Book picks similar to
Children of Apollo by Adam Alexander Haviaras


historical-fiction
historical
mythology
fantasy

Belle of the Ball


Pam McCutcheon - 2003
    But a wish at a magical rock formation is about to change all that, in a most a-MUSE-ing way. . . . The three Sullivan sisters, named for the Three Graces of Greek legend who embody beauty, charm and grace, don’t live up to their names. Belle is no beauty. Charisma lacks charm. And Grace is somewhat less than graceful. But this doesn't deter their ambitious mother from bribing three bachelors to escort them to Colorado Springs’ beautiful Garden of the Gods. When the girls overhear their escorts mocking how little they resemble their names, each girl makes a wish at the magical Three Graces rock formation. Belle wishes aloud for beauty, but only so she can use it as a weapon to punish the cads who hurt her sisters. Her true wish is for revenge. Handsome viscount Kit Stanhope regrets his rude remarks and apologizes to Belle. He’s surprised when she tells him that's not enough. If he truly regrets his behavior, he has to make her beautiful in time for the Founders’ Day Ball. Kit isn’t sure he’s up to the task. But, intrigued by the spirited Belle, he agrees to assist her transformation from an ugly duckling into a swan with the help of a mysterious Greek dressmaker with muse-like qualities. Unfortunately, Belle makes a rather awkward swan. Still, after a few embarrassing escapades, she masters the flirtatious language of the fan and takes the town known as Little London by storm. Belle soon finds herself falling for the viscount and his sinful mouth. It seems he returns her regard, but she can’t renege on her promise to humiliate him . . . can she? Will her secret muse grant the wish she voiced . . . or the one she holds in her heart? Note to readers: This title was originally published in 2003 by Zebra Ballad.

Curse of the Kingsmans


Ethan Somerville - 2010
    She wants to see the sights of the great city, but her parents hope she will ensnare a rich nobleman for a husband. On an outing to Newgate market with her cousins, she becomes separated from them and is lured into an alley by a gang of ruffians. She is saved by a tall, gallant stranger who escorts her safely home. Handsome, heroic and aristocratic, Henry Kingsman seems the ideal match for her. But then she learns that Henry is in fact the Fourth Earl of Berwick, a notorious rake from a dark and dissolute family. He is rumoured to deal with smugglers, and his ancestry riddled with incest, insanity and murder. Beth’s father forbids her from seeing him again. However, Beth refuses to believe that Henry is as bad as his forebears, and starts seeing him in secret. When her father finds out he gives her such a beating, that she feels her only choice is to elope with Henry to his forbidding castle in Northumberland – the same bleak fortress where his family committed their loathsome deeds… Also available: Curse of the Kingsmans 2: The Devil's Diary - a far darker and more erotic tale about pirates. Curse of the Kingsmans 3: Escape of Absolon - Aidan's own son Absolon is recruited to solve a mystery. Other books by Emma Daniels and Ethan Somerville: Return to Atlantis - a high school student and a rock star travel to the lost city of Atlantis for the adventure of a lifetime Shadow Warrior - a detective thriller with more than a hint of demon romance Empire of Ice - a dark urban fantasy about a secret Nazi superman formula with the power to create vampires. I married an Alien - a time-travel romance in which a dowdy middle-aged woman suddenly finds herself catapulted in the future, into a whole new body and life. I Married a Time-Traveller - the thrilling sequel to I Married an Alien, in which an introverted mad scientist is granted a whole new lease on life when he wakes up in the body of a gorgeous Terron.

Bleed Through


Heather Atkinson - 2012
    Beth Moorhouse flatlines after a devastating car crash in the north of England. Simultaneously in Afghanistan Liam MacIntyre is almost killed when his army truck hits a landmine, the blast stopping his heart. Both are brought back after crossing over. Recovering from debilitating injuries, lost in fevers and delirium they experience vivid dreams that bleed through into their reality, making them yearn for a past lost to them. From the sixteenth century massacre of Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland through eighteenth century Venice and finally to Flanders in World War One they both dream of the lives they shared together, each one cut short by Beth’s young and violent death. In each incarnation Liam‘s death shortly follows her own when he finds himself unable to go on without her, but not before avenging himself on the one who took her life. Resolved to discover the meaning behind these dreams Beth visits a gifted psychic who reveals that her murderer in each dream is a dark entity who has latched onto Beth and her soulmate with the sole purpose of destroying their happiness. She must find her love in this life and break this fatal pattern if she is to avoid another brutal death. Liam and Beth set out, determined to find one another by retracing the steps of their shared pasts. But their reunion is like a flare, drawing the dark soul to them and the race against time itself begins to save Beth from her inevitable fate. Bleed Through is a tale of love enduring centuries, sweeping through some of the most memorable events in European history and is the age old battle between good and evil.

Devilish Games Of A Virtuous Lady


Scarlett Osborne - 2019
    Confronted with her father's decision to wed her to a man she has never met in her life, she decides to run away disguised as a commoner. Widowed and a single father, Algernon Fletcher, Marquess of Radcliffe, is the epitome of propriety. When his daughter is rescued by a beautiful young maid, he can’t help but offer her a position in the household. But even though their attraction is fierce, Letitia's secret identity is threatening to ruin it all… An unexpected guest bears shocking tidings and Letitia comes face to face with the harsh reality: not only are they all but mere pawns in a devious game of power, but the puppetmaster is one hiding in plain sight.

The Mermaid


Christina Henry - 2018
    Barnum's American Museum as the real Fiji mermaid. However, leaving the museum may be harder than leaving the sea ever was.Once there was a mermaid who longed to know of more than her ocean home and her people. One day a fisherman trapped her in his net but couldn't bear to keep her. But his eyes were lonely and caught her more surely than the net, and so she evoked a magic that allowed her to walk upon the shore. The mermaid, Amelia, became his wife, and they lived on a cliff above the ocean for ever so many years, until one day the fisherman rowed out to sea and did not return.P. T. Barnum was looking for marvelous attractions for his American Museum, and he'd heard a rumor of a mermaid who lived on a cliff by the sea. He wanted to make his fortune, and an attraction like Amelia was just the ticket.Amelia agreed to play the mermaid for Barnum, and she believes she can leave any time she likes. But Barnum has never given up a money-making scheme in his life, and he's determined to hold on to his mermaid.

True Love


Jude Deveraux - 2013
    Set on the magical Massachusetts island, True Love introduces characters from a new generation of Montgomery-Taggerts, the beloved family from Deveraux’s classic novels.Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architectural school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for one year, the use of a charming nineteenth-century Nantucket house. The elderly woman’s relationship to the Madsen family is a mystery to the spirited Alix—fresh from a romantic breakup—but for reasons of her own Alix accepts the quirky bequest, in part because it gives her time to plan her best friend’s storybook wedding.But unseen forces move behind the scenes, creaking Kingsley House’s ancient floorboards. It seems that Adelaide Kingsley had a rather specific task for Alix: to solve the strange disappearance of one of the Kingsley women, Valentina, more than two hundred years ago. If that wasn’t troubling enough, Alix must deal with the arrogant (and extremely good-looking) architect Jared Montgomery, who is living in the property’s guesthouse.Unbeknown to Alix, Jared has been charged with looking after her while she lives on the island—an easy task for him, considering the undeniable chemistry between the two. But Jared harbors secrets of his own, which, if revealed, may drive a wedge between the pair.With a glorious Nantucket wedding on the horizon, sparks fly, and the ghosts of the past begin to reveal themselves—some of them literally. Finding their lives inextricably entwined with the turbulent fortunes of their ancestors, Alix and Jared discover that only by righting the wrongs of the past can they hope to be together.

Come Home To Me


Peggy L. Henderson - 2012
    He enjoys life in the fast lane, with fast cars and even faster women. When he falls in with the wrong crowd and is accused of murder, a stranger’s bizarre offer at a second chance might be his only hope to clear his name.Rachel Parker is highly devoted to her family. A tragedy prompts a daring move to the Oregon Territory for a fresh start in a new land. After meeting the wagon train’s scout, the meaning of a fresh start may be more than she ever imagined. Jake can’t believe he’s been sent back in time to act as scout for a wagon train headed for Oregon, and given the added burden of keeping one emigrant woman safe during the journey. He and Rachel are confused by their attraction to each other. Jake’s ill-mannered, unconventional ways are overshadowed only by his notorious reputation. Rachel’s traditional values and quiet, responsible character are the complete opposite of what attracts Jake to a woman. When their forbidden attraction turns to love, what will happen at the end of the trail?

The Fool's Tale


Nicole Galland - 2005
    A time of treachery, passion, and uncertainty. King Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon, known as Noble, struggles to protect his small kingdom from foes outside and inside his borders. Pressured into a marriage of political convenience, he takes as his bride the young, headstrong Isabel Mortimer, niece of his powerful English nemesis.Through strength of character, Isabel wins her husband's grudging respect, but finds the Welsh court backward and barbaric, and is soon engaged in a battle of wills against Gwirion, the king's oldest, oddest, and most trusted friend. Before long, however, Gwirion and Isabel's mutual animosity is abruptly transformed, and the king finds himself as threatened by loved ones as by the enemies who menace his crown.A masterful novel by a gifted storyteller, The Fool's Tale combines vivid historical fiction, compelling political intrigue, and passionate romance to create an intimate drama of three individuals bound -- and undone -- by love and loyalty.

Winter Raven


Adam Baker - 2016
    After a failed assassination attempt on the Emperor, an anonymous samurai is coerced into a suicide mission that will test his skills to the limit. He must face this challenge for his young charge, a girl who is the last remainder of his duty.The samurai and the girl must journey to a far and impregnable mountain fortress, fighting off threats and dangers on the way. The girl, knowing no other life, hopes to learn all she can of the ways of the warrior.But they do not travel alone. The hunters are also the hunted. In Winter Raven, the first in an epic and engrossing new historical series, written in spare and precise prose, we are transported to an incredible time and place in history. Brutal, tense and action-packed, Winter Raven is sure to appeal to readers of James Clavell, Bernard Cornwell and Ben Kane. Adam Baker was born in the west of England in 1969. He is the son of a priest. He studied Theology and Philosophy in London. He has worked as a gravedigger, a mortuary attendant, a short order cook in a New York diner, and fixed slot machines in an Atlantic City casino. He is currently employed as a cinema projectionist.

The Price of Paradise


Susana López Rubio - 2017
    Young Patricio flees impoverished Spain and steps into the sultry island paradise of Havana with only the clothes on his back and half-baked dreams of a better life. Blessed with good looks and natural charm, he lands a job as a runner at El Encanto—one of the most luxurious department stores in the world.Famous for its exquisite offerings from French haute couture to Arabian silks, El Encanto indulges the senses in opulent extravagance. It caters to visiting Hollywood stars, rising politicos, and prerevolutionary Cuba’s wealthiest power players, including the notorious mobster César Valdés.Falling in love with the mobster’s young wife, Gloria, is suicide. But Patricio is irresistibly drawn to the beautiful girl with sad eyes, a razor-sharp intellect, and a penchant for both Christian Dior’s clothes and Einstein’s theories. Within the walls of El Encanto, anything seems possible, even a love that promises to heal them and a desire that thrums with the mambo beat of the city itself.In a reckless love affair that spans half a century, Patricio’s and Gloria’s lives entwine time and again, challenged by every twist of fate—for in a world of murder, betrayal, and revolution, those who dare to reach for paradise seldom survive unscathed.

Out of the Dark


Jennifer Blake - 2011
    She disdains his lethal reputation, has little to say to him--and calms the ballroom where they meet by luring an injured panther to eat from her hand. Lucien alone seems to recognize the strength and beauty behind her retiring nature; only he has the power and the will to claim her.Anne-Marie is desperate to save the big cat she has tamed; the magnificent animal will be hunted down if she cannot protect him. The Dark Angel promises his aid for a price--but the man may prove more dangerous than the panther...___________25,000 words; about 100 pages (novella)Includes a preview sample of Jennifer's paranormal historical romance The Warlock's Daughter.

A Woman of Choice


Kris Tualla - 2010
    She is rescued by a widower uninterested in love. In desperation, she becomes engaged to his best friend.One woman, three very different men. Life is about choices.

Venice Vampyr


Tina Folsom - 2010
    And how does the man repay her selfless act? By kissing her - her, a respectable woman.Not only is Raphael di Santori grateful for his life being saved, he would also like to thank his rescuer very intimately - more intimately than decorum allows. But then, Raphael has never been one to play by the rules - as a vampire he doesn't have to.

The Perfume Garden


Kate Lord Brown - 2012
    Untouched since Franco's forces tore through Spain in 1936, the whitewashed walls have crumbled, the garden, laden with orange blossom, grown wild. Emma Temple is the first to unlock its doors in seventy years. Guided by a series of letters and a key bequeathed in her mother's will, she has left her job as London's leading perfumier to restore this dilapidated villa to its former glory. It is the perfect retreat: a wilderness redolent with strange and exotic scents, heavy with the colours and sounds of a foreign time. But for her grandmother, Freya, a British nurse who stayed here during Spain's devastating civil war, Emma's new home evokes terrible memories. As the house begins to give up its secrets, Emma is drawn deeper into Freya's story: one of crushed idealism, lost love, and families ripped apart by war. She soon realises it is one thing letting go of the past, but another when it won't let go of you.

Ascension


A.S. Fenichel - 2014
    She’s grown from a sweet girl into a mysterious woman who guards her dark secrets well. When he sees her sneaking away from a ball, he’s convinced it’s for a lover’s rendezvous. Following her to London’s slums, Gabriel watches in horror as his fiancée ruthlessly slays a man.Lady Belinda Clayton’s only concern was her dress for the next ball—until demons nearly killed her, and a group of Demon Hunters saved her life. Now, a lady by day, and a demon hunter by night, she knows where her duty lies. Ending her betrothal is the best way to protect Gabriel from death at a demon’s hands.Gabriel soon realizes, like him, Belinda has been fighting for her country. He joins in the fight, determined to show her that their love can endure—even at the gates of Hell.