Like all the volumes of the Light in the Empire series, The Legacy, set in AD 114, and Second Chances, set in AD 122, can be read and enjoyed as stand-alones, but they share some characters. The families of Lucius Claudius Drusus and Aristarchus are key players in these two tales of betrayal and forgiveness set in Rome, Thracia, and sea voyages between them. Other stories that feature Drusus family members include True Freedom (AD 118 in Rome), Forgiven (AD 122 in Galilee), and More Than Honor (AD 126 in Rome). The Aristarchus family is also featured in Hope’s Reward (AD 106 in Thessalonica).
Now available in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle formats at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and international Amazon sites. Available at Kobo world wide, at Barnes & Noble in paperback, hardcover and Nook (epub), and at local bookstores by special order.
The Legacy by Carol Ashby
Volume 3 of the Light in the Empire Series
When Rome has taken everything, what’s left for a man to give?
Betrayed by a ruthless son who’ll do anything for power and wealth, Publius Drusus faces death with an unanswered prayer―that his treasured daughter, Claudia, and honorable son, Titus, will someday share his faith. But who will lead them to the truth once he’s gone?
Claudia’s oldest brother Lucius arranged their father’s execution to inherit everything, and now he’s forcing her to marry a cruel Roman power broker. If only she could get to Titus―a thousand miles away in Thracia. Then the man who secretly told her father about Jesus arranges for his son Philip to sneak her out of Rome and take her to the brother she can trust.
A childhood accident scarred Philip’s face. A woman’s rejection scarred his heart. Claudia’s gratitude grows into love, but what can Philip do when the first woman who returns his love hates the God he loves even more?
Titus and Claudia hunger for revenge on their brother and the Christians they blame for their father’s deadly conversion. When Titus buys Miriam, a secret Christian, to serve his sister, he starts them all down a path of conflicting loyalties and dangerous decisions. His father’s final letter commands the forgiveness Titus refuses to give. What will it take to free him from the hatred poisoning his own heart?
Historical Background for The Legacy
Recipe for Miriam’s rosemary bread that Titus loved
The Legacy is the third volume in the Light in the Empire series, a mosaic of stories that follow the interconnected lives of the members of several Roman families during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. The fourteen novels of the series will take you around the Empire, from Germania and Britannia to Thracia, Dacia, and Judaea and, of course, to Rome itself.
Now available in paperback and ebook at Amazon and Barnes & Noble at Kobo worldwide, and at local bookstores by special order.
Second Chances by Carol Ashby
Volume 5 of the Light in the Empire Series
Must the shadows of the past destroy the hope of the future?
In AD 122, Cornelia Scipia, proud daughter of one of Rome’s noblest families, learns her adulterous husband plans to betroth their daughter to the vicious son of his best friend. Over her dead body! Cornelia divorces him, reclaims her enormous dowry, and kidnaps her own daughter. She plans to start over with Drusilla a thousand miles away. No more husbands for her. But she didn’t count on meeting Hector, the widowed Greek captain of the ship carrying her to her new life.
Devastated by the loss of his wife and daughter, Hector’s heart begins to heal as he befriends Drusilla. Cornelia’s sacrificial love for Drusilla and her courage and humor in the face of the unknown earn his admiration…as a friend. Is he ready for more?
Marriage to the kind, honest sea captain would give Drusilla the father she deserves…and Cornelia the faithful husband she’s always longed for. But while her ex-husband hunts them to drag Drusilla back to Rome, secrets in Hector’s past and the chasms between their social classes and different faiths erect complicated barriers to any future together. Will God give two lonely hearts a second chance at happiness?
Historical Background for Second Chances
Light in the Empire Series: Dangerous times, difficult friendships, lives transformed by forgiveness and love
Second Chances is the fifth volume in the Light in the Empire series, a mosaic of stories that follow the interconnected lives of the members of several Roman families during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. The fourteen novels of the series will take you around the Empire, from Germania and Britannia to Thracia, Dacia, and Judaea and, of course, to Rome itself.
Where to get Carol’s books:
Paperback, hardcover, and Kindle formats at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com.au and international Amazon sites
Paperback, hardcover and Nook (epub) at Barnes & Noble.
Paperback and hardcover at many online booksellers
Paperback and hardcover at independent bookstores
Ebooks at Kobo world wide
Other books in the stand-alone Light in the Empire series
Volume 1: Forgiven Are some wounds too deep to forgive?
Volume 2: Blind Ambition Sometimes you have to almost die to discover how you want to live.
Volume 3: The Legacy When Rome has taken everything, what’s left for a man to give?
Volume 4: Faithful Is the price of true friendship ever too high?
Volume 5: Second Chances Must the shadows of the past destroy the hope of the future?
Volume 6: True Freedom The chains we cannot see can be the hardest ones to break.
Volume 7: Hope Unchained Can the deepest loss bring the greatest gain?
Volume 8: Honor Bound Honor had forced him to protect her. Time would tell if he’d regret it.
Volume 9: Hope’s Reward Must the secrets we hide destroy our hope for a future?
Volume 10: More Than Honor
As he hunts the one who killed her father, will he discover the secret that could lead to her death?
Volume 11: What Matters Most When faced with impossible choices, how do you decide what matters most?
Volume 12: Truth and Honor Is truth worth the price if it costs you everything?
Relationships between the Light in the Empire Novels
Lists and charts of the times, locations, and people in the different novels. All can be read stand-alone, but you might enjoy reading some together because of what they share.
Important aspects of Roman history for each can be found in the short articles at the end of each novel linked here and in longer articles in this website.