Roman Holiday

The Chronicles of St. Mary's

By: Jodi Taylor

Narrated by: Zara Ramm

Length: 1 hr and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Another rollicking short story from the Chronicles of St Mary’s author Jodi Taylor.

Question: What sort of idiot installs his mistress in his wife’s house? Especially when that mistress is Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, queen of Egypt and the most notorious woman of her time? Answer: Julius Caesar - poised to become king of Rome. Or as good as.

Question: At this potentially sensitive point in your political manoeuvrings, who are the last people you’d want crashing through the door, observing, recording, documenting...? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Roman Holiday - an epic, standalone tale set in Ancient Rome, 44 BC, featuring, in no particular order: an attempted murder; stampeding bullocks; Cleopatra, queen of the Nile; a bowl of poisonous snakes; a smallish riot; Julius Caesar; and Mr Markham’s wayward bosoms.

Jodi Taylor is and always has been a history nut. Her disinclination to get out of bed for anything after 1485 can only be overcome by massive amounts of chocolate and sometimes, if it's raining, not even then. She wanted to write a book about time travel that was a little different and, not having a clue how difficult this would make her book to classify, went ahead and slung in elements of history, adventure, comedy, romance, tragedy, and anything else she could think of. Her advice to booksellers is to buy huge numbers of her books and just put one on every shelf.

©2014 Jodi Taylor (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

LOL Alert!

Read or listen to this one in private as you’ll be laughing out loud.
I know this short story is listed after A Second Chance in the series, but I think it should be read before.
The characters, the camaraderie, all have a level of familiarity that does not fit after.
And OMG! Mr Markham’s bosoms! The stampede! The arrival back!
Even if it’s out of the series timeline, I really appreciate the levity after the previous emotional wringer.
I’m surprised the narrator was able to read this as dead pan as she did - I would have been laughing all the way through!

Quick trip to Rome without any trouble, Right

Very short story about the escapades of St. Mary that includes Rome, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, an asp and Malcolm and of course trouble. It will make an hour commute fun.

OMG Good! History and smart humor lovers delight❤

i found a new favorite narrator in this delightful.fantasy about history libertarians visiting other times, as well.as this delightful.30+ series. The only downside is that it is like crack, and only this short story is free. This series is 99% Audible with virtually NO Libby, HoopLa or ScribD access. But the story and performance was great.

Well written & well read

𝘈𝘯𝘺 St. Mary’s Priory story by Jodi Taylor is going to be delightful. I’d originally read Rᴏᴍᴀɴ Hᴏʟɪᴅᴀʏ some years ago and enjoyed it, but didn’t remember it all that well.

Despite having Audible on my phone for years, this was actually the first time I’ve actually used it (I’m an inveterate reader, but not particularly techie, so it actually took me a few years to shift from only reading paper-&-ink books to investing in a Kindle, and then to installing Kindle on my iPhone…).

To my great enjoyment, Zara Ramm’s reading brought the short story to life in ways quite different from reading it myself— not necessarily better, but I found myself focusing on different points, different details than I might have otherwise.

Ramm’s reading is excellent, and she portrays Max marvelously well— hers is somehow the voice I’d “heard” for Dr. Maxwell in my head.

Highly recommended.

Hysterically funny

Just listened for the second, but not the last, time. Laughed so hard I cried, dog thinks I've lost it and cats are just staring, disgusted at being startled awake. Great piece of work!

This was hysterically funny!

I absolutely love these short stories. Jodi Taylor's writing is the best thing I've ever heard. As for Zara Ramm's reading, it was perfect. Thank you Jodi.

Hilarious

As always, anything from the St Mary’s Chronicles makes me laugh long and loud.
Zara Ramm’s narration is brilliant and just tops the whole thing over into outstanding.

Funny Short

As usual, the narrator is absolutely perfect for this series. The story is light, short and funny.

Roman holiday

I like these short stories. I am looking forward to the other books in this series.

A pleasant little diversion

A cute short story in the world of the St. Mary’s time travelers. While not the best book in the series, and somewhat less plausible that some of the others, even given the unlikely antics of the St. Mary’s crew, it is a pleasant little diversion nevertheless.

Another piece of the St Marys puzzle

Another great short tale with our favorites from St Marys. These short stoties are always worth a listen and fit well into the main series.

Short and sweet

A total romp!

I love how there's sneaky references to other texts.

read these in order, this one's 3.5

Great fun

I really enjoy the Chronicles of St Mary's and this short story was a delightful bonus. Zara Ramm is the perfect reader too.

Favourite short story of the series

What made the experience of listening to Roman Holiday the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed reading this and all the other shorts available which add even more depth to the St Mary's series.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Max is always my favourite for her witty remarks and funny one-liners.

A delightful taster of life at St Mary's

As usual a historic trip into the past does not go as planned. Funny and wonderfully narrated. Definitely worth a listen.

A murderous plot

As always, the narration is excellent. When I read the novels I hear them in this exact voice in the back of my mind, too.
Who would have guessed St Mary's would outwit even the great Roman army? In typical chaos, of course...

Fun little dip in

Great little short story from this series. Very funny and well read.

On to the next one!

Roman holiday

Brilliantly funny and a great way at looking at history. Wouldn't it be great if you could go back in time for a holiday?

Amusing farce

Enjoyed this short story, a funny farcical tale beautifully read. A good use of an hours commute.

Sorry....boring...

Maybe just my taste but I didn't get very far into it before I stopped listening.