Book picks similar to
Journey's End by Mildred Riley


afam
afamhistrm
histintrrclrm
historical-fiction

Road to the Breaking


Chris Bennett - 2021
    Army Fort Davis in the west Texas wilderness, has received shocking news – his father is dead. He must return home to Virginia and claim his inheritance before a maniacal neighbor can murder his widowed mother and seize the family plantation. But he’s torn by a terrible dilemma – to stay in the army and turn his back on his fortune, his mother and his beloved childhood home, or become the thing he despises; a slave master! Is there no other choice? Meanwhile, a woman desperate to redeem her family’s fortunes schemes to marry her beautiful but troubled daughter to the handsome young heir. But will Evelyn’s own plans break his heart instead? An epic journey across a young nation seething with debauchery, brutality, corruption, and political intrigue, unwittingly on the brink of an unimaginable disaster; the American Civil War. Nathan Chambers has left the violent army life behind in Texas, never imaging he’s on the very ‘Road to The Breaking’.

COMING HOME TO BYLAND CRESCENT an absolutely heartbreaking and unputdownable historical family saga (The Cowgill Family Saga Book 3)


Bill Kitson - 2022
    

Frankie's Manor


Anna King - 1999
    Keeping her job as a barmaid in the East End wasn’t easy, but with the support of her sweetheart Jack Adams, a local constable, and Frankie Buchanan, whom she loves like a brother, she dreams of a bright future.But there is no love lost between the men. Hackney is ‘Frankie’s manor’ and because of his protection racket, Jack is determined to put its ringleader behind bars.When talk of wedding bells for Jack and Rose meet opposition, Rose isn’t prepared to have her happiness ruined for family pride. But when Rose finds herself alone and heartbroken, Frankie is there to pick up the pieces… A gripping and emotional saga, perfect for readers of Rosie Goodwin and Val Wood.

SUMMER OF THE PLAGUE (Molly Titchen Book 2)


Gordon John Thomson - 2015
    In the spring of 1665, England is recovering from a terrible winter, yet the country has other severe problems to face as the sun finally returns. The King, Charles II, had been welcomed back as a saviour on his restoration five years before, but is now resented by increasing numbers of his own people. And in March, the King declares war on the Dutch, England’s great seagoing trade rivals… Worse news comes to Restoration London, though, when there is an outbreak of the plague in April. This is terrible news in particular for the wealthy young physician and merchant Henry Raven, who believes that the outbreak is not natural but has been caused by an old enemy plotting his revenge against the city of London. Henry Raven, together with his friends from the Royal Society, Dr William Croone and Robert Hooke, organize the city’s fight against the spread of the disease. Raven’s delectable young mistress, Molly Titchen, is a precocious seventeen-year-old actress at the new King’s theatre in Drury Lane who is torn between her devotion to Henry Raven, and her love of strutting the stage in breeches parts. When Molly gives a bed for the night to one sick young actor, her kind action is misunderstood by Raven who believes that she has been unfaithful to him. Then Molly falls on hard times herself, and is aided not by her jealous lover, but by a strange Moorish apothecary, and a mysterious Frenchman, Philippe Desargues, Comte de Mésanger... Henry Raven has other problems to trouble his mind too, apart from his fight against the plague and his wish to save his relationship with Molly. Firstly, a close childhood friend, Esther Linney, has disappeared from her cottage on the estate of Raven’s family home in Dorset, Salwayash Manor, and gone to London. Raven’s sister Catherine asks her brother to find Esther in London, and discover why she left Dorset in such mysterious circumstances. Raven also has to deal with the fact that his sister has clearly fallen in love with their wealthy neighbour, the recently widowed Ralph Warboys, who is a handsome man yet one with a haunted past. And then strange events unfold in the quiet Dorset countryside when two young girls are found dead in suspicious circumstances... As the plague rages through London, Raven finds himself having to defend Esther Linney against a charge of witchcraft, while also trying to save Molly from an implacable enemy. But his greatest challenge is to discover the secrets of an old family curse, and to unmask a cruel murderer…

Calculated Risk: The Naval Odyssey of Professor James Brand


J. Eugene Porter - 2020
    

The Brave Men


Tony Maxwell - 2014
     ...The thrilling adult action-adventure sequel to The Young Lions. Robert Hamilton's story continues against the backdrop of a South Africa recovering from the tragedy of the Anglo-Boer War while the world teeters on the brink of an even greater disaster, the looming Great War.Drawn into this unfamiliar world of rebellion, intrigue and espionage, Robert finds love and then loses it in the greatest maritime disaster of the 20th Century.

The New South


Sabra Waldfogel - 2021
    She’s Black. He’s white. They’re sister and brother… but they’re not. Will they ever be?Eliza Coldbrook, proud and privileged graduate of all-Black Atlanta University, hasn’t seen her white half-brother since the end of Reconstruction. When Matt returns to Atlanta, she refuses a reunion. She now lives in a progressive and prosperous new South. She doesn’t want to be reminded of the past that she and Matt share.Her half-brother Matthew Kaltenbach hasn’t lived in Georgia since he was seven years old. But he has vivid memories of the past, and he has unfinished business with it. He wants to rebuild a relationship with the man who is his father as well as Eliza’s. And he wants to reconcile with the half-sister he loved when they were children, but who has become a stranger since.Amanda Gardiner, born a slave in Georgia, now lives in an Atlanta reborn after the Civil War. But she doesn’t share in the bounty that is the New South. As a washerwoman, she’s underpaid and badly treated by her white employers. Until she decides to say no, and all the washerwomen of Atlanta join her in a strike…When the Black washerwomen of Atlanta go on strike, Eliza and Matt, Black half-sister and white half-brother, are both swept into their cause. Will the strike let them heal the wounds of the past—and forgive each other?

Dugan Holler (The Revenge Series Book 4)


Ann Robbins-Phillips - 2014
    The family names change with marriage, but difficulties have followed. Settled now in Tennessee with their youngest daughter, Norabell, they move near their oldest daughter, August. There is one secret that could tear their family apart. Is truth the best answer, even when it means breaking promises? Old acquaintances of Lottie and her family are sworn enemies from an old incident in Cocke County, Tennessee. They now find themselves neighbors once again. They have learned neither the lessons that come from seeking revenge nor its cost.

The Storm at Vimy Ridge


Stuart Minor - 2016
     The Western Front is waking from a bitter winter that has locked the land in ice for months. With the promise of spring looming on the horizon the allied armies once again plan to go on the offensive. At Arras the British forces will attack, pitching themselves against the German lines in a bid to break the stalemate once and for all. After the failures of Nineteen Sixteen there is a chance, a hope, that this time they will end the deadlock on the Western Front. Threatening the British flank, Vimy Ridge stands like a rock above the Douai plain. The enemy has held it since the first months of the war and have turned it into a fortress that has defeated all attacks made against its network of trenches, bunkers and tunnels. The Germans are confident that it will hold out again. Nonetheless, the Canadians are determined to take the six miles of ridge. In the face of a fierce blizzard they will attack and win a place in history. Temporarily attached to a company of engineers tasked with seizing the tunnels that lie hidden beneath Vimy Ridge, Harry and his section will find themselves caught in the grip of the storm as they battle their way onto the ridge and below it, fighting with the Canadians to take a position the Germans consider impregnable.

Oyster Shore


Ruth Saberton - 2021
    As the storm clouds of war gather over Europe, a chain of events is set in motion which will reach across the decades to haunt the neglected place once known as Oyster Shore.A lifetime of regrets…In the winter of 1964 one of the richest men in England lies dying. Alone and consumed by guilt, Gerald Snowe leaves behind the dark secrets which have driven him to despair and his last wish is that restitution might be made. But who will remain on Oyster Shore long enough to hear the past whispering?A lost story…Over fifty years later, broken-hearted writer Lowenna Scott seeks solace in a remote riverside hideaway. Swirling mists and ghostly tales soon draw her into a decades’ old mystery and the company of the enigmatic Noah Wilson. When a long-concealed betrayal unexpectedly comes to light, Lowenna and Noah must look to the past to uncover the truth behind a love affair that changed history, haunts Oyster Shore and possesses the power to alter their own future forever…Taking the reader on a captivating journey through time, place and war, Oyster Shore is an unforgettable story of love, loss, and most of all hope.

Rescued Love (Love on the Western Trail Book 2)


Linda Ford - 2021
    

The Asylum Daughter


Rosie Darling - 2020
    An inconsequential inconvenience.After eight years of dreaming of an unknown mother rescuing her from the workhouse, Beth is unexpectedly liberated to become an apprentice in Mr Whitaker's tailor's shop. Against all the odds, Mrs Whitaker becomes a maternal figure to the young girl who shows all the signs of a gifted seamstress.But fate's cruel hand had not finished denying Beth the comforts of a family.Lady Caroline comes into Beth's life as a godsend. A wealthy patron in need of beautiful dresses to be made. But there is more to her appearing at the tailor's shop at first apparent. Two lives from different classes become intertwined in the worst of conditions.Is having a family worth such suffering? Should the women deny each other and be relieved of the tortures beset upon them in the name of greed and a family name? Was the madness real? Would the answers be found along the unforgiving corridors of the asylum?

Girl From the Docks


Catharine Dobbs - 2020
    Living near the docks in Liverpool with two other families under the same roof, money for rent is a constant struggle and food is scarce. Made even more difficult by a lecherous gambler who refuses to pay his share of the rent.When their father succumbs to the 1849 cholera epidemic that sweeps through Liverpool, the young orphan’s situation becomes even more perilous. They are forced to do whatever they can to make their share of the food and rent.Robert grew up in privileged circumstances. That all changes when his father dies suddenly, leaving his estate tied up for months in probate. Robert has no other option but to seek employment at a former competitor of his fathers. The same family that employs Verdie.Robert is overjoyed.But Verdie is blinded by the amorous attentions of the household's handsome son, Carson.Trouble ensues, for everyone.Robert, with limited resources and influence, rises to the challenge to defend Verdie’s honor. Will it be enough to stop Carson from pursuing her? Can Robert’s fledging love for Verdie prevail?“Girl From the Docks” and all Catharine Dobbs' novellas are wholesome Victorian Romances.

Winnie


Michael Edwin Q. - 2020
    From the best selling author of Fancy comes another most scandalous tale, often upsetting and disturbing.Resigned to the life of a mistress of a rich, white, Southern gentleman, Winnie decides that to better her life no sin is too great, no crime too horrendous, turning her back on man and God.

Reluctant Informer


Marion Kummerow - 2019
     Sabine always minded her own business, closing her eyes to the sinister events engulfing Germany. War is always ugly, and it's best to simply stay out of harm’s way. That changes the moment the Gestapo needs information from her. With her husband held captive, his very life depends on her willingness to cooperate in this evil enterprise. Soon, she’s thrust into the midst of the resistance, smuggling people out of Nazi Germany. Her task? Find the leader and hand him over to torture and certain death. If she does as she is asked, she betrays her own people. If she does not, her husband will be executed by Hitler's forces. Can she silence her conscience and save her husband? Read Reluctant Informer now - a WWII tale of love, courage, and impossible choices. Previously published as part of the USA Today Bestselling Anthology, The Darkest Hour – Tales of Resistance, this standalone novella will keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering what Sabine will do next.