Picking up this book, initially, was like a breath of fresh air. Rome, 65 B.C., is certainly a world away from the Norman Conquest/Regency/Victorian/Old West romances I've been reading for the past year. And the Roman Empire is not an era frequently used (if at all) by historical romance writers. So, I had high hopes for a story that would match the unusual setting.
Well...at least let me say that the story is an intriguing one. Valens, the gladiator of the title, is actually Gaius Gracchus, the son of a Roman senator. Thanks to a plot engineered by his adopted brother, Lucius, Valens was kidnapped by a pirate and sold into slavery, eventually becoming a famous gladiator. The kidnap plot left Valens thinking that his father ignored a ransom demand, and left his father thinking that his son and heir had been killed.
Also in this mix is Julia Antonia, Lucius' ex-wife, who has been beaten and terrorized by him to the point of finally demanding and receiving a divorce. The scandal of the divorce causes Julia to be extra cautious of her reputation. Also, she's on the cusp of being betrothed again to a man her father and stepmother are very anxious for her to wed. All the more reason to avoid that sexy gladiator.
So far, pretty good. The author has the kernel of a great story. The problem is, we don't learn anything about the intruiging backstory (with the exception of Julia's divorce) until the middle of the book. In the meantime, we have to plod through the wooden, lifeless exchanges that take place between Julia and Valens. I almost gave up on the book by page 7, because their first meeting is so dull. Valens is alternatively smirking at and flirting with Julia, thinking she's nothing more than a bored Roman matron looking for a good time, and Julia's struck dumb by her instantaneous attraction to Valens. She's as twittering and jittery as a heroine in a Harlequin Presents novel (which I suspect Ms. Styles read copiously at one time, along with her history books). Or perhaps her Harlequin editor supplied the annoying: 'I'm so attracted to him-but I can't allow myself to be attracted to him' persona that Julia initially displays.
Julia calms down somewhat, and Valens gains some depth as a hero, but at least 70% of their characterization is flat, unoriginal, and frankly, somewhat dull in the ol' "woo hoo!" department.
At one point, in her constant (over)emphasis regarding Valens' physical attractiveness, the author describes Valens as having shoulders as wide as a door frame. It's like: OK, I get it -- he's a big, well-developed guy. You don't have to go on & on about his body -- as a reader, I'd prefer to project my own picture of a hero's "look".
Also, there are those modern touches that creep into the story. Julia twice refers to Lucius as her "ex"; a fellow gladiator, talking to Valens, refers to Julia as "your girlfriend".
In sum, this book was not really a pleasure to read, but I give the author credit for her research, and her gallant attempt to use the intrigues of the Roman Empire as the setting for a romance novel. Unfortunately, she still needs to work on creating absorbing, lively characters who can live up to her ideas.
