Book picks similar to
Murder of Convenience by Linda Shenton Matchett


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Eastbound from Flagstaff: A Novel


Annette Valentine - 2019
    He abandons roots that are his foundational strength and hides behind his charm, living every moment as if life’s daring him to fail―again. He’s reckoning with his father’s God who could have delivered better outcomes but didn’t.This first installment in an epic trilogy that begins in the 1920’s, unique in its purposeful illumination of the human condition and its ideological indifference to God, asks the question: “Why was God silent when I needed him?” Simon’s return to the notion of forgiveness is the catalyst for a new beginning as it reunites Simon to the place he once thought was the impossible dream. The answer for Simon isn’t blowing in the backwinds of his dream chase; rather, it unfolds in the outstretched hand of a villain.

A Wish and a Prayer


Robin Lee Hatcher - 2014
    Her prayer is heard and an angel is dispatched to assist Felicity in finding the answer to her heart's desire. Prescott Jones arrives in Appleton, Idaho with plans to build a cannery, find a woman to marry, and settle down. He and his partner have managed to acquire all the property needed—except for a plot of land owned by an old-maid seamstress. With the help of a large white cat named Angel, Prescott sets out to change Felicity's mind. About the cannery … and about him. A NOTE TO READERS:A Wish & a Prayer is a bit different from my usual fare. It was written for fun and is pure fantasy. It isn't meant to be anything more than that. It definitely isn't theologically correct when it comes to angels. The angels of the Bible are portrayed as quite different from Angel Emeline. Whenever angels appeared to mankind in the Bible, they did it in a human form, and the Bible is what we should trust for an understanding of all things spiritual, including angels.Still, I hope you'll enjoy reading this romantic bit of whimsy. It's a story that made me smile as I wrote it.Robin Lee Hatcher

Veiled in Smoke


Jocelyn Green - 2020
    But when the Great Fire sweeps through Chicago's business district, they lose much more than just their store.The sisters become separated from their father, and after Meg burns her hands in an attempt to save a family heirloom, they make a harrowing escape from the flames with the help of Chicago Tribune reporter Nate Pierce. Once the smoke clears away, they reunite with Stephen, only to learn soon after that their family friend not only died during the fire--he was murdered. Even more shocking, Stephen is charged with the crime and committed to the Cook County Insane Asylum.Though homeless, injured, and suddenly unemployed, Meg must not only gather the pieces of her shattered life, but prove her father's innocence before the asylum truly drives him mad.

Finding a Family at Christmas


Emma Ashwood - 2019
     Rose couldn’t wait to meet her husband, only she didn’t realize that he had never wanted a wife. Tired of playing servant to her father, Rose Johnson decides to become a bride. She had been corresponding with William Dunn for the past six months and couldn’t wait to join him in Hope Creek to become his wife and mother to his twins. When she steps off the train in the strange frontier town, Rose realizes William Dunn isn’t who he proclaimed himself to be. Arriving on William’s ranch, Rose realizes the lies have been far flung.  In a hopeless situation, the only light in Rose’s life is the twins. She soon falls in love with them, knowing that she couldn’t leave no matter what the circumstances. When she happens upon an injured man late one winter’s night, her instinct is to cry out for help. But something in the stranger’s eyes settled her and she takes to caring for him in his time of need instead. Only a week before Christmas, Rose doesn’t have the heart to turn him out in the cold. Besides, time with him warms her heart. Who is the stranger in the barn? Which way will Rose turn? Does she follow her heart? Can she leave the children she has grown to love? Will Christmas become a magical moment for Rose?

Living Lies


Natalie Walters - 2019
    At least that's what Lane Kent is counting on when she returns to her hometown with her five-year-old son. Dangerously depressed after the death of her husband, Lane is looking for hope. What she finds instead is a dead body.Lane must work with Walton's newest deputy, Charlie Lynch, to uncover the truth behind the murder. But when that truth hits too close to home, she'll have to decide if saving the life of another is worth the cost of revealing her darkest secret.Debut novelist Natalie Walters pulls you to the edge of your seat on the first page and keeps you there until the last in this riveting story that will have you believing no one is defined by their past.

The Element of Love


Mary Connealy - 2022
    Now they must run away--far and fast--to find better matches to legally claim their portion of their father's lumber dynasty and seize control from their stepfather.When Laura befriends a mission group heading to serve the poor in California during their escape, she quickly volunteers herself and her sisters to join their efforts. Despite the settlement being in miserable condition, the sisters are excited by the opportunity to put their skills to good use. Laura also sees potential in Caleb, the local minister, to help with gaining her inheritance. But when secrets buried in Caleb's past and in the land around them come to light, it'll take all the smarts the sisters have to keep trouble at bay.

Undercover Twin


Heather Woodhaven - 2019
    Now with her FBI agent sister shot and in critical condition, going undercover with Agent Lee Benson is the only way to protect her newfound twin. And as her pretend husband, Lee must keep Audrey safe…or pay twice the deadly price.

Secrets


Kristen Heitzmann - 2004
    What happened all those years ago, and what is it she so desperately needs him to find? The old villa in Sonoma holds the answers, but it is now owned by a young woman who neither knows nor cares about his mission. But Rese Barret is a force to contend with, and her own impending storm could sweep him up as their sparring creates a fierce and uncomfortable attraction. From bestselling author Kristen Heitzmann.

The House of Closed Doors


Jane Steen - 2012
    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.

My Heart Belongs in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Clarissa's Conflict


Murray Pura - 2018
    Journey into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, of 1863 where Clarissa Avery Ross lives a full life. By day she is the daughter of a respectable shoemaker being courted by seminary student Kyle Forrester. But by night she is a conductor on the Underground Railroad, working with a mysterious man called Liberty. She would like to share her work with Kyle, but he refuses to enlist when the war breaks out. How can she remain true to a man being labeled a coward? When the war comes to her back door in an epic battle, the greatest challenges to her faith and love are yet to come.

We'll Meet Again


Judith Saxton - 1996
    But she joined the WAAFs instead, together with a very mixed company of girls - all of whom had joined for very mixed reasons.

Rush


Jayme H. Mansfield - 2017
    In competition with desperate homesteaders, ruthless land seekers, and a sheriff determined to see her fail, Mary rides out on a horse to strike her claim in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1893. When she finally thrusts her flag into the dirt, 160 acres becomes her own. But with that claim, she risks more than she could ever imagine. A naïve school teacher and young mother abandoned by her hard-drinking, gold-seeking husband—whom she now believes to be dead—Mary is faced with letting go of a past riddled with loss, hardship, and reminders that a woman isn't capable of surviving on her own. Daniel McKenzie, an illustrative journalist sent on assignment to document the race, has his own past to forget. Bound by a lost love and guilt from a haunting event in the streets of Boston, he wonders whether he will ever know happiness again. Will Mary's and Daniel's stubborn and independent spirits keep them mired in the past? Or will two broken hearts find forgiveness and love in the wild plains of the Midwest?

The Oak Tree Letters


Lora Lindy - 2014
    She loves their new home called Oakley Plantation, especially when she finds old love letters dated back to the Civil War. Unfortunately, she has only one side of them—letters from Lt. Stanton Winston Tate. Little does she know that across the state, a young man named Trevor Whitfield finds the other half—letters from Constantine Oakley. They both research the couple and find lots of history of the old plantation—and some not so good. In the meantime, Sheriff Carlton Adams is trying to solve all the cold cases before he retires. Three murders are left; all were in the late 1800s, and all involve the Oakleys. Fate intertwines their lives and research. When all seems to come to a dead end, a century year old lady named Mable Carter helps. However, her help unveils a curse and the spirits. Can Issy, Trevor and the Sheriff solve the case? Can they undo the curse?

Cockney Orphan


Carol Rivers - 2006
    The Isle of Dogs, heart of London's docklands, suffers the first terrible night of a nine-month Blitz. But for Connie Marsh, the discovery of an orphaned baby boy amongst the rubble brings a glimmer of hope to a time of darkness and suffering. She also finds herself falling in love with handsome Vic Campion, the man who helped her rescue the child they've named Lucky. But Connie's happiness is not to last. When his call-up papers arrive, Vic leaves for the navy - and Connie knows she might never see him again. And when a sinister figure emerges, claiming to be Lucky's grandfather, she is terrified of losing the child, too. Will she turn for comfort to Clint Hershey, the dashing GI who makes no secret of his admiration for her? Will she stay true to Vic, the man she really loves? Previously published with the title Connie of Kettle Street.

Thief of Glory


Sigmund Brouwer - 2014
    When Holland declared war on the Japanese in 1941, the situation changed swiftly. The Japanese army invaded, and Jeremiah and his family were placed in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp-a camp Jeremiah finally escapes and returns to Holland. Yet wartime complications force him to abandon a marriage engagement with Laura Jensen. The young man flees to California, where he struggles with the lingering anger and war stress he faced as a child.Determined to find some kind of redemption, a now-elderly Jeremiah tries to make sense of his life by journaling of all that he does not want to reveal to his children about his past, intending to leave his writings as an apology after he is gone.An online encounter puts Jeremiah in touch with his true love from the war years, Laura, and when they meet again, it triggers the time bomb of long-buried secrets. Even seventy years later, if uncovered, these secrets can harm everyone who matters to Jeremiah.