“The Ballot Boy Trilogy is a work of art infused with life’s blood. Mellman’s vivid depiction of the social elites’ intrigues and ruthless ambitions nearly destroying the maritime Republic of Venice in the 14th century, combined with the saving grace of courageous and enduring love, are the stuff of great historical fiction. Brothers of the Sea’s timeless relevance is spiritual”
–Vincent Virga, author of The Gaywyck Quartet and A Comfortable Corner
“Mellman does a commendable job of showing the main romantic pair’s emotional roadblocks, as well as their bliss, and he succeeds in presenting a refreshing historical drama with an offbeat premise.”
–Kirkus Reviews
The Ballot Boy continues.
Running a gauntlet of raging seas and enemy warships, Nico and Admiral Vettor Pisani race to Constantinople to rescue Venice from Byzantine treachery.
A triple alliance of powerful princes plans to besiege Venice by sea and land and seize the reins of St. Mark’s legendary four horses. With Nico as his right hand, Pisani leads a war fleet to secure the island of Tenedos in the Aegean, fulcrum of the impending war. Amid the mortal dangers of the journey, Nico and Pisani wrestle with their overpowering physical and psychic attraction, knowing that the choices they make will change their lives irrevocably.
Nico first met Pisani and fell under his spell at the age of fourteen. In the decade since, despite great loves and failed loves, Nico never lost his starry-eyed admiration for Venice’s greatest admiral. Pisani, thirty years older and wiser, hesitates to risk everything for a young man’s love until Nico throws open new doors, and their age difference evaporates in the heat of battle.
The enemy triple alliance—Padua, Genoa, and Hungary—outnumbers Venice five to one. Mounted armies blockade the mainland shores and rivers while the enemy fleet breaches the lagoon. Venice can only win on water with Pisani leading her. When he is forced to fight a battle he knows he cannot win, Pisani’s disastrous defeat lands him in prison. Locked behind bars while Venice hovers on the brink of annihilation, Nico and Pisani sketch a bold plan to save the Republic.