"Forced to lay with masked gladiators chosen by Lucius, Alba is surprised to discover pleasure in being powerless. Only in the forbidden arms of Caius and Marcus does she find comfort, however temporary it may be."
Pages: 352 pages
Publisher: Red Avon Publishing on May 2012
Form: E-book (from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Historical Erotic Romance (+18 Only)
Amazon: Buy / $6.98 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $3.99 (Nook)
"Alba has spent her entire life pleasing others. As an upper-class plebeian woman in Ancient Rome, that is her place in life. But when her husband Lucius, the owner of a prestigious gladiatorial school, uses her body as a bargaining tool to increase his fortunes, she is faced with doing as he demands, or finding herself on the street.
Forced to lay with masked gladiators chosen by Lucius, Alba is surprised to discover pleasure in being powerless. Only in the forbidden arms of Caius and Marcus does she find comfort, however temporary it may be. But with Lucius’ demands looming and the threat of death for her gladiators ever-present, will Alba’s fleeting pleasures be enough? Or will Alba finally grab hold of her happily ever after, no matter the consequences?" ~From Goodreads
Welcome to ancient Rome where wealthy have slaves and the height of entertainment is gladiators battling to a bloody death on the arena. Lauren Hawkeye brings a young wife of a Ludus keeper to the page, with her attraction to one her husband’s gladiators triggers a sequence of events that transform her from a shy and obedient wife to something completely different. And it’s story worth reader.
As erotic romance this comes close to the real Roman times with the casual attitude to sexy, orgies and slaves, and less strict rules about homosexuality. With all the hot sex sprinkled all over the book one still cannot ignore the romance, which is rule breaking and bordering illegal in the Roman era. The fact that this is a threeway romance is less shocking than the fact that a free woman is falling for two slaves. I loved My Wicked Gladiators, as a fan of history I was all for this and as erotic romance it made it plenty hot glimpse into Roman times.
I enjoyed both Marcus and Caius’s characters, very stern and strict and obedient (well at least on the surface) but I loved how they transformed when they were alone with Alba. They suddenly became passionate, caring and cherished her very different from her husband. Who started out okay and kept getting worse and worse as the story unfolded and his true colors showed. Ended up dispicing him, probably not alone in that.
If you love history with an erotic romance story, then look this up! Fans of Rome will love this!
Rating :
What is it about the word “gladiator” that grabs a woman’s attention? Somebody asked me this question a couple of weeks ago after seeing the cover of my book. I didn’t have a ready answer, but, really, there is something about the whole concept that is deliciously sexy. So I headed on over to dictionary.com for a definition. This is what I found.
glad•i•a•tor
ˈglædiˌeɪtərShow Spelled[glad-ee-ey-ter] Show IPA
noun
1. (in ancient Rome) a person, often a slave or captive, who was armed with a sword or other weapon and compelled to fight to the death in a public arena against another person or a wild animal, for the entertainment of the spectators.
2. a person who supports and fights publicly for a cause.
This helped narrow down the feeling a bit for me. A gladiator is someone thrown into a horrific situation and responds with courage and guts ( I’m sure they weren’t all like that, but I’m allowed a bit of artistic license, right? ) And in modern terms, it’s someone who goes to the mat for something that they believe in… which is, for me at least, pretty darned sexy.
What about everyone else? What do you find sexy about a gladiator?
