“The heroine is a Celt who's turned over to the Romans by her father in payment of his taxes. She gets dragged to Londinium and sold to an Egyptian gladiator school owner who's wanting to acquire a girl gladiator (gladiatrix) as a crowd pleaser. (Nero apparently started the fashion, which continued for 100 years or so) The hero is the son of the Roman governor of England who likes to fight as a gladiator, even though it's looked down upon. Daddy has political aspirations for his son, tho, and arranges a marriage with the daughter of a visiting Senator, to take place when they can all get together in Rome. Meanwhile, the heroine learns to fight like a gladiatrix, she and the hero meet, and start falling in love. There's a political power play, a trip to Rome, and lots of other interesting stuff. I enjoyed this book a lot. It's well worth reading.”