4.5 stars for this intriguing M/M fantasy romance. 
 Theos is a Sacrati, the fiercest of warriors in the Torian army. Torian society is communal--the men fight and conquer new lands, and protect the women and children who live within sheltered cities in a collection of valleys in this world. Men and women do not marry in Torian society, they meet rarely for procreation, but otherwise are separate. The prized warriors, like Theos, have many invitations to copulate with women, to produce offspring, but most of the time, the men are game to take care of their sexual needs with their comrades (as do the women!). 
 As a sacrati, Theos is above a lot of the menial army business. His warlord, however, has been acting mighty shady. Under Theos' command, a band of Elkati men are captured well within the Torian borde. It is clear they were attempting to return to neighboring Elkat valley, but Theos knows the value of a good captive--his men will all get a cut for selling them as slaves. And, Theos has the right, as commander, to choose a slave of his own from the captured. Not that he plans to, however. Keeping a slave is expensive and he would do better to claim the slave's selling price for himself. 
 Only, it doesn't go that way. The leader of the Elkati, a fair man called Finnvid, is a healer and a scholar. Theos is especially wary of the strange way his warlord watches Finnvid, and desires him. His suspicions are further augmented when the warlord is enraged by Theos' decision to keep Finnvid, rather than let him be transported through a mountain pass for sale at the onset of winter. Finnvid is not like the men Theos knows. He is verbally opposed to the idea of men having sex with each other--in Elkat such a thing is despised. Moreover, Elkati have monogamous marriages, and this seemingly random copulation within Torian society is as foreign to him as Chinese is to me. It turn out that Theos has 46 children, with more than a dozen women in the city--and more on the way. Finnvid = Mind Blown. 
 Still, Finnvid is a secret keeper of the highest order, and the most significant is his BROTHER is the Elkati King. Returning him to Elkat is imperative, but there are so many secrets and lies, that the politics is nearly as dangerous as the winter mountain passage. 
 There are double crosses, and double standards and murder most foul. Throughout, Finnvid must come to terms with the most hated part of himself--the part that desires men sexually, and Theos in particular. I was fully engaged in this fantastic world. I felt like I was taking icy steps through the snowy mountains, or sweating in the ice huts and soaping up in the bath house. All the secondary characters are beautifully detailed, having real experiences that impact the story. The political machinations were fascinating, and I really found myself drawn into the story--hoping that Finnvid and Theos would find themselves alive, and together, when the final page came. 
 While this is not a traditional romance, and not even a traditional 'slave' romance, there is a constant expectation that Finnvid and Theos will work things out between them. In the meantime, I was rather relieved with how decent Theos was--he had no dearth of sex partners, and he never forced Finnvid to become one of them. They spend a significant amount of time together, and the rapport that develops is quite natural feeling, as are the experiences of regret and loss when they are separated. Still, I had to laugh at how stubborn they both were. 
 The book ended in such a way that I don't anticipate a sequel, but man! I'd like to see how all change in Torian society shakes out... 
 I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.