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Title: Mistress of Rome (you can Buy on Amazon here)
Author: Kate Quinn
Published: 10th June 2010
Publisher: Review
Genre: Romance, Drama, Historical Fiction
Pages: 483
Format: E-Book
Rating: ***** (5/5 Stars)
About: Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia. Now she has infuriated her mistress by capturing the attention of Rome’s newest and most savage gladiator–and though his love brings Thea the first happiness of her life, their affair ends quickly when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.
Remaking herself as a singer for Rome’s aristocrats, Thea unwittingly attracts another admirer: the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But the passions of an all-powerful man come with a heavy price, and Thea finds herself fighting for both her soul and her sanity. Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the Emperor’s mistress.
Review: This book is so gripping, that your hands stick to the book! I could not put it down from start to finish.
It brings Ancient Rome to life in vivid detail, but not in a noisome way.
There is a great range of characters in this book – some are real characters and others are just fictional, yet they all feel very believable as if they did all exist together at one time. I also worry though that because this book has so many characters (all with Roman names) if I had not finished this book I might have forgotten who was who if I had left reading it for a while.
I mean it’s not really an issue because I couldn’t put the book down.
There is just such a great and detailed story in this book that it leaves you wanting more. Every chapter there is something going on and it all leads to the concluding chapters where everything is finally revealed and all it well. . . or is it?
What I love is that as I was reading it, I really was rooting for Judaea and the gladiator, who let’s be honest, really is the love of her life.
But everything turns sour because of that awful Emporer. He really is just a cruel character and he is especially harsh to Judea.
Judea is a very strong character, particularly when you look at her past and how she still keeps her head held high. But even though she has managed to survive what happened to her, I don’t think that she would have been able to manage life (when she is in the hands of the Emporer) without her son. He really is just a great little bundle of energy. He really has a lively soul and even though he can at times be very naughty, you can clearly see the mother and son bond that is between these two characters.
I do believe that this book has something in it for everyone, so please go and enjoy it.
CastlesandTurrets 