Book picks similar to
Dan Knew by F.J. Curlew


contemporary-fiction
galleys-read
giveaway
scotland

The Poet of Loch Ness


Brian Jay Corrigan - 2005
    Home to her alma mater, Scotland is also the place where seventeen years ago Perdita fell in love with Highland poet Andrew Macgruer. At the bed-and-breakfast where Perdita and Perry are staying lives an eccentric pair of sisters, Kira and Catitlìn. Among the unexpected guests are Breton Trent, Kira's old flame, and Andrew, whose allure has only improved with age. Recognizing in Kira's thwarted love an example of her own, Perdita works to bring the couple together again. In the process she finds herself growing ever closer to Andrew. Perry's subsequent anguish, however, incidentally coincides with an illness that seems to affect her heart. As three sets of love triangles hurtle toward final conclusions, the marine biologist's quest for the legendary creature of Loch Ness becomes the central metaphor for the secrets that glide beneath the surface of us all.

Chasing Down the Night (Crater Lake Series Book 3)


Francis Guenette - 2015
    Nothing could be further from the truth. Long-time resident, Izzy Montgomery juggles the stress of a new job with her burgeoning home life. Family dynamics go into overdrive when Alexander and Cynthia launch plans to build a home nearby and Liam’s sister, Fiona shows up to do an internship with the local doctor. Lisa-Marie and Justin are back for the summer and sparks fly. While crusty, old Reg keeps sawmill production booming, Beulah runs the organic bakery and plans the First Annual Caleb Jenkins Memorial Ball Tournament. Bethany discovers her own hidden talents working with young people at Micah Camp. As a nine-year-old’s dreams reflect a dangerous reality, many encounter issues from the past. This is a novel for all those who work at building family ties by strengthening the traditional and creating the new. Chasing Down the Night explores a wide-ranging emotional landscape while highlighting the many aspects of day-to-day, rural life. Tears and laughter are inevitable.

Found Love in a Rider


Monica Walters - 2020
    However, trying to get his life on track from his self-destructive past has taken time. Finally embarking upon what he really wants in the rodeo arena while receiving help from the best to do it, he realizes some things in his love life have to change as well. In the midst of those changes, he meets the woman that he feels he’s supposed to do life with. Before even getting to know her, he believes they are meant to be. Convincing Danica of that seems to be a slight task, though. With the help of a loving family, his career is on track, but what will it mean without someone to share it with?Danica Collier is in love with love. She’s fascinated by everything it encompasses, which is why she’s confused as to why it eludes her. As a Senior in college, she’s preparing to enter her career field and feels a relationship with the right man would complete her. However, when she meets Malachi Henderson, despite the initial attraction to him, she wonders if getting to know him would be worth her time. Wasted energy is something she has no patience to endure anymore and she wants to be sure that a relationship with him is something she can handle. Doubt is the enemy when it comes to going for what you want. This proves to be true for Danica and Malachi when moving forward. Can Danica accept all of Malachi and his country quirks? Can Malachi stomach what he has to endure to make Danica his?

Outback Roads: The Nanny


Annie Seaton - 2022
    Meeting her new employer, the cranky and bossy owner of Kilcoy Station reinforces her belief that no man can be trusted, but to Callie’s dismay that doesn’t stop the growing attraction to this difficult man.Braden is unimpressed with the glamorous woman the city employment agency sends in response to his desperate ad for a nanny. She’s never been out of the city, barely knows the difference between a bull and a milking cow, and drives a luxury sedan. But she makes him feel things he’d thought were gone for good. Will his sad past, and a guilty secret, protect his heart and ensure Braden denies his growing feelings for Callie?

Summer's Reunion


Dora Hiers - 2020
    Beer and bitterness destroyed his marriage to his high school sweetheart, but he’s a changed man now. Solid, stable and sober, he’s finally ready to start a family of his own. But the only woman he can imagine spending his forever with filed divorce papers on him eight years ago.When Rowan Albright faces her groom at the end of the aisle, this time they’re not the ones getting married. She never stopped loving Mannix, but his weekend beer binges to mask the deep-rooted grief tore at the very fabric of her soul, especially since alcoholism decimated her family. But Aunt Ellie says he’s clean now, so when Mannix’s beloved Gramps offers her a job in the family business, she jumps on it. Working together will reveal her ex-husband’s change of heart, right? Or destroy hers…Is faith, hope and love strong enough to rebuild what was lost? Will God give them a second chance at love and a future, or will both their hearts be shattered once again? Will theirs be a summer reunion or a summer to forget?

Forward Pass (A Forde Family Short Story)


Nikki Blaire - 2018
    Sonesia Fields is a small-town homebody, and when it comes to love, she would rather pass. In this short spin-off from the Forde Family Series' first book "Fortunate," you will find out if Quentin and Sonesia's love is a touchdown or a false start.

Arapaho Lance (Crow Killer #1)


Alfred Dennis - 2017
    Great feats of the warlike Arapaho arise as Jedidiah Bracket faces obstacles and becomes the great Arapaho Warrior and Lance Bearer, Crow Killer. Eighteen hundred and forty nine, western Nebraska Territory, the crossing of the North Platte was rough. Jedidiah Bracket fell headfirst into the raging waters of the river and survived only to find himself surrounded by hostile Arapaho warriors. One warrior wanted to kill him, but after discovering the mark of the Arapaho Lance on his back, he was taken back to their village. Jed was treated with respect and taught the passage of manhood into the Arapaho Lance Bearers by the one warrior that hated him most, Walking Horse. Taught the language and nursed back to health by Walking Horse's woman, the beautiful Little Antelope, Jed had many trials to overcome.

Call & Response


J.J. Salkeld - 2014
    Set in Carlisle - on the border between England and Scotland and much else besides - Call & Response introduces DS Samantha 'Pepper' Wilson and her North Division CID team. In this first episode Pepper struggles to cope with the madness and sadness of everyday policing, whist covering for an absent boss and adapting to a new Superintendent who's come straight from a supermarket's supply chain to British policing's chain of command. And matters take a serious turn when a case of 'revenge porn' is reported, involving members of a minority ethnic group, and one of Pepper's young DCs is assaulted, within spitting distance of Carlisle's shiny new Police HQ. Both cases are delicate and potentially inflammatory, and Pepper's short fuse is trimmed still more by the return to Carlisle of a dangerous career criminal with whom Pepper grew up, and whose reappearance could have dangerous implications for her, the city, and its now almost vanishingly 'thin blue line'.

The Currans and The Quinns: The Currans, Book Three (The Manhattan Stories 7)


Donna Foley Mabry - 2017
     On the Manhattan, Kansas frontier of the 1870s, D’Arcy Curran, her adopted son, Dan, and her new husband, Royce Quinn, want nothing more than to raise a family and live in peace. Their plans are waylaid when the renegade Jayhawker who killed D’Arcy’s father returns from prison looking for revenge. Human treachery isn’t the only thing D’Arcy and Royce battle on their prairie home. As Dan grows from a boy to a man and more children arrive, they struggle against the forces of nature, animals that are not as tame as expected, and disease. When Dan meets Kathleen O’Malley, he’s only sixteen but is convinced she’s the girl for him. He sets out to win her heart, but he wonders, can the pampered daughter of a New York millionaire learn to love a rough-hewn cowboy?

The Weight of Birds


Amanda Lewis - 2020
    

Broken Little Rich Girl 2 (Broken Little Rich Girls)


Dominique Thomas - 2018
    To regain their sanity and find their joy these four women will have to face the problems in their life. Miko’s world came crashing down when she had to reveal to Zyir that Enika was not only her child but that he was the father. In doing so it changed everything in her world. Miko must learn how to gain control of her rebellious daughter and finally decide if Zyir is the man for her, while trying not to lose her mind in the process. Nelly lost control of herself and did things to Jannero that she couldn’t take back. When she finds herself alone, it's then that she realizes that her anger is really a problem. Only changing isn’t that easy and Nelly isn’t sure if its something she can do on her own. Rumer’s health continues to deteriorate as her world falls apart right before her eyes. After facing the hardest day of her life, she decides with the help of her mom to take a break from it all. Her getaway trip leads to revelations and possibly a new love. However, once Rumer returns home, she’s faced with Kritt and the stress from her life once again and finds herself questioning what's real. The new man that’s making her smile or Kritt, a man that she’s always known. Jerzey’s world was turned upside down when she realized that the man who shot her was none other than Snowden’s brother. After leaving Philly she’s determined to be a happier Jerzey. Unlike her friends, she’s ready to be happy and live her best life. A big move along with new ventures place her in new crowds. A sexy, local guy finds himself smitten with her and she can’t deny he’s attractive as well still her heart yearns for Snowden. Jerzey feels Snowden is running from the love they share, and she wants to hold out for him but what she won't do is wait too long. In the finale of the Broken Little Rich Girls series, you see more pain, anger then finally healing. To become whole these women will have to pick up their broken pieces and put themselves back together again. While it won’t be easy, it’s necessary because you can't be happy and be broken. It just doesn’t work that way.

Seven Year Itch


Lyndsey Gallagher - 2019
    The last thing she expected was to fall in love with a complete stranger at the hen weekend. Which wouldn’t be a problem apart from the teeny tiny fact that she’s already married to somebody else… Is it a case of the Seven-Year-Itch or could it be the real deal? Lucy needs to decide if she is going to leave the security of her stale marriage in order to find out if the grass is indeed greener on the other side, or whether it’s worth having one more go at watering her own garden. Could this party-loving, city girl really leave the country she loves for a farmer from the West of Ireland? Is there such a thing as fate? What about karma? Is John Kelly all that he seems?

This Other Island


Steffanie Edward - 2021
    So this was my strange new home…When Yvette receives a call to say her estranged father Joe has been attacked in a seemingly random act of violence, she rushes to his side.But when she arrives, she finds a man different to the larger-than-life father of her memories. Joe is broken, too scared to describe his attacker to the police, and seemingly haunted by memories of his past – memories he’s fought to suppress.About the boat journey that brought him and his wife Dolina to their new home in a hostile and unwelcoming Britain – as part of the Windrush Generation. About the secrets left behind in St Lucia… And about the darkest secret of all – the one that he has carried with him since stepping off the boat that cool, wet August day.As he fights for his life, he begs Yvette to find out what really happened on the last day of that crossing. Because, for forty years, Joe has believed that he killed a man. A man who had loved Dolina too. And who might hold the key to Yvette’s own story…What follows is a heart-stopping debut novel about family, identity, secrets, lies, and the journeys that define us. It will grip you, challenge you, and ultimately break you into a thousand pieces. Perfect for fans of Small Island and Girl, Woman, Other.

The DCI Jack Logan Collection Books 1-3: A Scottish Crime Fiction Series


J.D. Kirk - 2020
    

Holding on to Love


Ashish sinha - 2020
    BUT CAN TRUE LOVE OVERCOME DESTINY?When ASHU finds out that his so-called loved ones pampered him only till his father was living, he is heartbroken. After his father’s sudden demise, Ashu is left alone, fighting the world for every small bit of happiness. But he rediscovers love and affection in DISHA ,who he meets at a job interview.Disha is an epitome of love and he finds his true happiness with her. Soon after their marriage, just as they are beginning to relish the little joys of life, Ashu is diagnosed with a fatal disease. The only way out is a transplant, which in itself is a life-threatening surgery.Will Disha’s overwhelming love, acceptance and sacrifice make the impossible possible?Holding On To Love is an astonishing true story of Ashu’s will to defeat destiny, backed by Disha’s faith in the power of their love.