The Caves of San Pietro


Susan Gayle - 2021
    An intriguing and earnest... war tale." –Kirkus ReviewsAfter he and his buddy survive the bloody landing on the beaches of Salerno, Frank Moster is more determined than ever to play a part in liberating his birth parents' homeland from the Nazi scourge. What he doesn't expect is that he'll become personally involved with an Italian family whose lives are being ravaged, first by the German occupation and now by the brutal fighting and deadly bombings on the heels of the Allied invasion - or that, for the second time in his life, he'll come face to face with the heartache and trauma of being orphaned at a very young age.When all three of these forces collide at the Battle of San Pietro, lives will be changed forever and unbreakable bonds will be forged between families half a world apart.

Somerset


Leila Meacham - 2013
    "From birth, Jessica had eschewed the role to which she'd been born. Was it because she sensed that her father's indulgence was compensation for his disappointment in her? Jessica thought too much, questioned, challenged, rebelled. Sometimes Eunice thought her daughter should have been born a male." Born into the wealthiest and most influential family in 1830s South Carolina, Jessica Wyndham was expected to look appealing, act with decorum, and marry a suitably prominent and respectable man. However, her outspoken opinions and unflagging sense of justice make her a difficult-and dangerous-firebrand, especially for slavery-dependent Carson Wyndham. Jessica's testing of her powerful father's love is only the beginning of the pain, passion, and triumph she will experience on a journey with the indomitable, land-obsessed Silas Toliver and headstrong Jeremy Warwick to a wild new land called Texas. PRAISE FOR LEILA MEACHAM "Discovering Leila Meacham and her spectacular talent is akin to discovering gold. With this novel she has become a national treasure." -- Huffington Post "Rich with American history and pitch-perfect storytelling, fans and new readers alike will find themselves absorbed in the family saga that Meacham has proven-once again-talented in telling." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

New England Rocks


Christina Courtenay - 2013
    Not only is she forced to move to New England, USA, she's also sent to the local high school as a punishment.Rain makes it her mission to dislike everything about Northbrooke High, but what she doesn't bank on is meeting Jesse Devlin ...Jesse is the hottest guy Rain's ever seen and he plays guitar in an awesome rock band!There's just one small problem ... Jesse already has a girlfriend, little miss perfect Amber Lawrence, who looks set to cause trouble as Rain and Jesse grow closer.But, what does it matter? New England sucks anyway, and Rain doesn't plan on sticking around ... Does she?Christina's Highland Storms won the 2012 Historical Romantic Novel of the year awardHer novel The Scarlet Kimono won the Big Red Reads Best Historical Fiction Award and was short listed for the Festival of Romance Best Historical Read Award 2011.

As Good as True


Cheryl Reid - 2018
    After a night of rage and terror, Anna Nassad wakes to find her abusive husband dead and instinctively hides her bruises and her relief. As the daughter of Syrian immigrants living in segregated Alabama, Anna has never belonged, and now her world is about to erupt.Days before, Anna set in motion an explosive chain of events by allowing the first black postman to deliver the mail to her house. But it’s her impulsive act of inviting him inside for a glass of water that raises doubts about Anna’s role in her husband’s death.As threats and suspicions arise in the angry community, Anna must confront her secrets in the face of devastating turmoil and reconcile her anguished relationship with her daughter. Will she discover the strength to fight for those she loves most, even if it means losing all she’s ever known?

The Visionist


Rachel Urquhart - 2013
    She and her young brother find shelter in a Massachusetts Shaker community called The City of Hope. It is the Era of Manifestations, when young girls in Shaker enclaves all across the Northeast are experiencing extraordinary mystical visions, earning them the honorific of "Visionist" and bringing renown to their settlements. The City of Hope has not yet been blessed with a Visionist, but that changes when Polly arrives and is unexpectedly exalted. As she struggles to keep her dark secrets concealed in the face of increasing scrutiny, Polly finds herself in a life-changing friendship with a young Shaker sister named Charity, a girl who will stake everything--including her faith--on Polly's honesty and purity.

There and Now


Linda Lael Miller - 1992
    When she found herself unexpectedly in the bedroom of Dr. Jonathan Fortner, the handsome Victorian demanded an explanation from this t-shirt-clad stranger who had no believable one to offer.

A Master Passion, the story of Elizabeth and Alexander Hamilton


Juliet Waldron - 2015
    It begins with their Revolutionary War courtship. Although born poor and illegitimate, as an Aide de Camp to General George Washington, Hamilton dares to reach, boldly pursuing Betsy, daughter of a wealthy and prominent New York family. After the war, Hamilton engages in nation building. Like all mission-driven men, he is preoccupied, often absent, and not the best provider. The trials of making ends meet and raising their ever-growing troop of children falls to Betsy, who accomplishes her task with grace and devotion. Conflict is built into their marriage. It does not simply spring from Alexander's agonizing childhood experience of bastardy, abuse, and abandonment. To quote Alexander Pope, Hamilton's favorite poet: “And hence one Master Passion in the breast like Aaron's serpent, swallows up all the rest..." Betsy's passion is Alexander. Alexander's passion is America. Though Hamilton's financial acumen and political courage is crucial to the formation and survival of our nation, his star sets quickly. Disillusioned, political power broken, his adored eldest son killed in a duel, Hamilton goes to his own famous duel with Aaron Burr in the spirit of those noble Romans he so steadfastly admires, preferring death to dishonor. The Master Passion places the battles of Alexander Hamilton, the lonely idealist, within a family saga rich in period detail. The great edifice for which he laid the groundwork -- America -- has become, exactly as he planned, the richest and freest country on earth.

The Forest of Adventures


Katie M. John - 2010
    Finding herself catapulted into fairyland she discovers that the Real World is not quite what she thought and fairyland is not quite what she imagined. The question is... who will come out alive?

This Fine Life


Eva Marie Everson - 2010
    When she returns to her privileged life at home, she isn't sure where life will take her. More schooling? A job? Marriage? Nothing feels right. How could she know that she would find the answer waiting for her in the narrow stairwell of her father's apparel factory, exactly between the third and fourth floors?In this unique and tender romance, popular author Eva Marie Everson takes you on a journey through the heart of a young woman bound for the unknown. Discover the joys of new love, the perseverance of deep friendship, and the gift of forgiveness that comes from a truly fine life.

The Last Debutante


Lesley Lokko - 2016
     1936, Chalfont Hall, Dorset. As the dressmaker puts the last pins in her dress, thirteen-year-old Kit is wondering why she has to go through the charade of seeing her sister Lily presented at Court. With her waves of auburn hair and her piercing green eyes, Kit knows that her sister's place on the social scene is guaranteed regardless of her dress, and as the door to a life of parties and eligible young men opens for Lily, Kit must make do with tiptoeing around the gallery of Chalfont, eavesdropping on the conversations of the grown-ups. But the arrival of a German visitor one evening soon sets in motion a chain of events that none of the family could have anticipated. Years later, the aftershock of events will be felt by a new generation . . .

A World Elsewhere


Wayne Johnston - 2011
    It is an astounding work of literature that questions the loyalties of friends, family and the heart. At the centre of this story is a mystery: the suspected murder of a child. This sweeping tale immerses us in St. John's, Princeton and North Carolina at the close of the nineteenth century. Landish Druken is a formidable figure: broader than most doorways, quick-witted and sharp-tongued. As a student at Princeton, he is befriended by George Vanderluyden, son of one of the wealthiest men in America. Years later, when Landish and his adopted son turn to Vanderluyden for help, he invites them to his self-constructed castle and pulls them into his web of lies and deceit.

Bye Baby Bunting


Tannis Laidlaw - 2012
    A kidnapping. Escape.... University student Jemma Howell's life has turned upside down: she's pregnant and her boyfriend has just died. A lawyer has Jemma sign away the child to her dead boyfriend's parents, the wealthy Winchesters. Some six months after giving birth, Jemma is still obsessed with her baby's welfare. A chance opportunity occurs. She makes a split-second decision. She is now a kidnapper and on the run. Detective Constable Tim Findlay is assigned to the Winchester kidnapping, his first big case. In the course of the investigation, he and his partner uncover deeply hidden secrets of the Winchester family. For Tim, the difference between right and wrong becomes blurred. BYE BABY BUNTING is a page-turning psychological thriller that explores society's attitudes to single parenting and adoption and the laws that apply to birth-mother, child and adoptive parents. The story takes place in Auckland, New Zealand, Hawaii and Winnipeg, Canada between 1963 and the present.

A Little in Love


Susan Fletcher - 2014
    When at sixteen the girls' paths cross again and their circumstances are reversed, Eponine must decide what that friendship is worth, even though they've both fallen for the same boy. In the end, Eponine will sacrifice everything to keep true love alive.

A Change of Fortune


Jen Turano - 2012
    Her fortune was the last thing she had left after losing her father, her fiancé, and her faith. Now, masquerading as Miss Eliza Sumner, governess-at-large, she's determined to find the man who ran off with her fortune, reclaim the money, and head straight back to London. Mr. Hamilton Beckett, much to his chagrin, is the catch of the season, and all the eyes of New York society—all the female ones, at least—are on him. He has no plans to marry again, especially since his hands are full keeping his business afloat while raising his two children alone. Eliza's hapless attempts to regain her fortune unexpectedly put her right in Hamilton's path. The discovery of a common nemesis causes them to join forces and, before she knows it, Eliza has a whole retinue of people helping her. Eliza's determination not to trust anyone weakens when everyone's antics and bumbling efforts to assist her make her wonder if there might be more important things than her fortune and independence. When all of Hamilton's and Eliza's best-laid plans fall by the wayside, it will take a riot of complications for them to realize that God just might have had a better plan in mind all along.

The Wake of Forgiveness


Bruce Machart - 2010
    In the lonely years that follow, his new son, his fourth, grows to become a skillful, aggressive jockey and his father, with equal fervor, stakes his land and fortunes on his success. In 1910, father and son, distant yet strangely joined in this venture, race to a point of no return for the entire family. What happens to the son beyond that juncture will not reconfigure his past, but it will burnish him into unexpected maturity.