A review by mtstellens
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper

3.0

First book in the Wolf Den Trilogy. Amara was sold as a slave to Felix who is the owner of the Wolf Den and the Pimp for Amara, Victoria, Dido and Cressa. We follow them as Amara tries to seduce a free man to gain her freedom as well. Amara and Dido begin to be trained as musicians, when Amara is discovered and asked to come spend a week with Pliney, an older Admiral that is interested in science and medicine. Amara was the daughter of a doctor who taught her about herbs and how to read. At the end of the week, Amara begs to stay with Pliny. He denies her, but sets her up with a younger relative. Amara begins to date him, keeping her crush on a fellow slave a secret. Her patron eventually starts to pay for a room for her a couple days a week. As Amara and Victoria are walking home one night, a man attacks and tries to kill them as revenge for something Felix did. Victoria is able to kill him and Save Amara, making her indebted. Amara has to reject her crush in front of her patron in order to not anger him. The patron ends up freeing Amara while Pliny gives her his last name. Right after this, Dido is killed in another attempt to get back at Felix.
I am looking forward to the rest of the series. We know that it takes place in Pompeii, just before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius making it feel like an ax waiting to come down. I also loved the detail included in this book, the social strata, the festivals and books. I think that it is interesting that all of the Roman or Greek Historical fiction use dialogue that is like British slang, but that could also be due to the narrator.