Gladiator's Embrace: an Ancient Roman historical romance (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798992455366)

He vowed never to fight again...until her heart became the prize.

Ferox, once Rome's most famous gladiator, turned his back on the arena after the brutal death of his closest friend. But life as an ex-gladiator is harder than he expected, and when his former manager presents an extravagant offer, Ferox reluctantly agrees to return for three final fights. He'll use his newfound fortune to build a life far from the bloody memories that haunt him.

At the training school, a new arrival threatens to disrupt all Ferox's plans. Velia, his manager's niece, is a woman with the peculiar aspiration of managing her own gladiator troupe. Having rejected a life of drudgery on her family's farm, the world of gladiators is her path to independence. She needs the perfect trainer, and Ferox, with his impressive fighting record, is just the man for the job. And if she can't stop ogling the span of his shoulders or imagining what he's like in bed...well, that only makes working together more interesting.

Velia is unlike any woman Ferox has ever met, and the more time they spend together, the more he finds himself drawn to her bold ambition and outspoken manner. His return is only temporary, though, and her brazen flirting is a distraction he can't afford. If he wants peace from the ghosts of his past, he must leave this world behind forever. But is a life of peace worth sacrificing the one person who makes it worth living?

Gladiator's Embrace is a first-in-series historical romance set in Ancient Rome, filled with spice, drama, and the life-or-death stakes of the arena. It features tropes like grumpy/sunshine, an ambitious alpha heroine, "just a temporary fling," and, of course, a guaranteed happily-ever-after.