Book picks similar to
Vanishing Time by Katharine Britton


family-saga-fiction
marriage
fantasy
crime

Island of Secrets


Tammie Clarke Gibbs - 2010
    Everyone thought the man was crazy.Shane Alexander was determined to prove to the world that his family wasn't crazy... That HE wasn't crazy.It was working...Until he made one mistake...that would change his life forever...and force him to question his own sanity.Something was missing from Lila Fitzpatrick's life...So doing a friend a favor...and pretending to be someone else for a day seemed like a good idea at the time.Then she finds a warning note...from hundreds of years BEFORE she was born.And then if that wasn't bad enough...She met HIM...TWICE!For centuries a force has kept them apart...But, will Love be enough to finally keep them together...Or will history repeat itself? A Time Travel- A Love Story filled with Suspense-A Mystery that will keep you guessing til the end... Former Georgia Author of the Year Nominee, Tammie Clarke Gibbs has crafted a sweeping new time travel with the old-fashioned appeal of your favorite Gothic Novel. It will keep you guessing. This is one roller-coaster ride you won’t want to miss.

A Cottage by the Sea


Ciji Ware - 1996
    . .But after a scandalous Hollywood divorce, Blythe Stowe considered it damage control for body and soul. The pain, the humiliation, the daily tabloids shouting details as her famous husband dumped her for her own sister demanded a serious getaway: to the wild coast of Cornwall and a cottage by the sea that her Wyoming grandmother claimed had been home to her ancestors.Some might call it chance . . .But Blythe encountered more than just a quaint retreat nestled amid vivid skies and gorgeous ocean. And she had the odd sensation that her wickedly handsome neighbor Lucas Teague was more than a British gentleman going broke. He might be her destiny . . .

Guarding My Heart


S.C. Wynne - 2014
    He’s been acting out since his childhood love, Paul devastated him by marrying a woman. Liam drops out of college and is drinking and partying way too much. When his current bodyguard is injured in a bar fight, a new bodyguard replaces him. His new protector, Scott Jackson is gorgeous, and tough. He’s back after a break from the job after losing a client. He’s attracted to his new charge, and Liam is aggressive about how much he would love to get Scott in bed. But Scott is worried Liam is just a using him for a sexual fling. As the two men grow closer, it becomes obvious the threats against Liam's life are horribly real. Both men can't help but wonder if they'll even live long enough to figure out their feelings toward each other.

Secret of the Nexus


C.P. Moore - 2012
    History tells us that mankind developed along its own path, and that many ancient kings believed themselves to be gods and were revered as such. But what if the truth were something in between? This is the reality that master thief Greg Cross now finds himself facing. What started out as a simple job for a trusted associate has quickly spiralled into a race to uncover secrets hidden since the dawn of civilisation. A race between those who seek the truth in order to take the next step in mankind’s destiny, and those who wish to claim it for their own and use it to rebuild an empire lost to them millennia ago. It is a mission that Greg cannot deny his role in; because he now possesses an ancient power that is the key to unlocking the secret of the Nexus. Allied with those who have fought all their lives to find and protect the truth, Greg must now learn to accept what he has become if he is to master it and survive the trials to come. For although he now embodies a potential seen in man long ago, his is not the only secret of the past to have resurfaced... Length: 480 pages hardback

The Duke's Secret


Allie Kensington - 2021
    Her only source of comfort is her sweet cousin for whom she acts as chaperone and companion. Enduring a London Season seems daunting, but with matrimony far from her mind, she is content to hide in the shadows until the season is over.James Berkeley, Duke of Cheshire, is the most eligible bachelor in London. At least, he would be if he had any intention to wed. Before he can think about matrimony, he has a secret and solemn duty he must fulfill. The last two London Seasons have come to naught; he is hoping a third will hold more promise, allowing him to solve a mystery and regain his freedom once and for all.James is intrigued when he meets the beautiful Miss Gray; she is elusive, mysterious, and cares little that he is a duke. But when James discovers Miss Gray could be the very woman he is honor-bound to find, he is torn between duty and desire. She might be the key to solving all of his problems, but he’d rather she be the key to his heart. And one thing is certain: she cannot be both.

Blood on the Chesapeake


Randy Overbeck - 2019
    That is, until he learns the town hides an ugly secret. A thirty-year-old murder in the high school. And a frightening ghost stalking his new office. Burned by an earlier encounter with the spirit world, Darrell doesn't want to get involved, but when the desperate ghost hounds him, he concedes. Assisted by his new love, he follows a trail that leads to the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and even the Klu Klux Klan. Then, when two locals who try to help are murdered, Darrell is forced to decide if he's willing to risk his life--and the life of the woman he loves--to expose the killers of a young man he never knew.

Spirit of the Fallen


T.J. Green - 2020
    He has a violent history that haunts him, and a father he wants answers from - if he ever finds him.When they set up in business together with the Orphic Guild, they’re expecting adventure, intrigue and money.But their first job is more complicated than they expected.When they break fey magic that seals an old tomb, they find it contains more than they bargained for. Now they’re hunting for a rogue spirit, but he always seems one step ahead.The fight leads them in a direction they never expected.Gabe could leave his past behind, or he could delve into the darkest secrets of mankind. Shadow has no intention of being left out.If you enjoy action, intrigue, humour, and dark secrets that won’t stay buried, you’ll love this first in series spin-off from the White Haven Witches.

Dreamlight Trilogy


Jayne Ann Krentz - 2011
    Jack Winters, descendant of Nicholas, has been experiencing nightmares and blackouts?just the beginning, he believes, of the manifestation of the Winters family curse. The legend says that he must find the Burning Lamp or risk turning into a monster. But he can't do it alone; he needs the help of a woman with the talent to read the lamp's dreamlight. Jack is convinced that private investigator Chloe Harper is that woman. Burning Lamp (Quick): Plagued by hallucinations and nightmares, the notorious crime lord Griffin Winters is convinced he has been struck with the Winters Curse. But even as he arranges a meeting with the mysterious Adelaide Pyne, he has no idea how closely their fates are bound, for she holds the missing lamp in her possession. Midnight Crystal (Castle): Adam Winters is convinced his recent nightmares and hallucinations will lead to him becoming a psychic rogue ? unless he can find a stolen relic and a woman who can read dreamlight. Marlowe Jones rides into his life on a motorcycle and with a dust bunny at her side. Though a descendant of the rival Arcane family, she's just what Adam needs: a psychic private investigator and dreamlight reader extraordinaire.

Overseas


Beatriz Williams - 2012
    Julian’s relentless energy and his extraordinary intellect electrify her, but she’s baffled by his sudden interest. Why would this handsome British billionaire "Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor” pursue a pretty but bookish young banker who hasn’t had a boyfriend since college? The answer is beyond imagining . . . at least at first. Kate and Julian’s story may have begun not in the moneyed world of twenty-first-century Manhattan but in France during World War I, when a mysterious American woman emerged from the shadows of the Western Front to save the life of Captain Julian Laurence Ashford, a celebrated war poet and infantry officer.Now, in modern-day New York, Kate and Julian must protect themselves from the secrets of the past, and trust in a true love that transcends time and space.

Cursed Once More: The Sequel to With This Curse


Amanda DeWees - 2015
    Former seamstress Clara Blackwood seems to have found happiness at last. Now a blissfully married baroness, she is mistress of a grand estate. But soon a mysterious summons shatters her contented life. Clara grew up believing that her mother’s family had disowned them. But now the grandmother she never knew is on her deathbed and anxious to disclose vital family secrets before it’s too late—for Clara’s unborn child may be cursed with a horrible fate. When Clara and her husband, Atticus, arrive at dismal Thurnley Hall, they find intrigue brewing. Her boorish uncle, Horace Burleigh, is greedy for her wealth and desperate to protect the family’s mysteries. Superstitious fear of Atticus torments the hulking Romanian servant, Grigore, and even the soft-spoken young ward, Victor Lynch, may have secret motives for getting close to Clara and her husband. When her grandmother dies under suspicious circumstances, Clara feels compelled to investigate. And when Atticus vanishes mysteriously, she must draw on all her strength and determination to find him before his time runs out… before her life can be cursed once more. Fans of the Gothic romances of Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Barbara Michaels won't want to miss this thrilling, romantic sequel to With This Curse, in which Clara faces new challenges and dangers. Just Book Talk gives Cursed Once More five stars and calls it “another exciting adventure . . . [with] a rich cast of spooky and strange characters.” And be sure not to miss Nocturne for a Widow , in which Clara's former employer, vivacious actress Sybil Ingram, is plunged into adventure in a haunted house in the Hudson River Valley.

Lawfully Matched


Lorana Hoopes - 2018
    Little does she know the man she intends to marry has a dark past, sending her fleeing into a neighboring town and into Jesse Jenning's life. Jesse never wanted to be in law enforcement, but after a band of robbers kills his fiancee, he dons the badge and swears revenge. Will he find his fiancee's killer? And when Kate flies into his life, will he be able to put his painful past behind him in order to love again?

Dark Desires


Eve Silver - 2005
    Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate, where she quickly discovers that nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with her fierce attraction to Damien, she must also deal with the blood, the disappearances ... and the murders.With her options dwindling and time running out, Darcie must rely on her instincts as she confronts the man she falling in love with. Is he an innocent and misunderstood man ... or a remorseless killer who prowls the East End streets?Note: All books in the Dark Gothic series can be read as stand-alone novels.

The Mine


John A. Heldt - 2012
    But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE is a love story that follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

The Lost Castle


Kristy Cambron - 2018
    It survived a sacking in the French Revolution, was brought back to life and fashioned into a storybook chateau in the Gilded Age, and was eventually felled and deserted after a disastrous fire in the 1930s.As Ellie Carver sits by her grandmother's bedside, she hears stories of a castle . . . of lost love and a hidden chapel that played host to a secret fight in the World War II French resistance. But her grandmother is quickly slipping into the locked-down world of Alzheimer's, and Ellie must act fast if she wants to uncover the truth of her family's history.Sparked by the discovery of a long forgotten family heirloom, Ellie embarks on a journey to French wine country to uncover the mystery surrounding The Sleeping Beauty--the castle so named for Charles Perrault's beloved fairy tale--and unearth its secrets before they're finally silenced by time.Set in three different time periods--the French Revolution, World War II, and present day--The Lost Castle is a story of loves won and lost, of battles waged, and an enchanted castle that inspired the epic fairy tales time left behind.

The Drumbeater


Clive Allan - 2013
    The task of unravelling the mystery falls to history graduate Neil Strachan, now a career cop, fast tracked into a new role on Northern Scotlands Major Enquiry Unit. When Neil calls upon German naval historian, Matthias Fuchs, to help identify the remains, a name soon emerges, that of a dashing young U-boat ace who mysteriously disappeared in 1941: Korvettenkapitän Max Friedmann. Neil seeks the assistance of Glendaig’s elderly residents, but encounters an impenetrable wall of silence, causing him to suspect that they know far more about the young submariner than they are willing to impart. With more questions than answers, and under mounting pressure from his cynical boss to wrap up the enquiry, Neil embarks on a race against time to discover the truth. He begins to unravel a tale of subterfuge, escape and astounding loyalty. A tale that will ultimately reveal a secret that could have changed the course of World War Two...