Enslaved by Virginia Henley is a time travel romance set in the time of the 1st century in Britain.  A time when the Romans are making their presence known to the people of Britain and are constructing the roads and buildings they were famous for.

Lady Diana Davenport does not like the time she is living in.  The rigid constraints of 18th century London are so different from the times she enjoys reading about.  Her dreams revolve around medieval knights, Elizabethan pirates and the Cavaliers of the Restoration…

...men completely unlike the fops who try to court her.

The only man who has even sparked her interest is Mark Hardwick, the Earl of Bath.  But it is his brother Peter who shows the most interest in her.

Diana travels with Peter to the town of Bath and it is there that her adventure begins.  When trying on an antique Roman helmet she is shocked to find that herself thrust back in time and into the path of oncoming chariots racing through the city.

Taken prisoner as a slave she finds herself face to face with Marcus Magnus, who resembles the Earl of Bath in more ways than one.

It does not take long for Marcus to decide just how his beautiful slave should serve him.  He has had many slaves in his life, but none like the wilfull Diana who claims to be untouched by men and demands that he keeps his distance.

Unable to resist her they strike a bargain whereby Diana will pretend to be his slave when in the company of others and he will agree to court her before taking her to his bed.

Soon Marcus and Diana are embroiled in a battle of the sexes that can only have one outcome…

Once her relationship with Marcus is on a more equal footing, Diana finds that her journeys do not end with her travels through time as she and Marcus travel across the continent to ancient Rome.  A city where danger lurks and Diana and Marcus must risk losing each other forever as powers beyond either of their controls strive to tear them apart for all eternity.

Set mainly in ancient times a larger portion of this story is also in the 18th century than is usual in time travel romances.  It is this that saves this story.

I found this story to be rather slow paced until Diana’s travels back in time but found myself wishing to continue reading the story that was unfolding in the 18th century rather than cut it off with her travels back in time.

When in ancient times I felt that the sex in this story seemed to take over at times.  Usually these scenes add to a novel, but in this case I felt they were taking away something from the story.

The story improved from the point where Diana and Marcus traveled to Rome and during all the scenes set in the 18th century.  In the modern times I felt the suspense and mystery complimented the relationship between Diana and Mark – there was nothing like this with Diana and Marcus.

Kell and Nola were an interesting addition to the story but there was just not enough of a story in the ancient times.

Enslaved is an interesting idea that I felt began and ended strongly but faltered in the middle.
 

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