Book picks similar to
Fate's Mistress: Book Three of The Three Graces Trilogy by Laura Du Pre
historical-fiction
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Blood & Beauty: The Borgias
Sarah Dunant - 2013
When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: He is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic, consummate politician with a huge appetite for life, women, and power must use papacy and family—in particular, his eldest son, Cesare, and his daughter Lucrezia—in order to succeed.Cesare, with a dazzlingly cold intelligence and an even colder soul, is his greatest—though increasingly unstable—weapon. Later immortalized in Machiavelli’s The Prince, he provides the energy and the muscle. Lucrezia, beloved by both men, is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens, hers is a journey through three marriages, and from childish innocence to painful experience, from pawn to political player.
Through Streets Broad and Narrow
Gemma Jackson - 2013
Her irresponsible Da is dead. She is grief-stricken and alone – but for the first time in her life free to please herself. After her mother deserted the family, Ivy became the sole provider for her Da and three brothers. Pushing a pram around the well-to-do areas of Dublin every day, she begged for the discards of the wealthy which she then turned into items she could sell around Dublin’s markets. As she visits the morgue to pay her respects to her Da, a chance meeting introduces Ivy to a new world of money and privilege, her mother's world. Ivy is suddenly a woman on a mission to improve herself and her lot in life. Jem Ryan is the owner of a livery near Ivy’s tenement. When an accident occurs in one of his carriages, leaving a young girl homeless, it is Ivy he turns to. With Jem and the people she meets in her travels around Dublin, Ivy begins to break out of the property-ridden world that is all she has ever known. Through Streets Broad and Narrow is a story of strength and determination in the unrelenting world that was Dublin tenement life.
Torn Between Two Highlanders
Lydia Kendall - 2019
When Ellen Holton’s father dies, she faces yet another adversity: for her father to forge the business alliance he always wanted, she must marry the son of a Scottish Laird. But arriving at the Highlands she discovers two brothers and, unfortunately, she falls for the wrong one… Alexander Golgow, the youngest of Laird Elairon’s sons, is a man of honor and a true Highland warrior. But the moment he first lays his eyes on his brother’s bride, he feels torn between his duty and his heart. However, trying to escape the luring erotic ropes slowly embracing them is more difficult than they think… When Ellen realizes her father’s death was not an accident, her life changes for the third time. Now she and Alexander must quickly uncover the one behind all misfortunes—the one person who has been pulling the strings right from the very start. *Torn Between Two Highlanders is a steamy Scottish historical romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, lots of steam and a happy ending. Get this book for free with Kindle Unlimited!
His Stubborn Sweet Bride
Chloe Carley - 2018
Nate plans to become a gentleman rancher, and to marry Emmaline Chiswick, the daughter of family friends in Denver. But Nate’s orderly world is turned upside down when his proposal letter to Emmaline is accidentally delivered to the wrong woman. When a redheaded adventuress arrives on his doorstep, demanding that he honour his offer of marriage, Nate is outraged at her nerve but also attracted to her beauty. But when Molly Clanahan refuses to be bribed, and also refuses to leave his house, Nate finds himself on the horns of a dilemma. In his wealthy social circles, where reputation is everything, the presence of a voluptuous unmarried woman in his home is a recipe for disaster. But the longer Molly stays, the more Nate begins to suspect that she isn’t the greedy gold digger that she seems. He begins to believe that she’s taken refuge in his home because she’s hiding from something. Or someone. When Molly suddenly disappears, Nate decides to solve the mystery of her real identity and plunges into a series of events that will threaten his reputation, challenge his courage, and bring him face to face with pure evil. Because the search will take him to the lowest and vilest places in the West, and force him to decide if the truth is really what he wants. Or if he wants Molly herself.
Westward Courage
A.T. Butler - 2021
Caroline Harper has everything she could want--wealth, position, the attention of an eligible bachelor. When her brother’s news destroys all of that, Caroline must decide what kind of life she wants to create for herself. As the Harpers make their way along the grueling thousands of miles of Oregon Trail, Caroline discovers strength, poise and potential she didn’t realize she possessed. Strength that perhaps was not in a spoiled city girl at all. But will it be enough to survive and bring Caroline and her brother all the way to Oregon?
The Love that Unites Us
Carol Colyer - 2019
Ever since that day, she has dreamt of going back and settling on a ranch. The chance to do so arises when she's headed to Richbrook to start a new life with her fiance. Tragedy strikes again though when he dies and leaves her a deteriorating ranch to operate. But she's not the only one who's going after it! A cruel land developer will play dirty to try and force Elizabeth off her land. When she asks Johnnie to her help, will she unexpectedly find herself falling for him? Will she finally get her happy ending she dreamt of?Johnnie Pratt has spent years traveling and working on ranches. His life has been anything but a piece of cake but he's not one to give up easily. When he receives Elizabeth's letter, he doesn't hesitate for a second to drop everything to go find her. He only expected to help her start her ranch, but when he realizes the danger that she's facing, he'll do anything to keep her safe - even offer to marry her. Can he convince her that everything he does for Elizabeth comes from his powerful feelings towards her?Tragedy is what separated them in the first place but it's also what will bring them back together again. As love blossoms between the two, they'll face the dark memories of their past and their fears in letting their guard down around each other. Will their love help them fight the enemy together so as to claim their well-deserved happiness?"The Love that Unites Us" is a historical western romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
C.W. Gortner - 2010
We all have sins to confess. So reveals Catherine de Medici in this brilliantly imagined novel about one of history’s most powerful and controversial women. To some she was the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence. To others she was the passionate savior of the French monarchy. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter into the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power. The last legitimate descendant of the illustrious Medici line, Catherine suffers the expulsion of her family from her native Florence and narrowly escapes death at the hands of an enraged mob. While still a teenager, she is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France, and sent from Italy to an unfamiliar realm where she is overshadowed and humiliated by her husband’s lifelong mistress. Ever resilient, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children as regent of a kingdom torn apart by religious discord and the ambitions of a treacherous nobility. Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons. She allies herself with the enigmatic Protestant leader Coligny, with whom she shares an intimate secret, and implacably carves a path toward peace, unaware that her own dark fate looms before her—a fate that, if she is to save France, will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and the passion of her embattled heart. From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
Her Secret Past
Christine Sterling - 2018
After her husband's suspicious death, her father and uncle arrange for her to head West as a mail order bride to secure her safety. Once she arrives she is married to a local dirt farmer with big dreams and an even bigger heart. Samantha has no intentions of falling in love with her handsome new husband or making friends in the small town that is so different from the vast city she came from. She is just going to pass the time until she gets word that she can return home. Seth Jenkins wanted a real marriage, so he placed an ad in a nationwide paper advertising to mail order brides. He never expected to receive a letter from an attorney offering his niece in marriage, along with a hefty sum in exchange for Seth ensuring her safety. When danger follows Samantha from the East, can Seth keep his promise to keep her safe? Can Samantha overcome her past and embrace the love standing right in front of her?
The Forbidden Queen
Anne O'Brien - 2013
The jewel in the French crown, Katherine de Valois, is waiting under lock and key for King Henry V. While he's been slaughtering her kinsmen in Agincourt, Katherine has been praying for marriage to save her from her misery. But the brutal king wants her crown, not her innocent love. For Katherine, England is a lion's den of greed, avarice and mistrust. And when she is widowed at twenty-one, she becomes a prize ripe for the taking—her young son the future monarch, her hand in marriage worth a kingdom. This is a deadly political game, one the dowager queen must learn fast. The players—the Duke of Gloucester, Edmund Beaufort and Owen Tudor—are circling. Who will have her? Who will ruin her? This is the story of Katherine de Valois.
My Lady Viper
E. Knight - 2013
As alliances shift and conspiracies multiply, the Seymours plot to establish their place in the treacherous court of King Henry VIII, where a courtier’s fate is decided by the whims of a hot-tempered and fickle monarch.Lady Anne’s own sister-in-law, Jane Seymour, soon takes Anne Boleyn’s place as queen. But if Jane cannot give King Henry a son, history portends that she, too, will be executed or set aside—and her family with her. In desperation, Lady Anne throws herself into the intoxicating intrigue of the Tudor court, determined to ensure the success of the new queen’s marriage and the elevation of the Seymour family to a more powerful position. Soon her machinations earn her a reputation as a viper in a den of rabbits. In a game of betrayal and favor, will her family’s rise be worth the loss of her soul?
Reverie
Christina Yother - 2014
When a job opportunity as a housekeeper presents itself Hetty accepts believing that working for Isaac Wheeler and his family is a welcome, if not temporary, surrogate for her own family dreams. As she’s faced with learning to trust she discovers that wanting a family and building a family are two very different things. Will she learn to see herself as worthy of God’s gifts? Or will she return to the solitary existence that defined so much of her life? Isaac Wheeler, successful furniture maker and dishonorable bachelor, finds Hetty’s presence in his home to be disturbing and a haunting reminder of his past sins. As he struggles with his growing and unwanted feelings, he can’t help but torment himself with mistakes from his past. Can he navigate the family tensions, infidelity, and sudden choices destined to keep them apart? Or can Isaac endure each struggle and seek forgiveness before discovering what truly makes a family?
Missing in Action
Denise Deems - 2012
Evelyn Blake's Army nursing career is that she has to tell her parents that she's accepted a dashing English pilot's hand in marriage. But when Evelyn's transport plane crashes just hours before one of the biggest operations of World War Two, Evelyn Blake finds herself Missing In Action. Evelyn Blake's adventure finds her forced into Operation Market Garden, where she teams up with a rag tag band of American paratroopers and their brave but infuriating Lieutenant to escape the Germans. But, when Evelyn returns back to her own unit, she is ordered to forget the men who saved her life. Missing in Action is a wartime romance that spans the war in Europe. Lt. Evelyn Blake is a plucky flight nurse, who's experienced in war, but naive in love. Her fiancé, Victor Wellington, is her ideal prince charming, both a Lord and a dashing RAF pilot. But, is he any match for Lt. Patrick Mitchell, All-American officer and sometimes gentleman, who finds Evelyn hiding from the Germans in a cafe in Holland. Rumors swirl. Did Lt. Evelyn Blake really kill five Germans? How about those two marriage certificates? Only Lt. Mitchell and his men know for sure.
Trinity's Loss
Indiana Wake - 2017
The excitement dulled somewhat through the weeks of hardship, exhaustion, dust and barren land. Until something happened to quell the excitement, hopes, and dreams, of the girl forever. Now, with an end to the life they expected to lead out west, what was left other than to just survive? Dillon Goodman, saw her, with her mother and father sat beside the fire in the ring of wagons. The picture of perfection. He had to get to know her, but was a little shy to talk to her, until that dreadful day. Now with only a plot of land and a dream, can Dillion do what is needed to win over Trinity? Or will she fall for the handsome and rich Kirby Thornhill? Son of the biggest landowner, and most powerful man in the area, Bart Thornhill. Will Dillon risk life and limb to ride the dangerous bucking bronco, Thunder, against Trinity’s wishes? Will Kirby Thornhill get his way and claim Trinity for himself, like everything else he ever wanted? Find out in the exciting new sweet and inspirational western romance book by bestselling author Indiana Wake. This book is a complete stand alone story about those brave men and women who headed west along the Oregon Trail.
The Good Deed
Renee Perrault - 2013
When he leaves for America in 1924 to make his fortune for their future, Lydia is heartbroken, and her ruthless younger sister Myra, is still determined to have Edward at any cost. Edward finds life in America difficult. Immigrants, especially Irish Catholics, are shunned, and the influence of the Ku Klux Klan has spread like an epidemic throughout America. When Edward is critically injured in a logging accident, Lydia immediately leaves Ireland for America. Her voyage in steerage is arduous, and an incident aboard ship, changes her and Edward’s life forever. A mentally unbalanced Myra follows Lydia to America. When her plan of revenge is derailed by her own greed, she finds herself in danger, and in need of Lydia’s help to survive. Bringing life to the struggles of Irish immigrants in the 1920’s, “The Good Deed” will captivate readers who enjoyed Andriana Trigiani's, “The Shoemaker's Wife”. "An intriguing book, and an enjoyable read." -S.J.S. Stanton for Chanticleer Book