Octavia Felicia is a fifteen-year-old math prodigy in a world that abhors genius in women.
All she ever desired was to indulge in her passion for mathematics and to some day find happiness as a good Roman wife. Yet a tyrannical father, a champion gladiator, a renowned general, and an alluring slave girl present obstacles at every turn.
Yield Not to Evils, a completed, 90,700-word novel set in the Augustan Age, explores the timeless themes of love, loyalty, jealousy, and the nature of good and evil.
After her father’s fortunes are decimated by Pantera—Rome’s mightiest gladiator—Octavia seeks vengeance for her family’s sullied honor. Her plan for revenge backfires and she finds herself at the scoundrel’s mercy. Although the gladiator spares her life, he wounds her and leaves an enduring mark on her heart.
When her cash-strapped father marries her off to the great General Antonius Fortis, she finds herself embarking on a new life in Spain. Along the way, she survives harrowing pregnancies, raises two sons, corrupts a Vestal Virgin, and uses her gift for numbers to uncover a treacherous plot to kill her husband.
Her dreams of marital bliss are shattered when her slave and lifelong friend, Calandra, captures the hearts of both the General and Pantera. No longer able to bear the constant betrayal, Octavia ignites a bloody confrontation between her husband and the man she unrequitedly loves.