Thursday, October 29, 2020

Blood Debts by Ashley Gardner [Review]

Blood Debts by Ashley Gardner
Blood Debts (Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries #0.5) by Ashley Gardner
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: November 19, 2019

Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries
1. Blood Debts - Paperback | Kindle

Ashley Gardner
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Synopsis (Goodreads):
Leonidas, freedman, once the most popular gladiator in Rome and champion of the games, now must fight for his life outside the arena. A man who owed him money was murdered, and Leonidas is a prime suspect.

With the assistance of Cassia, daughter of a Greek scribe who was bestowed upon him as his slave, Leonidas fights for justice in the back lanes of Imperial Rome.

Cassia has no idea how to cook and clean or mend and weave, but she is very good at finding things out and writing things down, able to work through a dozen mathematical problems by the time most people can think of a sentence. Knowing both intuitively and empirically that Leonidas is innocent of the murder, she resolves to help clear him of the crime.

It’s the least she can do for a man who has proved to be far less brutal than his reputation and who protects all who come within his sphere.

And if Leonidas loses, he faces a short, painful future back in the amphitheater, this time without hope of survival.
Thoughts on Blood Debts: Okay. I like Leonidas. He's...I don't know how to put it. After years of fighting, he's trying to find himself again (or maybe for the first time, really) and it's not an easy task. He's been given a female slave to help him out and her well-being (as well as the well-being of some of those he came across in this adventure) weighs in his daily decisions. If he doesn't step up and get money owed to them, they'll have nowhere to live and no way to eat. If he gets taken away for murder, she'll be left on her own with no protector.

So, yeah. I like Leonidas. He's working his way toward figuring out how to live again after years of regimented living as a gladiator. He's not perfect, but he's finding his way. Slowly, but still.

As for this particular adventure, he and Cassia work together (let's face it, Cassia is currently the brains of the operation) to work through the facts and retrace the steps leading up to Leonidas finding a dead body. They meet a few individuals along the way who Leonidas takes under his proverbial wing and I am REALLY liking all the potential I see in this world.

A former gladiator trying to find his place in the world and a whip-smart slave who keeps him moving forward. I like.

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