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
I'll get straight to the verdict. I loved MY WICKED GLADIATORS. I almost can't wrap my mind around everything that happened. So I thought the best way to review the book would be to break it down into two parts, the story and the steam.
The plot of the story was great. I used to love historical romance and have read several that took place during the days of the gladiators. The main character, Alba, is the oppressed wife of Lucius. Lucius owns a ludus, a gladiator facility. So of course, if your husband is an world-class asshat who'd rather get it on with the slaves than you AND you have hunky gladiators to lust over, what are you going to do? You're going to find the biggest badass gladiator around and tell him in no uncertain terms to service you, right? And that is exactly what our lovely Alba does. And apparently, once you go gladiator, you don't go...I can't think of a rhyme for that. But anyway, once Alba experiences a taste (heh) of Marcus, she's done for.
But...Alba's husband needs an heir to secure a business deal and he's shooting blanks. So, he does what any smart man does and forces his wife to "mate" with the ridiculously hot gladiators. What a dummy. And so, she is introduced to Caius. Now, Caius and Marcus are physically very similar. So much so that she is unable to determine which of the two she is breeding with (because he's wearing a mask). Alba who is still having illicit relations with Marcus, has no idea who will be the father of her child if she does become pregnant, but as long as it's Marcus or Caius and not her sleaze of a husband, she's cool with that.
Here's where things get kinky(er): Marcus and Caius are having "relations" with EACH OTHER. This is the norm in Rome, sexuality is very fluid. Alba's very concerned, though, because why do Marcus and Caius need her when they have each other? Never fear, fair Alba, because there is always room for one more in their life and bed and you are the secret ingredient they've been missing. Now, all the three need to do is secure their freedoms from the evil Lucius. Simple, right?
Like I said, the plot was great. It held my attention on it's own without the sex. But since I brought it up...
Holy. Freaking. Wow. This was, hands down, the hottest book I've ever read. Ever. Author Lauren Hawkeye did an awesome job of painting a smoking hot picture. Nothing is vague. I could visualize everything. I liked what I saw. <----Understatement of my life. My friend, Autumn, and I had a read-along for MY WICKED GLADIATORS. This read-along was full of rampant swearing. We took breaks to cool ourselves down, like this dude here
from reactiongifs.com
And one more, just because it's awesome and I'm all about the LOLs.
MY WICKED GLADIATORS is such a great read, it makes me wish I still smoked. And yeah, I'm going to be cliche' and say that it is a WICKED good time. I've already ordered my copy.
Favorite Quote:
"I would remember that the two filled different halves of my soul, and that when we were all together, I was complete." (eARC, 81%)
Expected Published date: June 5, 2012 by Avon Red
You can pre-order MY WICKED GLADIATORS at:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository (only $5.99!)
Source: I received this book from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.
