I enjoyed this story; the premise kept my interest throughout- set in 81 A.D., a tough ex-gladiator buys a high-born woman who is sold into slavery by her evil uncle after the death of her father and family servants on the road to Rome. The woman also happens to be a Christian, which makes her plight more difficult due to the emerging prejudice and outright persecution of Christians in that time period. The writer is very good at depicting Roman life without tying up the reader in endless descriptive dialogue. The gladiator, Caros, is arrogant, but instantly likable, which may make some readers wonder if the writer isn't too saccharine in her approach to a person who should be pretty brutal and jaded. The heroine, Pelonia, is resilient and courageous, but vulnerable as well, and that's what made the encounters between her and Caros so interesting.

The only problems I had with this book was 1) it was too short to really develop the characters and plot: as it was, the debacles the characters faced seemed rushed to rather easy conclusions; 2) some of Pelonia's Christian beliefs have the flavor of modern Protestant Christian thought, which seems odd in a story set in the first century A.D. At that time, Christianity had barely divorced itself from Judaism, and Christian beliefs were vague and controversy was common between Christians themselves, e.g. whether salvation is gained by faith (grace) alone or by grace + good works.

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I was hesitant to order this book because of the time period of the setting. There is violence in the book because of the gladiator games, but it is minimal with no graphic details, thus the four stars. However, I really enjoyed the path towards redemption the hero traveled throughout the book. Both the hero and the heroine were likeable and believable. The ending has a surprising twist that I wasn't expecting.

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