Book picks similar to
Woman's Own by Robyn Carr


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historical-romance
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A New Kind of Country


Dorothy Gilman - 1978
    Pollifax series, had reached a point of no return in her life. With her sons in college, Ms. Gilman was searching for something unknowable, unnameable . . . until she bought a small house in a little lobstering village in Nova Scotia, Canada.And so she began her life again, discovering talents and interests she never realized were hers, accepting the inner peace she had always fought, and most of all, understanding the untapped part of herself, almost as if it were a new kind of country, to challenge, explore, and love.

Lost Among the Angels


Alice Duncan - 2006
    Mercy’s thrilled, and she’s sure, with time and help, she’ll become an invaluable asset to Ernie’s business.Ernie doesn't yet share Mercy's sunny optimism, but nothing tests the resolve of a new employee quite like murder.Publisher Note: Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries in historical settings are sure to appreciate the Mercy Allcutt series set in 1920s Los Angeles, California. No vulgarity or explicit sex for those who appreciate a clean and wholesome read."Mercy is a pip. I laughed all through this book and stayed up until 4:00 in the morning to finish it. I was still laughing when I turned out the light. Not a bad way to end one day and start another." ~Patricia Browning"This gem reminded me of the old Dick Tracy comic strips (that I avidly read as a child), as well as of the black and white PI movies we all recall with glee. The story takes place in 1926, Los Angeles. I found myself immersed in the first few pages. Author Alice Duncan either did a lot of research or grew up on stories of the era. Each character has a unique personality. The characters all dress the parts, all the way down to the bobbed hairstyle, and speak slang. Don't worry; you won't be lost. This book is headed directly to my "KEEPER" shelf. Highly recommended!" ~ Detra Fitch (Huntress Reviews)"I read Lost Among the Angels in one sitting and found it wonderful and so enjoyable. It is a fast-paced, exciting story and Mercy Allcutt is a terrific sleuth. I can't wait to spend more time with Mercy!" ~ Rob WalkerThe Mercy Allcutt Mystery SeriesLost Among the AngelsAngels FlightFallen AngelsAngels of MercyThanksgiving Angels

The Never List


F.E. Greene - 2015
     When Tori discovers it's not a ghost but a journalist from 1854, she accidentally strands him in 2014. Intrigued by the dapper and crusading Charles Stratford, Tori offers to help him locate a pendant that will reopen the door to his century.  Even when their treasure hunt across London turns dangerous, Tori finds herself wishing that Charles could stay.  But after losing her family a decade before, can she risk loving someone again, especially a man from 1854?Lured into the future by a mysterious pendant, Charles Stratford must track down its counterpart to unlock the door between Londons.  When the winsome Victoria Smith volunteers to join his search, Charles becomes smitten with the intrepid bookseller.  He also uncovers an ancient struggle between two underground societies and becomes entangled in their secret intrigues.  If Charles fails to return both pendants to 1854, he places his own London at risk.  But how can he succeed when it means saying farewell to Victoria in 2014?From modern-day Soho to nineteenth-century Mayfair, The Never List takes readers on a whirlwind tour of Londons new and old as its time-crossed heroes search for a way to love each other within two centuries.  It is the first book in the Love Across Londons series which should be read in order.Book One: The Never ListBook Two: The Best-Left QuestionsBook Three: The Next ForeverRomance Heat Scale: Mild/PG. No detailed sex scenes, profanity, or graphic violence.Praise for The Never List - SEMI-FINALIST in the 2017 Kindle Book Awards:

The Sky and the Forest


C.S. Forester - 1948
    He controlled life and death in his village. Then he turned outward and conquered his neighbors. He felt very fierce. But this was not to last. Europe was on the march in Africa, and destiny in the form of King Leopold's agents trod on Loa. They sacked his kingdom with an avarice unimaginable to the natives. Soon nothing was the same...nor would it ever be again. "A dazzling exhibition of the author's storytelling virtuosity." (The New York Times)

Episode of the Wandering Knife


Mary Roberts Rinehart - 1950
     The Episode of the Wandering Knife: What’s a mother to do? When her daughter-in-law is slashed to death, the first thing is to hide the hunting knife that’s sure to implicate her innocent son. But it doesn’t stay hidden for long. It’s just turned up in a second victim, only to vanish once again. Whatever the cunning motive is for the ghastly crimes, the game of hide-and-seek with a deadly weapon is just beginning.  The Man Who Hid His Breakfast: A woman’s been found strangled in her bed. The only other person in the house is her daughter, Emma. Given Emma’s motive for wanting to escape the clutches of her domineering mother, the case seems open and shut. Except Inspector Tom Brent insists Emma couldn’t possibly have done it. His career depends on proving it. And it all starts with a very peculiar breakfast.  The Secret: Hilda Adams, the Homicide Bureau’s undercover “Miss Pinkerton,” is enlisted to investigate the odd behavior of Tony Rowland. The woman has suddenly broken off her engagement to a man she loves, crashed a car, and now keeps her elderly mother locked in her room. Does the Rowland family have reason to fear the neurotic woman? Or is Tony herself the one who’s afraid? If so, of what?

House for Mr. Misra


Jaishree Misra - 2017
    The obstacles are many and mostly unexpected, like neighbours waving cutlasses over the wall, venomous snakes and mercenary union men at the gate, not to mention a large and complicated piece of legislation called the Coastal Regulation Zone.Obstacles, however, are meant to be overcome and so they are, with some quick thinking and a few helpful friends, an honest cop and an equally straight-talking scientist, and Excel sheets pulled up on demand to outwit corrupt builders. All of which make for a great story, filled with laughter and despair, and sharp yet good-humoured insights into the Malayali way of life.

Summer at Mustang Ridge


Jesse Hayworth - 2013
    She hopes the animals will be just what her daughter, Lizzie, needs. Little does she know that ranch life will work some healing magic on her too. When Shelby meets the head wrangler, Foster, she is put off by his brusque nature, but Lizzie takes an instant liking to the cowboy and his horses. While both Foster and Shelby have been scarred by love, it’s not long before Shelby is drawn to the rugged cowboy and his thoughtful ways. But with summer nights in short supply and Foster wary of falling for a city girl, a simple summer romance soon grows complicated. As the days dwindle, Shelby will have to decide not only what is best for her daughter, but also where her future—and her happiness—will be found.

Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories: 1896-1901


L.M. Montgomery - 2007
    M. Montgomery, (1874-1942) was a Canadian author, best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables (1908). In 1893, following the completion of her grade school education in Cavendish, she attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown. Completing a two year program in one year, she obtained her teaching certificate. In 1895 and 1896 she studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After working as a teacher in various island schools, in 1898 Montgomery moved back to Cavendish. For a short time in 1901 and 1902 she worked in Halifax for the newspapers Chronicle and Echo. She returned to live with and care for her grandmother in 1902. Montgomery was inspired to write her first books during this time on Prince Edward Island. Her works include: The Story Girl (1911), Chronicles of Avonlea (1912), The Golden Road (1913), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne's House of Dreams (1917), Rainbow Valley (1919), Further Chronicles of Avonlea (1920) and Rilla of Ingleside (1921).

Of Rice and Men (Annotated): From Bataan to V-J Day, A Survivor’s Story: From Bataan to V-J Day, a Survivor's Story


Bob Reynolds - 2019
    Anyone showing a slight weakness to walk was instantly bayoneted in the back. Many marchers committed suicide by leaping from bridges. Others were shot for attempting to eat or drink anything.Estimates of the number of total deaths from the march range from 5,000 to 8,000. Thousands more later died from malnutrition and disease in the abject conditions of the Japanese POW camps.One of the fortunate survivors was Sergeant Bob Reynolds who penned his combat memoir Of Rice and Men in 1947. With a cool, philosophical perspective, he details the harrowing experience, from bitterly defending Bataan on starvation rations, through the many atrocities of the March, and finally his miraculous survival in Cabanatuan POW Camp and, later, in Manila's Bilibid Prison. *Includes annotations.

Bird in a Snare


N.L. Holmes - 2020
    His investigation is complicated by the new king’s religious reforms, which have struck Hani’s own family to the core. Hani’s mission is to amass enough evidence for his su-periors to prosecute the wrongdoers despite the king’s protection—but not just every superior can be trusted. And maybe not even the king! Winner of the 2020 Geoffrey Chaucer Award for historical fiction before 1750.Trigger Warnings:Sexual abuse of children

Coincidence


J.W. Ironmonger - 2012
    Now, after a life of bizarre and troubling circumstances, she becomes obsessed with the idea that she too will die on Midsummer's Day . . . until she meets the one man who may be able to save herAzalea Lewis's life has been dominated by coincidences-a bizarre, and increasingly troubling, series of chance events so perfectly coordinated that any sane person would conclude that only the hidden hand of providence could explain them.On Midsummer's Day, 1982, at the age of three, Azalea was found wandering a fairground in England, alone, too young to explain what had happened to her or her parents. After a brief investigation, she was declared a ward of the court, and placed in foster care. The following year, the body of a woman-her mother-was found on a nearby beach, but by then everyone had forgotten about the little girl, and no connection was ever made. The couple who adopted Azalea brought her to Africa, where-on Midsummer's Day, 1992-they were killed in a Ugandan uprising while trying to protect their children. Azalea is spared on that day, but as she grows into adulthood, she discovers that her life has been shaped by an uncanny set of coincidences-all of them leading back to her birth mother, a single mother on the Isle of Man, and the three men who could have been her father, each of whom has played an improbable but very real role in her fate.Troubled by what she has uncovered-and increasingly convinced that she, too, will meet her fate on Midsummer's Day-she approaches Thomas Post, a rational-minded academic whose specialty is debunking our belief in coincidence: the belief that certain events are linked, even predestined, by the hands of fate. Even as they fall in love, Thomas tries to help to understand her past as a series of random events-not a divinely predetermined order. Yet as the fateful date draws closer, Thomas begins to fear that he may lose her altogether, and she may throw herself into the very fate she fears.A warm and romantic, yet intellectually fascinating, story of two souls trying to make sense of the universe and our place in it, Coincidence is an unforgettable novel by a storyteller of masterful gifts.

Dover One


Joyce Porter - 1964
    Why should he even be bothered to solve the case? For its own very good reasons, Scotland Yard sends Dover off to remote Creedshire to investigate the disappearance of a young housemaid, Juliet Rugg. Though there's every cause to assume that she has been murdered – she gave her favours freely and may even have stooped to a bit of blackmail – no body is to be found. Weighing in at sixteen stone, she couldn't be hard to overlook. But where is she? And why should Dover, of all people, be called upon to find her? Or, for that matter, even bother to solve the damned case?  Editorial reviews: “Something quite out of the ordinary.” Daily Telegraph“Joyce Porter is a joy… Dover is unquestionably the most entertaining detective in fiction.” Guardian“Plotted with the technique of a virtuoso.” New York Times“Wonderfully funny.” Spectator “Dover is wildly, joyously unbelievable; and may he remain so for our comic delight.” Sun“You will be fascinated by his sheer dazzling incompetence. Porter has a keen eye, a wicked sense of comedy, and a delightfully low mind.” Harper’s

Guerrilla Wife


Louise Reid Spencer - 1945
     Without hesitation they chose the second option and for then next two years they remained on the run from Axis forces. They made their way from Masbate to Fanay and finally on to “Hopevale” where they joined other men and women who were determined not to surrender. Louise Reid Spencer’s memoir of that time, Guerrilla Wife provides fascinatingly personal insight into a life of exile during the Second World War. As the months rolled on Spencer explains how basic human needs like housing, clothing, food and health, became increasingly difficult to secure and how the hope of survival was the only thing driving these men and women onwards. Louise Reid Spencer eventually survived the chilling events recounted in her book and wrote her memoir Guerrilla Wife which was published in 1945. She went to live in America after the war and passed away in 1983.

The Coastwatchers (Illustrated): Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific


Eric A. Feldt - 2019
    Author Eric Feldt led Operation Ferdinand, part of the build-up to the Normandy landings, in which the Coastwatchers, by this time on the US Navy's payroll, played a critical role. His intimate knowledge of Ferdinand, and his familiarity with the Coastwatchers of the Pacific islands, provides a unique perspective on this little known but important chapter of military history.

Lespada


Kathryn Le Veque - 2011
    - Davyss de Winter is the champion for King Henry III, a powerful and arrogant man that descends from a long line of powerful knights. He is also a much-sought after man and has had more than his share of female admirers, including a besotted baron's daughter who bore him bastard twins. His mother and family matriarch, the Lady Katharine de Warrenne de Winter, loses patience with her son's behavior and betrothes him to a woman she hopes will tame his wild ways. She selects a young woman from a lesser noble family with no political ties or ambitions, a perfect match for her son's prideful personality. Enter the Lady Devereux d'Arcy Allington; a young woman of astounding beauty, she wants nothing to do with Davyss. When Davyss, in protest of the marriage, sends his sword Lespada to the marriage ceremony, Devereux is beyond offended. Livid, she battles tooth and nail, refusing to marry a sword by proxy, until Lady Katharine intervenes. Cornered, Devereux is forced to marry Lespada because her groom refuses to show up for the ceremony. When Davyss gives in to his curiosity and meets his wife for the first time, he is overwhelmed with her beauty. Roughly consummating the marriage, he has set the tone for what both Davyss and Devereux believe will be a loveless, hateful marriage. But when Davyss begins to realize what he's done, he swallows his considerable pride and is determined to get to know the woman he married, a woman of grace and compassion like nothing he has ever known before. Though trials and tribulations, Davyss and Devereux's bond only strengthens. When Davyss is involved in the Battle of Evesham against Simon de Montfort, Devereux faces her own life and death situation. Lespada is a love story for the ages