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Secrets of Nanreath Hall: A Novel
By Alix Rickloff. 2016
This incredible debut historical novel—in the tradition of Beatriz Williams and Jennifer Robson—tells the fascinating story of a young mother…
who flees her home on the rocky cliffs of Cornwall and the daughter who finds her way back, seeking answers.Cornwall, 1940. Back in England after the harrowing evacuation at Dunkirk, WWII Red Cross nurse Anna Trenowyth is shocked to learn her adoptive parents Graham and Prue Handley have been killed in an air raid. She desperately needs their advice as she’s been assigned to the military hospital that has set up camp inside her biological mother’s childhood home—Nanreath Hall. Anna was just six-years-old when her mother, Lady Katherine Trenowyth, died. All she has left are vague memories that tease her with clues she can’t unravel. Anna’s assignment to Nanreath Hall could be the chance for her to finally become acquainted with the family she’s never known—and to unbury the truth and secrets surrounding her past.Cornwall, 1913. In the luxury of pre-WWI England, Lady Katherine Trenowyth is expected to do nothing more than make a smart marriage and have a respectable life. When Simon Halliday, a bohemian painter, enters her world, Katherine begins to question the future that was so carefully laid out for her. Her choices begin to lead her away from the stability of her home and family toward a wild existence of life, art, and love. But as everything begins to fall apart, Katherine finds herself destitute and alone.As Anna is drawn into her newfound family’s lives and their tangled loyalties, she discovers herself at the center of old heartbreaks and unbearable tragedies, leaving her to decide if the secrets of the past are too dangerous to unearth…and if the family she’s discovered is one she can keep.Somewhere South of Here: A Novel
By William Kowalski. 2001
I'd wondered about my mother all my life -- what she looked like, how she smelled and sounded and acted.…
Lately this wondering had grown to encompass a curiosity about the kind of people she herself came from, because they were my family, too, after all, even though I knew nothing about them. I'd no idea whether they were loud or soft-spoken, funny or boring, preferred chocolate to vanilla, if they liked movies over books or the other way around. I wondered whether any of them had ever done anything magnificent in their lives, or if they were the kind of folks who were satisfied with just getting by. These things were important -- knowing them would help me to know myself, and the only way that would happen was if I went and looked for her.With all his possessions on his motorcycle, Billy Mann sets off on a cross-country odyssey from New York to Santa Fe in search of a mother who deserted him long ago. What Billy discovers, however, is a life rich with possibility -- the chance for love, friendship, and, finally, a family to call his own.The Yacoubian Building: A Novel
By Alaa Al Aswany. 2006
August Book Sense PickA fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed ‘scientist of women.’ A purring, voluptuous siren. A young shop-girl enduring the…
clammy touch of her boss and hating herself for accepting the modest banknotes he tucks into her pocket afterward. An earnest, devout young doorman, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism. A cynical, secretly gay newspaper editor, helplessly in love with a peasant security guard. A roof-squatting tailor, scheming to own property. A corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify taking a mistress.All live in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor slowly decaying in the smog and hubbub of downtown Cairo, Egypt. In the course of this unforgettable novel, these disparate lives converge, careening inexorably toward an explosive conclusion. Tragicomic, passionate, shockingly frank in its sexuality, and brimming with an extraordinary, embracing human compassion, The Yacoubian Building is a literary achievement of the first order.Love is a Curse: A mystery lying buried. A love story for the ages
By Keith Stuart. 2024
'A modern Gothic novel unlike any other, about love and loss echoing through the ages. Sad, sweet, funny and hopeful'…
--- Emilia Hart (author of Weyward)From acclaimed author Keith Stuart, author of A Boy Made of Blocks and The Frequency of Us, comes a daring and unique story of heartbreak and hope.A single sentence was all it took to define Cammy's life. They came as her beloved artist aunt was dying, a teenage Cammy standing by her bedside: 'Did your mother ever tell you about the curse?'Cammy is warned that the women in her family are destined always to lose the one they love. She thinks nothing of it - until the day when, in her late twenties, her new boyfriend is hit by a car. Convinced she is to blame, Cammy begins to investigate the one-hundred-and-fifty-year story of a family that is both ordinary and remarkable, tragic and beautiful.But is the curse real, or is there an answer lurking in the letters, diaries and paintings of generations of women whose hearts were broken?'An original yet entirely universal story - sweeping in its scale, yet sweet-tempered, moving, and just the right amount of spooky. I loved it' --- Samuel Burr (author of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers)'Love Is a Curse uses Gothic so cleverly. I binged the ending in one sitting and was absolutely gripped (and may have had a tear or two in my eye!)' --- Sarah Brooks (author of The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wasteland)READERS ARE IN LOVE WITH LOVE IS A CURSE'One minute I'm on the edge of my seat and the next I'm reaching for tissues. Love, love, LOVED IT!'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Full of twists and drama and all you need from a good book, a fantastic novel once again bravo!!!'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This has to be my favourite of Keith Stuart's novels so far. It is an absolute celebration of the pursuit of love through adversity'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This whole book is an entire feeling. It's raw, gothic, suspenseful, thought provoking and an emotional read. Loved it'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Stuart has a gift for storytelling. Not a word is wasted and it reads beautifully.'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I loved this book. It had everything, suspense, horror, love. You name it this book had it!'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'What a fantastic read, everything you'd expect from Keith Stuart and more'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Very well written, with great characters, in whom you become fully invested'READER REVIEW⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐The Water Dancers: A Novel
By Terry Gamble. 2003
A stunning debut novel from a new voice in literary fiction, set on Lake Michigan following World War II, The…
Water Dancers limns the divide between the worlds of the wealthy elite "summer people" and the poor native population who serve them–and what happens when those worlds collide. When Rachel Winnapee first comes to work at the March family summer home on vast and beautiful Lake Michigan, she quickly learns her place. Servants are seen and not heard as they bring the breakfast trays, wash and iron luxurious clothes, and serve gin and tonics to the wealthy family as they lounge on the deck playing bridge. Orphaned as a poverty–stricken young girl from the nearby band of Native Americans, Rachel is in awe of the Marches' glamorous life–and quite enamored of the family's son Woody. Rachel is soon assigned the task of caring for Woody, a young man whose life has been changed utterly by his experience as a soldier in WWII. The war has cost Woody not only his leg, but, worse, the older brother he loved and admired. Now back at home, Woody cannot bear to face the obligations of his future – especially when it comes to his bride–to–be Elizabeth. Woody finds himself drawn to Rachel, who is like no one he's ever known. The love affair that unites these two lost souls in this Great Gatsby–esque portrait of class division will alter the course of their lives in ways both heartbreaking and profound. This novel's richness is due, in part, to the author's memories of summers spent at her family's house on Lake Michigan, home to six generations of Gambles (as in Procter & Gamble). THE WATER DANCERS, told in a voice as clear and cool as lake water, is a luminescent tale of love, loss and redemption, and heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve
By Gioconda Belli. 2009
“Ingenious.” —Vogue“Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand takes on nothing less than the creation myth of Western culture.” —Salman RushdieThe…
winner of the prestigious 2008 Biblioteca Breve Prize—joining such renowned Latin American luminaries as Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes—acclaimed poet and novelist Gioconda Belli’s Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand is a wholly creative and original re-imagining of the story of Adam and Eve and original sin. In a brilliant translation by Margaret Sayers Peyden, this remarkable new look at the Book of Genesis will appeal to readers of the novels of Isabel Allende, Anne Rice’s Jesus Chronicles, and to all lovers of great imaginative literature.Beyond Temptation: The Templar Knights
By Mary Reed McCall. 2007
From the wonderfully evocative and talented Mary Reed McCall comes the first novel of an exciting new trilogy based on…
the mysterious and fascinating Knights of Templar.Sir Richard de Cantor, a highly-skilled warrior, is hampered by guilt over the ambitious, materialistic way he'd lived before he joined the Templar Brotherhood -- a lifestyle he believes led to the death of his young daughter. Lady Margaret Newcomb is a disgraced daughter of a powerful English earl and has led a quiet life of penance and atonement. Though of different backgrounds, in truth they are both lonely, battered by the world, and in desperate need of each other's love and acceptance. Their fragile relationship is soon threatened when the French Inquisition makes its way to England, and Richard is faced with charges for his position as a Templar Knight, only to have their love further tested when someone from Meg's past reappears with the power to tear the two apart.The Governess Club: Sara (The Governess Club #3)
By Ellie Macdonald. 2014
For fans of Christina Dodd and Elizabeth Boyle.Sweet Sara Collins is one of the founding members of the Governess Club.…
But she has a secret: She doesn't love teaching. She'd much prefer to be a vicar's wife and help the local community. But this quiet mouse doesn't want to upset her friends, and she resolves to help in whatever ways she can.Nathan Grant is the embodiment of everything that frightens Sara. Which is why she can't understand why the handsome but reclusive and gruff man is so fascinating to her. When Sara decides it's time to take a chance and experience all that life has to offer, Nathan is the first person she thinks of.Will Sara's walk on the wild side ruin her chances at a simple, happy life? Or has she just opened the door to a once-in-a-lifetime chance at passion?Distant Heart
By Tracey Bateman. 2008
Toni Rodden has escaped a life of prostitution and vows she'll never let a man control her again. After months…
on the wagon train, she's finally earned her place, albeit grudgingly from some, and has found a surrogate family in Fannie Caldwell and her two siblings. For the first time she can taste freedom and the possibilities of a new life. But as Fannie prepares to marry wagon master Blake Tanner, Toni realizes how alone she is and questions whether she'll ever find acceptance, or true love.Despite Toni's conviction that no man will be able to see beyond her marred past, Sam Two-Feathers, the half-Indian wagon scout and acting preacher for the train, seems to know of a love that forgives sins and values much more than outward appearances. Will Sam have the confidence to declare his love? Will Toni be able to trust in a love that can forgive even the darkest past?The Governess Club: Claire (The Governess Club #1)
By Ellie Macdonald. 2013
For fans of Christina Dodd and Elizabeth Boyle.Claire Bannister just wants to be a good teacher so that she and…
the other ladies of the Governess Club can make enough money to leave their jobs and start their own school in the country. But when the new sinfully handsome and utterly distracting tutor arrives, Claire finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance that could change the course of her future. Jacob Knightly has a secret. He is actually the notorious Earl of Rimmel. He's just posing as a tutor to escape his reputation in the city. He never expected to fall in love with the kind and beautiful governess. She is the first person to love him for himself and not his title.But when Jacob's true identity is revealed, Claire realizes she has risked her reputation and her heart on a man she doesn't truly know. Will Jacob be able to convince her that the Wild Earl has been tamed and that she is the true countess of his heart?Torch: A Red-hot Small-town Romance (The Wildwood Series #3)
By Karen Erickson. 2016
Tate Warren has never met a woman he couldn’t charm—until now.Wren Gallagher won’t give him the time of day and…
it’s making him crazy.But he won’t give up without a fight… because there’s one thing he knows for sure:Enemies make the best lovers.Most women swoon over Tate’s devilish grin and firefighter uniform. But Wren couldn’t be less impressed by his good looks and flirtatious banter—in fact, she seems to downright despise him. She thinks he’s a player, but his attraction to her is no game. Wren is unlike anyone he’s ever known and he isn’t about to let the feisty, gorgeous woman slip through his fingers. Wooing Wren would be so much easier if she didn’t hate him… Or does she?The Governess Club: Bonnie (The Governess Club #2)
By Ellie Macdonald. 2013
Miss Bonnie Hodges, governess to the Darrow family, is desperately trying to hold it together. Tragedy has struck, and she…
is the sole person left to be strong for the two little boys in her care. When the new guardian arrives, she hopes that things will get better. She wasn't expecting her new employer to be the most frustrating, overbearing, and ... handsome man she's ever seen.Sir Stephen Montgomery is utterly distracted. He should be trying to figure out how his two best friends were killed in a suspicious accident and why the new young viscount seems destined to be the next victim. But he can't concentrate on anything but his growing infatuation with the beautiful, mysterious, and utterly captivating governess.Together they're doing their best to save the two boys, but will Stephen's feelings for Bonnie get in the way of their search for a killer?The Lady's Maid: A Novel
By Dilly Court. 2012
From internationally bestselling author Dilly Court comes a breathtaking historical saga about fate, friendship, and familyBorn on the same night…
in the summer of 1854, two infants are ripped away from their young mothers. Kate lives the life of a servant, penniless and shackled to her circumstances, while Josie grows up in the lap of luxury, given privilege and freedom she takes for granted.Although their lives couldn't be more different, Kate and Josie have been friends since childhood. But their past binds them together in ways they must never know.Until a chance meeting with a gypsy woman in the street forces Kate and Josie to confront the truth of their pasts—a truth that turns both worlds upside down and threatens their friendship and their very lives.Poppy's War
By Dilly Court, Lily Baxter. 2013
Internationally bestselling author Dilly Court writing as Lily Baxter returns with another emotional, heart-pounding saga set in World War II…
England.In 1939, thirteen-year-old Poppy is forced to evacuate her London home and flee to a grand country house on the coast of England. Alone and frightened, she arrives with only a set of clothes, a gas mask, and memories of the family she left behind, whom she may never see again. But the cruel inhabitants of the house make life a misery for her, and she longs for the love she once took for granted.The years pass, the endless war rages on, and Poppy grows into a lovely young woman determined to do her part. Training as a nurse, she meets a dashing pilot who captures her heart and, for the first time in years, reminds her of life before the war.While England battles over land, sea, and sky, Poppy must fight every day to gain the family she's always wanted, to find the love she's been missing, and to discover who she truly is.Defiant Heart (Westward Hearts)
By Tracey Bateman. 2007
In Book One of the Westward Hearts series, orphans Fannie Caldwell and her two young siblings have spent the last…
three years as indentured servants under a cruel master. Desperately wanting a better life for her brother and sister, Fannie devises a plan to secretly join a wagon train heading west. Her plan immediately runs into trouble when the handsome yet bullheaded wagon master Blake Tanner refuses to allow an unmarried woman on the train. But Fannie's determined—she'll escape and go west with or without help. As life on the trail tests everyone's endurance and faith, Fannie soon realizes the perils of being a single woman on the frontier. Witnessing Fannie fending off one scare after another, Blake slowly recognizes how much he cares for this alluring young woman. Will Blake sacrifice his own dreams and guide Fannie to safety? Or will Fannie's stubborn independence keep her from finding true love?The Shopkeeper's Daughter
By Dilly Court, Lily Baxter. 2010
In World War II–torn England, a young woman must fight to keep her family together, whatever the costGinnie Travis has…
been working in her father's shop for the past five years, trying to keep it afloat. When scandal rocks her family just as relentless Nazi raids threaten their very lives, Ginnie and her sister are forced to flee and stay with their aunt in the North of England. The last thing she expects to find in the quiet countryside is love, especially with an American soldier. A soldier who has secrets of his own.Tragedy strikes, the horror of war rages on, and Ginnie will do whatever she must to protect everything she holds dear.The Secret Life of Lady Julia (The temberlay Ser. #2)
By Lecia Cornwall. 2013
When star-crossed lovers reunite under strange circumstances in Regency England, will they be brave enough to take a second chance…
at love?The Secret Life of Lady Julia is Lecia Cornwall’s seductive follow-up to her debut historical romance, How to Deceive a Duke.Lady Julia Leighton is engaged to a long-time family friend who doesn’t spark her passion, and at her betrothal ball she meets a seductive stranger who steals hot kisses—and much more—from the beautiful innocent.Thomas Merritt is a thief of women’s hearts, and their expensive jewels. His steamy encounter with Lady Julia unexpectedly has him rethinking his wicked ways, but in the end, Thomas flees temptation.When their paths cross years later, Julia has a secret she’s desperate to bury and Thomas is hiding something dangerous, but he needs her help to set things right. Can two lovers with dark pasts overcome their tangled history and rekindle their former love?A Kiss to Dream On
By Neesa Hart. 1999
Jackson Puller didn't seem like the kind of man to surround himself with children. But this tough-talking journalist loved kids...it…
was everyone else who drove him crazy-especially do-gooders like Cammy Glynn. So when he was assigned to cover Cammy and the Wishing Star children's foundation, he let out a groan...until he met her and discovered a beautiful woman whose passions matched his own.The last thing Cammy needed was some hot-shot reporter following her around. Yes, Jackson was irrestible, but while his hungry kisses left her longing for more, his persistent questions made her blood boil. Cammy had always dreamed of a family of her own, and there was a gentle side to Jackson that touched her heart. But she knew that persuading a man like Jackson to settle down was nothing more than a romantic dream...The Rib King: A Novel
By Ladee Hubbard. 2021
Thrillist - 30 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2021Book Riot – Our Most Anticipated Releases of 2021Real Simple…
– The Best New Books to Read in 2021Chicago Review of Books – 12 Must-Read Books of January Book Riot – January 2021 Horoscopes and Book Recommendations Glamour--7 of the Best New Books in JanuaryVulture – 46 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2021 Lit Hub – Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2021 GMA.com – 16 January reads for the new year Harper’s Bazaar – 24 Books You Need to Read in 2021 -The Millions – Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2021 Book Preview Popsugar – From Bravery to Outlawed – These Are the Best Books of January 2021 Ms. Magazine – January 2021 Reads for the Rest of Us Bustle – The Best New Books, Week of January 18th Vulture – 27 Notable New Releases Over the Next Two Weeks Lit Hub – 14 new books to fuel your reading resolutions “Ultimately the reason to read The Rib King is not its timeliness or its insight into politics or Black culture, but because it accomplishes what the best fiction sets out to do: It drops you into a world you could not otherwise visit and makes you care deeply about what happens there.”--BookPage (starred review)The acclaimed author of The Talented Ribkins deconstructs painful African American stereotypes and offers a fresh and searing critique on race, class, privilege, ambition, exploitation, and the seeds of rage in America in this intricately woven and masterfully executed historical novel, set in early the twentieth century that centers around the black servants of a down-on-its heels upper-class white family.For fifteen years August Sitwell has worked for the Barclays, a well-to-do white family who plucked him from an orphan asylum and gave him a job. The groundskeeper is part of the household’s all-black staff, along with “Miss Mamie,” the talented cook, pretty new maid Jennie Williams, and three young kitchen apprentices—the latest orphan boys Mr. Barclay has taken in to "civilize" boys like August.But the Barclays fortunes have fallen, and their money is almost gone. When a prospective business associate proposes selling Miss Mamie’s delicious rib sauce to local markets under the brand name “The Rib King”—using a caricature of a wildly grinning August on the label—Mr. Barclay, desperate for cash, agrees. Yet neither Miss Mamie nor August will see a dime. Humiliated, August grows increasingly distraught, his anger building to a rage that explodes in shocking tragedy. Elegantly written and exhaustively researched, The Rib King is an unsparing examination of America’s fascination with black iconography and exploitation that redefines African American stereotypes in literature. In this powerful, disturbing, and timely novel, Ladee Hubbard reveals who people actually are, and most importantly, who and what they are not.Beautiful Tempest: A Novel (Malory-Anderson Family #12)
By Johanna Lindsey. 2017
#1 New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsey brings her &“signature blend of witty writing, charmingly unique characters, and a…
sexy love story&” (Booklist) to the tempestuous tale of a woman whose furious thirst for revenge leads to a confrontation with the handsome pirate who abducted her—and sparks a much steamier kind of desire.For the first time, James Malory and his in-laws agree on something: it&’s payback time for the culprit who kidnapped James and Georgina&’s beloved daughter Jack from her debutante party and whisked her away to the Caribbean. James has finally figured out who masterminded the dastardly plot and is leading a fleet of ships to the West Indies to deliver some Malory-style retribution. More interested in revenge than in finding a husband, Jack is furious that her father left her behind. So she decides to track down her abductor herself, but as Jack re-engages in a battle of wills with him, she realizes that he is no ordinary pirate. In fact, he may not a pirate at all, but a nobleman determined to settle a score that dates back to the days when her father was known as Captain Hawk—and what endangers her most is the increasingly passionate attraction they feel for each other.