Book picks similar to
Finding Zasha + Saving Zasha by Randi Barrow


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The Women of Paragon Springs: The Complete Series


Irene Bennett Brown - 2019
    How they find their way through the struggles are what pull you into these heartwarming stories.Women of Paragon Springs includes: Long Road Turning, Blue Horizons, No Other Place and Reap The South Wind. “If you enjoy western novels, such as Little House on the Prairie and Lonesome Dove, you will enjoy this series by Irene Bennett Brown.”

The Crusader's Blade


James Mercer - 2015
    Amongst his few possessions is a dagger which bears an unknown heraldic symbol. He joins a band of mercenaries heading for Venice where the Christians are assembling for the Crusade. On his journey from boy to manhood, discovering a surprisingly natural aptitude for combat, he encounters a secret Brotherhood and their avowed enemy The Order of the Blooded Cross. “The Crusader’s Blade” is the first of three novels that draw heavily on historical detail, intermingling real and fictitious characters and events to give an enthralling portrait of the religious battles of the age.

Falling Off the Family Tree


Judith Harch - 2012
    Sean's recklessness and Ana's sense of entitlement create a family secret that comes home to roost in the following generation. Sean's trail of sins and Ana's deceit and thirst for revenge lead to disaster for each of them.It is 1936. Emotionally deserted by distraught parents after the death of his baby sister, Sean refuses to abandon his father's forsaken American dream. Left to his own devices, the young man travels a road strewn with bad choices and risky behavior. Trapped into marriage and unexpected parenthood at a young age, Sean begins down a path of destruction - first stop - Ana Lapinski.Ana Lapinski is born with the gift of beauty. Her old-world parents are incapable of reigning in their willful, wild child. Time and again, Ana effectively abuses her God-given gift as a means to whatever end she desires - with one exception - Sean Kinnarney.FALLING OFF THE FAMILY TREE is a three-generation saga told against the backdrop of the first 70 years of the 20th century. The story moves from southern New Jersey to the wealthy suburban enclaves of the Main Line outside Philadelphia. It ends in tragedy on the Chesapeake Bay.

The Giving Tree


Anya Fincham - 2016
    They say, every wish can be fulfilled. Kito is a little orphan, living in a village, who got to know about a magical tree, that can make his innermost desire true. But at the same time all the other villagers want their desires to be fulfilled as well...

Loving & Losing


Marion Reynolds - 2020
    But this is 1930s Ireland where they must fight against repressive laws and social attitudes.Harry has married his childhood sweetheart but finds his wife’s life and his marriage jeopardised by the strict laws of Church and State.As he struggles to become a writer, Joseph rejects the love of the girl next door. He goes to fight in the Spanish Civil War where he finds a different kind of love.Kathleen, an actress, has romantic ideas about going to Hollywood but a love affair threatens to ruin her life and shatter the happiness of her family.Mary becomes a teacher and forms some strong emotional bonds, but gossip and injustice may rob her of everything she holds dear.Can they overcome prejudice or must they bow to convention?

From the Ashes of Amiens


Jana Petken - 2021
    

Viking Tales: Saga of the Lost Ship


Jason Vail - 2018
     Ari Thorgilsson builds a cargo ship, the Uxi, in a desperate attempt to save the family from poverty and ruin. Ari sails it out of his home in the fjords of Norway to the Orkney Islands and then into the Irish Sea, where a chance encounter makes an enemy of Ivar the Younger, a son of the Danish Viking Ivar the Boneless. While pursued by Ivar the Younger, a storm drives the ship onto the rocky coast of a hostile land, where the ship is wrecked he and the crew are captured by native Britons. Execution or enslavement seem to be their fate. But there is yet hope, for Artgal, king of the British kingdom of Alt Clut, is in need of warriors. He promises Ari a new ship if he and his companions garrison a fortress on the border with the Picts to the north, while he takes an army to fight the Angles in the east. Ari and his friends accept the offer, and plunge into a year of intrigue and battle in the depths of the land that one day will be known as Scotland, testing their mettle and their commitment to their honor. A Pictish invasion seems to spell the end of Ari’s dream of a new ship. And then a fleet of Danish Vikings sails into the River Clut to lay siege to Artgal’s fortress, thrusting that dream well beyond his grasp. Or does it?

The Urchin of Walton Hall (The Victorian Village Sagas)


Emma Hardwick - 2020
    She was promptly sent away by her philandering father, the colliery owner Robert Harvey, to become an educated and accomplished young woman - and to escape the beatings at the cruel hand of her vengeful stepmother, Hannah. As Bess finishes boarding school, a tragic accident strikes Robert Harvey, almost killing him, and the decline of the family's fortunes means Bess and her siblings must find spouses to provide for them. After a series of doomed arranged encounters with potential suitors, Bess's stepmother is forced to take drastic action against her to protect herself and her family. Who is the mystery fiancé Hannah Harvey has in mind? And how will Bess feel knowing the decision means she will never be free to marry her childhood sweetheart?

The Lake Palace: An enchanting historical novel set in British India during the Burma Campaign in WWII


Ann Bennett - 2021
    

Preston Lewis Western Collection 2


Preston Lewis - 2020
    Tough times require tough choices, no matter if it’s in a Colorado winter or a race across New Mexico.In Blood Saga, Virgil Child returns his mother’s coffin to White Oaks, New Mexico Territory, to bury her beside his dead father. Child can’t find his father’s grave and as he investigates, he discovers how his birthright was stolen by Ed Keller and his allies. He sets out to right a wrong and get what’s his against all odds.The Preston Lewis Western Collection, Volume 2 includes: Escape from Silverton, Blood Saga, Vigilante Justice, New Mexico Showdown and Hard Texas Winter.

The Wretched Needle Worker


Iris Cole - 2021
    Her father was a monster.How could Vera have been so blind to what was right before her eyes?After the death of her kind and loving Papa, Vera’s home is claimed by ne’er do well Uncle Merritt, who drives the household with cruelty and deprivation. Working for her keep, the once privileged Vera is driven to skin and bone and dreads the harsh beatings that Merritt regularly delivers.Ralph, Papa’s loyal and brave stableboy, cannot bear to see Vera shrinking daily under the hand of Merritt. In an attempt protect her, he challenges Merritt and now, tossed to streets, must survive however he can.With the loss of Ralph, Vera’s soul aches, made worse as she watches her father’s elderly servants treated with cruel indignity. In a desperate bid to protect them from Uncle Merritt, his rage is fuelled, and Vera is delivered an ultimatum, causing her to flee from her home. With nowhere to go, Vera too, finds herself on the streets.As starvation threatens, it is only Ralph and her new friend, Maggie, that keep her alive. But when Maggie unexpectedly reveals the truth about Vera's Papa, Vera is plunged to new despair. Will the truth destroy her? Can she keep secrets for the rest of her life? Will she ever be able to make things right? And will she agree to Ralphs’s plan, even though it means she may lose him forever?For fans of Dilly Court and Historical Romance

The Train Part 1: Escape From Hell's Kitchen


Keith Schafer - 2013
    Over the years it was visited by a diverse hodge-podge of notables, including Davey Crockett and Charles Dickens, all who left aghast at the horrible living conditions, the poverty and the decadence of the people they found there. At their zenith, these vulgar, diseased and murderous streets housed 30,000 homeless children of all ages--the street urchins--who played, scavenged for food, fought the elements and each other, and tried to avoid the perpetual violence that routinely threatened their survival. Death was their constant competitor, and death often won. They were the discarded refuse of the great 19th century immigrant migrations to America, and they were an undesirable nuisance to the good citizens of New York. This is the story of two such children, Anna Murphy and Ben McDonald, abandoned to the streets and thrown together in a desperate attempt to achieve the impossible: to escape from Hell’s Kitchen in search of new beginnings in far and distant lands.

The Crimson Gauntlet (The Long Fuse Book 3)


Jason Born - 2018
    Born gets the action humming swiftly and continues at a breakneck pace, while weaving in elements of devotion, loss, and greed along the journey. Amid the virgin forests of North America, civilizations collide. 1755 A.D. Following the defeat of Braddock and his army, the Western Wilderness has suddenly become deadlier than ever. French and Canadian troops patrol at-will. Tribal warriors strike every settlement and traveler within reach. Ephraim Weber, a young scout and trader, must return to the scene of the battle and perhaps beyond to recover Bess, his betrothed and the mother of his children. Successful or not, he then must rush to warn the remaining British campaigns. The French have a hold of their plans, knowing when and where to strike! Along the trail, death and destruction pursue Ephraim at every turn. Allies may prove to be foes. Former enemies may become friends. The tale reaches a crescendo on a single day of bloody battles that run to and from a string of erstwhile serene locales. The Crimson Gauntlet is a tale of adventure and woe. It is a yarn of explosive personalities, failures, and triumphs. The Crimson Gauntlet is for anyone who yearns to become a firsthand witness to the pangs that foretold the birth of a great nation.

The Catcher of Halensee (Captain Harry Tennant Mystery Book 3)


David J. Oldman - 2020
     A British Intelligence Officer has died in a fall and SIS has asked Harry to liaise with a German Socialist Party member who has been passing information. That’s fine with Harry. He is pleased to be working again, even in a city as devastated as Berlin. Why have SIS chosen him; and was the fall that killed his predecessor really an accident? While waiting for his socialist contact to arrange an important meeting, Harry interests himself in a young Jewish survivor of the camps he sees watching the house where he lives. She insists the Nazis stole the property from her family before sending them to the gas chambers. And she has seen the Gestapo officer she holds responsible, even though everyone says he is dead. But then Harry’s socialist contact is abducted by the Russians and, in return for helping him to defect, the man’s colleague promises Harry something really big. And the Jewish survivor is carrying a shameful secret she appears no longer able to face. Harry is faced with a devastating choice... Praise for The Unquiet Grave: 'An excellent book that made me want to read more — always a good sign. Lots of twists and turns; emotional impacts; deft characterization; and realistic setting' - Netgalley reviewer 'I found myself engrossed by this story' - Netgalley reviewer Born into the austerity of post-war Britain, David J. Oldman began writing in his early twenties. Frequently humorous, and often moving, his books are an examination of ordinary people caught up in life-changing events beyond their control.

The Lion and the Leopard (The Lion and the Leopard Trilogy, #3)


Brian Duncan - 2016
    "The Lion and the Leopard" takes place during the Great 1914-18 War when German forces invaded Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa. Martin Russell ("The Settler") and his step-daughter, Clare, travel to the war front, while the Spaight family (Alan, from "Lake of Slaves", and his son Drew, and daughters Mandy and Kirsty) are also drawn into the conflict. A young British officer falls in love with Mandy, but she finds her true love elsewhere. Kirsty's friend, a Britsh naval reservist, joins the gunboat flotilla on Lake Tanganyika. The Chilembwe Uprising in Nyasaland provides an unwelcome distraction early in the war. The loves and tragedies in the families unfold during the long and bitter campaign.