Book picks similar to
Heroes and Orators by Robert Phelps


american-lit
fiction
lgbtq-literature
novels

The Penny Wedding


Jessica Stirling - 1994
    But heartbreak awaits among the tidy gardens and green lawns and soon seventeen-year-old Alison is forced to take on responsibility for her out-of-work father and brothers and put her own ambitions aside.Love as well as loss threatens Alison’s future, however, and leads her into a relationship with teacher Jim Abbott, an affair which her brothers, even the brooding Henry, are powerless to understand, let alone prevent. Throughout the Depression years of the early 30s, the Burnsides – united by a shared heritage yet divided by their dreams – square up to the challenge of poverty and fight to hold the family together, whatever the cost.

The Amish Baby and the Big Beautiful Woman: Love, Pain, and Sorrow


Sarah Miller - 2016
    The children are mean and no one wants to court her. While all her friends are now married Emma is all alone. One day by the creek a group of boys have reduced her to tears. John Fisher walks into this scene and chases them away. He does not see her weight - he sees a beautiful woman but he has problems of his own. Caring for his sister’s baby is not easy for a single man new to the district. Maybe Emma can help? Emma starts to fall for John but a new problem arises. Does he only see her as a nanny? Can Emma accept this or will she hold out for love? Find out in this sweet, clean, and inspirational Amish romance by bestselling author Sarah Miller.

Hunt-U.S. Marshal Vol 32: A New Record


W.L. Cox - 2017
    Marshal leads Hunt on various duties as he visits other U.S. Marshal Offices. Hunt makes plans to open a new office and runs into problems when he tries to fill the positions. U.S. Marshals don’t want to lose their people and have them replaced with new recruits. Hunt rides with some men on a detail in West Virgina and ends up involved in a shootout. Hunt discovers a Deputy Marshal that he is sure would make a great Marshal and runs into some resistance when the job is offered. Hunt visits Atlanta, and while he still has a few days to spare, he decides to travel south and check on Earl in Orlando.

Mountain Man John Comes To Texas: A Western Adventure


Gene Turney - 2020
    John could not wait to get to the Rocky Mountains. He liked solitude, and he wanted to learn how to survive in the harsh winter conditions in the mountains. The big man knew he could be a mountain man and had to learn quickly. He dealt with frequent snow storms, frozen rivers and arctic conditions. His cave became his home. John welcomed an old Indian chief who came to the high elevations to spend the last days of his life. He later rescued the daughter of the Indian chief and life took on a new meaning for Mountain Man John.Grab your copy today and ride boldly with Turney and his new Western frontier adventure!

Defender of Rome: A Tale of the Ancient Republic


Ken Farmer - 2016
    Ever hear of the term Pyrrhic victory? A young Roman soldier is a part of history in which the phrase was created.

SUMMER OF THE PLAGUE (Molly Titchen Book 2)


Gordon John Thomson - 2015
    In the spring of 1665, England is recovering from a terrible winter, yet the country has other severe problems to face as the sun finally returns. The King, Charles II, had been welcomed back as a saviour on his restoration five years before, but is now resented by increasing numbers of his own people. And in March, the King declares war on the Dutch, England’s great seagoing trade rivals… Worse news comes to Restoration London, though, when there is an outbreak of the plague in April. This is terrible news in particular for the wealthy young physician and merchant Henry Raven, who believes that the outbreak is not natural but has been caused by an old enemy plotting his revenge against the city of London. Henry Raven, together with his friends from the Royal Society, Dr William Croone and Robert Hooke, organize the city’s fight against the spread of the disease. Raven’s delectable young mistress, Molly Titchen, is a precocious seventeen-year-old actress at the new King’s theatre in Drury Lane who is torn between her devotion to Henry Raven, and her love of strutting the stage in breeches parts. When Molly gives a bed for the night to one sick young actor, her kind action is misunderstood by Raven who believes that she has been unfaithful to him. Then Molly falls on hard times herself, and is aided not by her jealous lover, but by a strange Moorish apothecary, and a mysterious Frenchman, Philippe Desargues, Comte de Mésanger... Henry Raven has other problems to trouble his mind too, apart from his fight against the plague and his wish to save his relationship with Molly. Firstly, a close childhood friend, Esther Linney, has disappeared from her cottage on the estate of Raven’s family home in Dorset, Salwayash Manor, and gone to London. Raven’s sister Catherine asks her brother to find Esther in London, and discover why she left Dorset in such mysterious circumstances. Raven also has to deal with the fact that his sister has clearly fallen in love with their wealthy neighbour, the recently widowed Ralph Warboys, who is a handsome man yet one with a haunted past. And then strange events unfold in the quiet Dorset countryside when two young girls are found dead in suspicious circumstances... As the plague rages through London, Raven finds himself having to defend Esther Linney against a charge of witchcraft, while also trying to save Molly from an implacable enemy. But his greatest challenge is to discover the secrets of an old family curse, and to unmask a cruel murderer…

My Sister Sarah


Victor Pemberton - 1999
    Beattie, raucous and fun-loving, sees her sister Sarah's quiet reserve as snobbery, and Sarah cannot understand why Beattie appears to upset their parents' comfortable Islington household at every opportunity. When Sarah discovers her younger sister's spiteful affair with the naval officer she'd hoped to marry, she is devastated, whilst the defiant Beattie's reputation lies in tatters. As London recovers from the trauma of the Great War the girls are forced into very different lives. But, through the child they both love, it seems there might be a chance that the tragedy that drove them apart might one day compel their paths to cross again...

Blood in the Water Trilogy: The Lieutenant Oliver Anson Thriller Box Set


David McDine - 2018
     The Napoleonic wars are brought to life with grit and gunpowder in this trilogy of hugely popular novels: Strike the Red Flag, The Normandy Privateer and Dead Man's Island. With a clear knowledge of the period, McDine skillfully uses actual events in the Royal Navy’s history as the backdrop to Anson's swashbuckling adventures. For fans of Hornblower, Bolitho, Ramage or Aubrey, Oliver Anson will be your next naval hero. David McDine, OBE, is a former Admiralty information officer, Royal Navy Reserve officer and Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, and the author of Unconquered: The Story of Kent and its Lieutenancy.

Rain Of Gold Part 1 Of 2


Victor Villaseñor - 1991
    And Rain of Gold is possibly his finest work -- a sweeping tableau of family ties and cultural traditions.pA pair of strong families, two proud but embattled lineages, find themselves bound together by time and circumstance. Through political upheavals, loves gained and lives lost, the families struggle to keep what is precious to them. This premise would make a mesmerizing novel -- but this story is all true.p"A great love story...magnificent." (Albuquerque Journal)

SPQR: The Roman Empire has just discovered a terrifying new world


Richard Blade - 2019
    In 55 B.C. the Roman Senate orders their most honored general, Demetrius Varinica, to cease mourning his wife and return to Rome to lead a fleet on an ill-fated invasion. The general and a handful of survivors from the devastated Fifteenth Legion wash up on an unknown shore and find themselves in a terrifying new world where every moment is a battle to stay alive. Befriended by a peaceful tribe, these hardened warriors learn a different way of life, existing with nature, without war, without fighting. But even as a new day dawns, a terrifying evil falls upon the land and confronts Demetrius with an unthinkable choice, honor his oath and return with his men to Rome or remain in this strange country and pick up his sword once again to face impossible odds in a desperate attempt to save the lives of these gentle people and the woman who has won his heart.

Summary: "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel" by Gail Honeyman | Discussion Prompts


bestof.me - 2019
    Nobody has ever told Eleanor Oliphant that life should not only be fine but better than fine.  Eleanor Oliphant is an ordinary woman who struggles with the appropriate social skills she needs to have on occasion. She has the tendency to say the exact words that she is thinking. Truth is, nothing is really missing in her carefully timetabled life that can be described as avoidance of social interactions. Her weekends are punctuated by frozen vodka, pizza, and phone chats with her Mummy. But everything will change for Eleanor when she meets Raymond in her office. He is the bumbling IT guy who is deeply unhygienic. When Eleanor and Raymond saw an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, together they saved Sammy. This became the start of the three’s friendship. They would rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they have each been living. And it is none other than the big heart of Raymond that would ultimately help quiet Eleanor to find the best way to repair her own profoundly damaged heart. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will soon be a major motion picture that will be produced by actress Reese Witherspoon. This novel is a warm, smart and uplifting story of an unlikely heroine whose weirdness and unconscious wit would make an irresistible journey.In this comprehensive look into Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman, you'll gain insight with this essential resource as a guide to aid your discussions. Be prepared to lead with the following: Discussion aid which includes a wealth of prompts and information Overall plot synopsis and author biography Thought-provoking discussion questions for a deeper examination Creative exercises to foster alternate “if this was you” discussions And more!  Disclaimer: This is a companion guide based on the work Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman and is not affiliated to the original work or author in any way. It does not contain any text of the original work. If you haven’t purchased the original work, we encourage you to do so first.

The Paradise Gig (Key West Capers Book 15)


Laurence Shames - 2020
    FICTION: Poolside at their motel, the Fab Four fell into conversation with a snappy-dressing local named Bert the Shirt, who listened as the band worked out a harmony to the most beautiful song he’d ever heard--and wouldn’t hear again for over half a century. FACT: That night, the Beatles played an unannounced free concert in the motel bar. Everyone was welcome. Local musicians showed up with guitars and keyboards, and had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of jamming with the Beatles till 4 am. This legendary event has forever after been known to Key West locals as THE PARADISE GIG.FICTION: Next day, hung over and exhausted, the Beatles left for the airport, having somehow lost a stained and battered notebook that held a priceless stash of unrecorded songs. NOW CUT TO THE PRESENT: A beautiful woman is doing a yoga headstand on a Key West beach when she’s abducted by a pair of thugs. An aspiring young singer is offered a recording deal that seems a bit too good to be true. Bad things happen to a couple of one-hit wonders…And old Bert hears a new song that is hauntingly familiar, but that he can’t quite place.Could it possibly be the same song he’d heard at poolside so many years before? Could it be that all the present mayhem circles back through the decades to THE PARADISE GIG? Could the precious, even sacred, Beatles notebook possibly turn up after all these years? Could Bert be the hero who would rediscover that stash of unheard songs for music lovers everywhere—and save a young singer’s life in the process? With Nacho, his intrepid Chihuahua, at his side, and with no one but bumbling detective Pete Amsterdam for an ally, the undaunted Bert the Shirt sets out through the Florida haze to piece it all together, learning along the way how much the world has changed—and how much it has not. In equal parts suspenseful and nostalgic, funny and romantic, this time-bending caper celebrates the power of music and the many tricks of memory, the joys of youth and the comforts of age, and the free and funky spirit of Key West.

In PURRsuit of the Unknown: A Klepto Cat Mystery


Patricia Fry - 2020
    

Saddle Mountain


Paul L. Thompson - 2013
    From 1873 until his death in 1896, Judge Isaac Charles Parker policed seventy-four thousand square miles, with two hundred or so lawmen. The area was called by several names; Last of the Western Frontier, Hell’s Fringe, The Nations and Indian Territory just to name a few. Several more names were used, but should not appear in print at this time.

The Guesthouse on the Green Box Set


Michelle Vernal - 2021