Book Two
Finding the Weight of Blood
Separated sons move toward Florence and the Vatican in Rome, where the family story enters a new world of distance, authority, and consequence.
Explore Book Two ↗Historical Fiction
Books Set in Rome: Historical Fiction for Readers
For readers drawn to Rome’s old power, layered faith, and human drama, the Love & Venom trilogy follows one family from Constantinople toward Florence, the Vatican, and the larger world of Renaissance Italy.
Available in Kindle Unlimited, as eBooks or paperbacks, and as audiobooks on Google Play.
A Story That Reaches Rome
Come for the city, stay for the people who carry their past into it.
Rome invites a particular kind of historical fiction. It is a city where faith, art, family, and public power can feel inseparable, where a private decision may unfold beneath institutions and expectations much larger than any one person. The most affecting stories set there do more than point out famous streets or buildings. They let the city change what the characters can hope for, hide, forgive, or become.
That is the role Rome plays in Daisy O. Harrison’s Love & Venom trilogy. The series begins far from Italy, with Mustafa, a kidnapped Greek shepherd, and Esme, the Sultan’s favorite lady, in Constantinople. Their relationship begins a story that does not end when the first book closes. Its losses, loyalties, and unanswered questions move into the lives of the next generation.
In Finding the Weight of Blood, separated sons carry that family history toward Florence and the Vatican in Rome. The setting offers more than a change of scenery. It places a family already marked by distance and inheritance within a world of religious authority, beauty, ambition, and difficult belonging. For readers looking for books set in Rome with emotional continuity, the Italian chapters arrive with a past already in motion.
Rome With Consequence
Historical fiction that lets the setting press on every choice.
A novel can bring Rome to life in many ways. Some readers come for the architecture and ceremony. Others want the tension between spiritual life and worldly influence, or the contrast between private devotion and public reputation. What makes the city memorable in fiction is the pressure it puts on people. A setting becomes real when it changes the terms of a relationship, tests a promise, or gives an old conflict a sharper edge.
Love & Venom approaches Rome through a family story rather than a guided tour. The trilogy’s Italian movement grows out of the people introduced in Constantinople, so each new place carries emotional weight. Florence and the Vatican in Rome are not separate adventures dropped into a series. They are part of the path shaped by earlier separation, love, grief, and loyalty.
That wider arc is useful for readers who want historical fiction with both intimacy and reach. The story does not require specialist knowledge of Renaissance Italy. Its world is felt through characters trying to protect what matters, understand where they belong, and live with the choices that have already traveled ahead of them. History deepens the stakes, while the relationships keep the experience personal.
Rome also sits naturally beside the trilogy’s interest in faith, art, and power. These are not treated as distant subjects. They become part of the atmosphere surrounding the family, affecting what can be said openly, what must be carried quietly, and what a person is willing to risk. The result is an Italian setting with a human center.
A Good Match For
Readers who want Rome as part of a longer journey.
This trilogy is a good fit when you are looking for historical fiction set in Rome but do not want the city to stand alone. The story begins in Constantinople and moves into Italy over time, which means Rome is reached through relationships and history the reader has already lived with. By the time the family story turns toward the Vatican, the past has something at stake in the new setting.
It may especially appeal if you enjoy family sagas with a clear emotional thread. Love & Venom follows consequences across generations rather than starting over with unrelated characters in each book. The opening relationship between Mustafa and Esme matters because it continues to shape the sons and brothers who follow. That gives the later books a sense of inheritance, even as the setting and conflicts grow larger.
The series is also for readers who like Renaissance Italy without needing a textbook experience. Florence, Rome, faith, art, and authority create a rich backdrop, but the heart of the trilogy remains close to the people inside it. The books offer a way into the period through love, loyalty, separation, and the difficult work of belonging.
For readers who prefer to know a story has an ending, Love & Venom is complete. There are three books, a natural place to begin, and a full path to follow. You can start with the first novel, move into the Italian chapters when the story is ready, and continue without waiting for another volume.
The Italian Movement
Two books that carry one family story toward Rome and beyond.
Book Three
Finding the Venom To End
Adult brothers face love, faith, art, power, and struggle as the family story reaches its final movement in Renaissance Italy.
Explore Book Three ↗Where to Start
Begin at the beginning, then let the story carry you to Rome.
If Rome is what first draws you in, it can be tempting to begin with the Italian chapters. But the richest route through Love & Venom starts with Finding Love in Constantinople. Book One introduces Mustafa, Esme, and the choices that set the whole family story in motion. It makes the later movement toward Florence and the Vatican feel less like a new destination and more like the next consequence of a life already changed.
Starting with the first novel also gives the Roman setting room to arrive. The people who enter Italy are not strangers placed into an attractive historical world. They bring memories, wounds, loyalties, and questions with them. That history is what lets the shift toward Rome carry emotional force, not just visual appeal.
Choose the format that fits your reading life. Kindle Unlimited, eBook, paperback, and audiobook editions make it easy to begin in the way you prefer. Start with the opening love story, then follow the family through the cities and generations that reshape what comes next.
Continue the Journey
Explore Rome, Renaissance Italy, and the full trilogy.
Readers arrive at these books by different paths. Some are looking for a Roman setting shaped by faith and power. Some want the art and tension of Renaissance Italy. Others are searching for a historical family saga with a love story at its beginning. Love & Venom brings those interests together in one completed journey.
After you explore the trilogy, Daisy’s Rome reader guide offers another way to think about the city in fiction, while the Italy page follows the family’s wider movement through Florence and Rome. Each path leads back to the same place to begin: the first book and the relationship that changes everything after it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Before you begin
Which Love & Venom book takes readers to Rome?
Finding the Weight of Blood carries the family story toward Florence and the Vatican in Rome. It follows the consequences of the first novel into a new generation and a new Italian world.
Should I start with the Rome setting or Book One?
Start with Finding Love in Constantinople. The first novel introduces the love, losses, and family history that give the later Italian chapters their emotional weight.
Is this historical fiction set only in Rome?
No. Love & Venom begins in Constantinople, then moves through Florence and Rome before continuing into the wider pressures of Renaissance Italy. Rome is part of a larger family journey.
Where can I find the trilogy?
The books are available through Amazon in Kindle Unlimited, as eBooks and paperbacks, and as audiobooks on Google Play.