Book picks similar to
Furlough Bridge by Jardonn Smith


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After the Fire


John Pilkington - 2011
    All are linked to the new Dorset Gardens Theatre where feisty young Betsy Brand is playing First Witch in Macbeth. It seems that a shadowy figure called The Salamander, who haunted London during the Fire, has returned to wreak cruel revenge on his enemies. With the authorities utterly baffled, Betsy takes on a new role as an investigator. She reasons that perhaps a clever, courageous actress can unravel the deepening mystery. But soon she faces a more terrible foe than ever stalked upon a stage—and finds her own life is at stake.

Mary Dannie


Patricia Keil - 2010
    It is the story of the struggles, simple joys and wisdom surrounding a young girl growing up in the 1940's in Appalachia.

Forgive and Forget


Dee Williams - 2001
    She's lost her home in a bomb attack, and with her husband in the army, her daughters evacuated to Wales, and her mother killed and father injured in the attack, Ruth is left to face the devastation alone. But she finds comfort in the camaraderie of the Civil Defence office where she works and in her friendship with Lucy, a clippie on the buses. Lucy's husband is at sea, and the two women dream of the day when they'll be reunited with their loved ones. But as victory approaches, Ruth finds that the legacy of war is more powerful than even she had imagined...

Slow John


C.J. Petit - 2017
    But when he rode to the family home, he made two shocking discoveries: his family was gone, and he had been declared dead by the army four years earlier. He left to cross the plains of Nebraska to find his family, but would find so much more.

Provoked


Joanna Chambers - 2013
     But then, into his repressed and orderly life, bursts Lord Murdo Balfour. Cynical, hedonistic and utterly unapologetic, Murdo could not be less like David. And as appalled as David is by Murdo’s unrepentant self-interest, he cannot resist the man’s sway. Murdo tempts and provokes David in equal measure, forcing him to acknowledge his physical desires. But Murdo is not the only man distracting David from his work. Euan MacLennan, the brother of a convicted radical David once represented, approaches David to beg him for help. Euan is searching for the government agent who sent his brother to Australia on a convict ship, and other radicals to the gallows. Despite knowing it may damage his career, David cannot turn Euan away.  As their search progresses, it begins to look as though the trail may lead to none other than Lord Murdo Balfour, and David has to wonder whether it’s possible Murdo could be more than he seems. Is he really just a bored aristocrat, amusing himself at David’s expense, or could he be the agent provocateur responsible for the fate of Peter MacLennan and the other radicals?

Behind the Baron's Mask: A Clean Regency Romance


Penny Fairbanks - 2019
    Henry Neil, Baron of Neil, wants to spend all his days writing. After sharing a romantic dance at a masquerade, will fate bring them back together? Cecilia is entering her third Season, refusing to give up the hope that her true love is still out there. Emboldened by her mask, Cecilia puts on a spectacular pianoforte performance at an illustrious masquerade. She is whisked away to the dance floor by the most incredible man she’s ever met—a fellow passionate artist. Unfortunately, he slips out of reach before she can learn his name. Instead, she must accompany the cold and aloof Lord Neil through London as his best friend courts her sister. Henry just wants to stay at home writing his beloved adventure novels. But when his best friend drags him to the annual welcome masquerade, Henry dances with an incredibly talented pianoforte player. She surprises him with her artistic insights, but they part without exchanging identities. And much to Henry’s dismay, his friend decides to court a beautiful young lady—and asks Henry to accompany them with her older sister, Miss Cecilia Richards. Can Cecilia and Henry learn that they have far more in common than they think? Will they realize that they could be each other’s missing pieces?

The Last Voyage of Sigismund Skrik


Karsten Flohr - 2014
    Not only will he give clients new, life-changing looks—he also gets to know all their secrets.But the days of transatlantic sailing are numbered. It’s 1879, and Europeans immigrating to the United States are starting to prefer the huge new steamships that make the crossing ten times as fast. As those glory days come to an end, Sigismund embarks on his final voyage from Hamburg in the old clipper Liberty, welcoming the latest batch of emigrants with his usual open-minded calm. He doesn’t know them yet, but he will. As each one passes through his cabin salon, the stories they tell reveal the drama, pathos, and humor of a thousand lives that, for a brief, wave-tossed spell, come together on their way to the promised land.

A Pair of Silver Wings


James Holland - 2006
    And for over half a century he had, for the most part, managed to put the memories of those years out of his mind. But fifty years on, he is alone - a widower - with a strained relationship with his only son, and a career behind him that has brought him respect but little affection.In 1995, Britain is celebrating the anniversary of the end of the war, and Edward finds himself forced to confront the tragedy he suffered during those years. Embarking on a journey of self-discovery and personal redemption, Edward travels from England to Malta and then to Italy, and in doing so comes face-to-face with the idealistic young man he once was, and the devastated and traumatised 23-year-old he was to become.Following his experiences over the skies of England in 1941, through the dark days of the Siege of Malta, to the partisan struggle in Italy, A Pair of Silver Wings is a story of friendship, love and the terrible legacy of war, exploring universal themes of grief and redemption, and one man's quest to heal the scars of the past.

A Matter of Conscience: the Aragon Years


Judith Arnopp - 2021
    The intensive education that follows offers Henry a model for future excellence; a model that he is doomed to fail.On his accession, he chooses his brother’s widow, Caterina of Aragon, to be his queen. Together they plan to reinstate the glory of days of old and fill the royal nursery with boys.But when their first-born son dies at just a few months old, and subsequent babies are born dead or perish in the womb, the king’s golden dreams are tarnishedChristendom mocks the virile prince. Caterina’s fertile years are ending yet all he has is one useless living daughter, and a baseborn son.He needs a solution but stubborn to the end, Caterina refuses to step aside.As their relationship founders his eye is caught by a woman newly arrived from the French court. Her name is Anne Boleyn. A Matter of Conscience: The Aragon Years offers a unique first-person account of the ‘monster’ we love to hate and reveals a man on the edge; an amiable man made dangerous by his own impossible expectation.The story continues in A Matter of Faith : Book Two of The Henrician Chronicle.

Soulless


T. Baggins - 2013
    Crippled by a riding accident and embittered by his injuries, he shuns the world, focusing on his laboratory and experiments. But when the sale of his country estate, Grantley, leads to an encounter with a vampire, Nicholas realizes there is more in heaven and earth than he ever dreamed possible.A Creature of DarknessAlthough three hundred years old, Bancroft Ulwin is young by supernatural standards. Enslaved by his cruel, deformed maker, Ban is forbidden from relations with mortal men unless it ends in death. But his liaison with Nicholas, expressly against his master’s wishes, soon expands beyond mere lust to something more.A Love PredestinedLong ago while still mortal, Ban met Serafino, the only true love of his life. When death separated them, Ban accepted his role as an enemy of human kind. But as he comes to suspect Nicholas is Serafino reincarnated, Ban begins to question everything he once believed. Including his own damnation.

The Art of Mutual Pleasure


K.A. Merikan - 2017
    ---Benjamin Snowley is trapped in a most distressing predicament. He’s been feeling poorly and after having recently recovered from influenza, he knows that the fault for his declining health lies in a vice he wouldn’t dare mention in polite conversation. Onanism, self-pollution, masturbation. All names for the same sinful affliction. For Benjamin, it all started back at school, where he first encountered the immoral Frederick Cory. Ever since then, the man has been plaguing Benjamin’s dreams and causing most unnatural urges.Now is the time for all the infatuation nonsense to stop. With the help of an unorthodox doctor and an indecent proposition to a young stablehand, Benjamin will rid himself of the vile addiction. But can the experimental treatment be enough to make him forget his feelings for Frederick?Warning: Contains a clueless young man on a futile quest for chastity and a libertine artist eager to rid him of that goalPOSSIBLE SPOILERS:Themes: masturbation, historical attitudes to sexuality, medicine, doctor, guilt, unorthodox treatment, master/servant, groom, superstition, moral failure, enemies to loversGenre: M/M Regency romantic eroticaErotic content: explicit language, inappropriate medical examination, cum swallowing, bareback, sex toys, body worship, multiple partnersLength: ~45,000 words

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 1


Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù - 2016
    But when the horrors of war led him to seek more power through demonic cultivation, the world's respect for his abilities turned to fear, and his death was celebrated throughout the land.Years later, he awakens in the body of an aggrieved young man who sacrifices his soul so that Wei Wuxian can exact revenge on his behalf. Though granted a second life, Wei Wuxian is not free from his first, nor the mysteries that appear before him now. Yet this time, he'll face it all with the righteous and esteemed Lan Wangji at his side, another powerful cultivator whose unwavering dedication and shared memories of their past will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.

Promise of Dreams


Cecelia M. Chittenden - 2017
    Her father has gone to bring home a son missing because of the war. Loyal servants give her support and comfort and are at her side when she learns of her father’s death. She promises to fulfill her father’s dream but someone doesn’t want her to, the one person she should be able to trust. He sets out to defeat her until another man, a Northern stranger, comes to her aid.

The Tin Box


Kim Fielding - 2013
    Conflicted and unable to maintain the charade, he separates from his wife and takes a job as caretaker at a former mental hospital. Jelley’s Valley State Insane Asylum was the largest mental hospital in California for well over a century, but it now stands empty. William thinks the decrepit institution is the perfect place to finish his dissertation and wait for his divorce to become final. In town, William meets Colby Anderson, who minds the local store and post office. Unlike William, Colby is cute, upbeat, and flamboyantly out. Although initially put off by Colby’s mannerisms, William comes to value their new friendship, and even accepts Colby's offer to ease him into the world of gay sex.William’s self-image begins to change when he discovers a tin box, hidden in an asylum wall since the 1940s. It contains letters secretly written by Bill, a patient who was sent to the asylum for being homosexual. The letters hit close to home, and William comes to care about Bill and his fate. With Colby’s help, he hopes the words written seventy years ago will give him courage to be his true self.

Money and Good Things (The Olivia Series, #5)


Yael Politis - 2020
    Olivia, Nick, their two little girls, and Charlie still live in the old boarding house. It has been nine years since Mourning left Olivia. Nine years since the last time she saw him – though he has always arranged to have Charlie with him for a few weeks each year.But today Olivia is anxiously awaiting Mourning’s arrival. Yesterday he sent a message with Michelle – he needs to talk with Olivia. Why now? What will he say? Does he intend to take Charlie for good?On this already emotionally-charged day, a cryptic telegram from Missouri arrives. It will take Olivia, Mourning, and Nick on a different kind of journey together.Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Literary Fiction