Book picks similar to
Water, Stone, Heart by Will North


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historical-fiction

Say Goodbye for Now


Catherine Ryan Hyde - 2016
    Lucy cares for abandoned animals. The solitude allows her to avoid the people and places that remind her of the past. Not that any of the townsfolk care. In 1959, no one is interested in a woman doctor. Nor are they welcoming Calvin and Justin Bell, a newly arrived African American father and son.When Pete Solomon, a neglected twelve-year-old boy, and Justin bring a wounded wolf-dog hybrid to Dr. Lucy, the outcasts soon find refuge in one another. Lucy never thought she’d make connections again, never mind fall in love. Pete never imagined he’d find friends as loyal as Justin and the dog. But these four people aren’t allowed to be friends, much less a family, when the whole town turns violently against them.With heavy hearts, Dr. Lucy and Pete say goodbye to Calvin and Justin. But through the years they keep hope alive…waiting for the world to catch up with them.

Better


Carey Heywood - 2014
    It was supposed to be the trip Ally would have taken when she got better. Now, it's just a chance for Aubrey to say good-bye. Adam escapes in his solo trips overseas, working just enough to fund the next one. When the opportunity to circle the globe falls in his lap, he can't refuse. The only catch is that he won't be traveling alone this time. Unable to hide from each other, Adam's overprotective nature thwarts Aubrey's desire to find her own way. Can they move past initial assumptions to find something better?

The Sisterhood


Helen Bryan - 2012
    Rescued after a hurricane in South America, doomed to a life of poverty with a swallow medal as her only legacy, the orphaned toddler was adopted by an American family and taken to a new life. As a beautiful, intelligent woman of nineteen, she is in love, engaged, and excited about the future — until another traumatic event shatters her dreams. Menina flees to Spain to bury her misery in research for her college thesis about a sixteenth-century artist who signed his works with the image of a swallow — the same image as the one on Menina’s medal. But a mugging strands Menina in a musty, isolated Spanish convent. Exploring her surroundings, she discovers the epic sagas of five orphan girls who were hidden from the Spanish Inquisition and received help escaping to the New World. Is Menina’s medal a link to them, or to her own past? Did coincidence lead her to the convent, or fate? Both love story and historical thriller, The Sisterhood is an emotionally charged ride across continents and centuries.

The Perfume Collector


Kathleen Tessaro - 2013
    When she receives an unexpected inheritance from a complete stranger, Madame Eva d’Orsey, Grace is drawn to uncover the identity of her mysterious benefactor.Weaving through the decades, from 1920s New York to Monte Carlo, Paris, and London, the story Grace uncovers is that of an extraordinary women who inspired one of Paris’s greatest perfumers. Immortalized in three evocative perfumes, Eva d’Orsey’s history will transform Grace’s life forever, forcing her to choose between the woman she is expected to be and the person she really is.The Perfume Collector explores the complex and obsessive love between muse and artist, and the tremendous power of memory and scent.

Celtic Viking


Lexy Timms - 2015
     No one gave Erik a choice as to whether he would fight or not. Duty to the crown belonged to him, his father's legacy remaining beyond the grave. Taken by the beauty of the countryside surrounding her, Linzi would do anything to protect her father's land. Britain is under attack and Scotland is next. At a time she should be focused on suitors, the men of her country have gone to war and she's left to stand alone. Love will become available, but will passion at the touch of the enemy unravel her strong hold first? Fall in love with this Historical Celtic Viking Romance. * There are 3 books in this series. Book 1 will end on a cliff hanger. *Note: this is NOT erotica. It is a romance and a love story.

Paris Time Capsule


Ella Carey - 2014
    But when she learns that she’s inherited the estate of a complete stranger—a woman named Isabelle de Florian—her life is turned upside down.Cat arrives in Paris to find that she is now the owner of a perfectly preserved Belle Époque apartment in the ninth arrondissement, and that the Frenchwoman’s family knew nothing about this secret estate. Amid these strange developments, Cat is left with burning questions: Who was Isabelle de Florian? And why did she leave the inheritance to Cat instead of her own family?As Cat travels France in search of answers, she feels her grasp on her New York life starting to slip. With long-buried secrets coming to light and an attraction to Isabelle de Florian’s grandson growing too intense to ignore, Cat will have to decide what to let go of, and what to claim as her own.

Year of Wonders


Geraldine Brooks - 2001
    Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history.

Charlock's Secret


Leah Moyes - 2020
    Trapped in time, her survival and return are threatened by her tortured heart.Ensnared by hopelessness and grief, 24-year-old Kat Shelton, accepts a position as the curator of an old English estate with the sole purpose of running away from her memories and to bury life’s pain.What she finds on her journey is much more than she bargained for—an arrogant employer, patronizing staff, and a chaotic system, to name a few. Then to top it all off, an unforeseen tumble down the antiquated cellar steps brings her to a sudden halt.Waking up in the year 1878, and mistaken for the children’s new governess, Kat scrambles to navigate nineteenth-century British lifestyle and culture. An impossible feat if it weren’t for the help of the Gilford girls and their charming and handsome brother, Merritt.Will Kat find the strength, love, and forgiveness she yearns for in the past? Or will her path bring her back to the reality she fears?

Where Eagles Dare Not Perch


Peter Bridgford - 2018
    While home on his unit’s month-long furlough, he murders the man he believes has stolen his beloved. In doing so, he sets into motion three intensely dark journeys—his own as a soldier returning to a brutal and hopeless war; his sweetheart’s as she seeks absolution; and the brother of the murdered man, whose quest for revenge propels him into the most violent of worlds. When the three find each other amid the chaos and brutality of the Battle of the Wilderness, they’re faced with figuring out if they are tempered enough from their own redemptive ordeals to face whatever uncertain future awaits them after the bloody fighting is over.

The Storyteller's Secret


Sejal Badani - 2018
    Desperate to assuage her deep anguish, she decides to go to India to uncover answers to her family’s past.Intoxicated by the sights, smells, and sounds she experiences, Jaya becomes an eager student of the culture. But it is Ravi—her grandmother’s former servant and trusted confidant—who reveals the resilience, struggles, secret love, and tragic fall of Jaya’s pioneering grandmother during the British occupation. Through her courageous grandmother’s arrestingly romantic and heart-wrenching story, Jaya discovers the legacy bequeathed to her and a strength that, until now, she never knew was possible.

Temptations of a Mysterious Lady


Henrietta Harding - 2020
    However, things turn dangerously complicated when she meets the lavish Philip, and she soon finds herself unable to resist him, and the fierce desire that burns between them. How long can she hide herself from her fiancé and her father, who are both desperately looking for her? When her secret is revealed, will this growing romance be doomed forever?Philip Hoskins, the Duke of Bambury, is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. Philip knows that he must marry soon and he must marry well, but fate may have other plans for him. Even though he believes marriage is nothing but a business arrangement, when he meets the gorgeous Emma, his world instantly turns upside down. But he quickly realises that, even though they might be a match made in heaven, her public outbursts, her wild temper and the rumours that she's run away from her fiancé, are enough to destroy every possibility of having a happily ever after. Will he take all of his courage to face a peril that could destroy everything he has ever achieved in the name of all- consuming love?In the midst of their passionate love affair, Emma struggles with telling the truth of who she is. As her life of deception grows ever more tangled, and her feelings for Philip ever deeper, Charles Gregory, her fiancé, the most dangerous man she's ever known, is coming for her. He'll do whatever it takes to possess her and make her pay, for what she has done to him... Will she manage to run away from him once again, and find happiness in a dashing Duke's arms? After all, with such a difficult beginning, can Emma and Philip ever hope to trust one another, let alone find everlasting love?"Temptations of a Mysterious Lady" is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats


Jan-Philipp Sendker - 2002
    Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the reader’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.

The Versions of Us


Laura Barnett - 2015
    One Day meets Sliding Doors in this outstanding debut that is causing a buzz across the publishing worldSome moments can change your life for ever. Have you ever wondered, what if...?A man is walking down a country lane. A woman, cycling towards him, swerves to avoid a dog. On that moment, their future hinges. There are three possible outcomes, three small decisions that could determine the rest of their life.Eva and Jim are nineteen and students at Cambridge when their paths first cross in 1958. And then there is David, Eva's then-lover, an ambitious actor who loves Eva deeply. The Versions of Us follows the three different courses their lives could take following this first meeting. Lives filled with love, betrayal, ambition but through it all is a deep connection that endures whatever fate might throw at them.The Versions of Us explores the idea that there are moments when our lives might have turned out differently, the tiny factors or decisions that could determine our fate, and the precarious nature of the foundations upon which we build our lives. It is also a story about the nature of love and how it grows, changes and evolves as we go through the vagaries of life.

A Merchant's Extraordinary Lady


Aria Norton - 2020
    When her father, a well-known baron, arranges an unlikely match for her, she immediately devises a plan to dissuade the suitor. Her efforts are in vain though, as the man, a tenacious and handsome merchant, perseveres and marries her anyway. Dismayed, Aurora resolves to make her husband's life miserable, but to her shock, she finds her heart softening towards him. As her bewildering new feelings intensify, will they challenge her determination to fight against her husband and her desire to be a free woman?Carlos's life has been driven by his need to avenge his mother's death and claim his rightful place as the son of a Spanish count. An opportunity falls into his lap when he overhears an irate baron offer his troublesome daughter as a wife to anyone who will have her. Marrying this stubborn young woman gives him a clear path towards meeting his father for the very first time, but also makes him her enemy. He might not have minded this, if he wasn't also unexpectedly and uncontrollably drawn to his mesmerising wife... With his birthright finally within his grasp, will his heart instead force him to explore powerful feelings he hadn't bargained for?As Aurora clings to her independence amid her developing emotions, Carlos is troubled by his guilt over marrying an unwilling woman to advance his plans. Thrown together by fate, neither can deny their life-changing connection for much longer. With Aurora's safety suddenly being threatened, will justice matter more to Carlos than the woman he has come to care so deeply about? Will Aurora ever be able to set aside her fears and hurt and give them both a chance to discover the true depth of their shared feelings?"A Merchant's Extraordinary Lady" is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Before Ever After


Samantha Sotto - 2011
    That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max; same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose; he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem; how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up? Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down; if it is really Max and along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to.