You know the old meme of a bunch of kids standing under a trench coat, pretending to be an adult? This is four novellas standing under a novel-sized trench coat.

In the first novella we meet ad exec and New Yorker Karen Brown. She learns that the aunt and uncle who raised her hid the truth of her parents from her. Unoriginal plot aside, it’s engaging and well executed. The characters are interesting and unique.

In the second, Karen is now Cara, struggling to adapt to her new life in Roma Nova. The characters are mostly new and a bit less unique.

The pace picks back up again in the third novella. Karen/Cara is now Pulcheria, working a deadly undercover mission on behalf of the Roma Nova police. Exciting plot and some interesting new characters, but the characters are really starting to blur together now.

Finally, Karen/Cara/Pulcheria becomes Carina and joins the military.

The writing style is excellent. The world building is intricate and well thought out. Most of the characters are unique and engaging. On a line level, it’s well edited.

One star off for the meandering nature of this story. ( )

After a failed kidnapping attempt, average, ordinary New York resident, Karen Brown has to open her eyes to some harsh new realities. Things aren't as they seem and her family history is suddenly more complex then she realized. Both parents are dead but, it's her mother's ancestry that is suddenly important. She always knew her mother was from Roma Nova, a European country, but she didn't realize that her mother was from a very powerful and wealthy family. As her 25th birthday approaches Karen stands to inherit a lot of money and a business, a fact that was unbeknownst to her, but very clear to her new enemies. A representative from Roma Nova comes to New York to inform and protect Karen but things quickly get deadly as an assassin with nothing to lose won't stop pursuing Karen. Will she ever be safe again in New York? Fast paced this book will appeal to fans of political thrillers, alternate history, and strong female leads.

I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased opinion. ( )

Could have done with some help to make the transitions work between scenes a little better as the whiplash between them was a bit unsmooth for me, but overall I enjoyed it.

A story of an alternative world where a Roman colony survived the downfall of Rome and became a power in it's own right. It's matrilineal and just that little bit different from our world. Into this world comes Karen Brown, whose mother was from Roma Nova but she lives in New York as an advertising executive, working with the Conservancy Corps until she intervenes in an altercation and everything changes. Suddenly her life is turned upside down, she's under stress from a government enforcer, her only choice is to run, to Roma Nova where she finds a new direction in life as she is one of the privelidged.

She discovers something about her rescuer, Conrad Tellus and this isolates her somewhat, but she's finding that life in Roma Nova is full of surprises.

I found that she coped with the culture shock quite quickly, and the aforementioned scene whiplash broke the smoothness of the read but I still want to read more. This world fascinates me and I have a lot of curiosity about the differences. The resolution felt a bit rushed and I had to re-read it to make sure I had got it right, but overall I liked the read. ( )