I love a nice historical with hot, hard, sweaty men...*cough* back to the book.

This was my first ebook by D.J. Manly and I've got to say I'm extremely pleased. Will read house of phineas later. There's is something about Gold that was so damn erotic. I mean I found samson a little too lovesick but I grew to like him. Gold deserved someone after all those years without emotion and at the end with what happened to his family, I understood why. Lovely book! ( )

A very good story about the lives of gladiators in the Roman era. This is book one in a three book series. Gold was the champion of the house of Simeon. Though the grand champ, he was still owned and was little more than a piece of meat to be used in the arena or the bed. Gold thought himself to be incapable of love until the gladiator, Samson, wins his heart but even that happiness is taken away from the lowly slaves. This book gave a real look at the life of a gladiator/slave. The writing was top notch and the characters made to feel so real. Though brutal and some of the sex forced, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. ( )

This is an amazing book and a very promising start to the Gladiators series. Historicals very rarely pull me in as much as this one did, and it is a testament to the quality of the story that it held me captivated from the first to the last page. The descriptions of the environment, the way people lived at the time, and the society and politics were not only historically accurate (from what I remember learning in school and reading about since then), they were detailed enough to make it feel almost like a contemporary book. People are people, after all, so the politics and backstabbing are hauntingly familiar.

Gold’s life as a slave and gladiator is shown in such vivid detail that I felt as if I was right there with him. He is a very ‘hard’ man, having survived years in the arena, having seen friends being slaughtered, and not being in charge of his own life. My heart went out to him as the depth of his helplessness became clearer throughout the story. The way he looks at life makes it very clear what it must have been like to be a slave in those times, revered as a champion gladiator on the one hand, and used by your masters on the other. He is so deeply in that mindset that the only honorable way out he sees is death in the arena. And that is the one thing his master will not grant him.

Samson, on the other hand, has only recently been made a slave. He was taken prisoner by the Roman army and sold to become a gladiator. There is a lot of fight left in him, and a belief that he can somehow survive the next five years, after which he has been promised freedom. He finds it difficult to see how Gold can be so closed off from feeling anything, but cannot stop from falling in love with him. I have a feeling that it will be the source of a lot of heartache for him in the future.

This is only the first of three books, so the story is by no means finished. I cannot even imagine the trials and tribulations Gold and Samson are going to face, but am definitely curious to learn more about them. Thoroughly recommended for people who like historical novels, and everyone who has an interest in understanding how human nature works under adverse conditions.



NOTE: This book has been provided by Total-E-Bound for the purpose of a review.
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LOVED LOVED LOVED this book!! DJ Manly Did a Wonderful Job of writing Gladiators!! Cant wait to get the others and read them(will write a better review later) ( )

LOVED LOVED LOVED this book!! DJ Manly Did a Wonderful Job of writing Gladiators!! Cant wait to get the others and read them(will write a better review later) ( )