Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
The amount of research packed into this really shows. The historical detail is genuinely impressive and makes the whole thing feel immersive rather than gimmicky. I kept wondering if I could survive what Grace goes through, which says a lot about how well the world building sells the stakes. Grace is such a strong lead, determined without being whiny, and she never falls into that tired trope of body shaming herself one minute and calling herself sexy the next. She just felt real. The genre mashup (time travel, historical fiction, dark romance, political intrigue) worked for me, and the romance stays light enough to let the tension and banter do the heavy lifting. The female friendships were a highlight too. Big bonus: the writing skips the overwrought, simile heavy prose that's everywhere in fantasy romance lately.

All the stars.... OMG this book had me from the beginning to the end....
SOOO we have our FMC that has a jerk of an ex... She goes on vacation and meets someone that sends her back in time... WAIT WHAT????? WHY... BUT she gets sent back to Ancient Rome and during the time of Gladiators..... What could go wrong? (insert lots of giggles)
As she choose to either become a gladiator or fear her ending, she chooses to become a gladiator... Let's say that it's not as easy as she thought it would be..... AND now she has to face that all of her freedom's have been removed.. She is now owned.
She meets some gladiators that are nice, some that are not nice... Some become her family while others she wants to kick them in their shins.... Ok well you would want to do the same to a couple characters......
SOOOOO this is also a triangle with emotions and when we try to figure out which one should be our MMC, it is not an easy answer because there are 2 that could be the potential MMC to our FMC....... That is what you are getting from me for a spoiler.

I will say that I love Grace (our FMC) because she is kick butt and is willing to hold to her beliefs as much as she can. She learns that she can be powerful

SOOO I will also say this.. If you tear up with sad things, there might be a spot in this book that might need some tissues. I know that I did.

OH also there is a lot of unknown answers that we need to wait until book 2..... I need book 2 because the ending of this book didn't end on a true cliff hanger BUT I need to more about a couple characters..... SOOOOOOO please hurry up and give me book 2...

Thank you to the author for allowing me to read this book early. It was such an amazing read and I enjoyed the ride.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ A Time of Gladiators and Fate by Susan Illene

I picked this one up because I’ve realized I really enjoy time travel/portal-type stories, but I was a little unsure about the ancient Rome setting. I’ve just never been particularly interested in Roman history, so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy a book that drops a modern woman right into the middle of it.

I was very pleasantly surprised because I ended up really enjoying this.

One of my favorite things was how easy it was to understand the historical setting even though I went into this knowing very little about Rome. There are obviously a lot of unfamiliar customs, terminology, and details about what life was like at the time, but they were explained naturally as Grace encountered them. I never felt like I was being handed a giant history lesson or an info dump. I found out afterward that the author has a history degree and a military background, which made a lot of sense because both the historical details and the training/fighting elements felt like things she’d put a lot of thought and research into.

There is a glossary in the back, which I didn’t discover until I finished. 😂 I really wish I’d known it was there because there were a few times I couldn’t remember exactly what a word meant and it would have been helpful to have while I was reading.

I really liked Grace, and I liked the friendships and side characters around her too. She’s originally from Kansas, which is a tiny thing, but as someone from Missouri, I always enjoy finding a Midwestern main character. 😂 There are also two male characters who seem like they’re going to become increasingly important as the series continues, and I have some suspicions about where all of that is heading, but I’m keeping those to myself.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and it definitely feels like the beginning of a larger story. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but in a way that made me want to continue rather than leaving me frustrated.

I did have a couple of issues. Something fairly significant about Grace is revealed around the middle of the book, and it felt surprisingly abrupt to me. It seems like it’s probably going to be important to the larger story, so I almost wished there had been a little more groundwork leading up to it rather than having it suddenly appear.

I also thought a couple of the choices near the end felt slightly tacked on. The book had stayed almost entirely with Grace’s perspective, and then suddenly we get brief glimpses from other characters along with some of the steamier content. I’m not opposed to changing POVs, but because the book hadn’t really been doing that before, the change felt a little like an afterthought. The spicy scenes gave me a similar feeling. There aren’t many and they’re not overly graphic, but they seemed to show up rather suddenly near the end instead of feeling completely integrated into the rest of the book.

Those things didn’t take away much from my overall enjoyment, though. This was a really quick, easy read for me, and more importantly, I wanted to keep reading it. Considering I started out unsure whether I’d care about ancient Rome at all, that’s probably the biggest compliment I can give it.

I’m somewhere around 4.25–4.5 stars, which I’m rounding up to 5. I’m definitely planning to continue the trilogy because I want answers to several things this book has set up, and I’m very curious to see where Grace’s story goes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Oh my goodness, this book has made me want to book a spontaneous flight to Rome for some… sightseeing? That’s what I’ll tell my boyfriend anyway! I’ll leave out the small detail of my new obsession with scantily clad gladiators and bronzed men in loincloths with questionable desires…

All that drooling aside, I LOVED this book so much more than I expected to. Grace is such a likeable character, I'd be completely out of my depth being thrown into this scary yet fascinating time in history, but she's smart enough to navigate her way through it and the journey is epic.

I also really loved the dynamic between the female gladiators. The author stayed true to the fact that women were essentially slaves during this time, rather than giving them a modern day level of independence. I’d honestly never really thought about female gladiators before, so that was such an interesting part of the story for me.

The side characters were fabulously written, and the two main male characters? Ooooft 🔥 The author definitely knew what she was doing there!

I'm begging for more now. I’ll definitely be picking up the next book because I need to know what happens!

“For lovers of Spartacus and Outlander”?! Say less. It was a no-brainer that I had to read this. You can tell the author put a lot of hours into researching Roman history. That was evident in the details woven into the story. I couldn’t help but be captivated by Grace’s story. The end left me wanting more and I really hope I don’t have to wait long!

From the very first page, this book grabs your attention with non-stop action and doesn't let go.

At the heart of the story is an incredible main character whose growth throughout the novel is so satisfying to follow as she learns to step into her strength. Focusing on a female gladiator brings such a refreshing and fascinating perspective to the ancient world. On top of the compelling character arc, the author’s attention to historical detail is remarkable, you end up learning so much about the Roman world without it ever feeling like a history lesson.

That ending left me completely desperate for the sequel! I have no idea how I'm going to wait for book two. Highly recommended for anyone who loves historical fiction with strong character development and high stakes.

Many thanks to the author for the ARC!

This was a really enjoyable time travel fantasy. It was the perfect length and at times I really struggled to put it down!

The main thing I loved about this book was the incredible historical detail. You could tell that the author had done a huge amount of research, and the attention to detail is impeccable. The inclusion of the glossary at the end is also highly useful.

The FMC shows real character development throughout - she comes into the story in the back of a divorce from an abusive husband, which shapes many of her interactions throughout. I liked that she is not automatically a strong fighter, but genuinely needs to train and grow, which leads to a stronger payoff at the end.

There is very little in terms of actual romance in this book, although the sexual tension between Grace and both of the MMCs is high. By the end of the book I had a definite preference for one of the MMCs, and I look forward to seeing how the romantic strand of the story plays out.

This is certainly a strong opening to the series, and I will be looking out for book 2 in the future!

I am still reeling from finishing this. I love Outlander and the universe that created, but I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the same premise in Ancient Rome. Well, how wrong was I! This was immense, from beginning to end. It had battles, time travel, mystery, love interests, emotional damage and strong friendships that test time.

While I admit, the protagonist Grace did not endear herself to me immediately, I did eventually fall under her spell, both rooting for her and shouting at her throughout.

The events of the story are varied and engaging, filled with battle, gore and high octane thrills, but also beautiful moments of tenderness and lots of historical facts.

I cannot believe how the ending played out and I am gasping for more!!

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley!

One word - WOW!

I could not put this book down! The amount of research the author has put into this book is incredible! Grace is a strong FMC and as the book goes on you get to see her grow in confidence not only in Ancient Rome but also herself.

I enjoyed the female friendships and their bond even if sometimes they did not see eye to eye! Showing the importance of females sticking together is Ancient Rome!

Two male subplots, which in the next book I definitely think we will see more of. I already know who I want her to end up with!!

The twist at the end when Arack told Grace what time he is from!! I did not see that coming and when he shared a little detail about the stone and how it only works for certain people🤯🤯

Overall, I thought this book was absolutely incredible!! Time travel to Ancient Rome would be bad for a man but for a woman 100% worse and the author showed this through this book! I will 100% continue with this book