Mary Jo here…
…with the Wenches' ever popular "What we're reading" blog. Dig out your credit cards, we're going for a joy ride!
I've always known that Jennifer Ashley is a very talented, prolific author who writes historical romances, paranormals, and historical mysteries, but I hadn't found her Leonidas the Gladiator series, written under her Ashley Gardner pseudonym. So far there are only two novels and a novella, but more are coming. The first book is Blood of a Gladiator.
Leonidas is the premier gladiator in Rome, a rock star fighter who is recognized in the streets, but he has reached the point where he can't face any more killing. That is the moment when he receives his freedom from slavery and can finally quit being a gladiator and make his own life--if he can figure out how.
He has no financial resources, but an unknown benefactor gives him a modest apartment and a slave of his own: Cassia, who is a scribe. Illiterate Leonidas doesn't know what to do with a slave who does doesn't cook or do housework, but she can help him find jobs and is very good at negotiating contracts and making sure they get paid.
Initially Cassia is afraid of him, but he's a good guy and doesn't ravish her and gradually they develop a bond of trust. And have to deal with unexpected murders. Ashley Gardner creates a wonderful sense of place and what it would be like to live in Rome during the reign of Nero. But the best part is the characters and their slowing developing relationship.