Book picks similar to
Aroon by M.B. Gibson
historical-fiction
historical-fiction-romance
book-group
first-reads
The Year of the Horsetails
R.F. Tapsell - 1967
Bardiya is a soldier in the armies of the Kagan (warleader)of the brutal Mongol-like Central Asian nomad people of the Tugars- but he is from a minority people, the Saka. He is forced to flee from the land of Tugars. When a village is threatened with destruction his loyalties change and helps teach his new people how to defend themselves against a vastly superior enemy.
The Torch Betrayal
Glenn Dyer - 2018
A missing battle plan. Will he find redemption or damage the Allies beyond repair? London, 1942. OSS Agent Conor Thorn is desperate for a second chance. After a botched mission in Tangier, Thorn knows failure is not an option. When confidential directives for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, go missing, the agent must recover the plans before the Nazis thwart the crucial mission. Thorn teams up with MI6 agent Emily Bright to seek out the traitor in their midst. Untangling the web of suspects leads them to Nazi sympathizers, double-crossing Soviet spies, and Vatican clergymen with motives of their own. As their mission grows more and more dangerous, Thorn and Bright have one chance to retrieve the document before it falls into enemy hands, leaving countless Allied troops in danger. The Torch Betrayal is a high-stakes WWII thriller inspired by true events.
Hello, Goodbye
Emily Brewin - 2017
A profoundly moving story of love during a time of great social change, with an ending that will leave you cheering. May Callaghan is seventeen years old and on her own. At least that’s how it feels.Her devoutly religious mother and her gentle but damaged father are fighting, and May's boyfriend, Sam, has left their rural hometown for Melbourne without so much as a backward glance.When May lies to her parents and takes the train to visit Sam at his shared house in Carlton, her world opens wide in glorious complexity. She is introduced to his housemates, Clancy, an indigenous university student, and Ruby, a wild bohemian. With their liberal thinking and opposition to the war in Vietnam, they are everything that May's strict Catholic upbringing should warn her against.May knows too well the toll that war has taken on her father, and the peace movement in the city has a profound effect on her. For a while, May’s future burns bright. But then it begins to unravel, and something happens to her that will change her life forever.
Assassin's Quest
Jon Kiln - 2015
Tasked with quietly eliminating a lecherous merchant with a penchant for young children, Rothar's blade strikes without hesitation. But when more children go missing, Rothar digs deeper and discovers an insidious network that reaches high up into the echelons of nobility. What started as a simple mission has become a dangerous quest for justice. Rothar must call upon all his skill to punish those responsible, and rescue the innocent before it's too late. A fast-paced, full length, heroic fantasy novel.
The Names of Things
John Colman Wood - 2012
But wanting to be with him, she endured the trip, only to fall desperately ill years later with a disease that leaves her husband with more questions than answers. When the anthropologist discovers a deception that shatters his grief and guilt, he begins to reevaluate his love for his wife as well as his friendship with one of the nomads he studied. He returns to Africa to make sense of what happened, traveling into the far reaches of the Chalbi Desert, where he must sift through the layers of his memories and reconcile them with what he now knows. Set in a windswept wilderness menaced by hyenas and lions, The Names of Things weaves together the stories of an anthropologist's journey into the desert, his firsthand accounts of the nomads' death rituals, and his struggle to find the names of things for which no words exist. Anthropologist John Colman Wood's debut novel is an exquisite, haunting exploration of the meaning of love and the rituals of grief.
Harrington's Valley
Darrel L. Rachel - 2014
He finds the once elegant estate in ruins and his family devastated. Worse, his wife and children, believing him to have been killed in the war, have left Tennessee for Oregon. In Oregon, Kate struggles with the harsh climate and the business problems of her uncle, Lewis Harrington. When her uncle is murdered, Kate is forced to assume a leadership role to protect the interests of a group of destitute settlers; a responsibility that may prove to be more than she can handle. James begins a harrowing trek across the post war frontier to find his lost family. He is forced to deal with remnants of guerrilla bands from the war, hostile Indians, dangerous river crossings—and his prejudices. Through fate, James finds himself traveling with an African-American mountain man, Wilford Johnson. As a result of James’s own short-sightedness, he and Wilford are forced to spend the winter in a Blackfoot camp. By the time he reaches Oregon, James is forced to reexamine the ideals of his upbringing and confront his prejudices. Reunited in Oregon, James and Kate, with Wilford’s help, confront the lawlessness that has plagued Kate since the loss of her uncle.
The Kitty: Who Rescued Me After I Rescued Him
Shawn P. Flynn - 2016
They are planning a wedding and have bought a new home. The last thing the two of them need right now is a new cat.But their recently purchased house seems to come complete with a stray orange feline--a cat with a vibrant personality and a talent for mousing. So Shawn soon finds himself with a regular companion. Little does he realize that this cat will shortly become more important to him than he can possibly imagine.As Shawn's personal life begins to shift in ways he never saw coming, Kitty remains a constant source of stability and comfort. Shawn gave Kitty a home, and now Kitty gives Shawn the love he needs to heal.A touching and inspiring story of heartfelt companionship, The Kitty offers an uplifting perspective on what it means to find true friendship in this world. Anyone who has ever shared a meaningful connection with a pet will fall head over heels in love with Kitty and Shawn.As Shawn discovers, sometimes we don't even realize we need to be rescued--until we are.
Paradox
Arya Narrayan - 2020
No one has any idea how this pandemic happened; even the WHO is stuck for an effective cure. Just as the whole world is growing desperate for resolution and low in hope, unexpectedly, a grey alien visits the earth in December 2025—five years after the initial outbreak—claiming that it has the concrete cure for A-virus.Can humans believe the announcement from the grey alien? Who really is this grey alien? Where did it come from? What could the purpose of its visit to Earth be? Did the grey alien bring the first life to our planet? Does it have any influence on ancient architecture and the many great wonders of the Earth? Did Neil Armstrong meet the alien?If you’re a fan of sci-fi, don’t miss Paradox—an enthralling rendition!
The Damnation Game
David Brian - 2015
Kate Stringer is a woman in mourning, her murdered husband the latest victim of the notorious Catholic Jack slayer. A nationwide manhunt remains underway, but the serial killer continues to remain elusive. Now, unknown to her, Kate too has been targeted by the maniac. However, other forces are in play. Things moving in the shadows, with an agenda of their own...From those broken places, where trauma and distress cloister, they watch with accusing eyes. And if they judge us, they may look to share their pain.
Up, Back, and Away
K. Velk - 2013
He likes old bicycles, new music, and (don’t say it too loud), model railroading. As the only child of wealthy Dallas executives, it appears that a life of trustafarian ease is his birthright. All those expectations are upended, however, the day he is summoned to the hospital bed of his friend (and fellow English three-speed enthusiast), Morgan Davies. Professor Davies has a secret to share: he once was a time traveler. He also has a task for his young friend: Miles is to travel back in time to 1928, and across the sea to England. Once there, he is to find “a girl with a gift, a girl born out of her time” and a “secret that was not meant to be” and then return home with them both. Miles must first find the courage to pass through the strange portal in the Vermont woods that will launch him on this mission, and then to face down a series of do-or-die crises (including a crisis of confidence). He must also navigate the low-tech, class-bound world of England in 1928 while keeping his true identity a secret. Miles' quest for the girl and the secret carries him from a great estate in England's beautiful countryside to London's jazz-age cabarets, and from terrified boy to heroic young man.
Combustible Punch
Paul Michael Peters - 2019
There are three problems, she only has a short time to live, Rick is a drunken mess who hasn’t been published in a decade, and Harriett is a serial killer. The two must sort through the dental records and body count before the FBI or Grim Reaper catch her.Rick Philips isn't a fighter - but he is a survivorHaunted by memories of a high school shooting, not even the bottle can wash away the gnawing guilt and creeping feelings of inadequacy that batter Rick's conscience daily.His life has been a mess of broken marriages, writer's block, terrible choices, and the morbid pity of others.When he meets Harriet at a writer's conference, the record doesn't scratch as he falls back - only this time, he may not get up.Harriet Bristol Wheeler is a dark temptress - and self-confessed serial killerHarriet has no problem killing - and even fewer issues blending back into the background after the act with the cool, calculating eye of a practiced social chameleon.Manipulative, unpredictable, and exceptionally intelligent, she's Rick's worst nightmare - and the ideal subject for his next book.A book that they are both desperate to write.Time is running out - but the sadness will last forever
Mrs. Houdini
Victoria Kelly - 2016
When a widowed Bess begins seeing this code in seemingly impossible places, it becomes clear that Harry has an urgent message to convey. Unlocking the puzzle will set Bess on a course back through the pair’s extraordinary romance, which swept the illusionist and his bride from the beaches of Coney Island, to the palaces of Budapest, to the back lots of Hollywood. When the mystery finally leads Bess to the doorstep of a mysterious young photographer, she realizes that her husband’s magic may have been more than just illusion.In surprising turns that weave through the uncertain days of the dawn of the twentieth century and continue into the dazzling 1920s, Mrs. Houdini is a thrilling tale that will take you deep into the heart of one of history’s greatest love stories—asking what drives people to believe in something bigger than themselves—even as it reveals the famous magician’s most remarkable feat of all.
Proof the Novel
Ted D. Berner - 2015
It soon becomes apparent that he's not the only one with an interest in this long-lost civilization, but the others who share this interest and what their intentions are remain a mystery. While wading through legends and folklore, clues begin materializing that lead Ty down a bizarre path, uncovering the secrets of the massive stone structures scattered across the globe from the distant past. From the timeworn ruins in the high mountains of Bolivia and Peru to the colossal megaliths in Baalbek, Lebanon to the Great Pyramid itself, Ty unknowingly inches ever closer to unearthing the disturbing truth of the origins of mankind. Although this novel is fiction, it's based on fact, Biblical scripture, texts found in the Dead Sea scrolls omitted from the Bible, and many other stories from around the world that millions believe to be true.
A Family’s Heartbreak
Kitty Neale - 2019
And when Henry beats his eldest daughter so badly that she ends up in the hospital, it seems like there’s nowhere left for them all to go.
Broken
But carpenter Craig has fallen head over heels for Jenny, and he offers her a place to stay. Happy at last, Jenny begins a new life with him, but when tragedy strikes, she’s left to pick up the pieces of both her broken home – and her broken heart.
Bereft
Desperately trying to make ends meet, Jenny is alone and working round the clock. Will she ever be able to give her siblings the happy home they deserve? Or is the worst yet to come…?
The Sunday Times bestseller is back in a gritty family drama, perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Dilly Court.
Arriving from Arkansas
Elisa Keyston - 2019
As far as the townspeople know, she’s simply the new cook for the local boarding house. Nobody has to know the secret her late uncle shared with her before his death or how that same secret could make her the wealthiest person in the state of Nevada. Jim Griffin works hard as a foreman at the local lumber mill. He also works hard to keep his real identity as an undercover lawman hidden as he closes in on his brother’s murderer. When the killer gets close, the last thing Jim needs is a distraction–especially the pretty blonde cook at the boarding house. Jim and Josie’s separate secrets just might bring them closer than either could have predicted. But will they be able to resist falling in love when so much is already at stake for the both of them? If you like historical romance with a touch of intrigue, then you’ll love Arriving from Arkansas. Get your copy and start reading today!