Book picks similar to
At Road's End by Zoe Saadia
historical-fiction
historical
fiction
romance
The Last Killiney
J. Jay Kamp - 2011
When she is swept back in time to relive this affair (along with Lord Killiney's very unwilling modern counterpart), she learns that living in the past isn't all fun and games, and that history can't always be changed to one's liking.This is a full-length novel (well over 400 pages), and although it's the first in a series, The Last Killiney can be read as a stand-alone book.Other books in this series include The Wager and The Bayman's Bride.
The Visionary Mayan Queen: Yohl Ik'nal of Palenque
Leonide Martin - 2014
It decreed when she would ascend Mayan pyramids and become the first woman to rule in her own right. In misty tropical jungles 1500 years ago, at the height of Mayan civilization, a royal girl with visionary powers was destined to become the ruler of Palenque. Last of her lineage, her accession would fulfill her father’s ambitions. Powerful forces were allied against them to overthrow the dynasty. Her father trained her intensely in Mayan calendars, history and politics and cultivated support among nobles, while his cousins plotted with enemy cities to attack Palenque (Lakam Ha).Yohl Ik’nal (Heart of North Wind) put aside her personal desires and the comfortable world of palace women to meet challenges as royal heir. Love for her father steeled her will and sharpened her skills. Overcoming fear, she performed Mayan sacrifice as required of rulers. Her visionary powers enabled her to identify political opponents and predict enemy attack. The first Queen of Lakam Ha, she built temples to honor her father and her Gods. She protected her city and brought prosperity to her people. But she foresaw a time of darkness and devastation coming, predicted through Mayan calendars. Could she trust her vision to reveal the will of the Triad Gods? Would her choices cause ruin or bring her city to greatness?The story of this remarkable woman lay buried for centuries under crumbling Mayan ruins. She was one of the most powerful women in the Americas, but few have heard of her. Her accession carved a new glyph in Mayan history, preserving her dynasty and propelling it to heights of power and creativity. She was the grandmother of K’inich Janaab Pakal, the most famous Mayan ruler. In 1952 his royal tomb was excavated, the richest Mayan burial found and the equivalent of Egypt’s King Tut.In the midst of betrayal and revenge, through court intrigues and regional power struggles, she confronted personal crises and found a love relationship that sustained her. Enter the world of the ancient Mayans in this extensively researched historical novel that brings Yohl Ik’nal and her people vibrantly to life.
The Empress
Laura Martínez-Belli - 2017
Napoleon III has installed a foreign monarch in Mexico to squash the current regime. Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria accepts the emperor’s crown. But it is his wife, the brilliant and ambitious Princess Charlotte, who throws herself passionately into the role. Known to the people as Empress Carlota, she rules deftly from behind the scenes while her husband contents himself with philandering and decorating the palace.But Carlota bears a guilty secret. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she’s thrown herself into a reckless affair. Desire has blinded Carlota to its consequences, for it has left her vulnerable to her sole trusted confidante. Carlota’s devious lady-in-waiting has political beliefs of her own—and they are strong enough to cause her to betray the empress and join a plot to depose her from the throne. As Carlota grows increasingly, maddeningly defenseless, both her own fate and that of the empire are at stake.A sweeping historical novel of forbidden love, dangerous secrets, courtly intrigue, and treachery, The Empress passionately reimagines the tragic romance and ill-fated reign of the most unforgettable royal couple of nineteenth-century Europe during the last throes of the Second Empire.
A Transcontinental Affair
Jodi Daynard - 2019
Crowds throng the Boston station, mesmerized by the mechanical wonder huffing on the rails: the Pullman Hotel Express, the first train to travel from coast to coast. Boarding the train are congressmen, railroad presidents, and even George Pullman himself. For two young women, strangers until this fateful day, it’s the beginning of a journey that will change their lives.Sensitive Louisa dreads the trip, but with limited prospects, she’s reluctantly joined the excursion as a governess to a wealthy family. Hattie is traveling to San Francisco to meet her fiancé, yet she’s far more interested in the workings of the locomotive than she is in the man awaiting her arrival. As the celebrated train moves westward, the women move toward one another, pulled by an unexpected attraction.But there is danger in this closeness, just as there is in the wilds of the frontier and in the lengths the railroad men will go to protect their investments. Before their journey is over, Louisa and Hattie will find themselves very far from where they intended to go.
The Snow Gypsy
Lindsay Jayne Ashford - 2019
Eight years ago, her brother disappeared while fighting alongside Gypsy partisans in Spain. From his letters, Rose has just two clues to his whereabouts—his descriptions of the spectacular south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and his love for a woman who was carrying his child.In Spain, it has been eight years since Lola Aragon’s family was massacred. Eight years since she rescued a newborn girl from the arms of her dying mother and ran for her life. She has always believed that nothing could make her return…until a plea for help comes from a desperate stranger.Now, Rose, Lola, and the child set out on a journey from the wild marshes of the Camargue to the dazzling peaks of Spain’s ancient mountain communities. As they come face-to-face with war’s darkest truths, their lives will be changed forever by memories, secrets, and friendships.
Mobley's Law
Gerald Lane Summers - 2011
President Grant appoints Judge Mobley Meadows to the Texas Federal Circuit Court and charges him with preventing the situation from getting out of hand. Davis quickly realizes that Mobley is a threat when he overturns the Governor’s land reappraisal decree, a source of graft for Davis’s supporters, and sends his personal assassin to get rid of Mobley. Mobley and his two deputy marshals, Edson Rabb, a handsome Cherokee Indian, and Jack Anthony Lopes, the illegitimate son of General Santa Ana and the English Lady Madeleine Smythe, are repeatedly attacked on their journey from Waco to Austin. They know Davis is behind the attacks, but they cannot make a case against him. Davis loses the election by a majority of two to one, but arranges for his personally appointed state Supreme Court to overturn the election on a technicality involving a single misplaced semi-colon in the new Texas constitution. He then refuses to leave office or to participate in a trial in Mobley’s court. Davis’s opponent, Richard Coke, does not accept this decision and with his supporters storms the state administrative building in Austin. Davis’s forces counterattack and manage to take back the first floor of the building. A standoff then prevails that can only be resolved by the action of President Grant. Mobley suggests a course of action to the president, that in the end works, but not without Mobley having to compromise his beliefs, his sense of honor, and everything he thinks he stands for.
Freedom's Sword
J.R. Tomlin - 2011
before Robert the Bruce... there was another Scottish hero... In 1296, newly knighted by the King of the Scots, Andrew de Moray fights to defend his country against the forces of the ruthless invader, King Edward Longshanks of England. After a bloody defeat in battle, he is dragged in chains to an English dungeon. Soon the young knight escapes. He returns to find Scotland under the heel of a conqueror and his betrothed sheltering in the hills of the Black Isle. Seizing his own castle, he raises the banner of Scottish freedom. Now he must lead the north of Scotland to rebellion in hope of defeating the English army sent to crush them.
Lady of Devices
Shelley Adina - 2011
Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin’s son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world. At 17, Claire Trevelyan, daughter of Viscount St. Ives, was expected to do nothing more than pour an elegant cup of tea, sew a fine seam, and catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, Claire’s talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the chemistry lab, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. It’s not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices . . . When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes her talents may encompass more than the invention of explosive devices. They may help her realize her dreams and his . . . if they can both stay alive long enough to see that sometimes the closest friendships can trigger the greatest betrayals . . .
Sacrifice and Reward
Robin Deeter - 2016
By this time, most of the Kiowa bands have been pushed west by the Lakota, who are on the move southward from the Great Lakes region. These invaders from the north want the game-rich, lush pasture lands of the territory for themselves. However, one small Kiowa band is determined to remain in their early homelands in the region of what will be one day known as eastern South Dakota. These two enemy tribes are brought face-to-face through the vision of a young Kiowa medicine man. Sky Dancer, a beautiful, Kiowa widow, and proud Lakota warrior, Dark Horse, are forced to marry in order to create an alliance between their peoples. Right from the beginning they clash in a test of wills, loathing each other on sight, making a happy marriage seem out of the question. Will the sacrifice that is asked of them save their tribes? Can these two enemies overcome their initial hatred to find love in unlikely place or will distrust keep them from the reward they both crave?
Where Eagles Dare Not Perch
Peter Bridgford - 2018
While home on his unit’s month-long furlough, he murders the man he believes has stolen his beloved. In doing so, he sets into motion three intensely dark journeys—his own as a soldier returning to a brutal and hopeless war; his sweetheart’s as she seeks absolution; and the brother of the murdered man, whose quest for revenge propels him into the most violent of worlds. When the three find each other amid the chaos and brutality of the Battle of the Wilderness, they’re faced with figuring out if they are tempered enough from their own redemptive ordeals to face whatever uncertain future awaits them after the bloody fighting is over.
Tread Softly on My Dreams
Gretta Curran Browne - 1990
Born in 1778, Robert Emmet, the youngest son of the State Physician of Ireland, has grown up in the heart of a prosperous and loving family, one of the most respected in Dublin city. From his parents he acquired a deep love of Ireland and a commitment to justice. From his brother Thomas he acquired an understanding of the divisions and inequalities of his country. In the historic year of 1798 Robert’s life changed from its charted course to one of rebellion. A brilliant student at Trinity, he casts aside all hopes of a scientific career, all the privileges of his class, to join the United Irishmen – a society dedicated to the union of Protestant and Catholic. But the men in Dublin Castle determined on the continuance of English rule, force him to flee to France. But even as his boat sails away from his beloved homeland, he looks back and knows he will return – to the cause of his country’s liberty, and to the beautiful girl he has fallen in love with, Sarah Curran, the daughter of Ireland’s most talented lawyer. He returns – and meets Anne Devlin, a passionate and brave Catholic country girl, who becomes his most devoted companion. Set against the background of the beauty of Ireland, the dark clouds of its past, as well as the humour and dreams of its people, this is a passionate and powerful true story of three young people, Robert Emmet, Anne Devlin, and Sarah Curran, drawn together in love, in hope, and tragedy.
The Fox
Arlene Radasky - 2008
Brilliant and utterly breathtaking, Radasky’s is a powerful new voice in romance, fantasy, and historical fiction. Bravo!The Romans’ path of destruction jeopardizes a Caledonian clan unless they are able to strike a bargain with the Gods, which ultimately means a human sacrifice. Jahna is a member of this first century tribe. She has the power to merge minds, which she chooses to do with a twenty-first century woman, Aine MacRae and her contemporary, a young man Lovern, to whom she was hand-fasted in her time and of whom she shared a child, in order to save her people. In the name of the gods, Lovern was killed. Druids place his body in the sacred Black Lake, but through a visit from his ghost, Jahna sends their child away thus securing their bloodline. In the midst of madness, Jahna lives just long enough to reveal to Aine, her grief. Two thousand years later, in the year 2005, Aine is hoping to reestablish her career as an archaeologist and assists in the excavation in the Highlands of Scotland of a first century Caledonian chieftain’s tomb with fellow archaeologist, Marc Hunt. As the fates align, Jahna, guides Aine to one bronze bowl, then another, and when she is led by a ghost, Aine uncovers a two thousand year old man encased in a bog. As the circle goes unbroken, a heart’s chains are loosened and it is understood that Aine and Marc are able to rediscover their past love.
The Angel and the Warrior
Karen Kay - 2005
But when a Cheyenne brave named Swift Hawk rides to their aid, Angelia can find no escape from his compelling gaze.
The Mind's Eye
K.C. Finn - 2014
But Kit has an extraordinary psychic power: she can put herself into the minds of others, see through their eyes, feel their emotions, even talk to them – though she dares not speak out for fear of her secret ability being exposed.As Kit settles into her new life in the North Wales village of Bryn Eira Bach, solitude and curiosity encourage her to gain better control of her gift. Until one day her search for information on the developing war leads her to the mind of Henri, a seventeen-year-old Norwegian boy witnessing the German occupation of his beloved city, Oslo. As Henri discovers more about the English girl occupying his mind, the psychic and emotional bonds between them strengthen and Kit guides him through an oppressive and dangerous time. There are secrets to be uncovered, both at home and abroad, and it’s up to Kit and Henri to come together and fight their own battles in the depths of the world’s greatest war.
Stonehenge
Bernard Cornwell - 1999
Bernard Cornwell's epic novel Stonehenge catapults us into a powerful and vibrant world of ritual and sacrifice at once timeless and wholly original-a tale of patricide, betrayal, and murder; of bloody brotherly rivalry: and of the never-ending quest for power, wealth, and spiritual fulfillment.Three brothers-deadly rivals-are uneasily united in their quest to create a temple to their gods. There is Lengar, the eldest, a ruthless warrior intent on replacing his father as chief of the tribe of Ratharryn; Camaban, his bastard brother, a sorcerer whose religious fervor inspires the plan for Stonehenge; and Saban, the youngest, through whose expertise the temple will finally be completed. Divided by blood but united-precariously-by a shared vision, the brothers begin erecting their mighty ring of granite, aligning towering stones to the movement of the heavenly bodies, and raising arches to appease and unite their gods. Caught between the zealousness of his ambitious brothers, Saban becomes the true leader of his people, a peacemaker who will live to see the temple built in the name of salvation and regeneration.Bernard Cornwell, long admired for his rousing narrative and meticulous historical imaginings, has here delivered his masterpiece, the most compelling and powerful human drama of its kind since Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and Edward Rutherford's Sarum. His re-creation of civilization as it might have been in 2000 B.C. at once amplifies the mystery of his subject and makes the world of Stonehenge come alive as never before.