After losing her book deal and her academic position, historian Aida Reale needs a new career, and fast. So when a friend recommends her for an extremely high-paying position at a company called MODA, it feels like the perfect stroke of luck. Aside from a snooty assistant, a daunting NDA and some very stringent rules about the use of personal technology, working for MODA is a dream come true --- at first. It seems like every site she visits either vanishes or is struck by tragedy soon after she’s been there. It’s only after a mysterious woman approaches Aida and Luciano, her handsome and equally concerned MODA colleague, that they learn the truth --- they are just mortal pawns in a game between gods. Now Aida must find answers to the question she's been avoiding: What's really happening to all the happiness she's been collecting...and can she stop the gods’ plans before it’s too late?

In the 26th year of Augustus Caesar’s reign, Marcus Gavius Apicius has a singular ambition: to serve as culinary adviser to Caesar. To cement his legacy as Rome’s leading epicure, the wealthy Apicius acquires a young chef, Thrasius, for the exorbitant price of 20,000 denarii. Apicius believes that the talented Thrasius is the key to his culinary success, and with the slave’s help, he soon becomes known for his lavish parties and sumptuous meals. But as Apicius draws closer to his ultimate goal, his dangerous single-mindedness threatens his young family and places his entire household at the mercy of the most powerful forces in Rome.