Mistress of Rome Audiobook By Kate Quinn cover art

Mistress of Rome

Empress of Rome, Book 1

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Mistress of Rome

By: Kate Quinn
Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
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About this listen

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, passionate, musical, and guarded. Purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea will become her mistress' rival for the love of Arius the Barbarian, Rome's newest and most savage gladiator. His love brings Thea the first happiness of her life, but that is quickly ended when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

As Lepida goes on to wreak havoc in the lives of a new husband and his family, Thea remakes herself as a polished singer for Rome's aristocrats. Unwittingly she attracts another admirer in the charismatic emperor of Rome. But Domitian's games have a darker side, and Thea finds herself fighting for both soul and sanity. Many have tried to destroy the emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of the brilliant and paranoid Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the emperor's mistress.

©2010 Kate Quinn (P)2015 Tantor
Ancient World Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance Sagas Ancient History Rome

Critic reviews

"This should make a splash among devotees of ancient Rome." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Mistress of Rome

Highly rated for:

Captivating Storyline Unexpected Plot Twists Impressive Voice Variety Gripping Narrative
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic! Hope it's a series.

Great story that kept moving along with new twists and turns I didn't always see coming. The trick was that some of the plot WAS just as you'd expect, and just when you think you have it figured out, total surprise plot twist. Exceeded expectations because of expected similarities to other books, but the UNexpected kept me engrossed! Loved it.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Voice actress ruins this Kate Quin novel

Much as i loved the alice network, this kate quin audible is poorly acted. The actress overacts and sounds juvenile. Disappointing

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but dialog pretty heavy handed

I like this author, but in this book it feels like both the character development and some of the dialogue is clunky. The senator’s young wife is a bit over the top as is the gladiator’s son.

The dialogue (in this book and some of the other books) seems too modern. That is jarring and takes you out of the setting. As for narration, the voices for the senators wife was very hard to listen to.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Happy with the ending

For a moment I thought this would have a tragic ending but I was wrong. I could not stop listening from the beginning to the very end.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story once you get into it.

I’m glad to I have found books by Kate Quinn. I enjoy stories of strong women and The Mistress of Rome definitely delivers. Clearly the dialog is modern throughout the book which seems out of place/time but if you can get past that, the twists and turns make for an entertaining listen. As others have stated, the narrator is a bit off putting, especially when she is telling Lepida’s story but by the time you get to the end, you realize it was an intentional choice so stick with it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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marvelous

enough suspense, romance, history , religion and life lessons. stroy of survival of women and men in history of Rome in different classes.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great variety of voices make it easy to follow the plot.

I loved all the voices, but the one of Lady Lepida was so unusual. It made me dislike the character even more. I would recommend this listen to all.

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I love this author!!! I keep buying her books!

I really enjoyed this book! I think that this is the fourth or fifth book by this author that I have read / listened to. not at all the type of book I usually go for, but I cannot put hers down! the beginning of this book I had a difficult time with and wasn't sure why, looking back I'm guessing it was because I had just finished two books of this authors and now i had a whole new set of somewhat unfamiliar names to memorize. so glad I stuck with it and better yet... there's a book 2 and 3!!! whoop whoop!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Missing paragraphs

The audiobook is good but when you follow along with the book I have noticed the audiobook leaves out the last paragraph of every chapter.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great book

The narration was excellent and the story had unexpected turns. It really brought the time period alive. I’m looking forward to the series. I am a fan of Kate Quinn’s writing.

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