perhaps a scarred soldier and a lover of beauty are more alike than they appear.

REVIEW by Christopher Hawthorne Moss

I am fast becoming a fan of Elin Gregory’s work with its simple kindnesses and people and endearing love relationships.  The setting in this story is the home a master architect has designed for a man who lives on the shore in Ancient Greece.  Those who think they know about men’s relationships in that hallowed time will portray the Erases and Erroneous of man and boy, wealthy and prominent and obscure, but I am quite sure what is romance in Gregory’s work is every bit as valid as that “classical” form.

Sadly in this story there is a bully who puts the fly in the ointment, to mix insectoid metaphors, and comes to the house at night to destroy the work of the artists.  What happens as a result, however, is to provide an opportunity for the young sculptor and for the talented Philon a chance to spend some quality time with his new love Hillario.  The class system might have made this pairing impossible, but I just plain doubt you can keep two such lovers, alike as two bees in terms of their affection for each other, apart.  That the bully is forced to take responsibility is satisfying, but the positive of the two men’s love is the real nugget of Gregory’s tale.

Proofread by One Love Editing.