Book picks similar to
Ruby by Marie Maxwell


historical
fiction
purchased-books
romance

His Savage Was Her Weakness


Tya Marie - 2017
    After witnessing her parents’ execution at her tenth birthday party, Nubia hasn’t been the same. The lavish lifestyle that came with being the daughter of the notorious Apollo Monroe was snatched from under her feet, forcing her to become the foster child her evil aunt never wanted. After years of dealing with her uncle’s hand problem, Nubia goes from a plaything to a punching bag for her husband, Vincent. Believing that Vincent is the best thing to happen in her life since the death of her parents, Nubia suffers in silence until she meets Maine. A notorious hustler by day and ruthless hustler by night, Jermaine “Maine” Emerson is as savage as they come. Born a child soldier in Sierra Leone, Maine was given the opportunity for a new life in America working as a hitta for Sampson, a distributor for the Solares Cartel and an infamous gangsta known for his heartless antics. Maine’s first mission: kill Apollo Monroe’s family, including his daughter. With a heart made of steel, Maine slaughters her family relentlessly, but there is something about ten-year-old Nubia that gives fifteen-year-old Maine pause. He spares her life, and the two never cross paths again until Maine catches Nubia being beaten on the street by her husband. Although he has everything he could ask for—money, cars, and his pick of women—Maine is drawn to the broken Nubia and the mystery she brings. As he tries to repair her broken spirit, he has no idea that he's responsible for it. In the middle of Nubia and Maine's battle of the hearts, is Nubia’s best friend, Shahani. After losing the love of her life in a gunfight, the kept Shahani takes refuge on a pole, rebuilding her life one dance at a time. She meets the suave and charismatic Donovan, who takes her from dancing and introduces her to the world of pimping. While Donovan is focused on building his empire, Shahani has other dreams in mind, one of which is opening her own hair salon. She's content with building with Donovan until a chance encounter with Sampson leaves her sleeping with the enemy. Again.

Small Town Shepherd


Nala Henkel-Aislinn - 2021
    Sam lost her career and her boyfriend on the same day. Needing an escape, she makes a radical decision—leave the big city for a small town, get a regular job, and take a break from men and romance.Brody is picking up the pieces after divorce. He’s hoping for a fresh start in the small community of Maple Cove. Instead, he’s forced to co-manage a failing animal hospital with Sam, who seems ready to hate him on sight.Watch two people learn to face their fears and love again in this sweet, small-town enemies to happily-ever-after romance.Small Town Shepherd is the first book in the sweet romance series Maple Cove Dog Lover’s Society.

1914


Griff Hosker - 2014
    After the horrors of a cavalry charge against machine guns he transfers to the R.F.C where he becomes a gunner and observer. Eventually he becomes a pilot and shows a flair for aerial combat. Set against the backdrop of England in 1914 it shows the contrast between life in England and the brutal war in Flanders.

Sweet Rosie


Iris Gower - 1999
    Content to adore him from afar, when he comes to her seventeenth birthday party she realizes that he is the only man she will ever love. But Watt, unaware of her feelings, is becoming increasingly drawn into the problems facing pottery owner Llinos Mainwaring, whose romantic marriage to Joe, the American Indian who stole her heart all those years ago, now seems in trouble. Before long, Rosie discovers that she is changed for ever from the innocent girl she once was, as she becomes involved with a man whose love she is destined never to have. A story of human love and conflict that spans two continents.

Young Love in Memphis: Heart on Reserve


B. Love - 2016
    In part one of Young Love in Memphis: Heart on Reserve – Grace, Braille, and Jessica begin their journey into womanhood. Grace’s life had never been normal. She grew up with a father who showed his love only through providing and protecting, and a mother who was so submissive that she allowed her husband to keep her from giving Grace the love and nurture every young girl needs. When Grace was sixteen she left Memphis to be with her boyfriend, Andy. Almost two years later, Grace finds herself sneaking back into Memphis, praying her parents and Andy never find out. But Andy does. And he refuses to let her go easily. Braille grew up with a single mother. Her entire life has centered around loving her Mother, getting good grades in school, and becoming a Nurse. A flat tire on one of the hottest days in Spring causes her to meet Lorenzo, a young dope boy whose life is going down a completely different path, and her life is changed forever because of it. After watching her sister love, lose, and die because of it, Jessica vowed to never fully commit herself to love or a man. Then she met Cameron. And his love and gentle pursuit of her changed her mind. When Cameron left for college she thought she could get back to her normal routine of enjoying life and messing around with whoever she wanted to, but Cameron didn’t want to let her go so easily. As she tries to enjoy her last year of high school and maintain a long distance relationship she meets Vega, Lorenzo’s best friend. Their encounter leaves her in a love triangle she’s not sure she wants to get out of. In this captivating series, these girls are all left with two options – live and love while they’re young, or place their hearts on reserve to live wild and free. Which will they choose? Join them in part one to find out!

No Cure for Love


Jean Fullerton - 2008
     The most talented voice since Dilly Court - an absorbing, thrilling and romantic historical saga with characters you'll fall in love with. Ellen O'Casey, an Irish Catholic immigrant, is struggling to support her ailing mother, her teenage daughter and herself. Washing other people's laundry in the day, and singing in bawdy pubs at night, Ellen is determined to make a better life for her family by saving enough for the passage to New York where the rest of her extended family have already emigrated. But Danny Donovan, a local gangster and the landlord of the pubs where Ellen sings, intends to make her his mistress. A widow in her late 20s, Ellen has refused to let another man in her life, least of all the brutish Danny, whose advances she doggedly resists. But when Ellen catches the eye of the new doctor in town, Robert Munroe, an intense rivalry is formed between the doctor and Danny. For not only are Robert's feelings for Ellen reciprocated, but the ambitious doctor also intends to investigate the appalling living conditions of the local community and Danny's own hand in it. But as Ellen and Robert become closer and aim to bring an end to Danny's reign of terror, their own chance at happiness seems suddenly to be at stake...

Through Streets Broad and Narrow


Gemma Jackson - 2013
    Her irresponsible Da is dead. She is grief-stricken and alone – but for the first time in her life free to please herself. After her mother deserted the family, Ivy became the sole provider for her Da and three brothers. Pushing a pram around the well-to-do areas of Dublin every day, she begged for the discards of the wealthy which she then turned into items she could sell around Dublin’s markets. As she visits the morgue to pay her respects to her Da, a chance meeting introduces Ivy to a new world of money and privilege, her mother's world. Ivy is suddenly a woman on a mission to improve herself and her lot in life. Jem Ryan is the owner of a livery near Ivy’s tenement. When an accident occurs in one of his carriages, leaving a young girl homeless, it is Ivy he turns to. With Jem and the people she meets in her travels around Dublin, Ivy begins to break out of the property-ridden world that is all she has ever known. Through Streets Broad and Narrow is a story of strength and determination in the unrelenting world that was Dublin tenement life.

Lavender Lane


Christina Jones - 2004
     Bob and Amy Phillips and their four grown-up children run Lavender Cabs in the small Berkshire market town of Appleford. Everyone is involved. The business has grown – through three generations – into a thriving taxi and garage business. But when Bob is taken ill, he and Amy decide to retire to Devon, but to do this they would have to sell the business which would throw the entire family’s lives into turmoil…

The Missing Piece


Carol McCormick - 2003
    Problems almost crushed him. Love motivated him to mend the damage, once he found all the pieces. After only a few months of marriage, Lorraine left Dylan on a wintry night after he'd spent one too many nights out with the guys. Unable to cope with the loss, Dylan escapes the painful feelings by drinking them away. This decision costs him a year-and-a-half of his life after he stops in a little mountain town and ends up in the local jail. When he's released, he returns home in search of a job to get his life—and his wife back. THE MISSING PIECE is not only a love story about a man who loves a woman, but is also a love story about a merciful God who loves mankind, even when he falls. The novel is an emotionally-charged journey of hope and redemption with a touch of spunk, a hint of humor, and a few twists along the way.Engaging and inspiring!

Daughter of Catalonia


Jane MacKenzie - 2014
    Not everything is easy to discover.' In war-torn France, charismatic Spaniard Luis elopes with high-born Elise from Paris and takes her to live in a small village in Catalonia. Little do they know that war will rip them apart, sending Elise into unhappy exile in England, and Luis to his death in the Resistance. Many years later their daughter Madeleine returns to France to seek out her roots and the truth of her parents' story. But her arrival in the Catalan village of her childhood unleashes more than she had bargained for, as Madeleine confronts the secrets of war and learns the shocking truth behind her father's death. And as her own love story begins, she must come to terms with her past, and learn to forgive and to believe in the legacy of love her parents left behind.

A Hard Man is Good to Find


James W. Lewis - 2011
    Despite the exceptional qualities and his obvious interest in her, things are moving too slow between them. Unlike most men who can’t wait to get in her pants, this particular man refuses to take things to the next level.DARYL JACKSON has grown tired of the nightclub scene and wants to settle down, but he has a secret that always seems to interrupt any potential love connection once he reveals it. He believes Michelle is the ideal woman, but can she handle the truth?After six weeks of dating, and still no attempt from him to get her “horizontal,” Michelle grows sex-starved. She is driving herself crazy trying to figure out Daryl’s problem! During a weekend getaway in Palm Springs, Michelle finally puts an end to the what’s-wrong-with-Daryl guessing game and demands to know what’s up. Not only does Daryl answer all her questions, Michelle learns first hand that you really need to be careful with what you wish for!

Quail Crossings


Jennifer McMurrain - 2012
    Despite her grief, she still must fight to bring her remaining family through the already trying times of The Great Depression. Her father needs help on their struggling farm, Quail Crossings. She isn't thrilled that he's hired a young 18 year old boy who's caring for his three younger siblings. Surviving her grief, as well as the constant dust storms that plague the plains, will Dovie be able to put her pain aside to care for these children or be forever trapped in the darkness of the loss in her family?

While You Were Mine


Ann Howard Creel - 2016
    But on V-J Day, her worst fear is realized. As celebrating crowds gather in Times Square, a soldier appears on her doorstep to claim Mary, the baby abandoned to Gwen one year earlier. Suddenly Gwen is on the verge of losing the child she has nurtured and loves dearly.With no legal claim to Mary, Gwen begins to teach Lieutenant John McKee how to care for his child, knowing that he will ultimately take Mary away. What starts as a contentious relationship, however, turns into something more, and Gwen must open her heart to learn that love means taking chances.While You Were Mine paints a vivid portrait of 1940s New York and tells an enchanting tale of the nature of love and trust.

A Place to Call Home


June Francis - 2005
     But there is more to Alexander Armstrong than meets the eye. When it becomes clear his intentions are pure, she is determined to help him on his quest. But will the looming threat of the Second World War ruin everything... or will Greta finally find love?

Closing the Gap


Patty Slack - 2014
    Danielle wishes it was true. When Danielle left Tipples Gap years ago, she vowed she’d never return. But now, with the decades-old underground coal fire threatening to destroy her hometown, Danielle must go home to accomplish the impossible. Her mother, a hoarder who cannot bear to leave her precious belongings behind, has to move before her house burns down. Danielle is the only one who can make her do it. She has steeled herself to face the emotions returning to her childhood home will surface, but is surprised by the feelings that arise when she runs into her high school flame, Isaac, the only law enforcer left in the dying town.