What Matters Most (Light in the Empire)

By Carol Ashby

Description:

When faced with impossible choices, how do you decide what matters most?

For ten years, the incorruptible Tribune Titianus enforced Rome’s laws. He’s four days from leaving the Urban Cohort to teach at his brother-in-law Kaeso’s school when Emperor Hadrian and the Praetorian Prefect draft him to secretly investigate and thwart an assassination plot…one that might involve his own commander. He can’t refuse, but if Hadrian’s enemies discover his Christian faith, will it mean death for everyone he loves?

Titianus’s cousin Sabina returns as a widow to her father’s house after six years of misery in a marriage that sealed a political alliance. She’s dreading the next marriage Grandfather will arrange with someone seeking his support. When her brother’s best friend Kaeso offers the encouragement and friendship she’s longed for, can she escape the chains of society’s expectations to gain what every woman’s heart desires?

The new tribune Glabrio wants two things as Titianus trains him: to discover for their commander who Titianus is investigating and to gain the support of Titianus’s powerful relatives. Marrying Sabina would secure the backing of her grandfather, but because of the teacher, she's making choices no noblewoman should. As he gets closer to both his goals, will he realize in time what matters most?

Book Takeaway:

When we live with integrity and kindness, someone who was only an acquaintance might become a friend. When friendships grow and deepen, sometimes we can share our faith with those who have opened their hearts and minds to us because we’ve become trusted friends.

Why the author wrote this book:

I write each story in my stand-alone series to share some characters with some of the other stories. To help me choose the major characters of the next story, I always ask if there are characters a reader would like to see again. When I finished More Than Honor, Kaeso, Manius, and Septimus were the most requested, and others wanted to see more of Titianus and Pompeia together. I think what happens in What Matters Most will satisfy most of those requests. I had a wonderful time adding some new leading characters to make it a rich stand-alone read while giving those who loved More Than Honor more of their favorites.