Book picks similar to
The Chosen Shell by Katherine Sartori


first-reads
goodreads-firrst-reads
requested
historical-fiction

A Rare Ruby


Dee Williams - 2002
    Forced to leave school and help her mother wash clothes, Ruby closes the door on her childhood. When she takes a job at the local laundry, Ruby enjoys the friendship of the other women there, but there's also bitchiness and jealousy amongst the workers. At home there's growing tension with the live-in landlord as Ruby grows into an attractive woman, but not the kind who's willing to use her charms to win favours. Ruby's heart belongs to one man only, a local boy she's known all her life, but there are many battles to be fought before they start a life together...

Sarah, A Festive Bride


Hildie McQueen - 2017
    When she arrives, her husband-to-be is waiting, but not for her. When he disregards his mail-order bride, Sarah decides to take matters into her own hands. Not one to give up on her dream to live out west, Sarah decides to find a job and start a new life with or without a husband. The timing could not be worse. With hopes of avoiding his mother’s meddling at all costs Robert Fields had planned to get married as soon as his bride arrived. That Sarah and his parents arrived in the same coach was an unfortunate catastrophe. Not wanting to let on that Sarah was there for him, he hustles his parents home with the intent of later explaining to Sarah and going forward with the marriage quickly… and quietly. A compelling American western historical romance

Thirteen for Dinner


Denise Daisy - 2013
    But it’s Averie who needs rescuing when all hell begins to break loose. Averie Cooke has never set foot on the old Faulkner plantation. The macabre history surrounding it is what keeps her away; not to mention everyone says the place is haunted. A hundred and fifty years ago Lunar Wilson was hung there. His lifeless body dangled in the breeze along with the gray Spanish moss. Later that same night, the petite southern belle, Emily Faulkner wrapped a thick rope around her delicate neck and joined her lover in the afterlife. Legend says all hell broke loose after that. Unaware that their only daughter was hanging dead up in the cupola, Emily’s parents continued on with their festivities, gorging themselves on prime rib, and guzzling expensive wine. They were pretty drunk by the time the Wilson boys burst inside the house slinging their hatchets, vindicating their brother’s murder. They decapitated James Faulkner, his socialite wife, Elizabeth and dismembered all eleven dinner guest. The massacre was the bloodiest ever recorded. So why does Averie agree to attend a dinner party in the same mansion where the massacre took place? She needs the money that’s why. But, she gets much more than a paycheck when she and another mysterious guest transports back to the year 1859, exactly one month before the gruesome event. Things go from bad to worse when she discovers the only way back home is to stop the murders. But can she put her fears aside long enough to change the past and find life in the place she fears the most?Thirteen for Dinner is a page turning thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat one minute, laughing out loud the next, and crying while you contemplate the meaning of life. Dealing with issues such as racism, slavery, hatred, and fear you’ll discover the only weapon that has the power to damage them all is love.

Hidden Legacy


Margaret Hodapp - 2003
    Tessa, secretly relieved to be rid of her abusive husband, sorts through his meager belongings after the dreary funeral and finds a small, concealed box. Tessa is amazed to discover a boarding ticket and a small amount of cash inside the locked box. Furious, she realizes that her husband had plans to desert her and sail alone on a ship bound for America. Tessa is frightened to leave her familiar surroundings in Ireland but is determined to seek a better life for herself. She bravely uses the ticket and boards the huge ship to journey to America. A fascinating new friend whom Tessa meets aboard ship has an important influence on her life. Upon her arrival in America, a curious twist of fate and a conversation with a ghost draws Tessa deep into a daring adventure. The lonely widow attempts to unravel a series of confusing and puzzling clues in the exciting months following her arrival to search for a hidden legacy, unsure if the discovery will bring her happiness or more heartbreak.

Lady Vivian (Almack's Assembly Rooms Book 1)


Agnes Forest - 2018
    Could she pick her destiny, Vivian would choose adventure in the rolling hills, endless afternoons in the dusty garden, and a husband who speaks to her heart; no matter what his income might be. One magical evening at Almack’s - London’s most exclusive club - Lady Vivian runs into the dashing Lieutenant Sawyer Cook and discovers that her future is not so set in stone. Romance ensues, scandals are wrought, and real identities are revealed. Trapped between duty and longing, Lady Vivian must come to grips with the very notion of fate. Lady Vivian is a 70.000 word clean and wholesome Regency-era romance novel. It makes the first volume of Almack's Assembly Rooms. Each book of the series can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, or read as a collective. Garuenteed to make you chuckle!

Upon Destiny's Song


Mike Ericksen - 2013
    Ane Marie Madsen was only ten-years-old when she immigrated to Utah with her family. She was numbered in the ill-fated Willie Handcart Company of 1856, which saw the deaths of almost a third of the company when winter storms hit Wyoming. After settling in Utah, Ane Marie’s faith is tested once again as her path moves through the misadventures of colonizing a new territory ridden with danger and disease. Over 150 years later, descendent Mike Ericksen retells this epic journey and discovers lessons for his own modern sojourn.Ericksen has previously told the story of his ancestors harrowing trek through song and speaking engagements held across the country. Now the amazing story and its beautiful message is finally available in "Upon Destiny’s Song."

Lantern in the Mist


Liliana Shelbrook - 2013
    In her innocence, Kathleen Colby trusted a man no woman should ever have believed. She dreamed he would take care of her, and would help her care for her helpless sister. Instead, in a drunken rampage, he assaulted her and left her shattered on the muddy streets of an Alaskan boomtown.Kathleen does not let him stop her. She escapes Skagway with her paralyzed sister Josie, in spite of her attacker. Just before winter closes in, on the last ship of 1899, they sail away to the south. Their dangerous journey is only beginning. They travel across America at the turn of the twentieth century, by train, on horseback, and on foot. One man, a man of many secrets, travels as Kathleen’s companion, but she cannot allow him into her heart. She knows that she cannot trust another supposed rescuer, that she alone must rescue herself. She is sure that she must learn to stand on her own legs before she can build a relationship with any man. Yet, Kathleen is drawn to this strange and passionate man, but perhaps the brutal assault she endured in Skagway has closed off her heart to the possibility of faith in someone else. She carries a gun, and is willing to shoot to kill or to take what she is owed. She trains herself to survive at any cost. For her unspeaking sister’s sake and her own, she learns to live in a savage world. Whether or not she reaches the great city of New York, she has been on a harsh road too long. Will she ever learn to live as a woman again, and to open her heart to love?

Mail Order Bride : A Bride in Hiding (Ladies of The Frontier) (A Western Romance Book)


Leah Laurens - 2018
    but not impossible.  . Page Count: around 330 pagesBetty Bramble's life is a mess.  It has been since the day her first husband died.Now she's remarried to a man she used to adore.But she's not so sure she loves him anymore.  It's been seven years, and he acts as though she doesn't exist.It's hard being a preacher's wife.  People expect her to be perfect, including her husband.Isaac thinks he knows her, but she's been keeping a secret from him.Now that secret has come back to haunt her.The only man who can destroy her life has finally found her. .  She'll do whatever it takes to protect her family, including her unborn child.  But that's another secret she hasn't told her husband.She's not sure she should.Does Isaac want to save their marriage?Or is Betty all alone in this?Time is running out.  . Page Count: around 330 pages

The Poacher's Daughter


Mary Nichols - 1995
    They all knew she was not the poacher’s real child, though few knew the mystery of how she came to be living with him. Kate herself was not sure; Josiah had told her he had found her abandoned as a baby, but was Josiah telling the truth?He loved her and she was devoted to him and she did not question what he said until two mysterious men came to the village on the same day, both handsome, strong, self-possessed men, but so very different in every other way. Something was happening in the village, something important, something that would affect all their lives…

Love Me Tender


Anne Bennett - 1999
    Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Annie Groves.For Kathy O’Malley, life has not been easy with her husband, Barry, out of work and with two children to feed. Then when war breaks out in 1939, many of the local men enlist, including Barry, leaving the women to cope as best they can.The years that follow are full of hardship: rationing, nightly air raids and endless shifts working at the local munitions factory all take their toll on Kathy who longs to feel the strong arms of her husband around her once more.When she meets Doug, a handsome American GI, she is drawn immediately drawn to him but determined to honour her marriage vows. But after she receives a telegram informing that her husband is missing, presumed dead, she makes a decision that will have consequences, not just for herself, but for the lives of all those she loves too…

The Saints of Lost Things


C.H. Lawler - 2014
    Now, as a powerful September hurricane bears down on the Louisiana coast, those worlds will come face to face.The choices they make will send them on an odyssey north and into the fall of 1965, as the brutal and envious sheriff Percy Parris pursues them. Along the way they meet an unusual and eclectic series of people who help them become more than what they were.As fall turns to winter, their lives will change forever in the wake of a storm named Betsy.The Saints of Lost Things is a story of love, hope, and perseverance, and envy and bitterness. And the remarkable power of kindness.

Emily's Hope


Ellen Gable - 2005
    "Compelling...a real page-turner." Damon Owens "Wholeheartedly recommend," Catholic Insight Magazine. Emily's Hope is the gripping story of one young woman's physical, emotional, spiritual journey from high school to adulthood. Interspersed throughout the story are flashbacks to Emily's great-grandmother's troubled life, with a climax culminating in the surprising revelation that Emily and her great-grandmother are connected more deeply than by ancestral ties alone. Based on a true story.

The Eleventh Hour: The Enlightened Ones


Kathryn Dionne - 2012
    As she begins to translate the writings she realizes three very important facts. This is a book of prophecy foretelling the end times; it is the personal diary of Jesus Christ; and she has been chosen to save mankind from the next cataclysmic event. But when she discovers a small piece of fabric tucked inside the scroll, she and her husband David, a geneticist, are propelled into a life of science, secrecy and government conspiracy.

Born a Workhouse Baby: Victorian Romance


Dolly Price - 2021
    Deserted by a selfish man, and driven to the workhouse, young Annabel and her midwife mother face a harsh and hopeless future.A critical situation for the workhouse governor then opens a door of deliverance for them both, but it seems that revenge and bitterness hound their every step.A harrowing story of stolen love, rich and poor, faith, family, and fearful odds, Born A Workhouse Child, will keep your heart pounding and your hopes soaring to the end.Join Dolly Price for her most heart-warming Victorian romance yet, and follow Annabel’s courageous quest to discover the real meaning of love, faith, and family.

Joseph and Emma: A Love Story (Volume II , 2)


Marsha Newman - 2002
    Few, if any, of the most imaginative writers of love stories have or could have envisioned the experiences of this couple.