The Ruby Ring: The Sequel to The Viper Amulet

by Martha Marks

The sequel to The Viper AD 67 — Exhausted, grieving, and ready for something like a normal life again, Theodosia Varro sets off on what she hopes will be a journey home. However, as usual, things don't go the way she expects. Even as the younger members of her family grow into adulthood, other important events are happening around the Roman world. Theodosia finally finds peace, but not in a way that she ever anticipated.

PLEASE NOTE: The author's website — marthamarks.com — includes a *map* for all three books and a *glossary* of names and terms, plus other information to enhance your enjoyment and understanding.

The Ruby-Viper Trilogy is meant for adults. These books contain period-appropriate themes, violent incidents, and language that may disturb some readers.

MARTHA MARKS has won two gold medals in international book contests and is the author of two top-sellers in their categories on Amazon.

405 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 19, 2025

About the author

Martha is the Readers' Favorite and Global Book Awards Gold Medal award-winning and top-selling author of BETTING ON BERNIE, A MEMOIR OF A MARRIAGE, plus three novels: RUBIES OF THE VIPER, THE VIPER AMULET and THE RUBY RING

Reviews

[Alice Douthwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a powerful finish to a fascinating trilogy!

I love reading fiction that entertains me and also teaches me interesting stuff. In The Ruby Ring, Martha Marks skillfully blends the struggles of her fictional characters with tons of research about life in the Roman Empire in the first century. The book is almost 400 pages, but it’s a pretty quick read.

The series follows the adventures of the heroine, Theodosia Varro, a well-educated Roman. Here’s a thumbnail sketch (the way I remember it) of some of the drama she lives through. An impulsive young woman in Rubies of the Viper, she inherits and then loses her family fortune. In The Viper Amulet she flees Italia, gets married, raises a kid, and battles to rescue her husband from being unfairly enslaved. Widowed early in The Ruby Ring, she returns to Italia and struggles to survive as her brilliant young son takes center stage.

I’m betting that in a few years this trilogy is going to be the basis for a mini-series on Netflix or Prime or something. But don’t wait for that version; read the books first!

[Donna Roxey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martha Marks' Ruby-Viper Trilogy series is unlike anything I've ever read. Martha tells the life story of Theodosia Varro, a Roman from a well-to-do family, who goes through unexpected, harsh years as a young woman, then more drama with family and Roman royalty, and finally into her later years, told in The Ruby Ring. A few major historical events occur in the book--but I can't reveal them, of course. One thing that impresses me so much is the unfathomable extent to which Martha researched Roman history and society. The realistic conversations and narrative made me feel as if I were living in the first century on the Mediterranean. She provides Historical Notes near the end of Book 3. Wow! So enlightening--about the real characters she included and how she handled them in the text. She also includes a fascinating list, as she puts it, "details that may seem made up but are true.' I also frequently referenced the map she provided in marthmarks.com. Definitely recommend the entire series.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

great ending to trilogy

Loved all 3 of these books. Brought that period to life and the characters were surprising and beautifully drawn. Highly recommend them all