Book picks similar to
The Magic of Starlight by Anita Stansfield


historical-fiction
clean-romance
victorian-era-and-romance
fiction

An Accidental Romance


Karen Tuft - 2021
    Ben Fortescue. If her new neighbor hadn’t startled her, she would never have broken her ankle, leaving her bored and frustrated at home in the country while her sister enjoys the London Season alone. Although, it was rather gallant of him to carry her home.For his part, Ben feels terrible about the role he played in Miss Rebecca Jennings’s accident. In the days that follow their first disastrous meeting, he finds himself inexorably drawn to the surprising young woman—first out of guilt and then out of a stirring affection. But Ben hides a secret: he has not been completely forthright about his identity or about the dark secrets of his past that would make it impossible for romance to blossom with Miss Jennings. Despite his love for her, he knows he must let her go. With her ankle finally healed but her heart now broken, Rebecca is left with little choice but to throw herself into the Season. With eligible men circling this late addition to the Marriage Mart, it seems that Rebecca will have no shortage of suitors. If only her heart were free to give.

A Scent of Lavender


Elizabeth Elgin - 2003
    It's 1940 and the threat of invasion hangs over Britain. But in the isolated hamlet of Nun Ainsty it is the arrival of the Army that turns things turned upside down – especially for two young women.Lorna Hatherwood, married to a man ten years older, lives a quiet life. Then she volunteers to read to blind soldiers at the nearby Manor and everything changes – because of a handsome medical officer named Ewan MacMillan. But their relationship could spell disaster…Then there is Ness Nightingale. A Land Girl billeted with Lorna, Ness is trying to forget a disastrous love affair. But when she meets Mick Hardie, a conscientious objector, she has to remind herself that she has vowed never to trust a man again …

The Open Door


Beryl Matthews - 2002
    Growing up in the slums of London with her siblings, trying to avoid their violent, drunken father, Rose still has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and is sure she andher loved ones deserve a better life. Can she open the door and seize the chance to make something of herself? Told with humour, warmth and love, The Open Door is the first in a trilogy following the lives of Rose and her family. Beryl Matthews joined a writers' group when she retired five years ago and starting working on her own novel. The result was The Open Door, the inspiration for which came from her own mother's early life. Beryl is currently working on the second part of the trilogy of Rose Webster's life. She lives in Hampshire with her husband.

A Daughter’s Courage


Kitty Neale - 2018
    But then an unexpected pregnancy puts everything at risk, and Dorothy is left alone – with Robbie nowhere to be seen.Heartbroken, Dorothy picks up the pieces of her life as a working girl in Battersea helping to support her mother and father. But before long, things start to become difficult. Her father’s health is worsening, money is tight and worst of all, Robbie hasn’t come back for her.Can Dorothy find a way back to happiness in the face of real adversity? Will she have the courage to make it on her own – or is someone else waiting in the wings to save her?Gritty and moving, this is the perfect read for fans of Dilly Court and Maggie Hope.

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?

BIG HAIR AND FLYING COWS


Dolores Wilson - 2014
    To say the least. She calls Sweet Meadow, Georgia, home, where she works for her father doing auto repairs. She also drives the tow-truck, although Sweet Meadow's rather colorful denizens tend to treat Bertie more like the local, free taxi service. You know, someone has to get to a doctor's appointment or pick something up at the dry cleaners. Bertie's favorite day of the week is Friday, when she leaves the wrecker with her father for the whole weekend and joins her friends at the Dew Drop Inn for a night of dancing. Her best friend, Mary Lou, sometimes fixes her up with dubious dates, although Bertie has to remind her friend not to tease her hair too high for those occasions. Like the time when they went to Carrie Sue's open house, and a ceramic cow with angel wings hanging from a ceiling fan locked its hooves into Bertie's big hair and refused to let go. She had to wear it all night, dangling chain and all. Bertie's nearly perfect life is about to take a downhill turn, however. It starts when her landlord, Pete, currently a resident in a nearby nursing home, starts showing up at her house. In his birthday suit. A very badly wrinkled birthday suit. And then she goes to her mailbox, a rubber large mouth bass, and finds a notice from the zoning commission saying she can no longer park the wrecker in her driveway. The notice is signed by George Bigham. But when she goes to the courthouse to take care of her little problem, it is only to discover George Bigham is deceased. And Mary Lou's pregnancy test just came up positive. Can it get any worse? In a word... yes.

What We Had


Jacalyn Wilson - 2016
    From the foothills of North Carolina to the mountains of West Virginia, Birdie weaves her story with homespun simplicity, creating a tapestry that vibrates with the colors and textures of her life and times, spinning a tale from the years before the Great Depression on up through the end of World War II. Enthralled by her first taste of womanhood, she follows her heart with the man of her dreams, only to find that life is not fair. Or perfect. Or easy. Will she find the courage to risk everything in order to reclaim what she once had?

Muddy Waters


Judy Astley - 1997
    Stella's friends assume she doesn't have any problems of her own and deluge her with their woes. Abigail, deserted by her husband, moves in with Stella, but then starts to move in on Stella's husband.

Warm Hearts In Winter


Helen Pollard - 2014
    Still struggling to get his life and writing career back on track three years after his wife’s death, Jack isn’t ready for a breath of fresh air like Abby.Snowed in at his winter retreat on the moors, as the weeks go by and their working relationship becomes friendship and maybe more, Abby must rethink her policy of never getting involved with someone at work … and Jack must decide whether he is willing to risk the pain of love a second time.

Matilda and Montagu: The Story So Far


Emma V. Leech - 2020
    When these overlooked girls make a pact to change their lives, anything can happen.Eleven girls – Eleven dares in a hat. Twelve stories of passion. Who will dare to risk it all?This book is not a new story, but a compilation of all the instances throughout the Girls Who Dare series where Matilda Hunt and Lucian Barrington, Marquess of Montagu interacted and/or corresponded, as well as bits where Matilda, Lucian or Phoebe, Montagu’s niece, may have been thought of or talked about.That said, this is a wonderful prequel for Matilda’s upcoming story, To Hunt the Hunter and really highlights how their relationship began and how it has progressed over time.NOTE: While this book and To Hunt a Hunter CAN be read as a standalone, many of the characters would be unknown to the first time reader and reading the Girls Who Dare series is highly recommended.And now, Matilda & Montagu, the Story so Far!Happy Reading!

Love is an Art: A Hilarious, Clean Romantic Comedy


Summer Dowell - 2019
    Spilling paint all over a stranger’s car was not part of her plans that morning. Luckily, things begin looking up when her best friend drags her to an art class taught by the unmistakably gorgeous Travis Hunter. Travis is your average, easygoing art teacher. His day is off to a bumpy start when he finds his parked car covered in grey paint. However, when a stunning brunette walks into his class later that afternoon, things don’t seem so bad. A hilarious love/hate situation forms as Erin and Travis unknowingly battle over the paint accident while simultaneously pursuing their budding relationship.

The Tree Keeper's Promise


Tamara Passey - 2016
    That’s how long Angela Donovan hoped to know Mark Shafer before they married. But less than a year later, she still fears repeating the mistakes of her previous failed relationship. As Christmas approaches, she senses Mark’s plans for a proposal and wonders if she can learn to trust again.Mark has learned all there is to know about the Shafer miracle trees—or so he thinks. Papa reveals secrets about the trees’ matchmaking power just as a highway expansion threatens to destroy the family legacy. Mark is determined to save the farm and the promise of love stirring in the branches of the Shafer miracle trees. Heartwarming and engaging, The Tree Keeper’s Promise captures the warmth and wonder of the holiday season.

The Reluctant Time Traveler


Lynda Eymann - 2006
    Before she can complete her task, she may need to resort to a little murder and experience a bit of Hellfire, but that's to be expected when the threads of time are ruled by sexist Thraeder pigs. Fortunately, a certain irresistible man (who happens to be the ultimate feminist) makes everything worthwhile in the end. CATEGORY: Time Travel Romance. (Not, in general, for sexist Thraeder pigs.)

Better than Gold


Laurie Alice Eakes - 2008
    She saves every penny she can from her wages as a telegraph operator and keeps applying for work someplace besides the middle of the prairie. She won't let herself fall in love with anyone who doesn't have the same ambition as she--until Ben Purcell steps off the train and into Lily's heart. Ben Purcell will have his stable home at last. Raised by an itinerant salesman father, Ben has longed for land and a home. To gain that end, he takes a job managing a livery in Browning City, Iowa, where he hopes to earn enough money to buy a farm. A wife isn't in the picture, but then he meets Lily and begins to change his mind--until someone seems bent on killing him. Rumors that a train robber left gold somewhere around the livery have circulated since the Civil War ten years earlier. Most people dismiss them as nonsense. Others take them seriously. Someone takes them seriously enough to want Ben gone, even dead. Learning the identity of the culprit draws Ben and Lily together until her chance to head for the city finally comes through, and she must choose among the golden lights of the city, the train robber's gold, or something even better.

The Witch of Delft


C. De Melo - 2020
    The audacious scheme requires a marriage between Lisbeth's granddaughter and Hannah's widowed son. Desperate for her grandmother's attention and approval, Mila agrees to wed a man she doesn't know. She begins entertaining doubts when Hannah proves to be a loving mother-in-law instead of the monster her grandmother had described. Mila is thinking and acting independently for the first time, going as far as initiating an illicit affair. Her refusal to commit a heinous act at Lisbeth's insistence results in shocking consequences. With danger looming on the horizon, Mila discovers powers that have lain dormant beneath her grandmother's oppressive shadow. Now, she must learn to use her gift and salvage her only chance at happiness. Holland's Golden Age comes to life in this suspenseful historical novel with a touch of magical realism.