BERKLEY Mistress of Rome

**"Mistress of Rome"** by Kate Quinn is a captivating historical saga set in first-century Rome that intricately depicts the life of Thea, a resilient young woman whose fate becomes intertwined with the empire’s most powerful figures. Captured from Judaea and sold into slavery, Thea is initially at the mercy of her jealous mistress, Lepida Pollia. Behind her facade of a submissive slave, she conceals a fierce determination and a remarkable talent for music that could change her destiny. When she falls in love with a formidable gladiator, her dreams seem within reach until her mistress’s jealousy shatters their happiness, leaving Thea to navigate the treacherous waters of Roman society alone.As Thea transforms herself into a celebrated singer for the elite, she draws the attention of none other than the Emperor, a dangerous admirer whose desires threaten her newfound independence. Quinn expertly weaves themes of ambition, love, and survival against the backdrop of a vividly portrayed Roman world filled with intrigue and betrayal. With stakes escalating as various factions conspire against the Emperor, Thea’s story morphs into a thrilling tale of resilience where one woman holds the power to shape the course of the empire. **"Mistress of Rome"** is a mesmerizing debut that entices readers with rich historical detail and unforgettable characters, making it a must-read for fans of historical fiction and romance.

Whoa, just whoa!!! This booked rocked my flippy-floppies off!!! I was hooked from the Prologue and everytime that I had a chance after that, I was nose deep in this thrilling book about a plethora of extremely intriguing characters and a loves story that would make anyone's heart swell. It was such a beautifully written novel and I thoroughly enjoyed every word in the book. It was one of those books that you read and go to write the review and are totally lost for words, because it was so amazingly awesome that you want to just read the book to the person reading your review, or tell them, just freaking buy it!!!! There is a HUGE and I mean HUGE revelation in the book pretty far in that I had no idea was coming. It was so HUGE that it made me tremble and my eyes watered and I laughed out loud at how shocked I was. My husband was like "what's wrong?" and I just looked at him with teary eyes and said, "This book is effing amazing!!" The revelation is something so subtle that I didn't realize that I should have known it was going to be revealed all along, until after the bombshell was dropped and I was struggling to breath, that was when I was like, I so should have known that was coming. AMAZING!!! The loves story between the gladiator Arius and Thea is so beautiful and turmoiled that the whole time you are hoping that they find each other again because their love was so strong. I hated hated hated Lepida, but she made for an excellent villian, even though the Emperor totally overshadowed her at times, the villian role was shared so elegantly that I didn't know who I hated more by the time the book was over. Vix was a great addition to the story because it gave Thea a stronghold to get through her time being the Emperor's mistress. The Emperor was a character that I really liked at first, even though Rome whispered about him being horrible, but Kate Quinn made him likeable even with the rumors, then when his dark side comes out, you can't help but wonder what made him that way. I loved Marcus Norbanus and his son even though he got tied up in Lepida's web, he was a great guy. I loved the descriptions because it made for some most excellent, though harsh at times, visuals. Though, you have to remember this is ancient Rome, the things that happened in the gladiator arena was normal then and so the gore and violence was true for the time period. I really liked how the author added a historical note at the end of the book telling the reader how she came up with certain people and how some of the facts throughout the book were true. All in all, I loved this book and I can't wait for Kate Quinn to come out with another book for me to devour just as fast as this one.

This book isn't for the faint hearted, it contains graphic violence and some sex and some horrible situations as befitting a book about ancient Rome. There was one section that had me almost afraid to carry on reading (a personal fear of mine vividly portrayed) but I'm glad I read to the end. This book is about the triumph of good over evil no matter the odds. It's well written and seems well researched (although I'm not an expert in that particular time period) and the characters are realistic and well constructed. Some of them you'll like and some of them you'll hate but they're not boring. It's not going to make you a professor in ancient history but it's a good story told well and that is good enough for me.

As a fantasy fiction fan of bloody brutal conflict, I was looking for a new author that would sate my appitite.I looked at the reviews of this book i was attracted to the enthusiastic rants. One by MARIE CLAIRE said that it was "a rollicing account...glamorous and brutal,a heady mix of intrigue and combat,and with the added decadence of depravity" she enthused.I did not get any explicit or depraved anything! However my dissappointment dissapeared as I was drawn into the story surrounding two women, Lepida,an only child and spoilt brat of an organizer of the imperial games and Thea her personal slave and a gladiator called Arius.As their lives unfold the author threads a weave that has them tangled begrudingly where a war of survival over control and is artfully told and histoicly well researched.I was expecting an explicit gladitoral and depraved story telling,and did not get it...But I did get a wonderful supprise and I was rivited to the end. Well done Kate Quinn, what a champion!Mistress of Rome

Had low hopes for this book when I got it. Thought it would be some poorly written love story, romance thing. Boy was I wrong. This book is writen superbly and kept me up late many nights as I just couldn't put it down. I have since purchased the other 3 books in the series and will be moving on to her other series after this one.I HIGHLY recommend this book for lovers of Historical Fiction