Divine by M.J. Woodman

The captivating debut novel by M.J. Woodman.

What if Rome never fell?

In an alternative reality, the Roman Empire never fell, and the world was never the same. Present-day Appia, real-world North America, fractured by a mythical war in recent history has been divided into five Imperial fortress states. These states, shielded by an invisible forcefield and known as Havens, are designed to protect inhabitants from the world beyond. What lies beyond? Electa Steel wants to know.

Electa, on the cusp of womanhood, faces an uncertain future in Latia, the capital state in Appia. While sun-drenched Latia may be a paradise for some, it is a prison for others. Feeling suppressed by her society’s rules, expectations, and religion, she rebels quietly in the only ways she knows how – drinking, smoking, fighting, and partying. Her youthful but futile resistance cannot last for long. Her seventeenth birthday looms and with it, the Choosing. This rite of passage promises wealth and happiness for a chosen few but Electa, as a plebeian faces an almost certain fate – expulsion from her Haven and homeland.

Electa’s fate takes an unexpected turn when, against all the odds, she is Chosen to remain in her society for the rest of her life and to compete in Imperial Panore, a once in a generation event to find a wife for the future Emperor. A mysterious terror organization, Spartaca, from outside her Haven, recruits her, to bring down the Empire from the inside. Spartaca uses Electa as a pawn, and in the process, she must learn to adapt to the politics and power her new life brings. To win the competition, she must first seduce the Prince, and future Emperor, Asher Ovicula. Then she must defeat the other competitors in a series of brutal gladiatorial games. Why did Spartaca choose her? The truth will change Electa’s world forever.