Secret Splendor — Anne Powers

YOUNG, RECLESS, AND DESPERATELY IN LOVE...WITH THE WRONG MAN

Banished with her father from Imperial Rome, Fausta grew up as wild a sea nymph on the wind-swept Adriatic coast. She was barely sixteen when handsome young Julian arrived at her country villa to claim her as the bride of his brother Constantine, the all-too-powerful Emperor. Though she and Julian fell immediately, desperately in love, Fausta fate was sealed--there was no turning hack.

Fausta's rustic upbringing left her totally unprepared for the intrigue and corruption of the Imperial Court. But as Empress she was forced to learn quickly and feign love for her unscrupulous husband, to protect her children, and above all, to conceal her forbidden passion fog Julian that would forever enflame and torment them both....