Book picks similar to
Prairie Hearts by J.B. Marsden


animals
girl-next-door
historical
historical-romance

Pioneer Hearts: A Lesbian Western


Becky Harris - 2020
     It was supposed to be a simple trip into town. Once a year. Get supplies. Ignore the jeers and jibes from townsfolk who didn't want to understand her. Ignore how everything reminded her of Suzanne. She wasn't expecting Jeane. A damsel in distress out on the prairie? A broken down wagon and three men who meant no good closing in on her? Belle knew frontier life could be harsh, and sometimes that meant dealing with rabid animals. Only now she's stuck with Jeane. And the more time they spend together traveling back to her homestead, the more she can't get this woman out of her mind. The more she starts hoping, against all reason and hope, that maybe she can find something like what she had with Suzanne. Two women, alone together on the frontier where they can truly be themselves, learning to love again. Pioneer Hearts is a 68,000 word western about two women coming together to deal with life on the harsh American frontier, and learning that maybe there is more to life than survival!

All I See Is You


Lily Hammond - 2020
    Birds with unknown songs. People with strange accents.In 1932, Eliza Sparrow walks straight off the boat from England to New Zealand into a nightmare. Unable to speak or write, and with the death of her mother during the voyage, Eliza is alone, without any means, without any hope. Unless she meets someone willing to help her.Maxine and Ruth have opened their home to destitute women, sheltering those they can from the worst of the Depression. When they find Eliza, they are determined to aid and protect her.Never though, did they think they’d have to protect Eliza from their dear friend Clemency. Like them, Clemency loves other women, but unlike the happily ‘married’ Maxine and Ruth, Clemency is lonely, unable to find a lover she really connects with. When she meets Eliza, no one thinks it could be serious and Clemency would simply be taking advantage of the speechless Eliza, her attraction never possibly other than a passing desire.No one took into account however, that the heart has its own language, and it’s one that Eliza can speak perfectly well.

The Beginning of Everything


Cara Malone - 2020
    A fearless activist in San Francisco. A love so powerful it can change the world.Betty wants what everyone wants – happiness, security, and a quiet, good life. She’s determined to make that happen on her own, despite her mother’s fears that she’ll turn into a spinster if she doesn’t settle down and find a husband soon.Joan wants an important life – one where she gets to love who she wants to love, do what she enjoys, and will leave the world a better place when she’s gone. But what she is – a lesbian in San Francisco at the beginning of the LGBT+ civil rights movement – is criminal.When Betty comes to California for vacation, it’s love at first sight across a crowded bar in the Tenderloin district. She’s mesmerized by Joan and drawn to the homophile movement, but does she have the courage to come out for love and join the fight for equality?What began as a glance across a room turns into a hopeful, playful and heartwarming courtship across three time zones and four decades in The Beginning of Everything, a standalone historical romance by Cara Malone.

Journey's End


L.J. Maas - 2004
    Slaves and prostitutes had more rights than the average female. What if one woman had the power to change all that? One female warrior, Aedon, known as The Lion to her people, changes history in this alternate look at Ancient Greece.As terrible as she was strong, The Lion soon earned a reputation that caused women and children to cower in fear within her presence. No mortal man could match her in battle. Cursed by the Gods when she was still a teenager, a dark demon controlled the warrior's soul during times of battle to the point where she lost herself entirely. The darkness that fell upon her in battle turned her from honorable warrior, defending her homeland, into the evil Lord Conqueror.That was before Cassandra entered Aedon's life.

Alaskan Bride


D. Jordan Redhawk - 2016
    Soon she's on the adventure of her life, leaving the comfort and stability of a well-to-do family for a man she's never met and a life of uncertainty.Callie Glass isn't happy with her brother Jasper's proposal to a mail-order bride, though she knows it's not her call. And when a tragic accident takes Jasper Glass's life, Callie doesn't hesitate to call off the wedding in a letter to Clara. Callie is soon surprised to find a strange woman settling into her cabin, a stranger who had never received news of Jasper's demise.While Callie insists that the other woman should return home, Clara digs in her heels. If Callie can live without a man in this isolated land, why can't she? Both headstrong women struggle in the ashes of their dashed hopes and dreams, slowly coming together to forge an alliance for which neither is prepared.

Measure of Devotion


C.F. Frizzell - 2021
    She believes the Constitution’s declarations of equality and freedom apply to everyone, and dreams that someday they will extend to her own pursuit of happiness with a woman.Helping her father raise her siblings on their Gettysburg farm, Sophie Bauer likewise clings to hope for a woman to love, but when she serves as an army aid and meets Cooper, Sophie is confounded by her growing feelings for him. Catherine, meanwhile, wrestles with her deception and the disguise she must maintain. Disclosure could not only repulse Sophie but send Catherine home a social outcast.When the battle of Gettysburg engulfs the Bauer farm, Catherine and Sophie learn far more about themselves than they ever expected. But first there’s a war—and hearts—to be won.

A Place to Call Home


Jae - 2021
    What started out as a marriage of convenience between a woman living as a man and a former prostitute slowly grew into love. But now that they have arrived in Oregon City, the real adventure is just beginning. Winter is approaching, and they need to claim a piece of land and build a cabin, all while trying to establish their new roles as life partners and parents. Will they find a place to call home and, more importantly, a way to grow as a couple? “A Place to Call Home” is a lesbian historical romance short story that continues Jae’s award-winning Oregon series. It picks up directly after the end of Backwards to Oregon.

Silver Wings


H.P. Munro - 2013
    Her love of flying leads her to join the Womens Airforce Service Pilots, determined to regain her passion and spread her wings, not suspecting that she would experience more than just flying.Helen Richmond, a Hollywood stunt pilot, has never experienced a love that lifted her as high as the aircraft she flew…until she meets Lily.Both women join the W.A.S.P. program to serve their country and instead find that they are on a collision course towards each other, but can it last?

Snow Moon Rising


Lori L. Lake - 2006
    Every day since her birth, she and her extended family have been on the road in their vardo wagons meandering mostly through Poland and Germany. She learned early to ignore the taunts and insults of all those who call her people "Gypsies" and do not understand their close-knit society and way of life. Pauline "Pippi" Stanek has lived a settled life in a small German town along the eastern border of Poland and Germany. In her mid-teens, she meets Mischka and her family through her brother, Emil Stanek, a World War I soldier who went AWOL and was adopted by Mischka's troupe. Mischka and Pippi become fast friends, and they keep in touch over the years. But then, the Second World War heats up, and all of Europe is in turmoil. Men are conscripted into the Axis or the Allied armies, "undesirables" are turned over to slave labor camps, and with every day that passes, the danger for Mischka, Emil, and their families increases. The Nazi forces will not stop until they've rounded up and destroyed every Gypsy, Jew, dissident, and homosexual. On the run and separated from her family, Mischka can hardly comprehend the obstacles that face her. When she is captured, she must use all her wits just to stay alive. Can Mischka survive through the hell of the war in Europe and find her family? In a world beset by war, two women on either side of the conflagration breach the divide-and save one another. Snow Moon Rising is a stunning novel of two women's enduring love and friendship across family, clan, and cultural barriers. It's a novel of desperation and honor, hope and fear at a time when the world was split into a million pieces.

Kicker's Journey


Lois Cloarec Hart - 2009
    But when Kicker falls in love with a teacher, Madelyn Bristow, it radically alters the course of her tranquil life.Together, the lovers flee the brutality of Madelyn's father and the prejudices of upper crust England in search of freedom to live, and love, as they choose. A journey as much of the heart and soul as of the body, it will find the lovers struggling against the expectations of gender, the oppression of class, and even, at times, each other.What they find at the end of their journey is not a new Eden, but a land of hope and opportunity that offers them the chance to live out their most cherished dream - a life together.

Somewhere Between Love and Justice


S.W. Andersen - 2015
    Stripped of her innocence at the tender age of thirteen, she's grown into a woman with nothing to lose and one thing on her mind. Justice. With her horse, her guns and a plan, the gunslinger takes to the trails of the old west in search of those who wronged her family. A trusted friend shares the quest for justice, but wants so much more. However, another silently holds Sarah's heart. Little does Sarah know, the woman, Jo, who graces her dreams has a past of her own and has spent the last year wishing for the return of the mysterious gunslinger who stole her heart. When Sarah's path takes a disastrous turn, the pair reunite. Now the gunslinger has to decide if she will open herself up to love or let her thirst for vengeance lead her down a path of no return. Choosing between love and justice was never part of her plan.

Cry Of The Heart


Ana McKenzie - 2019
    When she lands a job looking after the horse, it is like it was meant to be, and she thinks that bringing the rescue animal back to health might be as healing for her as it is for the horse. What she doesn't count on is Josie Tearney, owner of the horse, and the most startling, intriguing woman Colette has ever met. The attraction, it turns out, is mutual, but the last thing Colette thinks she deserves is a relationship with someone who's grounded, competent, and whole – all the things Colette isn't. Josie, who runs her own business making witchy teas and essential oils, is as planted on the land where she lives as is her garden – which makes her strong, centred, stable – and lonely. All her friends have moved to the city, and she's not at all sure that Colette won't leave as abruptly as she arrived. Josie lost her mother when she was young – and she won't take the risk of being abandoned again. But healing can happen when you least expect it, and the heart, that most magical part of ourselves, knows how to lead the way.

Freestyle Flirting


Nicolette Dane - 2016
    I couldn’t look away from her. The smile built on Dasha’s face, growing from a slight curl to something that could only be described as elation. God, I was so infatuated with her. I felt silly about the whole thing. Loopy, even. I wondered if Dasha felt the same way. Marie Mullally, competitive swimmer, has had it tough. Just a few short years back family tragedy kept her from her dreams of competing in the Olympic Games. But 4 years later she’s more driven than ever, focused on her training, and ready to bring home the Gold in the Summer Olympics. That singular focus, keeping her eyes on the prize, has proven to be great for her athletic goals… but not so much for her love life. These goals get challenged once Marie meets her new coach, Dasha Belenko. Dasha is beautiful, fit, inspiring, a former Olympic Medal winner herself and the kind of coach any swimmer could easily swoon over. Marie and Dasha soon find themselves entangled in a joyful secretive affair, excited for the possibility of love. But jealousy on the team mixed with the impropriety of a coach/swimmer relationship cause for some conflict that could once again keep Marie from her Gold Medal ambitions. Will Marie be able to navigate unfounded jealousy, regain focus on her swimming, and hoist the Gold Medal? Or will this high level competition on the world’s stage leave Marie dead in the water? With tragedy behind her, the spirit of a champion, and love in her heart, Marie is prepared to do what it takes to win in the pool… but at what cost?

Just Tonight


Syd Parker - 2011
    She is suddenly left to raise her two—month old granddaughter. Her partner of fifteen years can’t handle it. As much as she loves Adrianne, she doesn’t want to spend their golden years raising a child. The break—up sends Adrienne running back home to the small town she grew up in, not sure what her future holds. When Dylan Montgomery retired from the Army, she came back home following a personal tragedy and got a job as a ranger at a local park. It was the final stop in a life spent running from a past she would rather forget. She was a loner, content to jump from one meaningless encounter to another, vowing to never fall in love again…that is until she ran into Adrienne. When a freak storm leaves the two stranded in one of the park’s shelters, things start to heat up and they begin to understand that no matter what boundaries they have tried to set, some loves they can’t control no matter how hard they try.

Vagabond


Natalie Debrabandere - 2021
    Out of nowhere, a stranger steps in and risks her own life to save hers. If this was not enough to catch JoAnn’s attention, limpid blue eyes, unruly black hair, and a big dose of heroic stoicism certainly do. Morgan Lee has kind of lost her way. On the road for a long time, she seeks solace in solitude. Now injured following the rescue, and with her emotional defences down, JoAnn’s offer of a roof over her head to recover is hard to resist. So is their growing attraction for each other… Will trust, healing, and love blossom between the two women? Or will Morgan’s dark past catch up with her, and destroy them both?