Fighting for love, honor, and freedom on the galaxy’s lawless outer rim… turns into a battle for survival. Dumped into an arena on a desert planet on the outer rim, she finds herself face to face with a big, tattooed alien gladiator…the champion of the Kor Magna Arena.
Warrior: It was supposed to be an exciting job on a space station, but instead, scientist Dr. Regan Forrest finds herself fighting for her life when she’s kidnapped by alien slavers. Far from Earth and forced into a violent gladiatorial arena on the outer rim, she finds herself swept into the brawny arms of a big, wild alien gladiator.
Hero: Raised from birth to be a soldier, Kace Tameron is a disciplined, military-trained gladiator. He is on contract to the Kor Magna Arena to hone his fighting skills on the blood-soaked arena sand and then return to the military. He lives for one thing: to protect his planet, and on his world, love is forbidden. But then he collides with a feisty redhead from Earth who threatens to shatter his legendary control.
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I had the pleasure of reading these three books when they were originally released and found them incredibly different to other sci fi romances available. The idea of a world were Gladiators were the heroes was something I’d not seen any other author tackle. These books feature those who serve the House of Galen but they certainly get shaken up when human women bounce into their lives. The women may have gone through unbelievably tough times and yes it’s a hard fact that they can never go home but they find that they can make a new home, feel useful again and most of all feel loved ! If you want action alongside your romance then these stories certainly deliver !
Three exciting stories with Terran women and alien warriors that would fight and love with all their alien hearts. Read them individually and enjoyed the plot developments and the intense adventures that had me following the action non-stop.
Gladiator
Harper Adams was a strong, smart and skilled woman with multiple resources. When she was forced to the Arena her potential was manifested and she became the perfect match to Raiden Tiago, the Champion of the Arena. Liked the chemistry between these two characters and how the similarities of their losses. The House of Galen’s gladiators were incredible! The way the author described their strength and skills gave a visual of power. Loved this story full of action, adventure, romance, sex and suspense. The horrible and scary monster were a nightmare and the fights very imaginative. This story opened the way to other gladiator stories in their fight to save the weak.
Warrior
The face the Gladiators of the Galen House showed the Arena fans was a façade. They were there for different reasons and rarely show who they really were, but one thing was true, they were there to help and free the weak. Thorin’s was struggling with the attraction he felt for Reagan, the little earthling woman. He knew she was not for him because he was a monster and he could not hurt her. Reagan was amazed because of the strong attraction she felt for Thorin and when she discovered her cousin was out there she asked for the Galen Gladiators help to rescue her. Strong heroine with self-esteem issues and a hero decided to risk his live for her. Exciting story with lot of action, suspense, romance, some emotional moments, hot sex and a fight with strange and scary creatures that had me on edge. The narrations were descriptive and interesting making my imagination work overtime.
Hero
Rory had her eyes on Kace Tameron, the cold and sexy Gladiator that only thinks in his duty to his warrior planet. He had been a nut hard to crack but she was decided to conquer him. He had not learned to love and didn’t trust what he was feeling for the Earth woman. When someone was threating Rory’s life Kace was in protector mode and I was very pleased with the man’s prowess. Love these Gladiator’s stories full of action, suspense, sex, strange creatures and adventure. The House of Galen Gladiators had been a hit.
Gladiator
Another fantastic new series to love!!! I mean Gladiators in Space!! How else could I feed my ancient history/sci fi loving nerdiness?!?!?!
Earth has only just started to explore at the closest planets. Harper has nothing left on Earth and she decides to feed her adventurous soul by working at a Space Station. She has a few friends on the station and she is happy enough with her life. But when a sporadic wormhole opens up and the station is attacked, she finds herself scooped up as a slave and sucked back through the wormhole.
She soon learns she’s about 200yrs from home and the planet she has been dumped on thrives on slavery and gladiatorial matches. She soon learns that there are some bright spots, such as the tall, brooding and down right lethal Raiden. He may be a slave but he still manages to wield power over her.
Kor Magna became Raidens prison/new home when his planet was exterminated by the same race that kidnapped Harper. House of Galen hides many secrets and not everything appears as it actually is. Raiden and his fellow gladiators seem more like family than competitors.
I get that Harper is a trained Marine and has a leg up against most others who were dropped into the arena but I just think she should have struggled more against more battle hardened and let’s face it other worldly fighting techniques. But otherwise this was absolutely smashing read. Harper and Raiden sizzle and the camaraderie he and the others in House of Galen share is fantastically well written. I loved the little vignettes of possible future books/characters to be discovered and that Harper may not be as alone in her human-ness as she thought!
Warrior
Regan has been newly released from her slave status and really wants to make a niche for herself within House of Galen. She is a scientist and soon finds herself tinkering with the local flora and bringing all sorts of neglected plants back to life. She soon engineers a better functioning med gel which is a wow with the gladiators. She is a little forthright in her mission to rescue her cousin from captivity and throws herself into trouble at every turn. She may say that she never wants to be put in a cage again but she seems to be set onto a self destruct mission to end back there in her hunt for her cousin!
Thorin has been hiding his “other” aide from all but Raiden it appears. He has a bit of an animal within, one that even his family did not seemingly want to accept. He is drawn to the feisty female scientist but she is determined to send him into a protective rage, she will insist on slipping the measures in place to keep her safe!
We see more of Kor Magna, the casinos and the very “vegasesque” atmosphere. Regan does take some getting used to. She can be a bit grating at times and for someone who has endured what she has, I get that she doesn’t want her cousin to endure the same treatment but she also seems to be unable to follow the simplest rules to keep her from falling back into the bad guys clutches!!!
Thorin is complicated and wonderful! He protects Regan as best he can but still feels unworthy of her – silly man!!! There’s very strong chemistry between the couple but it’s not as straightforward as some relationships. We also see glimpses of the enigmatic owner of the casino and we finally find out a hint of what Kace is up to!
I did think the man eating flora was a bit much but when in space anything goes. Open your reader, engage the peepers and disengage reality and enjoy!
Hero
Rory was abducted from a space station where she was on the security team, enslaved by some butt ugly aliens and ended up on an alien planet with a few other Earth females. Now safely ensconced within the walls of House of Galen, a haven for the vulnerable, she is slowly adapting to her new life.
Kace is taciturn, stoic and solid and always seems to be there when Rory needs him. Thraxians are the bane of his, and the other Gladiators, lives and he lives for the day he can eradicate them.
Rory is all passion and fire and Kace is calm façade with no outbursts…there is going to be steam and fireworks!!! Another fab instalment in the series! All our heroes have their own strengths and weaknesses and they are not afraid to let their ladyloves know where they are on their list of priorities..it just takes some longer than others!
These are the first three books in a fantastic series from Anna Hackett.
Book 1, Gladiator, begins with humans being abducted by slave traders from another world, gladiator battles and where things aren’t always what they seem. The setting is a world that is like ancient Rome on steroids with a bit of Vegas mixed in. Our heroes are smart, tough and maybe a little scary and our heroines are smart, brave and full of surprises, making the reader want them to succeed
As with her other series, Galactic Gladiators gets better with each installment. Each book centering on a different couple and at the same time, colors the world it’s set in a bit more. Each couple is unique, with unique reactions to each situation.
There is plenty of action moving the plot along and great character development making this a thrill ride and a half.
Who knew life in the outer edges of the universe would be this exiting? Enjoy!
PS The audio version is awesome! Vivian Leheny does a wonderful job bringing the characters to life. She voices each character as a distinct and separate voice that the listener can identify, and keeps it from one book to the next. If you like audio books, give this series a try
I freaking love these books!!!!! Who am I kidding? If it says Anna Hackett on the cover, it is a WIN!!
I love this series!
I read each of these books as they were published. They are all imaginative, thrilling and very romantic. Once you get started, you won’t want to quit! I think, of these three, that Gladiator is my favorite. Maybe because it was an exciting new series, maybe because the cover model so perfectly depicted the character of Raiden in the story – regardless, it’s an awesome story and a perfect start to a great series. Read and fall in love as I have!