It’s time for the next adventure filled with danger, friendship, faith, and love. Come join me again in the Roman Empire of Hadrian, this time in Rome itself in AD 127. The next volume in the Light in the Empire series is here!

In this new tale of light in the darkness and hope in difficult times, Tribune Titianus of True Freedom and More Than Honor returns to solve one final case before he resigns from military service to enjoy private life. But when Titianus’s reputation as the incorruptible tribune of the Urban Cohort leads the emperor himself to draft him to secretly investigate and identify the senators planning to assassinate Hadrian, life takes on a whole new level of danger for the new Christian and those he loves.

What Matters Most can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone novel, like all the books in the Light in the Empire series. But if you’ve been wondering what happened to Titianus and several of the other people you met as you read More Than Honor, you can find out while adding a whole new set of characters I think you’ll care about, too.

Available as e-book, paperback, and hardcover at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as e-book at Kobo, and at local bookstores by special order.

What Matters Most by Carol Ashby
Volume 11 of the Light in the Empire series

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 her 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?

Light in the Empire Series: Dangerous times, difficult friendships, lives transformed by forgiveness and love

What Matters Most is the eleventh volume in the Light in the Empire series, which follows the interconnected lives of the members of seven Roman families during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. The twelve novels of the stand-alone series will take you around the Empire, from Germania and Britannia to Thracia, Dacia, and Judaea and, of course, to Rome itself.