Historical Romance
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Sister of the Moon by Janeen O’Kerry
Celtic Journeys Series: An ancient fairy queen must find a king, but is torn between a warrior of the Sidhe and a bold youth from the world of men.
RIOT: A 1960s Love Story by Charles S. Isaacs
A fast-paced journey on an emotional roller coaster, bursting with political and sexual passions.
It’s the late 1960s. The Vietnam War, the Antiwar Movement and the Black Power Movement are rushing toward their explosive peaks. In the midst of this charged environment, an inter-racial pair of young activists fall madly in love. Awaiting them are excitement, danger, heartache and redemption.
RIOT: A 1960s Love Story chronicles these lovers’ challenging journey: their coming of age amidst an unpopular war, a racially polarized city, a hostile mayor and ever-mounting threats, all while working through their own deep psychological issues.
1968 is marked by campus unrest, urban rebellions and assassinations, as well as political violence that thrusts the duo into clashes with Chicago’s police and the National Guard. The suspense builds breathlessly to a heartrending climax during the street protests surrounding that summer’s Democratic National Convention.
Outlaw Highlander Home by Michelle Deerwester-Dalrymple
Reardon MacLaurin has searched his entire life for a place to call home. But now that he’s found it with Anice, will it come crashing down? Returning home after more than two years in the employ of the king, all Reardon wants is to find peace in his life with Anice by his side. After he helps Clan Grant eliminate the threat of a local band of highwaymen and oust a traitor to the king, he believes that peace can be found. And with Anice as his bride, he truly feels as if he has achieved it. Now they can focus on building a life with each other.
However, the threat of the traitorous Undersheriff, a criminal cloaked in the clothes of the law, still looms. When Reardon finds him before the Grant Highlanders do, in the worst possible way, that threat becomes more real. The Undersheriff’s vengeance knows no bounds, and Reardon’s life is at stake.
Yet he is willing to sacrifice himself for his clan, for his friend Josiah, and most of all, for Anice. And the Undersheriff will ensure that Reardon does not return home.
Begin this short novella series today – where the passion burns hot and fast like a fever! Outlaw Highlander Home is the final book in the Outlaw Trilogy in the Historical Fevered series.
Maiden of the Winds by Janeen O’Kerry
The beautiful and accomplished Keavy has turned down all offers of marriage. She cannot forget the golden eagle who came to her in the forest one spring day and made her a gift of three feathers… an eagle who gazed at her with the eyes of a man.
Under threat of being disowned, Keavy finally accepts a young druid. They secretly agree to a marriage of convenience and she goes to his distant home.
But after the wedding, Keavy learns that here a bride goes not to her husband but to the bed of the king… a king who gazes at her with the eyes of an eagle.
NOTE: No graphic violence. Some brief scenes of sexual content. This book was first published by Dorchester in 2003. It has been given a re-edit by the author, along with a new cover, but is the same story as the original novel.
Defiant Angel by Jodi Smith
Free July 16-18
The American West is as majestic as it is cruel. It’s where grown men struggle just to survive, and yet Lily Grace, an orphan who’s never know anything but the seedy life of a saloon, seems to thrive. It’s only by chance that the beautiful little girl is saved from the fate of her mother, a woman of ill repute. With the help of two unlikely friends, she escapes to a new life—where she learns to love, growing into a stunning, spirited young woman who’s determined to rise above her circumstances. To make something of herself. It’s this newfound strength that helps Lily to survive the trials to come, to remember who she is and what she stands for. Unfortunately, she never expected to meet a man like Ace Morgan. Tall, dark, and handsome the arrogant cowboy is more desirable than any man has a right to be. With just a single hot glance from those smoky blue eyes, Lily feels the warm waves of desire churn deep within. But Ace is rude, cold and drives her insane! She refuses to loose her head over any man, much less a notorious gunslinger! No, she has to be smart, to trust her wits and not let those around her dictate her future. Worth Waiting For by Matilda Madison
Penelope Powell, Countess of Canton has a secret. Banished for betraying her husband’s trust, Penelope has used contraceptive to keep herself from getting pregnant when they were first married. Exiled for her betrayal when her husband eventually found out, she hadn’t realized that she was pregnant at the time. For five years she kept the secret of a daughter from the man who sent her away. Try as she may, Penelope hasn’t gathered the courage to face her estranged husband, though she has tried to write him. Too ashamed about her actions, she always destroys the letters she wrote until one letter is accidently sent to London. Now, with rumors that the earl has taken on a lover, Penelope is forced to come clean about her secret and face the consequences of a man whose cruelty had caused their separation.
Edward Powell, Earl of Canton is known throughout London as a stoic, private gentleman who’s estranged wife has lived the past five years somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. Though the nature of their separation has never been confirmed, it has been whispered throughout the ton that the earl was betrayed and when he discovers that he has a daughter, his anger towards his wife is intensified. Decided to feign a reconciliation, he brings his wife and newly discovered daughter to London, where he plots to exact his revenge. But when he stumbles in his plans to punish her for her crimes against him, he learns that perhaps the true villain is himself.
While the couple learn to listen to each other for the first time, they learn that they were both at fault. Penelope, too terrified to become a mother knowing her own died in childbirth had tried to prevent herself from getting pregnant until she was ready. Of course, it didn’t work, but she was too proud and too broken hearted to face Edward once she gave birth to their daughter. Edward on the other hand realizes that he never truly listened to Penelope’s concerns and knows that he’s to blame for their separation since he was the one to banish her.
As they make their triumphant (and feign) reconciliation in London at the end of the season, Penelope learns to readjust to life in society as well as reunite with her sisters-in-law. Elizabeth, Edward’s rich widowed sister is waiting on an American who is due to inherit her late husband’s barondom. Emily, the youngest sibling, is out for her second season and harboring secrets of her own. As they all learn to become a family, Edward and Penelope learn to forgive each other while learning some truths about the lives they have lived apart.
After the last of the season parties commence, the Powells are off to their country home where Penelope is set to host her first country gathering for the twelfth of August hunting party. Edward doesn’t leave with them, intending to speak with his supposed mistress one last time, irking Penelope. But it’s soon revealed that Edward has only been helping a friend and that his affair is only a ruse.
Once he explains the truth to Penelope, she is hopeful that she and Edward can truly become reconciled now. With the arrival of the missing baron and a rumor that Emily may be feeding secrets to the papers, Edward and Penelope relationship seems to be mending when a fire threatens their country home and their daughter life become endangered. Ultimately the two save their daughter’s life and agree that love isn’t easy, yet nothing worth having ever is and so decide to choose each other every day from then on and live happily ever after.
The Test Pilot’s Wife by Mark Wayne McGinnis
The Test Pilot’s Wife is the bittersweet saga of Lura Lee Dunn and WWI flying ace Eugene Hoy Barksdale. Written in the spirit of The Aviator’s Wife and The Second Mrs. Astor, this historical fiction novel features cameos from such notable characters as Jimmy Doolittle and Amelia Earhart.
Her Forbidden Highlander Husband by Allison B. Hanson
Liam MacKinlay is certain that when he asks for Evelyn Stewart’s hand in marriage, the third time’s the charm. For hasn’t he risen to war chief of the clan MacKinlay, a seasoned warrior, and an honored member of the clan that took him in as a child? But once again, her father denies Liam the lass he lost his heart to years ago.
Daughter of the Laird of the Stewart clan, Evelyn is expected to perform her daughter’s duty, including marry for the better of the clan…. even if that’s against her will. But upon learning her father plans to trade her to an unknown clan in exchange for cattle, she will do almost anything to escape the future set out before her— including running away and marrying Liam MacKinlay.
Liam’s discovering that beneath Evelyn’s sweet disposition is an iron will to match any warrior. But now their marriage may start a war between the clans and Liam must fight for his new wife and his family. Even if it means raising his sword against those he calls “kin”…
Left on a Doorstep: The DuPree Dynasty – Book One by Beatrice H. Crew
England, 1896. On the cusp of her twenty-first birthday ball, Victoria Montgomery, daughter of a well-to-do family, learns that she has more in common with the young unwed mothers she helps in her London charity than she wanted to believe when she learns she had been left as a baby on her parents’ doorstep. Now a ruthless baby seller is stalking her to take revenge.
But when a handsome stranger named Allistair attends Victoria’s ball to compel her to his family’s island estate to be reunited with her ill birth father, Victoria soon discovers she has a history of people trying to kill her. Even her grandmother once attempted to throw her into the sea.
Victoria develops feelings for Allistair, a man she must trust to have her best interests, as he helps unravel the plot against her as well as the lace on her evening dress.
The next planned party is a masquerade ball — if Victoria can survive the event and remove the mask of her past.
They Called Him Marvin: A History of Love, War and Family by Roger Stark
“They were the fathers we never knew, the uncles we never met, the friends who never returned, the heroes we can never repay. They gave us our world. And those simple sounds of freedom we hear today are their voices speaking to us across the years.” Bill Clinton
Such a man was 1st Lt Dean Harold Sherman, B-29 Airplane Commander.
“They Called Him Marvin” is a history. A history of war and of family. A history of the collision of the raging politics of a global war, young love, patriotism, sacred family commitments, duty and the horrors and tragedies, the catastrophe that war is.
A reviewer explains: “I am a fan of historical fiction and this story did not disappoint. It was sweet, tragic, personal, and moving. Gradually and almost imperceptibly, the story of two wartime sweethearts begins circling the drain of a tragedy you know is coming. The book begins with the ending, but by the time you get there you have convinced yourself that it can’t possibly be the case. I enjoyed every moment, even the ones that left me in tears.
The letters between Connie and Dean provided a fascinating glimpse into wartime life. Reading the experiences of people both at home and abroad was very engaging. I found myself eagerly awaiting the next letter, right along with the young couple!
Lastly, the book left me with an overwhelming acknowledgement of the universal trauma and tragedy of war. The Sherman’s are not the only family we meet in the book and the weaving together of several different narratives added a depth to the story that’s hard to put into words.
I definitely encourage anyone to read this book, especially if historical novels are not something you typically read. This is a story about people and you won’t want it to end.
