Book picks similar to
Samurai's Apprentice by David Walters


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Time Pebbles


Jerry Merritt - 2014
    Only Tekla cares enough to search for her over the years. As Ka Li survives fierce predators and scarce resources she leaves behind a series of signal cairns to help Tekla find her.Skipping forward 60,000 years, Helen Ryland, a mid-twentieth century archaeologist, unearths one of Ka Li's surviving signal cairns and realizes she has found trace of people who populated the Americas even before the Clovis culture. Helen's detective work tracking Ka Li's timeless signals across the Alaskan wilderness now intertwines with Ka Li's story. As Helen solves the puzzle of the signal cairns she finds universal fame and suffers devastating misfortune. In the end Helen discovers that science in isolation cannot answer all of her questions, for Tekla's devotion to Ka Li had not died even though six hundred centuries had passed.

The Beggar Sisters


Rosie Darling - 2018
    When she lost the printing business that was their livelihood soon after they had lost both their mother and father, they also lost the home in which they had both been born. Relegated to a life in a grey tenement, and long hours of Ada working in the Bow match factory and little Emma selling wares on the cold, unaccommodating streets of east London, the sisters had nothing but each other. What they shared now was a life without warmth, a life of disadvantage, a life where roast lamb and gravy was no more than a shared illusion, where Christmas was not a day apart from any other. And then Ada was forced to enter into a contract with a monster. Would he sell her to the highest bidder just as he had done to so many women before? What would become of little Emma if she were taken from her? Everett Floyd was known to be heartless. How was it that two young, vulnerable and innocent girls could melt his icy heart without even trying? In an age of misery where money distinguished people - and separated lives - could two very different worlds come together to heal the pain of the past and bring a new reality?

The Fledglings


Max Hennessy - 2020
    Face to face. One machine against another.It was shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Martin Falconer and his friend, Frank, were anxious to ‘get into the scrap’ as soon as possible, their youth blinding them to the real danger of it all.Geoffrey, Martin’s elder brother, knew that it wasn’t a game. He had fought in the trenches, been wounded and had seen friends die.For Geoffrey the R.F.C. offered an opportunity to escape the mud and horror of the Front, while for Martin and Frank it was the chance to be in at the start of a totally different kind of fighting. They were to be pioneers.A scintillating, full-throttle thriller of the First World War, perfect for fans of W. E. Johns, Derek Robinson and Geoffrey Wellum.

Scrivener of Rome: A tale of the Ancient Republic


Ken Farmer - 2015
    A young man is given a new start in life as a result of an impulsive action, beginning a journey that will take him to the far reaches of the known world to watch - and sometimes to partake in - the rise and fall of mighty empires.

The Young Widow: An Ambition & Destiny Novel (The Ambition & Destiny Series Book 6)


V.L. McBeath - 2020
    When an enigmatic stranger steals her heart, can she know he wants her for the right reasons?London 1808: Widowed at the age of twenty, Ann has no optimism for the future. At the beck and call of her domineering mother she longs to make a new life for herself with the legacy left by her late husband. But it's not that easy. Not when it means leaving her sisters behind. Her world is turned upside down when a curious gentleman stops to speak to her. Chas is new to the area, but he seems to know a lot about her … and he certainly looks well-to-do. Could he be her saviour? With newfound hope Ann dares to dream again, but Chas has a secret. Something he refuses to share. As their friendship grows, there are those who want to keep them apart … but when Ann stumbles upon Chas’s past, she realises that only she can decide what their future holds. Inspired by the compelling family history of author V L McBeath, The Young Widow is a standalone story in The Ambition & Destiny Series. Set in Georgian-era London, forty years before the start of this historical family saga, The Young Widow adds another dimension to this epic series. Get your copy today. Please Note: The Young Widow is written in UK English. Other books in The Ambition & Destiny Series: Prequel: Condemned by Fate Part 1: Hooks & Eyes Part 2: Less Than Equals Part 3: When Time Runs Out Part 4: Only One Winner Part 5: Different World

The Forsaken Maid's Secret


Faye Godwin - 2019
    Discovered by the police, Bincy is taken to an orphanage, where she learns that Mama is not the only person who doesn't want her. In truth, nobody wants her, and Bincy is forced to cling to the orphanage bully Mae for comfort. As the years pass, Mae forces Bincy to do everything she demands, from picking on the younger girls to giving up her meager allotment of food. When Bincy is betrayed by Mae, she's sent to work in a manor house as a scullery maid. That's where Bincy meets two young men: Judd, the street urchin who comes into the cellar to scavenge for food, and Henry, the charismatic young master of the house. Despite Judd's warnings, Bincy finds herself falling for Henry. But when Henry demands more from her than she's willing to give, Bincy has to make a choice: give herself to him or face her greatest fear of being alone and discarded once more.

Storm Gold


Lee Nelson - 1996
     One of the last adn largest Spanish settlements was located on what is now the Ute Indian Reservation at Rock Creek. According to Ute legends, the biggest slaughter of white men by Indians didn't occur at the Little Big Horn, but at Rock Creek, where in 1840 nearly one thousand Spaniards were slaughtered by Indians, ending once and for all the era of the Spanish gold seekers. This story is about that last great battle, told through the eyes of Utah's favorite writer of historical fiction, Lee Nelson.

COMING HOME TO BYLAND CRESCENT an absolutely heartbreaking and unputdownable historical family saga (The Cowgill Family Saga Book 3)


Bill Kitson - 2022
    

The Stolen Street Girl


Nell Harte - 2021
    Now, she must learn to survive.Forced to be both mother and father to her siblings after Ada’s mother turns to gin, and no longer able to scour the banks of the Thames as mudlarks, Ada turns to picking up cigarette butts from the filthy streets and repurposing the tobacco into a saleable item.Assisted by Elijah the son of a stonemason the Blair family manages to keep a roof over their heads, until their mother’s addiction spirals out of control and they find themselves out on the street.Desperate for safety, Ada takes a risk and is befriended by the well to do Mr Beauregard. But not all things are as they seem and soon Ada is torn from her family and thrown into a world of corruption she could not have imagined.When a chance meeting with Elijah reveals the truth, Ada’s life is at a crossroadsCan Ada leave behind the new life she now finds herself in? Will Elijah ever forgive her for what she has become? Or should Ada let the past remain behind and leave her family in peace.Nell Harte writes sweet and clean Historical Romance.

Dugan Holler (The Revenge Series Book 4)


Ann Robbins-Phillips - 2014
    The family names change with marriage, but difficulties have followed. Settled now in Tennessee with their youngest daughter, Norabell, they move near their oldest daughter, August. There is one secret that could tear their family apart. Is truth the best answer, even when it means breaking promises? Old acquaintances of Lottie and her family are sworn enemies from an old incident in Cocke County, Tennessee. They now find themselves neighbors once again. They have learned neither the lessons that come from seeking revenge nor its cost.

SUMMER OF THE PLAGUE (Molly Titchen Book 2)


Gordon John Thomson - 2015
    In the spring of 1665, England is recovering from a terrible winter, yet the country has other severe problems to face as the sun finally returns. The King, Charles II, had been welcomed back as a saviour on his restoration five years before, but is now resented by increasing numbers of his own people. And in March, the King declares war on the Dutch, England’s great seagoing trade rivals… Worse news comes to Restoration London, though, when there is an outbreak of the plague in April. This is terrible news in particular for the wealthy young physician and merchant Henry Raven, who believes that the outbreak is not natural but has been caused by an old enemy plotting his revenge against the city of London. Henry Raven, together with his friends from the Royal Society, Dr William Croone and Robert Hooke, organize the city’s fight against the spread of the disease. Raven’s delectable young mistress, Molly Titchen, is a precocious seventeen-year-old actress at the new King’s theatre in Drury Lane who is torn between her devotion to Henry Raven, and her love of strutting the stage in breeches parts. When Molly gives a bed for the night to one sick young actor, her kind action is misunderstood by Raven who believes that she has been unfaithful to him. Then Molly falls on hard times herself, and is aided not by her jealous lover, but by a strange Moorish apothecary, and a mysterious Frenchman, Philippe Desargues, Comte de Mésanger... Henry Raven has other problems to trouble his mind too, apart from his fight against the plague and his wish to save his relationship with Molly. Firstly, a close childhood friend, Esther Linney, has disappeared from her cottage on the estate of Raven’s family home in Dorset, Salwayash Manor, and gone to London. Raven’s sister Catherine asks her brother to find Esther in London, and discover why she left Dorset in such mysterious circumstances. Raven also has to deal with the fact that his sister has clearly fallen in love with their wealthy neighbour, the recently widowed Ralph Warboys, who is a handsome man yet one with a haunted past. And then strange events unfold in the quiet Dorset countryside when two young girls are found dead in suspicious circumstances... As the plague rages through London, Raven finds himself having to defend Esther Linney against a charge of witchcraft, while also trying to save Molly from an implacable enemy. But his greatest challenge is to discover the secrets of an old family curse, and to unmask a cruel murderer…

A Mother’s Dilemma


Emma Hornby - 2019
    But when the baby dies of natural causes while under her roof, and knowing her neighbour will be devastated, Minnie swaps it with one of the infants in her care.Now seventeen, Jewel Nightingale knows nothing of her true origins. But assaulted by her hateful cousin and making the dreadful discovery that she is pregnant, she faces a desperate dilemma. Fleeing her job as a domestic maid, she follows an advertisement to a house in Bolton's dark slums, where a woman promises to help her when the child is born. Little does Jewel know that there’s a terrible price to pay . . .Can she keep herself – and her baby – safe? And what will happen when Jewel discovers the truth about where she came from? Gritty and page-turning historical saga set in Northern England in the late 1800s, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin.

The Eight Walls of Rogar


William Woodward - 2006
    The story unfolds in the weeks following Andaris’ seventeenth name day: Desperate to escape a life of meaningless drudgery behind the plow, he leaves the safety of his secluded valley town and ventures alone into the uncharted depths of an ancient forest, the heart of which is said to be twisted and black. Choosing to ignore the counsel of his more sensible nature, he is drawn ever onward, lured by the tantalizing splendor of distant mountains, the sheer peaks of which purportedly stand sentinel over a land long steeped in mystery. What ensues is more remarkable than anything even he could have envisioned. Andaris goes looking for adventure.... What he finds is a world in the midst of tidal change, an extraordinary place where he encounters all manner of extraordinary things—vast landscapes teeming with flora and fauna capable of firing the most malnourished of imaginations. To be sure, danger lurks around every bend, a heady amalgam of sword and sorcery which threaten to bring his young life to an abrupt end. Indeed, if not for a very fortuitous encounter, namely the crossing of paths with a band of travelers who turn out to be much more than meets the eye, it surely would have. Gaven, Ashel, and Trilla seem fated to become fast friends, the sort of companions he’d always wanted, but never thought he’d have. The Lost One and his army of shapelings are preparing to march against Rogar’s western border—the only thing standing between them and the green, fertile lands to the East. The balance of power is shifting. Despite the debt of blood owed them by their Sokerran neighbors, the Alderi Shune fear they will be made to stand alone. No one speaks of defeat, but it is on the tip of every tongue. For the first time since they were erected, more than a thousand years ago, the impossible is about to happen: The Eight Walls of Rogar are about to fall. The scales could tip in either direction, depending, oddly enough, on the choices of a rather bookish young man named Andaris Rocaren. You will forgive me, intrepid reader, if I now take the opportunity to formally invite you to join in the fun, to accompany young Andaris and his fellows into and out of the kingdoms of Nelvin, Mindere, Sokerra, and Rogar. Over hill, dell, and stream you shall go, hiking through rugged mountain ranges heavy with snow, into subterranean catacombs whose unplumbed fathoms are illumined by naught but the guttering flames of your makeshift torch, until you reach, at long last, and in just the nick of time, the battered gates of a once great civilization on the brink of war.

Howl Series, Books 1-4


Jody Morse - 2012
    She finds herself caught in a web of family secrets and must decide between two fates: the one that was destined to be or the one that was chosen for her.From the bestselling authors of the Briar Creek Vampires series, the Howl series is a riveting tale of romance, friendship, and the true test of alliances.This is a collection of the first 4 books in the best-selling Howl series:1. Howl2. Blood Moon3. Wolfsbane4. Black Magic

The Viking


Marti Talbott - 2010
    Yet, the battle was not at all what he expected and he soon found himself alone and stranded in Scotland. Thirteen-year-old Kannak’s problem was just as grave. Her father deserted them and the only way to survive, she decided, was to take a husband over her mother‘s objections. Suddenly she was helping a hated Viking escape. Could Kannak successfully hide a Viking in the middle of a Scottish Clan? And why was someone plotting to kill the clan's beloved laird?