Book picks similar to
Winds of Change by Dionne Haynes


17th-century
goodread-authors
historical-fiction-romance
usa

The House on Apple Hill Lane (Harbor Hills. #1)


Elizabeth Bromke - 2021
    On a tight budget, she’s thrilled to discover a charming fixer-upper and jumps to make an offer. But it isn’t until after she’s signed the paperwork that she learns there’s more to the foreclosure than a few loose floorboards… Annette Best owns Best on the Block realty, but the business is struggling. Then a new face comes to town, and Annette sees an opportunity to save her company… as long as no one finds out about the history of Apple Hill Lane.Judith Banks is freshly single but too fed up to date. Or so she thinks. Then a new neighbor moves in on her street, and brings with her a team of pros–electricians and plumbers and all the sorts of men Judith never expected to find attractive. Soon enough, she’s drawn to one particular worker, someone who happens to know about the house’s storied history.Beverly Castle had it all. Now she’s lost it all, and the only thing keeping her going is her job with the Harbor Herald. She needs something else: a good friend. When the arrival of a new neighbor inspires her to investigate, she finds that she isn’t the only one curious about the house on Apple Hill… or the woman who now lives there.If you enjoyed the Birch Harbor series, you will fall in love with Harbor Hills, a Birch Harbor spinoff. Romance, secrets and mystery, family ties and female friendships abound in this heartwarming saga about four women who find friendship right next door.

The Vacation Cottage


Sophie Mays - 2019
    Margot Kelly has waited patiently to take her dream vacation. Swapping her home in Magnolia Harbor for the quaint beach bungalow in Florida, she will finally be able to fill her days with the perfect blend of relaxation and adventure.Paul Rowland is ready to make a leap of faith and he couldn't be more excited...until things go terribly sideways. Maybe he will take an impromptu getaway to some little harbor town called Magnolia Harbor that he swapped his place for. A little solitude and quiet sounds like exactly what he needs right about now.Can two people, thousands of miles apart, help one another find a renewed spark of happiness? At the very least, they can probably recommend a good restaurant in town...*If you liked the movie The Holiday, love the Hallmark Channel, and can't pass up a great beach read- you will be swept away by The Vacation Cottage!

Sweet Holiday Memories


Kay Correll - 2017
    Everything. Except… This year she’s in charge of the holiday bake sale. Not the best way to avoid Christmas. Then Austin Sullivan returns to town and literally runs into Merry sprawled on the sidewalk among boxes of smashed cookies. Austin is all about Christmas and offers help with the baking and the sale. Merry’s carefully hidden memories of Christmas past begin to resurface. Will Austin’s love of the holidays and a single lost ornament bring the magic of Christmas back into Merry’s life? A short holiday story in the Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Series.

Nesta: Princess of Wales


Mammie Belle Tower - 2019
     Nesta was a consort to King Henry I, wife to Gerald of Pembroke and the captive-lover to Owain of Poweys. She is thought to be the original mother to the Tudor and Stuart Dynasties which Princess Diana and John F Kennedy are both descendants.

The Names of My Mothers


Dianne Sanders Riordan - 2013
    In 1942 Elizabeth Bynam Sanders was a young woman who left home under false pretenses and travelled to Our Lady of Victory, a home for unwed mothers in upstate New York. Shortly after surrendering her daughter for adoption, she returned to her life in Johnston County, North Carolina. She never married and never had another child of her own. This powerful and moving memoir speaks of the profound need for connection. It is a story about identity, the hunger we feel for a sense of belonging and the ineffable significance of blood.

The Poison Keeper


Deborah Swift - 2021
    Three drops to kill.Giulia Tofana longs for more responsibility in her mother’s apothecary business, but Mamma has always been secretive and refuses to tell her the hidden keys to her success. But the day Mamma is arrested for the poisoning of the powerful Duke de Verdi, Giulia is shocked to uncover the darker side of her trade.Giulia must run for her life, and escapes to Naples, under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, to the home of her Aunt Isabetta, a famous courtesan. But when Giulia hears that her mother has been executed, and the cruel manner of her death, she swears she will wreak revenge on the Duke de Verdi.The trouble is, Naples is in the grip of Domenico, the Duke’s brother, who controls the city with the ‘Camorra’, the mafia. Worse, her Aunt Isabetta, under his thrall, insists that she should be consort to him.Based on the legendary life of Giulia Tofana, this is a story of hidden family secrets, and how courage and love can overcome vengeance.

Lakeland Lily


Freda Lightfoot - 1997
    When the rich Clermont-Read family spoils her plans, Lily embarks on a personal quest for revenge and marries their only son, Bertie, a handsome indolent charmer. Rejected by his family, the young couple soon find themselves battling against the very poverty Lily had hoped to escape... A twist of fate brings her the freedom she craves, but the price Lily must pay is vindictive snobbery from Bertie's mother - as well as another far greater one, finally leading to a passionate affair with Nathan Monroe, a local steam boat captain. Now it is Lily who must protect herself against the threat of vengeance and decide who is more important, her husband or her lover.

The Kiddush Ladies


Susan Sofayov - 2016
     Naomi—whose husband left her for a man, crushing her small amount of self-confidence—is stuck with a dead-end job and a big house in a neighborhood filled with couples. She hates the loneliness of weekends and the empty side of the king-size bed. Miriam, an only child of parents who were also only children, struggles with the fact that she has no blood relatives besides her children. She recognizes that it’s siblings who connect the past, the present, and the future, and the closest thing she has to sisters are Becky and Naomi. Then a dusty discovery delivers a potentially lethal blow to their friendship. While two of the women fight to save the relationship, one desires nothing more than its demise.

Harvest Moon Homecoming


Jessie Gussman - 2017
    Unless he enlists the help of Ellie Bright, the most annoying, disorganized and kissable woman he knows.Standing in Principal Fink’s office, again, for driving her daughter to school late, again, Ellie is given two odious choices. Either her straight A daughter receives detention for another tardy that’s not her fault, or Ellie uses her artistic skills and helps the uptight, stringent principal build a new float.As they scramble to construct the float in time, Ellie’s chaotic life collides with Fink’s methodical plans. A tangle of arguments and decorations leads to a stolen kiss. Underneath their long established animosity is an unexpected passion that threatens to ruin more than just a school float.Books in the Sweet Haven Farm series:1. Harvest Moon Homecoming2. Better Together3. Just Right4. Anything For You

Gentlemen and Brides: Regency Romance Collection


Joyce Alec - 2018
     Heart of a Marquess: Regency Romance A plan born of deception… Can Charlotte overcome her stepsister’s cruel actions and find the love she deserves? A Marquess and a Secret: Regency Romance Lord Rivenhall and Miss Richards both have secrets they do not want society to know about. Will their secrets bring them together or keep them apart? The Earl’s Regret: Regency Romance An arranged marriage. True love. A lost letter that threatens to ruin it all. An Earl’s Wager An earl’s wager turns into a London scandal that threatens to ruin Lady Ellen’s and Lord Hartley’s lives. If you love clean and wholesome, Regency romances with rakish lords, strong women, mystery, and love, then the Gentlemen and Brides Regency Romance Collection is for you!

Taking Fire: The True Story of a Decorated Chopper Pilot


Ron Alexander - 2002
    With an unswerving concern for every American soldier trapped by enemy fire, and a fearlessness that became legendary, Ron Alexander earned enough official praise to become the second most decorated helicopter pilot of the Vietnam era. Yet, for Ron, the real reward came from plucking his fellow soldiers from harm's way, giving them another chance to get home alive.In Taking Fire, Alexander and acclaimed military writer Charles Sasser transport you right into the cramped cockpit of a Huey on patrol, offering a bird's eye view of the Vietnam conflict. Packed with riveting action and gritty "you-are-there" dialogue, this outstanding book celebrates the everyday heroism of the chopper pilots of Vietnam.

Mail Order Bride: Her Christmas Joy


Emma Ashwood - 2018
     Tally May Jones needed a life that was more than just helping out at her father's haberdashery store in their dusty small town on the East Coast. She believed she had found it when she saw the advertisement from Jacob Tucker a rancher from Cedar Fields. But life as Mrs Jacob Tucker was not at all as she had dreamed. Yes, he was a handsome man - handsome beyond expectations, but he was cold-hearted and seemed only to want a bride to fill the role of housekeeper in his home. Tally was homesick and lonely. She was thankful for the company of Ellie the daughter of the ranch’s right hand man and Jacob’s friend, Pete. Tally is almost at her wit’s end living the lie that her life out West has become, when she is called upon to help Ellie and Pete. She knows it is wrong to keep secrets from her husband, but she also understands the fear those around her have for her husband. He could be unreasonable and unfathomable. And Tally was kept in the dark as to his secrets, causing her to not understand his hardheartedness. With Christmas fast approaching Jacob turns even more cold, what could be done to thaw his heart? Was it possible for an innocent to break down the walls of grief thrown up by a brave man to shield himself from love and hurt? Could the promise of a newborn heal the wounds etched deep in the soul of a man who had lost all he once loved? Allow the author to lead you through the trials and tribulations of two families brought together by loyalty and love, and see whether love can indeed overcome all hardships.

Spindrift


Cindy Brandner - 2013
    This spray, which "drifts" in the direction of the gale, is one of the characteristics of a wind speed of 8 Beaufort and higher at sea.Stories are like waves, slowly building and coming in toward the shore. In a book series, the waves build one upon the next, and for each wave there is the spindrift, the bits of story that build around those big books, but have no real place within them. These stories are the spindrift of the Exit Unicorns series.Spindrift- Caught in a fierce storm off the coast of Ireland, Brian Riordan is shipwrecked with a mysterious young man on a timeless island. Another Man's Country- Ireland of the 1920s, a time of rebellion and brother fighting against brother. Brendan Riordan, a leader in the Irish Republican Brotherhood, is at the center of the conflict and caught between the love of a woman and dedication to his country. Terence McGinty, 'the brother of his soul, if not his blood' is right there beside him, seeing the events of his war-torn country and counting the cost to them all.Grain by Grain- A glimpse of the two young Riordan boys-- a misbehaving Casey and a curious Patrick--seen through the eyes of their father, Brian.Athalia's Shoes- A pair of red shoes and a story that has been waiting to be told for three decades. This is the tale of the mysterious Russian Jew, Yevgena, and her life through a world war, through loss, love and tragedy, and the ultimate phoenix-like nature of the human soul.And as a special bonus- A sneak peek of the first chapter of book four of the Exit Unicorns series, In the Country of Shadows.

Franklin: A Life of Brilliance (The True Story of Benjamin Franklin) (A Concise Historical Biography)


Alexander Kennedy - 2016
    He was a founding father of the United States, revolutionized our understanding of electricity, and personifies American culture throughout the world. Enjoy the surprising and entertaining true story of Benjamin Franklin and rediscover one of history's most prolific figures.

Dark Angels


Karleen Koen - 2006
    Having left Restoration England in the midst of a messy scandal, she has been living in Louis XIV’s Baroque, mannered France for two years. Now she is returning home to England and anxious to re-establish herself quickly. First, she will regain her former position as a maid of honor to Charles II’s queen. Then she will marry the most celebrated duke of the Restoration, putting herself in a position to attain power she’s only dreamed of. As a duchess, Alice will be able to make or break her friends and enemies at will. But all is not as it seems in the rowdy, merry court of Charles II. Since the Restoration, old political alliances have frayed, and there are whispers that the king is moving to divorce his barren queen, who some wouldn’t mind seeing dead. But Alice, loyal only to a select few, is devoted to the queen, and so sets out to discover who might be making sinister plans, and if her own father is one of them. When a member of the royal family dies unexpectedly, and poison is suspected, the stakes are raised. Alice steps up her efforts to find out who is and isn’t true to the queen, learns of shocking betrayals throughout court, and meets a man that she may be falling in love with—and who will spoil all of her plans. With the suspected arrival of a known poison-maker, the atmosphere in the court electrifies, and suddenly the safety of the king himself seems uncertain. Secret plots are at play, and war is on the horizon—but will it be with the Dutch or the French? And has King Charles himself betrayed his country for greed? The long-awaited prequel to Koen’s beloved Through a Glass Darkly, Dark Angels is a feast of a novel that sparkles with all the passion, extravagance, danger, and scandal of seventeenth-century England. Unforgettable in its dramatic force, here is a novel of love and politics, of romance and betrayal, of power and succession—and of a resourceful young woman who risks everything for pride and status in an era in which women were afforded little of either.From the Hardcover edition.