Gladius – The Hussies Series

Nathalie Gray

Publisher:
Ellora’s Cave

Release Date:
November 26, 2008

Genres:
Futuristic
Sci-Fi
Romance

ISBN:
eBook
9781419919343

Bookmark Rating:

Reviewed by
Daria Wright

Review Posted:
January 2009

Training gladiators to compete in her remote world’s games is the only thing Opal knows. Her mother before her was the champion trainer and taught her that no matter the size one could be the best fighter. Opal keeps her heart protected by being the tough trainer and when presented with the magnitude of Dar she is intrigued. No man before him could match her or even begin to control her. 

Yet despite all the hatred Dar has for Vespasians he is drawn to the primal strength and intelligence Opal presents. As the battle of wills between her and Dar ignite, a long-dormant fire awakens in her. One that stirs up needs only his forceful touch can satiate.

Dar teases Opal with savagery and tenderness until he can deny it no longer. He is falling for his beautiful enemy. Their forbidden encounters and duels of raw sex break down his defenses until she is all he can think about. Even as she teaches him how to harness his power into the gladiatorial games so he is not killed, he, in turn, has something to teach her—what Dar Skara wants, Dar Skara takes. 

When it comes to writing hot futuristic sci-fi romance, writer Nathalie Gray is always a winner in my book. GLADIUS, as expected from Ms. Gray, is outstanding. What I have come to absolutely love from Ms. Gray’s stories is the strength of the heroines packed with lots of primal action. Her heroines are strong, independent, intelligent, sexy women. They are leaders of their destinies who take action and are fighters. They have abilities to hold their own with the men they are matched with physically or mentally. They seek men who are as strong as they are.  

Dar is a huge mighty Hadisian who is captured and taken to be a slave gladiator on Vespas, a planet and people he despises. You could feel the level of hatred this big warrior had and his strength coming from his knowledge that he had nothing to lose. He was raw brute force with a hidden level of intelligence. Opal, though smaller, was a smart fighter, a trainer of the best fighters of her world. Even though she weighed considerably less than Dar she held her own in a ring with him. This raw level of fierceness and strength as they came head to head was intoxicating. The sexual tension and play for control amidst the raging fire between the two kept me turning the pages to see what happened next. The explosiveness between Opal and Dar made for primal hot sex with burning admiration and growing love. Neither had ever met someone so perfect for the other, if only circumstances were different. 

The battle for Opal to open her eyes and save Dar from her boss the Praetor is packed with action. Ms. Gray’s heroes and heroines all have a level of honor that they uphold and through the story they must determine what is good and what is bad, even when there are shades of gray, and make the right choice. The battles are bloody and full of suspense that kept me riveted to the page.  

As I mentioned, I am a huge fan of Ms. Gray and have read all of her Ellora’s Cave stories. She is on my auto buy list and I highly recommend all of her books. I truly look forward to each new story by Ms. Gray. She delivers action packed stories with lots of great primal sex between strong sexy heroes and heroines. GLADIUS – part of the Hussies series by Ellora’s Cave is fantastic. Ellora’s Cave describes the Hussies as women who fight bravely alongside their mates with sword and axe, warriors whose courage changed the world around them. Women, who right a wrong, turn a frown to a smile—to positively change those around her. GLADIUS definitely fits the bill.

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