Book picks similar to
The Life of Ely by Jason L. McWhirter


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Listen to My Heartbeat


Prajnaa
    He did not speak. He just kept looking into my eyes without as much as a blink."And then...?" he said, in his arrogant voice. "You want to be my girlfriend next?"Merge yourself in the world of... Aryan, Trisha, Rohan, Danny and Aysha.An inescapable story of love and tears that gets your heartbeat racing.

Written: A Story of Love, Secrets, Betrayal and Honour


D.A. Lee - 2019
     Four-year-old Eleanor is forced to accept her mother’s religious beliefs, that her whole life has already been written, and that she has no choice but to honour and accept her parents’ plans for her. Subject to abuse by an Islamic teacher, and witness to scenes of violence inflicted by her father, Eleanor finds her only refuge at school, where she dreams of a life beyond the hills of her hometown of Ashcroft, England. A mysterious woman befriends Eleanor – showing her a world of choice and freedom. Caught between her parents’ cultural values and her own desires, Eleanor must decide whether to honour her parents’ wishes – a life locked in marriage to the hands of an abuser – or rewrite her own story. Written is the heart-wrenching story of a young girl’s struggle for freedom, and the uncovering of an intricate plan laced around forty years of secrets, betrayal and lies, in a family desperate to preserve their culture and honour.

Mountain Stronghold: Sanctuary


Martha Murray Moore - 2014
    Rescued, she is taken to a secret valley, safe. The bearded mountain man and his Indian companions grow in her affections until she opens her heart to her big blue-eyed rescuer. Danger and adventure surround them but the most frightening threat is from her one-time fiance and his obsession with Maryan.

Broken: Macy's Story


Janice Broyles - 2020
     Macy Elmsworth has found herself in a mess. The 18 year old pastor’s daughter got in trouble with the law, nearly died, and in the process, damaged her relationship with her family. She now needs to fulfill community service hours. As a last resort, she moves in with her grandparents, where they need a housekeeper at the small motel they own. Feeling broken and defeated, Macy counts down the days her community service hours are over. Until she meets others at the motel. People a lot like her. People with questionable pasts and bleak futures. As friendships are forged, Macy begins to come out of her shell and help her new friends. It is through these new relationships that she begins to repair the broken relationship with her family. But her past isn’t about to go away, and Macy is going to have to turn to God for the complete restoration she needs.

The Whispering of the Willows


Tonya Jewel Blessing - 2016
    Didn't want it to end. Great and different story line. - Christine This is a fantastic book that had me examining my own personal spiritual journey. Kudos to the author for writing such a heartfelt, inspiring work. - Verified Amazon Reader I absolutely loved the characters and the story. Their faith in God helped them through the trials they faced. The story is engrossing and very believable. Hope this book is a winner for the author. - Verified Purchaser "The story is emotionally gripping and pulls the reader along to see what will happen next. The best stories grab our emotions and don’t let go." -Judge's Commentary from 24th Annual Writer’s Digest Book Awards The Whispering of the Willows is an inspiring story full of twists and turns, freedom and redemption, the expected and unexpected. This book brings to light the struggles of young woman past and present. God’s goodness and provision flow from each page. --Linda Bottoms, Rocky Mountain Ministry Network Women’s Ministries Director A 1920s' saga of Emerald Ashby coming of age. Set against the superstitions and old time religion in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, author Tonya Jewel Blessing tells a difficult, yet redemptive story of a blossoming young woman who is accompanied by her friends and her foes on a journey towards hope and healing. Love weaves through gut-wrenching circumstances and dismal poverty where Emerald Ashby grows strong despite grievous wrongs committed against her. In this desperate historical setting, mysterious disappearances lead to traps set for the innocent. Now, when key individuals begin carving out a rescue plan, Emerald Ashby sets a few of her own traps. It's a page turner. In this ailing town. What will be their measure of success? Cleverly suspenseful and sweetly spoken, the storyteller's unassuming voice transforms an Appalachian trail of tears into holy terror against an evil that stalks the innocent. In The Whispering of the Willows, an Appalachian marriage practice might be compared to the modern sex trade which exploits young females. Not since Catherine Marshall's strong heroine named Christy, has an Appalachian drama come to life like The Whispering of the Willows. Includes: Bibliography and Book Club Questions. A novel for women examining the Old Time Religion. Coming of age in the Southern Appalachians. Necessary lies by Diane Chamberlain, though historical of the 1960s, is similar, as is the romance and drama of one summer by David Baldacci.

Ripley: Lost in a sea of secrets. A Haunting Mystery of Shattered Dreams


Jacqui Penn - 2015
    A suspicion. A shattered heart. Ripley Bradford’s world is torn apart. Her lover and best friend, Joe, has mysteriously disappeared without trace, and everything points to her father, who she suspects has been involved in foul-play in the past. Years pass, and with the realisation that Joe is gone forever, Ripley marries. Her husband, Alex, is a controlling, manipulative bully who gives her everything money can buy, but no love. She had doubts on her wedding day and escapes with her life only a few months later. Settling for a life alone, a family secret is revealed threatening once more to break her heart. Only one person can unlock the past and set Ripley free to love again. If you like riveting, fast paced romance fiction, you’ll love Jacqui Penn’s dramatic look at lost love. Download this free book today and discover how a burning secret can set your world ablaze. What people say about Ripley: “BRILLIANT! Just finished it and I have a huge lump in the back of my throat.” “I really liked the story and rooted for the main characters throughout.” “Great read… couldn't stop once I started.” “I loved this book! Didn't want it to finish.” “A lovely romantic read with lots of twists and great characters.”

The Connect's Wife


Nako - 2017
    She was unaware of his lifestyle. A man of his caliber was way out of her reach, yet he chose her anyway. Christian Knight was a man that people only dreamed about in their sleep. Petty hustlers admired him off the strength of stories they heard in the hood. You could walk past Christian Knight in the mall and not know that he was “The Connect." Real men moved in silence. Wealth is quiet, rich is flashy. Christian Knight was more than a man that supplied the streets with the work. He was a mogul, a self-made billionaire who found comfort, peace and joy in the arms of Farren, a woman almost ten years younger than he was. Many people never expected him to settle down or to be so open with his affection. Despite what he heard about her, he chose her to wear his last name and to become, “The Connect’s Wife."

Born in a Treacherous time


Jacqui Murray - 2018
    It is a time in history when they are relentlessly annihilated by predators, nature, their own people, and the next iteration of man. To make it worse, Lucy’s band hates her. She is their leader’s new mate and they don’t understand her odd actions, don’t like her strange looks, and don’t trust her past. To survive, she cobbles together an unusual alliance with an orphaned child, a beleaguered protodog who’s lost his pack, and a man who was supposed to be dead.Born in a Treacherous Time is prehistoric fiction written in the spirit of Jean Auel. Lucy is tenacious and inventive no matter the danger, unrelenting in her stubbornness to provide a future for her child, with a foresight you wouldn’t think existed in earliest man. You’ll close this book understanding why man not only survived our wild beginnings but thrived, ultimately to become who we are today.This is a spin-off of To Hunt a Sub’s Lucy (the ancient female who mentored the female protagonist)

TO FORGE A KING: The Chronicles Of Ellorhim


Thomas Adams - 2019
    This is an exciting new coming of age story with detailed world building and gritty action and fight scenes. The backstory has Norse or Scandinavian cultural and spiritual influences and overtones. His past was lost, only faded dreams and echoes of happier times remained. Sometimes he had a flash, a quick fleeting glimpse of a better place with friends, warmth and cheer below a silver sun in a twilight land. Those were rare though. Now, there is only the harsh brutal present, sweat stinging the eye and blood flowing from cracked bruised knuckles, a sword in his filthy callused hand and the hoarse shouts of the Sword Masters ringing in his ears. Exhaustion paints his partner's face like cheap mask. No doubt his own face looks just as bad. It is a never ending struggle, up before the sun, running, jumping, lifting and fighting, each day full of pain and injury. Training, always training, His country, Vesfalruk, needs warriors to defend their land and homes. And, this place makes the best warriors. There are none better with sword or ax in all the world. But there is a power and a sense of belonging in this place, this ancient Guild Hall and fortress lying in the shadow of the Eastern White Mountains. Being here comforts him in ways he does not understand and the cold winter winds are somehow less chill. His sword calls and he takes it up and trots out into the yard. Vesfalruk is a besieged place, an isolated mountainous land that has struggled against numerous foes and invaders, the Erhand. It is a land with a violent and bloody history and a kingdom without a king. There has been no king for over two-hundred years and relative peace, if it can be called that, has been the norm for most of that time. So trade flourishes, peace reigns and ancient traditions are openly questioned and sometimes mocked. Vesfalruk warriors are still renowned throughout Ellorhim and the Guild Halls continue to train them, against a rising popular opinion. Old enemies are stirring again, their armies gather, swelling and massing for another round of invasion and conquest. And, that is fine with him and it if the same for those he has grown up with in this Guild Hall. Let them come again. We will be ready. He vows this, to himself and to others.

Inside the Hollow Tree


Laurel Veil - 2018
    Her one glimmer of light in her gloomy existence is a wise beyond his years, fiver-year-old foster named Jackson, who also lives with them. Falon longs for the day her mom wakes from her coma, so she can leave, take Jackson with her and begin a new life. Whenever Ty, the smart and brave new foster shows up, Falon realizes that the three of them just might get their chance. Little do they know, a better life awaits them, just inside the hollow tree...

Pistolero: The Prequel (Widowmaker Book 3)


William McClintock - 2016
    the days just prior to the events depicted in the opening pages of ‘Widowmaker.’ A “prequel,” and the final installment of the Cole Matthews Trilogy, finds the wandering, gambling gunfighter besieged by bandits and troubled by dangerous ladies, taking on the Mexican Army, and thrown into a hole and buried alive...

Watermarked


Danielle Butler - 2019
    But at 16, abandoned by her father and with a mother struck by a devastating illness, Cam is forced to live with the reclusive grandmother she’s never met. But it’s nothing to cry about—not for the girl who never sheds a tear.Isolated off the coast of Maine, Cam is drawn to Macon, the boy from the other side of the island. But his mother—and most others in the tight-knit community—looks upon her with suspicion.When she learns about her family’s unsettling history, Cam is plunged into ancestral mystery and the magic of the sea.And what she discovers could be the key to changing everything.

Stuck In love With A Dangerous Thug


Tasha Nashay - 2021
    

The Lowly Maiden's Loyalty


Rosie Swan - 2020
    How could she ever have known the tragedy that was about strike with such unforgiving force?Meeting the farmhand, Lawrence Trent, a man robbed of his childhood by the misdeeds of a renegade father seemed at first a doorway to happiness. Instead it was one leading to desperation and deprivations that overshadowed even the brightness of their love for one another.What strength will be required to survive the obstacles set along the course of their lives? What gifts from heaven can steer them to safety?Can the beautiful Barbara Coomb finally lay to rest the ghosts that taunt her present and haunt her future? Will Lawrence break free from the chains that not only held his childhood but now hold his heart?In this Victorian Romance historical romance author, Rosie Swan, carries readers through a lifetime saga of a child who became a woman worthy of the deepest love and admiration a man could give.

Deputies of Dos Brazos: A Boxset


Dee Bridgnorth - 2019
     PART I When Deputy Carson Wheeler goes to the One Hart Ranch to investigate a report of cattle rustling, he finds himself face to face with Melody Hart. Melody is the last of the Harts left to run the old ranching operation. She’s fierce and hardworking and Carson finds himself fascinated in spite of how prickly she seems with him. But they’re going to have to work together to unravel the case of the animal rights activists looking to shut down what they see as an abomination against cattle and the ranching tradition itself. PART II One of Deputy Lilliana Martinez’s favorite stops every morning is at the food truck parked not far from the sheriff’s office. There are Burrito Trucks everywhere in the valley. But lately, there have been several very strange robberies. When Lilli witnesses a robbery, she takes a personal interest in the case. Lilli thinks that it’s an inside job and she even has her suspect. Oscar Garcia certainly looks the part. But the more Lilli gets to know Oscar, the more she realizes that he only looks like a thug on the outside. On the inside, he’s a prince among men. And in fact, it’s the one who looks like a prince that is really the devil in disguise. PART III Deputy Rico Attencio is not a big fan of art and yoga weekends. Maybe that’s why he’s not all that surprised to get a phone call from the artists’ retreat saying that they have a problem. What Rico could never predict was how attractive he finds the owner. Sara Sellers is nothing like what Rico expected. Sara is absolutely sure that someone is poisoning her guests. But it will take more than a little bit of sleuthing and good old fashioned common sense to find the culprit before someone winds up dead. PART IV Deputy Tom Mason is just as supportive of this resurgence of the homestead movement as anyone else. That is until it starts to spawn a herd of livestock and children who seem determined to wander through the streets of Dos Brazos. First chickens. Then a bull. And then eventually there are goats and children roaming just about everywhere around town and getting in the way of normal things like traffic. When Florence Fiskars from the Department of Social Services asks Deputy Tom for a hand, he is sure that the state is just going to make a mess of things. It does not take long for them to discover they’ve stumbled onto a little more than the average negligence case. Tom always heard about the “orphan train” in history class as a boy. He just never thought he’d discover that someone was attempting to use orphan labor in the here and now. PART V There have been a lot of changes in the valley, but when someone starts putting pressure on Clarissa Maestas to sell her family’s farm, she digs in her heels and says no. Then a string of strange things begins to happen within the Maestas family’s Farm to Table operation. That’s when Clarissa calls in the help of her oldest school friend, now sheriff of the Dos Brazos Valley. What Wyatt and Clarissa dig up has them realizing that someone has huge plans for the valley that leaves no room for any of the locals. It’s up to Clarissa and Wyatt to put aside their childhood quarrels and put a stop to the Hollywood invasion before it’s too late.