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A Love of Adventure by Joan Druett


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The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott


Kelly O'Connor McNees - 2010
     Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O'Connor McNees returns to the summer of 1855, when vivacious Louisa May Alcott is twenty-two and bursting to free herself from family and societal constraints and do what she loves most. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire, she meets Joseph Singer, and as she opens her heart, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life.

Weathered Too Young


Marcia Lynn McClure - 2010
    In all the world there was no one who cared for her. Still, there were worse things than independence -- and Lark had grown quite capable of providing for herself. Nevertheless, as winter loomed, she suddenly found herself with no means by which to afford food and shelter -- destitute.Yet Tom Evans was a kind and compassionate man. When Lark Lawrence appeared on his porch, without pause he hired her to keep house and cook for himself and his cantankerous elder brother, Slater. And although Tom had befriended Lark first, it would be Slater Evans -- handsome, brooding and twelve years Lark's senior -- who would unknowingly abduct her heart.Still, Lark's true age (which she concealed at first meeting the Evans brothers) was not the only truth she had kept from Slater and Tom Evans. Darker secrets lay imprisoned deep within her heart -- and her past. However, it is that secrets are made to be found out -- and Lark's secrets revealed would soon couple with the arrival of a woman from Slater's past to forever shatter her dreams of winning his love -- or so it seemed. Would truth and passion mingle to capture Lark the love she'd never dared to hope for?

A Fearless Lady Craving Freedom


Bridget Barton - 2019
    She was raised in a wealthy Regency family, she is engaged to a man of good social standing, and her life seems to be more than settled. However, deep inside she knew that she would gladly give up the wealth and comfort of her position to live an adventure. When she discovers the news that her dearest cousin goes missing, Charlotte's only option is to take action, and set out on an expedition in order to find her. But will she dare to lay aside what society expects of her to embrace the yearning for adventure she's always harboured in her heart?Ewan Sinclair is old enough to be experienced but young enough to retain youthful vigour. Having fled his home for years now, he is tracing his own path in life, making a name for his ability to find lost people. When two desperate sisters ask for his help in order to find their missing cousin, his financial situation gives him no choice but to accept the offer. Little had he known, before asking the older sister to join him in his investigation, how his life was about to change at that moment. Will he eventually let his prejudice aside and leave a space for love in his heart?A lifetime adventure soon brings Charlotte and Ewan closer than they ever thought they would be and creates unprecedented emotions between them. But when the situation is about to get harder and harder, will they be ready to conquer their fears? Will they choose to risk everything in the name of freedom and love?

Vertigo


Lauren Baratz-Logsted - 2006
    What happens next in this brilliantly crafted novel of literary suspense will change Emma Smith’s life forever—and ignite a dark, erotic drama of suspicion, loss, and awakening.In the year 1898, Emma makes a New Year’s resolution: to become a better person. So, under the tutelage of her novelist husband, she begins an innocent correspondence with Chance Wood, a man serving his sentence for the murder of his wife. But from the beginning, in words that shock and intrigue her, Chance dares Emma to unveil her unspoken thoughts and desires. And when Chance receives a pardon, Emma is set dangerously free. She will use her freedom—and Chance’s—to pursue the fantasies that have been swirling dizzily around her. Slowly, recklessly, Emma exchanges all that was familiar and safe for her new, dangerous double life. As the risks mount and a friend turns blackmailer, Emma cannot stop her fall. For once she has given in to her truest, basest desires, she cannot avoid the ones that come next.…

Lantern in the Mist


Liliana Shelbrook - 2013
    In her innocence, Kathleen Colby trusted a man no woman should ever have believed. She dreamed he would take care of her, and would help her care for her helpless sister. Instead, in a drunken rampage, he assaulted her and left her shattered on the muddy streets of an Alaskan boomtown.Kathleen does not let him stop her. She escapes Skagway with her paralyzed sister Josie, in spite of her attacker. Just before winter closes in, on the last ship of 1899, they sail away to the south. Their dangerous journey is only beginning. They travel across America at the turn of the twentieth century, by train, on horseback, and on foot. One man, a man of many secrets, travels as Kathleen’s companion, but she cannot allow him into her heart. She knows that she cannot trust another supposed rescuer, that she alone must rescue herself. She is sure that she must learn to stand on her own legs before she can build a relationship with any man. Yet, Kathleen is drawn to this strange and passionate man, but perhaps the brutal assault she endured in Skagway has closed off her heart to the possibility of faith in someone else. She carries a gun, and is willing to shoot to kill or to take what she is owed. She trains herself to survive at any cost. For her unspeaking sister’s sake and her own, she learns to live in a savage world. Whether or not she reaches the great city of New York, she has been on a harsh road too long. Will she ever learn to live as a woman again, and to open her heart to love?

The Accomplice


Kathryn Heyman - 2003
    Combining a gripping narrative with vivid historical detail, The Accomplice is a beautiful, terrifying, deeply moving novel of love and anarchy.

The Question of Red


Laksmi Pamuntjak - 2012
    When she meets two suitors who fit perfectly into her namesake’s myth, Amba cannot help but feel that fate is teasing her. Salwa, respectful to a fault, pledges to honor and protect Amba, no matter what. Bhisma, a sophisticated, European-trained doctor, offers her sensual pleasures and a world of ideas. But military coups and religious disputes make 1960s Indonesia a place of uncertainty, and the chaos strengthens Amba’s pursuit of freedom. The more Amba does to claim her own story, the better she understands her inextricable bonds to history, myth, and love. Revised edition: This edition of The Question of Red includes editorial revisions.

When Calls the Heart


Janette Oke - 1983
    Yet, despite the constant hardships, she loves the children in her care. Determined to do the best job she can and fighting to survive the harsh land, Elizabeth is surprised to find her heart softening towards a certain member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Book 1 of the bestselling Canadian West series.

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.

The Things We Don't Say


Ella Carey - 2018
    Years after Patrick’s death, ninety-year-old Emma still has the painting hanging over her bed at their country home as a testament to their love.To Emma’s granddaughter, Laura, the portrait is also a symbol of so much to come. The masterpiece is serving as collateral to pay Laura’s tuition at a prestigious music school. Then the impossible happens when an appraiser claims the painting is a fraud. For Laura, the accusation jeopardizes her future. For Emma, it casts doubt on everything she believed about her relationship with Patrick. Laura is determined to prove that Patrick did indeed paint the portrait. Both her grandmother’s and Patrick’s legacies are worth fighting for.As the stories of two women entwine, it’s time for Emma to summon up the past—even at the risk of revealing its unspoken secrets.

A King in a Court of Fools


Larry Enright - 2011
    That's what she called it. Tom called it punishment. In it, he chronicles the adventures of the Caswell Gang, a group of siblings and friends with two things in common -- their love of adventure and their allegiance to Tom, their king.The 1950s book was misplaced a long time ago, and all the children have since grown up, but Harry, Tom's youngest brother, still remembers it and retells for us one of its stories in a nostalgic, heartwarming, and humorous way that will have you wishing for adventure, too.