Fighting for love, honor, and freedom on the galaxy’s lawless outer rim…Space marine Blaine Strong enjoyed being a composed, controlled member of space station security…until he was abducted by alien slavers. Forced into underground fight rings and pumped full of drugs, he’s now seething with anger and out for revenge.Rescued by gladiators and fellow humans on the desert world of Carthago, … desert world of Carthago, Blaine is fighting to be the man he once was. But when the House of Galen is attacked, he must focus on joining the gladiators to fight back. That means teaming up with a tough, competitive female gladiator who not only challenges him at every turn, awakens a fierce desire he’s never felt before, but a woman who can sense the churning emotions inside him.
Gladiator Saff Essikani is the best net fighter in the Kor Magna Arena. Raised from young to fight, she bows to no man and uses her empathic abilities to win at whatever cost. With her House targeted and people under their care threatened, she’ll stop at nothing to find those responsible. But then she finds herself face to face with a big, tortured man from Earth who affects her like no man before. As Saff and Blaine head into the desert to uncover a conspiracy, their incendiary desire flares hotter than the desert suns. But as Blaine’s angry emotions rage out of control, Saff knows that unless he learns to embrace the man he is now, he has no chance of survival.
Note to readers: This sci fi romance contains a lot of action (think wild gladiatorial fights and daring rescues), tough gladiators (the warriors of the House of Galen) and a steamy romance (between a tough female gladiator and a tortured space marine). So if you like it fast, and gritty, and sexy, this is for you!
Includes a preview of Marcus, Book 1 of Hell Squad.
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Champion is book five in Galactic Gladiators series by Anna Hackett.
Another action-packed read. This time we are treated to a female fighter Saff and a human male Blaine.
Saff is tough, focussed, and fond of teasing her Gladiator brothers in arms. She also loves a challenge.
Blaine was a space marine until the day he was captured by alien slavers and sold to the underground fight arena. They drugged him to high heaven. He’s now escaped, but the drugs pumped into him have affect him.
There are quite a few people who are very unhappy with the House of Galen and revenge is clearly something they want. Things escalate and Saff and Blaine have a fight on their hands. Their romance was ok. Not as well thought out as previous couples.
Champion is a non stop action adventure. This was an enjoyable read. Not my favorite, but still good.
Rated: 3.5 Stars
Space Marine Blaine Strong is struggling to overcome his time as a slave in the underground fighting rings. The drugs they gave him have made him more aggressive and now he struggles to control himself. When the House of Galen is attacked he fights with the gladiators to take down their enemies and rescue the humans. Along the way he admits his feelings for the beautiful and dangerous Saff Essikani.
“Sometimes things look bad, impossible even, but you have to believe things will get better and keep moving toward it.”
This was an action packed adventure with a very hot couple. I really enjoyed this book. Blaine is struggling to deal with what was done to him in the fighting rights. Saff is the only one who gets through to him and really understands how much he is struggling. She helps him embrace the fact he will never be the same man again. I really liked Blaine and do wonder if we will see more human men in future books since we know more were taken.
“He kissed her like he needed her to live. Needed her to breathe. Like he could find all the answers inside her.”
Saff was a beautiful and deadly woman. I really liked her. She was sold to the arena and has earned her freedom but the scars from her past still remain. These two had great chemistry and were a kickass couple. I couldn’t get enough of either of them, especially when they were fighting together.
I really can’t wait to dive into the next book because things are really ramping up against the slavers. We are getting closer to finding the location of the fight rings and the rest of the humans but it gets more dangerous with every new piece of information. I love the mixture of romance and danger in this series. Hackett really knows how to mix the two and create an amazing world and characters.
The fifth installment of Anna Hackett’s Galactic Gladiators is here, and WOW, what a ride! We get to see how a human male deals with and alien female. Very nicely (or not 😉 ) Blaine and Saff are both very strong characters, a bit different than the other pairings but it works wonderfully. More details of the alien planet, Carthango, and it’s society are revealed as some of each characters backgrounds enriching the tapestry of the story.
The only other thing I can say is as with Ms. Hackett’s other worlds, each book will leave you wanting more
PS LOVE the cover!
I Highly Recommend this series. Every single book is great.
Flying Spacemonkeys! We are back with my favourite Gladiators again. This time it is the Amazonian like Saff and the recently rescued and still recovering from drug withdrawal Blaine.
Saff is clearly one of the gang, they see her as sister in arms, capable and equally deadly as they are. She is the best net fighter of them all and she can probably put them all on their collective a$$, should she feel like it! Blaine, however, still sees her as a female, someone to protect, cherish and adore. He’s slowly recovering from the drugs the underground fighting bosses loaded him up with and his control is a bit or miss and he’s terrified of hurting Saff or any of the others.
House of Galen is left reeling from an attack and when the madness settles down they realise that some of the recently rescued females have, once again, been taken. Blaine and Saff go looking for them and some of the things Blaine is forced to do in order to not blow their cover, stick in his throat.
There is plenty happening in their book. It was great to see “Blue” was still in the care of House of Galen and I can’t wait to see what happens with him in the future. It was also great having Raiden and the other still in supportive roles, they are family to Saff and it’s only right they would be involved! Onwards and upwards to the next!
The most recent book (as of April 2017) in this series. If this is the first one you’re seeing a review for I strongly recommend starting with the first book and clicking away from this review.
This series follows a new set of leads in each story but all are set in the same world and so far, the same group of characters.
Champion follows our female gladiator and another displaced human with adjustment issues. The world is well thought out, the characters are stubborn, and the plot is interesting. I enjoyed it and though it’s not my favorite Anna Hackett book, it’s in the top 10.