Review: Fabulous!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 4, 2012
What a fabulous story. This has none of the darkness or descriptive brutality I was expecting, but instead is a wonderful story of love and finding happiness. Caelius is just an all round good guy. He inherits the villa and its gladiator slaves, which have been equally neglected and lacking care. He sets his sights on making it thrive again, and sparks ignite when he encounters Gaidres, the slave who seems to have the most fight in him.Caelius wants Gaidres, wants Gaidres to went to be with him, not as a slave but by his own choice. His unconventional preferences of having a slave be the top has Gaidres unconfortable and confused. The two fall into a steamy sexual relationship that Caelius wants to grow into more, but Gaidres' heart belongs to his dead lover, and his thirst and longing for revenge against the Romans who caused that death and enslaved him seem to overrule any chances of that happening.I loved that Caelius remained a strong character throughout, even though he had a soft spot where Gaidres was concerned."Do not mistake gentleness for weakness, or confuse mercy with the inability to take care of my own."While Gaidres was a bit frustrating at times, it was difficult to not feel for him. When he and Caelius are together, the scenes are scorching.I'm not usually one for historicals, but I found this one fascinating. It felt as though I was watching an episode of HBO's Rome, and I could not get enough. It was well written, and easy to follow. I just about read this in one sitting, and was longing for more at the end. I will definitely be looking for more from these authors