This novel was a wonderful story about love and freedom. It dealt with liberty, or freedom, on many levels and leaves the reader feeling satisfied. I also liked how it dealt with freedom from hate and anger over wrongs. The story was fast paced and kept my attention at all times. I absolutely love historical novels about ancient Rome and in the medieval time period. I have not read the novel other reviewers have mentioned by Gillespie, but I plan to. All in all, it was worth staying up late into the night to finish this book.

Rhyddes ferch Rudd is a member of an ancient Celtic tribe who had been dominated by the Romans. Hated and abused by her father for reasons unknown, Rhyddes is sold to Roman tax collectors as payment to settle the farm debts of her father. While Roman law states that a person acquired via tax collections must remain in the same condition in which they were purchased, the soldiers who bought Rhyddes torture her in vile ways. The woman that arrives at the Londinium slave market is not the young girl that unwillingly left her home weeks before. Bought by the owner of Londinium's gladiator school, Rhyddes has one lesson to learn - obey or die. This is a bitter lesson for Rhyddes who wants nothing more than the return of her freedom. The only bright spot in her entire existence is Aquila, the man she loves but will never be able to have.

Marcus Calpurnis Aquila is the son of a Roman governor as well as a highly prized and famous gladiator. Aquila, or "the Eagle" as his fans chant, hasn't the stomach for political office much to his father's dismay and ire. He would rather be performing and outshining opponents in combat in front of cheering crowds in the amphitheater. However, Aquila's father has other plans for his son and they don't include his risking his life for entertainment. Restless and opposed to his father's wishes, Aquila remains loyal to the gladiator motto - obey or die. That motto will haunt Aquila more often than he knows because against all odds and defying all laws, Aquila has fallen in love with Rhyddes, the Celtic gladiatrix slave know as Libertas.

LIBERTY is an epic historical romance with many facets. Not only was I treated to a thrilling story, but I learned important aspects of early Roman culture and customs. My heart ached with despair over Rhyddes' enslavement and then pounded with joy at the love shared by Aquila and Libertas. Both yearning to be free of the laws by which they are bound, these dynamic characters portray a selfless love by which legends are made.

LIBERTY by Kimberly Iverson was released in October 2006 by HQN. Fully anticipating a good read, the intensity, passion, and intrigue of LIBERTY was eye catching and completely enthralling. If you are a fan of well written, utterly entertaining historical romances, then LIBERTY is the book for you! I was spellbound.
***Natasha Smith, Romance Junkies***

When I first heard about "Liberty" I thought it sounded suspiciously like my favorite book of all time "The Light Bearer" in which a female Germanic freedom fighter is made a gladitaidor and then rescued by a wealthy and enlightened roman man. Fortunately this is not a copy of "The Light Bearer" because that would mean that the characters in this novel have personality, character and integrity, and the book has something resembling a plot.

Perhaps you can tell I didn't like this book. This tells the story of a woman named Rhyddes, who is an 18 year old Celt abused by her father and then sold to pay of a tax debt to the Roman occupiers of Britain. None of this, including being gang raped by the Romans who take her to London to be sold seems to bother her to much. In London in the slave markets she is bought by a gladitaidor trainer named Jamil who went to the market on the hunch that he just might find a women to be a gladiator for him (what a lucky day for him!) In the market she is also bid on and fondled by a man named Marcus Aquila, the son of the governor of Britain who likes to be a gladiator for fun and hates his responsibilities. Though she is offended by this she can't help but be aroused by the touch of the handsome nobleman while she is completely naked and for sale in a public place. How romantic!

The book continues in this vein with Rhyddes being a ridiculously good fighter and lusting after Marcus, Marcus lusting Rhyddes though he is to be married and for some reason respecting her, though he never scrupled to by slaves for sex in the past. Their story is pasted off as love yet at one point Rhyddes begged Marcus to buy her because her new owners are literally going to rape and kill her and her refuses because of some stupid reason. Then there is some nonsense about a plot to overthrow the emperor using gladiators and bla bla bla.....

In short this book is awful. The history is inaccurate and poorly articulated, leaving the reader with a false image of the time and a completely skewed grasp of the social structure of Roman sonority. What eventually happened to Rhyddes, especially in terms of status, is not possible. Though this is supposedly a romance novel there is no love expressed here, only basic lust. Rhyddes is an offensive character to any woman because of her obvious lack of self-respect, and I say this knowing the societal pressures she would have been under at the time. For all extents and purposes she acts like a modern woman except when it comes to forgiving anyone, particularly men, for doing terrible wrongs to her and then taking the blame for all problems any men have caused her. In fact all the women in the book do this. Marcus is equally offensive, a spoiled rich kid who in his career as a gladiator obviously had special protection (who could kill the son of the governor or even wound him seriously without being killed himself?) who only thinks about himself and doesn't really seem to care if the supposed love of his life is killed of raped. All of this made this novel a nasty chore to read and I surprised I managed to finish to it. I just can't really recommend this book. Read "The Light Bearer" instead. Read anything instead.

Two stars, just because I did manage to finish it.