It is always a struggle for me to come up with a historical selection for the Series Saturday post. Let’s be honest – historical is just not my genre. That is not to say that I don’t have a historical book or two amongst my vast selection of ‘keepers’ on my bookshelves, but it is difficult to find a historical romance that manages to be interesting and intriguing – and yet not staid and boring. On my search to find such a series, I stumbled on this one – Affairs of the Arena by Lydia Pax. Hmmm…gladiators? Really? What can I say – this one I am going to have to try! Along – I hope – with moat of you! I can’t speak for how accurate these books might be, but its something new for the genre anyway!
Book #1 – Heart of the Gladiator
His love was rough, but it could not be tamed… or denied.
Aeliana hates gladiators. They’re crude, violent, arrogant, and will toss the skirts up of any available woman after a fight. It may be her job to treat their injuries, but she has no interest in being just another conquest.
So, when the former gladiator champion Caius arrives in her life, she is stricken by how immediately she falls for him. He’s a merciless killer in the arena, not at all her type. But he’s also damnably handsome, built like a god, and turns Aeliana on like nothing she’s felt before.
Being with a gladiator is always a bad idea. Even if they’re known the Empire over for the intensity of their bedchamber passions, they have a lifespan about as long as a sword. Aeliana’s convinced that there’s no way that someone who could have any woman in Rome would want to stay with her for long. But his affection, while rough, seems completely genuine. Caius’s return to the arena is shrouded in mystery, but the more Aeliana discovers, the more she falls in love. When his lifetime of violence catches up with them both, Aeliana must decide whether she can afford to bare her heart to a man so effortlessly dangerous. As it becomes obvious that their love shouldn’t be, Caius and Aeliana fight the odds like warriors in the arena.
Aeliana’s strength will be tested again and again, along with their love. But it is her strength that will win the heart of a gladiator.
Book #2 – Love of the Gladiator
She has to trust him to love him…but not to want him….Gwenn’s life has been marked by fury and rebellion, and she has the scars to prove it. As a slave, each new owner she’s had has only made her fight more. But when she is bought by a gladiator training school, she finally finds something to fight for—glory in the arena, where everyday people are made immortal.
The gladiators at the school think her presence there is a joke. That includes her trainer, Lucius. This cocky arena veteran has a body molded from marble, and his arrogant persona lights her mind on fire. Every glance from him sends wet heat through her body. Their chemistry is instant, and soon both ache to join each other in a battle that would tear down any bedroom.
But Lucius’s past places a series of obstacles in their way. None are more terrible than the bloody secret he holds that would destroy any hope he has for Gwenn’s affection.
As desperate as she is to be close to him, he only pushes her further away. And when the truth is spilled in a thrilling, violent climax, Gwenn must decide between her unstoppable attraction or her desire for victory.
Gwenn was born a warrior. But it’s only in the arena that she will know if she wants the love of a gladiator.
Book #3 – Desire of the Gladiator
She may be above his class, but she’s not above wanting him….Leda is better than the lowly place she finds herself in. Born a princess and now trapped as a slave serving gladiators, she fights every day just to keep her head above water. Her petitions for freedom and a return to her home country are tireless—but as a princess, she has to remain pure, and her body untainted, if she is to return at all
The last thing she should do is fall for a gladiator. But that’s exactly what happens when arena warrior Conall saves her life from a would-be assassin. Conall is wrong for Leda in every way. He’s wild. He’s reckless. He’s utterly beneath her station.
He’s also got a hard, ripped body forged by dozens of battles, a stare that makes her melt, and a love so fierce that it digs deep into the fibers of her soul. Their heat is undeniable, but Conall is dead-set on pursuing one too-dangerous fight after another. His passion will get him killed—but it’s also what draws Leda to him with her breaths hot and her undergarments totally soaked.
When they join together, they risk everything.
But if there’s one thing worth dying for, it’s the desire of a gladiator.
