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All books>Popular right now>Bloodguard
Bloodguard

Fantasy

Bloodguard

by Cecy Robson

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Quick take

Victory is nigh impossible in this arena, but an unlikely ally may just give our gladiator a fighting shot.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, 400

    400+ pages

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Graphic_Content

    Graphic violence

  • Illustrated icon, Romantasy

    Romantasy

Synopsis

One hundred years. Tens of thousands of gladiators. And today, only one will rise…

Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.

Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena—vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive—would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.

He was wrong—and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.

All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.

Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard—and his freedom.

But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.

Nor will his ultimate revenge…

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Bloodguard

CHAPTER ONE

LEITH

The battered wagon wheels rumble over one pothole, then the next, rattling the bars of our cage and scraping the rough metal along the cut in my shoulder. I tighten my jaw in an effort not to wince. It won’t do me good to remind any of the nine fighters locked in here with me that I’m injured.

Instead, I keep my gaze fixed on the dried blood still on my hands from my last match. The blood isn’t mine. It’s Yular’s, I think. Or maybe Mundag’s. Both trolls were thrown into the arena with me yesterday, and, like the rest of us, they chose to fight to the death to feed their families.

They just weren’t as brutal as me. Nor were they as desperate.

Crossing my arms over the thin leather armor covering my bare chest, I lift my chin and stare at the scarred face of the fighter across from me. Two bottom tusks rise over the ogre’s upper lip, the left one jagged and broken next to a gash that stretches from his mouth to his ear. His eyes catch on mine—then harden, letting me know he still has some fight left in him. I openly stare back, letting him know I’m all fight.

The sound of a horn announces our arrival, and the ogre huffs and looks away. No sense kicking things up in here when we might not even get paired today.

I can’t help the slight sinking feeling in my gut as the horn’s final note fades on the wind, reminding me there’s a real chance I won’t ever hear that sound again. The arena is unpredictable as fuck.

The wagon slows when it reaches the outer wall surrounding the coliseum complex, and heavy chains clank as the massive wooden gate swings open with a splintering groan.

Every foot the gate widens, chants of “Bloodguard!” from the arena build in volume like a brewing storm, rolling through the wagon.

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Why I love it

Regina Montoya
Regina Montoya

BOTM Editorial Team

Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse and this book couldn’t get any better—they do and it does. Political plays, arena challenges, convenient marriages: Bloodguard has it all.

Leith is a gladiator with all the odds stacked against him—because the odds are decided by the rulers of Arrow, and they want him dead. Maeve is an elven princess without a throne—because her uncle has no intention of letting her have it, and he’ll marry her to death if he has to. The thing about fighters: they don’t go down without one. With Maeve’s help, Leith fights to become Bloodguard. With Leith’s help, Maeve fights to become Queen of Arrow.

I wish I hadn’t read this book—only so I could experience it for the first time all over again. With complex and dangerous political plays; twisted and dysfunctional family dynamics; the most thrilling, nail-biting action scenes; and a romance so adorable (and racy) it had me swinging my feet (and peek-read-ing through my fingers), Bloodguard was an absolute delight. Cecy Robson has written one of the most electrifying stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading this year, and I can’t wait for you to enjoy it too.

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