Book picks similar to
Doctor Kinney's Housekeeper by Sara Dahmen


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The Air Raid Girls


Jenny Holmes - 2021
    Meet the Air Raid Girls: three young women keen to do their bit during the Yorkshire blitz.Connie's life has taken an unexpected turn since her husband died - she's living at home and working in the family bakery - but night shifts as an ARP Warden give her a firm sense of purpose.Her younger sister Lizzie is eager to play her part too, perhaps as an ambulance driver. Her fiance refuses to support her decision... but does he really know what's best for her?Twenty-year-old Pamela has led a sheltered life, but when her family's home is destroyed in a raid she must learn to stand on her own two feet - helped by new friends.As bombs fall and fires rage, the young women face the destruction of everything they've ever known. Can their fighting spirit prevail? And what of their families and the men they love?A thrilling and heartwarming new story of friendship, love and duty in wartime by the author of The Spitfire Girls, for fans of Elaine Everest and Rosie Hendry.

The Bluebeard Club: A 1920's Historical Murder Mystery (Lord Kit Aston Book 6)


Jack Murray - 2021
    

Mayhem, Murder and the PTA


Dave Cravens - 2019
    When a key source vanishes on a politically toxic story, this single mother of three finds herself at the center of a media storm and out of a job. Ready to reset, Parker moves her family back to the rural town where she grew up. But a gossip-filled PTA, a tyrannical school principal and a gruesome murder make adjusting to the "simple life" anything but. Parker Monroe is about to chase the story of her lifetime...

Song of the Highlands


Sharon Gillenwater - 1997
    His greatest surprise, however, comes when he wins a run-down English estate-with the spirited sister of the previous owner still in residence!

Kitchen Canary


Joanne C. Parsons - 2017
     Boston 1868...At the insistence of her parents, sixteen-year-old Katie O'Neil reluctantly left her beloved Galway. She joined her cousin, Moira Murphy to work as a nanny and domestic. In mid-nineteenth century Boston, Irish domestics were often referred to as Kitchen Canaries and considered property of their employers. The young women are violated by their employer, Charles Brennan. Their shame and guilt is so great, they keep the abuse a secret even from each. When Katie becomes pregnant, Charles Brennan's victims, Moira, his wife Rose, and the negro household help, bond together to hide the newborn. In this post-Civil War era, Boston is bustling with change as wealthy Englishmen and Boston Brahmins expand world trade routes, build railroads and develop land. Immigrants from Ireland, Italy and Poland establish neighborhoods, existing in overcrowded, disease-ridden shacks and tenements. They, and negroes flocking North, suffer hate, humiliation and rejection from the establishment. The only value they have to the rich Bostonians is their willingness to work for little money performing menial or back-breaking, dangerous jobs on the docks, and building railroads. This story is about the goodness of others, black, white, Irish and English whose strength prevails to overcome evil and guide Katie and Moira to true redemption. The sequel, Through the Open Door is now available.

Death Rattle


Sean Lynch - 2019
    . . THE LEGEND BEGINS In 1863, a teenaged boy fled his home in Atherton, Missouri, to escape the power-hungry men who murdered his father and stole his family's land. He joined the Confederacy under an assumed name and led guerilla raids in the Civil War. Then came a decade as a Texas Ranger. Now, after ten blood-soaked years, he is finally coming home. Finally using his real name. And finally getting revenge against the cold-hearted devils who destroyed his family and his life . . .This is the story of Samuel Pritchard. Now a small town sheriff with a long history of violence, a deep sense of honor, and wild streak of justice as dangerous as the guns that made him famous . . ."A riveting thriller that bristles with hard-boiled authenticity." --bestselling author Mark Greaney on Thy Partner's Wife "Sean Lynch spins a tale that is fast, fun and realistic." --Bestselling author James O. Born on Like Hell

The Wives of Billie's Mountain


Kelly L. Simmons - 2014
    Second families must go into hiding or be arrested. There is even a finder's fee for those who turn in their own. Ten-year-old Mary's father, a poor farmer, abandons Mary, her nearly-blind mother, and six brothers and sisters in the hills of the Wasatch Mountains to live in a shallow dugout not much better than a cave. Close to starving, the family is rescued by a nearby polygamist. As the much older man's intentions become more threatening, Mary finds it harder and harder to resist his proposal of marriage. Her family and friends, even her own mother, turn away from her. During the six-year period, from Mary's childhood to a forced marriage at sixteen, Mary must first survive, and then choose her fate. This is the story of survival, love, and compassion in a sometimes heartless existence. It is also the story of Mary's deep conflict with the Church's teachings on plural marriage, and with her father, who has abandoned them. Based on a true story."...filled with rich description that makes its early 20th-century setting and people come alive." -The Salt Lake Tribune"...an emotionally wrenching narrative out of U.S. history."-Kirkus Reviews

The Last Gift


Carla Acheson - 2012
    Maggie Tanner's first recollection of life within the Victorian slums of London is at the age of six years, witnessing the death of her grandmother shortly followed by the tragic birth of her mother's stillborn twins.Born to an impoverished family who face the daily threat of disease, starvation and the cruel work-houses, she is forced at the age of twelve to seek work and is taken into service within an upper class family. But in an effort to escape the tribulations of her class Maggie only begins to discover an even worse fate than death itself - the shocking moral ostracization by society towards bastardy and the heartbreaking underworld business of baby-farming.'The Last Gift' exposes the gripping realities of the harsh and brutal facts of life for the poor, during the greatest class divide that British history has ever known.

Christmas at Malton Manor


Pam Lecky - 2017
     Kate Hamilton is companion to the dullest and meanest woman in England, but she is looking forward to going home for Christmas and her sister Mary’s wedding. When her employer refuses to release her, Colonel Robert Woodgate comes to the rescue. Robert now owns Malton Manor, Kate’s old home in the village of Malton. Recently returned from the Boer War and recovering from his injuries, Robert has been reclusive and morose. Clashing several times over his plans and sweeping changes in the village, their relationship has always been tempestuous. But when Kate returns to Malton, she discovers her sister’s wedding is to take place at Malton Manor and everyone is convinced the Colonel has an ulterior motive. Can Kate resist the lure of her old home and the memories it holds? And does she have the courage to break down Robert’s defences to find happiness at last?

Keystone


Luke Talbot - 2013
    One discovery. Everything at stake. When Gail Turner discovers an ancient library under the sands of Egypt, she hopes it will get her closer to uncovering the mystery of Queen Nefertiti. Instead, it pits her against the ruthless Seth Mallus in a race for the truth that will push humanity to the very edge of existence.

The Funeral Bride


Kathleen McKenna Hewtson - 2015
    Tsar Nicholas never wanted to be Tsar, was never trained to be Tsar, and indeed proved to be catastrophically inept in the role. Empress Alexandra was stunningly beautiful but socially and physically clumsy to the point of being repellent to her mother-in-law, Dowager-Empress Marie, most of the Russian court, and therefore by extension to the Russian people at large.When King George V of Britain heard of the executions, he remarked that, as they regarded Nicholas and Alexandra, they were probably for the best, but the children's deaths were truly tragic. The British Ambassador to France, Lord Bertie, reported that seasoned diplomatic observers considered Nicholas to have been criminally weak and Alexandra to have been criminally insane.So what is the truth, and what was the truth as Empress Alexandra saw it? Pulling together what is known about Empress Alexandra and her family, and indeed much that is little known, in the 'Autobiography of Empress Alexandra' series Kathleen McKenna Hewtson is placing the reader in Empress Alexandra's shoes and behind her eyes from the moment she first met the heir to the Russian throne, Nicholas Romanov, when she was twelve, to the early morning that she and all five of their children died violently at his side.All six volumes are (planned) as follows:1. 'The Funeral Bride' 1884-1894 - published November 20152. 'The Empress of Tears' 1895-1904 - published March 20163. 'The Shaken Throne' 1904-1907 - published July 20164. 'The Pride of Eagles' 1907-1913 - published May 20175. 'No Greater Crown' 1914-1917 - published September 20186. ' The Far Kingdom' 1917 - 1918 - to be published Spring 2020

The Ice Harvester


G.P. Johnston - 2018
    Desperate to maintain cover, he scales the walls of the regal estate Lindenhurst and stumbles upon a frozen lake just as a beautiful woman falls through the ice. When he pulls her to safety, he learns that her name is Lillian Harold, an American blue blood betrothed to Charlie Cornelius, heir to a railroad magnate. As a gesture of thanks, Charlie’s father offers him a job. Henry is hesitant to throw in with the elites but still fearful of capture, so he accepts. Almost immediately, Henry and Lillian sense an unsettling attraction toward one another. This mutual attraction between the two continues to evolve and grow until Lillian realizes she might be in love with two men at the same time. As Henry shows a great aptitude for the business, Charlie seeks to escape his destiny by seeking out adventure in the far reaches of the world. The stubborn, rebellious, and impatient Lillian turns to Henry for company and they begin an illicit affair. Soon all begins to unravel when Charlie returns home and Henry’s past finally catches up with him. Henry eventually lands in Europe. There, amidst the harrowing chaos and carnage of World War I, he makes a promise: to live through the war, return to New York and see Lillian once more. The Ice Harvester spans the roiling conflicts of America’s gilded age to the killing fields of Europe. It is a tale of love, friendship, loyalty and betrayal as well as the American dream versus its harsh reality in a time of historic splendor and brutal savagery.

Part Star Part Dust


L.M. Valiram - 2017
    A plane crash. In this poignant and unforgettable debut novel three destinies are linked for eternity in a tale narrated by Time. Meet Radha. She was left in a dumpster on the side streets of Mumbai to die as she was born; premature and undernourished. Meet Mira. At sixteen she is to marry a man she has never met before. On her wedding day, she carries a knife. And Gaurav. People say love is more important than money. But what happens when having one means you can’t have the other? Scattered across India, these three are intertwined in unlikely ways: the flower shop owned by Mira’s husband employs Radha’s boyfriend, Mira and Gaurav become partners in business and most importantly, an ill-fated trip to Delhi links them all in death and life. Set in the sensuous worlds of Bombay and Delhi, Valiram’s dazzling novel explores the deep meanings of love, family, and time.

Worthy McGuire


Tim McGee - 2013
    Time is not on the side of the gruff World War II veteran racing to fulfill a promise he made amid the horrors of the D-Day invasion in Normandy. As he plans a pilgrimage from Michigan to the site of both his best and worst day, Worthy now must rely on those he trusts the least-his family. With no one else to help him meet the physical demands of the trip, Worthy grudgingly includes his grandchildren, David and Shannon, who are each battling their own insecurities. His controlling son, Ted, and his manipulative daughter-in-law, Angela, follow Worthy and his grandkids to France, and they have one goal: to drag the aging war vet back to Michigan where they hope to take command of his finances and place him in a nursing home. As Worthy searches for a family from his past, only time will tell if he can patch the crumbling relationships with his family before it is too late. In this historical tale, a World War II veteran takes a journey of honor and courage as he sets off to complete the most important mission of his long life.

The Maclarens


C.L. Skelton - 1978
    War, secrets and betrayal cast a shadow over the Maclarens from the battlefield to the drawing-room. Young Andrew Maclaren, a brave yet sensitive soldier, faces the danger of conflicts in India and China. He must choose between the regiment he serves and the woman he loves. Willie Bruce, Andrew's childhood friend and fellow soldier, discovers loyalty is not always rewarded. Maud Westburn, beautiful but damaged, is the woman who loves them both. Will this love tear a family, and a regiment, apart? A sweeping saga about passion and honour, and the senseless brutality of war.