Rate this book

The Gladiator (2009)

by Carla Capshaw(Favorite Author)

4.25 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0373828241 (ISBN13: 9780373828241)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical

review 1: “The Gladiator” is a Christian historical romantic fiction written by Carla Capshaw. This is her first novel and it received a double nomination by Romance Writers of America for the prestigious RITA award.“The Gladiator” is set in Rome, 81 A.D. and follows the story of Pelonia, a Roman who has lost her entire family, save for her greedy Uncle Marcus. Desperate for money to put himself in a level of high standing, Marcus sells his niece to a slave trader. Pelonia is knocked unconscious and when she comes to, she finds herself in the house of Caros Viriathos, also known as Bone Grinder. Caros was a former slave and gladiator, stolen from his home as a child and made to fight in the arena until he won his freedom. He now buys and trains other gladiators.When Pel... moreonia realizes she is a slave and sees the look of hunger Caros has towards her, she tries to flee to her cousin Tiberia’s house. However, that only gets her into more trouble and is then grateful to Caros who rescues and brings her back. Caros, upon returning her to his home, plainly explains he wants Pelonia for himself and won’t stop until she is in his bed. Pelonia, being a devout Christian, will only lie with a man who is her husband so she refuses Caros’ advances, but this only makes him want her more. Each wants something that neither is willing to give so Caros offers a bargain. He vows to keep his distance if she gives her word not to escape. Pelonia cannot accept that she is his slave unless she can tell him about Jesus. Caros is at first reticent but agrees because he has never lost a battle and he doesn’t intend to start now.I will begin by saying I was very eager to start this novel. I am a huge fan of the time period and I was interested in the plot. However, after reading it I found the writing style did not meet my expectations. I am still interested in the story and what it offers and would have continued reading if I had only been more invested in the characters. The main problem in “The Gladiator” was there was no depth. The characters were mere cardboard cut-outs. I wanted to know more about whom they were, their thoughts, their past, their dreams. The story began with Pelonia weeping over her dead family. There is no emotional investment for the reader in this situation. The author could have written a couple more pages before the attack, given some example of how they were making the journey to a cousin’s wedding, shown how the family worked together, shown their relationship with one another. Yes, the murder of Pelonia’s family was sad, but I could have been even more sad and able to put myself in Pelonia’s sandals if I had an emotional attachment to her father and servants. I could have overlooked this one scene if it didn’t continue in similar fashion. The story felt like it was a boulder crashing down a steep mountain, building speed and crushing everything in its path. What happened in the story was very interesting but I didn’t have time to savor it because something else was happening only a couple paragraphs later. There was also no chemistry between Caros and Pelonia. For some reason Caros wanted Pelonia but it wasn’t really explained why. Pelonia realized she was in love with Caros a third of the way through the story, but I couldn’t understand why. Caros didn’t have many redeeming qualities that would scream “he is so dreamy and I am instantly in love with him.”In conclusion, I did not enjoy this story. I couldn’t finish it based upon the two dimensional characters. With more development I could have easily found myself loving this story, but unfortunately I did not. This review is taken from my blog. To read other reviews please visit christianmommabookreview.wordpress.com
review 2: I really enjoyed this one. I couldn't put it down. That being said, the abuse towards the Christian's after Christ's death was hard to read. (I'm not a historian by any means, and not sure how much of what the author wrote is accurate.) But the Christian elements I thought were well done, majority of them what I believe, there were quite a few. Definitely a Christian read. Moral Note: Talk of slaves, attempted rape, mild talk of rape/soiling a woman. Clean language. Romance besides the previous was clean. Mild-heavy violence in relation on the Christian's and gladiators. less

Download links for: The Gladiator

Advertising