Book picks similar to
Souls Dryft by Jayne Fresina


for-review
historical-romance
a-little-suspens-or-mystery
contemporary

The Innocents


Lili Peloquin - 2012
    A world that threatens to tear them apart, just when they need each other the most. The Innocents is the first in a new series of young adult novels that weave a saga of nail-biting drama, breathless romance, and Gothic mystery.

My Lord Raven


Tamela Quijas - 2009
    The heirs of Ravensmoor, intent on honoring a dying man’s request, endure a lifelong quest to seek the soul of the love lost of their ancestor. The tale of ill-fated love taunted every one of his ancestors, and Dante Burroughs was the last of the great line. If he didn’t succeed in bringing the heart and soul of Kaitlyn home, the Ravensmoors would vanish into obscurity, lost in time.He was unaware of the hidden promises whispered in the ancient deathbed phrase, or of the dreams that would torment him when he came of age. The images of a woman and a life he did not know haunted him. She taunted him, drawing him into a gossamer web that left him unfulfilled and lost in a corrupt and modern world. He knew he had to find her, the woman capable of redeeming his cursed soul and granting him the love he sought.Across an ocean, Kathleen Bennett knew the torment. Restless and responsible, her dreams are filled with the image of blue-eyed man that whispers seductive promises to her willing heart.A time would come, when the souls of the past would collide....

The Ghost Pirate's Treasure: Mystery of the Jaguar Warrior


Barbara Ivie Green - 2012
    But Jessie soon learns that the old mansion isn't necessarily empty. . . . After meeting the resident ghost, she is convinced she's lost not only her old life, her practice, and her beloved dog, but quite possibly her sanity as well!Having just gone through a divorce, Jessie has more on her plate than dealing with her nosy neighbor, the blue haired dynamo's perpetually leaky dachshund, and her gorgeous son, who could be at home in the halls of Valhalla playing the part of Thor. . . . She has to find Jacques, the ghost pirate's treasure map, the fabled city of El Dorado, and the Heart of the Mountain itself in order to save the man she loves . . . along with the planet!This book explores the hidden mysteries of the ancient myths surrounding the Mayan Sun calendar, with enough nonsense thrown in to make it all deliriously wacky. The Christmas season takes on a whole new meaning in this humorous, romantic adventure.

Suspicion


Alexandra Monir - 2014
     “There’s something hidden in the maze.”  Seventeen-year-old Imogen Rockford has never forgotten the last words her father said to her, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family’s English country manor. For seven years, images of her parents’ death have haunted Imogen’s dreams. In an effort to escape the past, she leaves Rockford Manor and moves to New York City with her new guardians. But some attachments prove impossible to shake—including her love for her handsome neighbor Sebastian Stanhope. Then a life-altering letter arrives that forces Imogen to return to the manor in England, where she quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind Rockford’s aristocratic exterior. At their center is Imogen herself—and Sebastian, the boy she never stopped loving.Combining spine-tingling mystery, romance, and unforgettable characters, Suspicion is an action-packed thrill ride.

The Waverly Women Series


Marion Chesney - 2014
    Beaton—including The First Rebellion, Silken Bonds, and The Love Match. The First Rebellion (Book 1): The Earl of Tredair had had his fill of silly misses, and he despaired of finding anyone extraordinary—that is, until he met Miss Fanny Waverley. She and her two sisters had been raised to encourage poor females to stand up against the iniquities of the male sex! The beautiful and farouche Miss Fanny, however, found it hard to think of all men as cruel and lustful beasts—how could she, when now she found herself longing to kiss one of the most hated of his breed! Silken Bonds (Book 2): Frederica chafed at her restricted life as Mrs. Waverly’s adopted daughter, though she did agree with Mrs. Waverly’s philosophy. She knew that until men stopped preferring lisping dimwits over intellectual equals, Frederica would be better off without them. Still, the recent elopement of her sister sparked a fire in Frederica’s well-educated head. So it was that she was ripe for Lord Harry Danger’s charms, and he in turn was smitten from the moment he rescued her from a pack of drunken thugs. Now if he would only treat her as his equal—and stop his incessant flirting! The Love Match (Book 3): By day Felicity championed women’s rights, but by night she dreamed of romance. She was the secret author of a scandalous new novel—the tale of a lady “rake” and her passionate exploits. Yet one titled gentleman grew more and more intrigued with this headstrong young woman, and Felicity would soon learn that real life could be infinitely more interesting (and stranger) than fiction. About the Author M.C. Beaton is the pen name of bestselling novelist Marion Chesney. She is a prolific writer of historical romances and small village mysteries. Born in Scotland, the author began her writing career as a fiction buyer for a Glasgow bookstore and has worked as a theater critic, newspaper reporter, and editor. The author has written under various names, most notably as M.C. Beaton for her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. She has also written under the names Sarah Chester, Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Marion Gibbons, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward. The author lived in the United States, but now splits her time between the Cotswolds, England, and Paris, France. About the Series Waverly women pursue their aspirations no matter what the obstacle. They may marry if the cause seems to suit the purpose, or they may flirt until their heart is content—or perhaps until the gentleman who has until then proven to be the most elusive of all is clearly within reach. No matter what the obstacle, none is too big for a Waverly woman. These are books of dreams, lessons, fanciful thoughts, and most of all, tales of girls grown now to women who won’t settle for anything less than their full dreams, impossible as they may seem at the outset.

Stranded


Rosalind Tate - 2020
    Thankfully, she has her faithful dog Charlotte with her. Oh, and fellow student Hugo, annoying and charming in equal measure. Baffled by upper-class rules, courted by boring suitors, Sophie is desperate to get back to the twenty-first century, but the only way home is through a hidden portal — and she must work with Hugo to unlock its secrets. As one clue leads to another, Sophie and Hugo discover that history is unfolding differently. Mobs rule the streets. And when chaos turns into a deadly revolution, anyone in a grand house is fair game. Sophie and Hugo are running out of time…

Mists and Moonrise: The Reluctant Brides Collection


Kathryn Le Veque - 2017
     An ancient Cornwall legend tells of king with a pregnant wife, warned by an oracle that the child born would be a woman so beautiful that countries would go to war over her. A princess was born to the king and queen, and when she became of age she was pledged to the son of an enemy. But the princess had fallen in love with a mere knight and together, they ran away to the caves of Cornwall to hide from the princess' betrothed. However, when it came clear that they would be captured - rather than live their lives apart - the princess and her knight took their own lives. Now, it's said their blood stain the caves of St. Agnes' caves along the coast of Cornwall. Legend says that if two lovers touch the stain together, they will fall madly in love for eternity. But there's a catch - they must touch of their own free will. Because of this legend, the caves of St. Agnes have drawn men - and women - seeking to make their mate fall in love with them, including many tales of reluctant brides and grooms. In these six romantic novellas, read some of the romantic tales associated with this poignant legend. Lady of the Moon by Kathryn Le Veque - A lady knight is hired by the father of a reluctant groom to take his son to the caves where he will meet his intended and they will touch the stains together. When the lady knight and the reluctant groom fall in love, will the groom honor his father's wishes or will he follow his own heart? Laird of Darkness by Eliza Knight - When Lady Rosamond de Warenne is abandoned by her father in a remote cave, she doesn’t believe her fate could get any worse—until she’s kidnapped by a fearsome Highlander. Laird Tierney MacDougall, recently released from an English prison, is bent on revenge, starting with marrying the daughter of his tormentor. A union forged from vengeance is doomed to fail—or is it? The Highlander's Untamed Lady by Madeline Martin - With long winters killing crops and food becoming scarce, Laird Evander Mackenzie will do anything to save his people from starving – even kidnap the feisty Diana Stuart at her father’s request. In a world filled with death and heartbreak, is it fate or legend that will hold them together? That Knight by the Sea by Catherine Kean - Lady Adaline Mortimer never expected to see Garrett, the rebellious young lord she loved and lost, ever again. Yet, when she's kidnapped and held captive, the dark secrets of the past return. In the cave of St. Agnes, will she and Garrett win a second chance at true love, or will they perish just like the legendary lovers before them? The Bravest Of Them All by Laurel O'Donnell - Sir Luke of Brackley rushes to save the sister of his betrothed when she is kidnapped. Always trailing in her older sister’s shadow, Nessa has kept her love of Luke hidden since their childhood. When Nessa discovers Luke is to marry her sister, will she condemn herself to a life of misery or risk her love on a legend? Pirate In The Mist by Elizabeth Rose - When Brody’s crew turns mutinous, he is thrown overboard but is rescued by a fisherman and his beautiful daughter, Gwendolen. However, once it’s discovered he’s a pirate, everything changes. Can an act of nature and the legend of a cave turn enemies into lovers?

A Breath of Frost


Alyxandra Harvey - 2014
    Now, beyond the manicured gardens and ballrooms of Regency London, an alluring underworld available only to those with power is revealed to the cousins. By claiming their power, the three cousins have accidentally opened the gates to the underworld. Now ghouls, hellhounds—and most terrifying of all, the spirits of dark witches known as the Greymalkin Sisters—are hunting and killing young debutante witches for their powers. And, somehow, Emma is connected to the murders…because she keeps finding the bodies. Can the cousins seal the gates before another witch is killed…or even worse, before their new gifts are stripped away?

The Pieces We Keep


Kristina McMorris - 2013
    . . Two years have done little to ease veterinarian Audra Hughes's grief over her husband's untimely death. Eager for a fresh start, Audra plans to leave Portland for a new job in Philadelphia. Her seven-year-old son, Jack, seems apprehensive about flying--but it's just the beginning of an anxiety that grows to consume him.As Jack's fears continue to surface in recurring and violent nightmares, Audra hardly recognizes the introverted boy he has become. Desperate, she traces snippets of information unearthed in Jack's dreams, leading her to Sean Malloy, a struggling US Army veteran wounded in Afghanistan. Together they unravel a mystery dating back to World War II, and uncover old family secrets that still have the strength to wound--and perhaps, at last, to heal.Intricate and beautifully written, The Pieces We Keep illuminates those moments when life asks us to reach beyond what we know and embrace what was once unthinkable. Deftly weaving together past and present, herein lies a story that is at once poignant and thought-provoking, and as unpredictable as the human heart. "An expertly woven and richly satisfying work of historical fiction that will touch any reader who has experienced love, loss, tragedy, or the impact of family secrets." --The Boston Globe

Lust


Charlotte Featherstone - 2011
    Only the canniest mortals recognize the alluring creatures that often walk—and lie—among them.The Fae of the Seelie Court cherish an ancient quarrel with their Dark counterparts: a curse born of anger and deceit. The Unseelie Court will perish unless one of its princes can win a woman's love—honestly, without coercion...and love her wholly in return.To halt the demise of his people, Prince Thane, the embodiment of Lust, infiltrates the Georgian court to seduce his mortal inverse. Noblewoman Chastity Lennox is purity incarnate—a prize worth winning. But Thane's quest is more challenging than he dreamed.No one has ever been able to resist his erotic charms. Chastity's resolve is maddening...and intriguing. It makes him want her all the more. But how to seduce one who seems above temptation? Discover her greatest weakness and become the essence of her deepest, most forbidden...

Sins of the House of Borgia


Sarah Bower - 2008
    Violante's father bankrolled the manipulative Rodrigo Borgia into the Vatican, and in return Violante becomes lady in waiting to the new pope's scandalous daughter, Lucrezia, now Duchess of Ferrara. Flattered by Lucrezia's favor, seduced by the friendship of the Duchess's cousin Angela, and swept off her feet by the mysterious and seductive Cesare Borgia, Violante is drawn deep into intrigue and deceit. Her extraordinary journey will test her heart to its utmost and leave her the guardian of secrets she must carry to her grave.

Half Past Dead: The Undying Heart / Simon Says


Zoe Archer - 2010
    Thirsting for vengeance against the enemy who made him something less than human, Sam returns to England and crosses paths with Cassandra Fielding. His best friend’s little sister has become a fearless woman on a dangerous mission of her own. And against all odds, she sees past what he’s become, and stirs a desire he thought he’d lost forever…“Simon Says” by Bianca D’ArcSpecial Forces soldier Simon Blackwell ended his affair with Mariana Daniels three years ago, but he hasn’t stopped protecting her. Mariana has no knowledge of the dark, deadly creatures that lurk in the forest surrounding her clinic, or of the mysterious powers that make Simon the only one who can defeat them. But soon he’ll have no choice but to reveal the truth, and urge her to trust in an explosive passion that never faded…

The Lady’s Masquerade


Deborah Wilson - 2018
    Good girls don't go snooping where they don't belong.But Lady Delia Scarborough never claimed to be a good girl. Lady Delia Scarborough wants her sister back from the grave.Since that can't happen, she'll settle for the next best thing...Making sure her sister's murderer does not go free. Lady Delia's happy to play the part of maid as long as it gets her inside the home of Kieran Dearborne, Duke of Cowanfield.He may be able to fool his young daughter into thinking he's innocent, but he can't fool Delia.She knows a murderer when she sees one.  But the attraction that blossoms between them throws her plans into chaos.  The more Delia gets to know the Duke, the more she thinks his innocence is no act.But every clue she uncovers points to him, and he acts strangely whenever she's around.Delia will do anything to avenge her sister's death, but that means putting her own life in peril.Can the duke's love pull Delia back from the brink of danger? Or was her fate sealed the moment she stepped into the Duke's home?

Deadmen Walking


Sherrilyn Kenyon - 2017
    . .To catch evil, it takes evil. Enter Devyl Bane―an ancient dark warlord returned to the human realm as one of the most notorious pirates in the New World. A man of many secrets, Bane makes a pact with Thorn―an immortal charged with securing the worst creations the ancient gods ever released into our world. Those powers have been imprisoned for eons behind enchanted gates . . . gates that are beginning to buckle. At Thorn’s behest, Bane takes command of a crew of Deadmen and, together, they are humanity’s last hope to restore the gates and return the damned to their hell realms.But things are never so simple. And one of Bane’s biggest problems is the ship they sail upon. For the Sea Witch isn’t just a vessel, she’s also a woman born of an ancient people he wronged and who in turn wronged him during a centuries long war between their two races―a woman who is also sister to their primary target. Now Marcelina, the Sea Witch, must choose. Either she remains loyal to her evil sister and almost extinct race against Bane and his cause, and watches humanity fall, or she puts faith in an enemy who has already betrayed her. Her people over the totality of humanity―let’s hope Bane can sway her favor.

Shadow of Time


Jen Minkman - 2012
    She joins her brother Ben for the summer in their mom’s log cabin in Arizona. There, she meets Josh again, Ben’s childhood friend from the Navajo reservation. The little boy from the rez has grown up fast, and Hannah can’t help but feeling more for him than just friendship. But fate apparently has something else in store for her. And it’s not peace and quiet. Night after night, Hannah is plagued by strange nightmares about the past of Navajo Nation and terrifying shadows chasing her. They seem to come closer – and why is Josh always present in her dreams? Sometimes, the past has a way of catching up with you.