Book picks similar to
River of Light and Shadow by Allen Kent
historical-romance
freebie
historical-fiction
audible
Altdorf
J.K. Swift - 2011
A Duke of the Holy Roman Empire, his cunning overshadowed only by his ambition. A young Priestess of the Old Religion, together with a charismatic outlaw, sparking a rebellion from deep within the forests... and an ex-Hospitaller caught between them all.At the end of the thirteenth century, five hundred orphans and second sons are rounded up from villages in the Alpine countryside and sold to the Hospitaller Knights of St John. Trained to serve as Soldiers of Christ, they fight in eastern lands they know nothing about, for a cause they do not understand.Thomas Schwyzer, released from his vows by the Grandmaster of the Hospitallers, returns to the land of his birth a stranger. Once a leader of men, and captain of the Order's most famous war galley, he now settles into the simple life of a ferryman. He believes this new role to be God's reward for years of faithful service fighting the Infidel in Outremer.Seraina, considered a witch by most, a healer by some, is a young woman with a purpose. A Priestess of the Old Religion, and the last Druid disciple of the Helvetii Celts, she has been gifted by the Great Weave to see what others cannot. Her people need her guidance and protection now more than ever. For Duke Leopold of Habsburg, in his efforts to control the St. Gotthard Pass, builds a great Austrian fortress in Altdorf. Once finished, the Habsburg occupation will be complete, but the atrocities visited upon her people will have just begun.
Love Me Again
Teresa Greene - 2013
Abby did what any Christian woman would do; she nursed him back to health. As his strength returned Abby found herself drawn to Cord Sutton, a man who would reveal nothing about his past or the events of why he had been shot. For three weeks, Cord had fought his feeling for the gorgeous, auburn haired - farm girl. Abby was sweet and beautiful, but Cord had no intention of getting married. He knew if he succumbed to his attraction for her, she would expect marriage. Abby's desire for Cord impels her to seduce him. When a stranger claims to know a secret about her, she must question her own past. Will the secrets from their past keep Cord and Abby from finding happiness together?
Dan McCall's Bride (Mail Order Misdelivery Book 1)
Barbara Goss - 2017
Train robbers, amnesia, love at first sight to a confirmed bachelor, and marrying the wrong man to save the right man. On Leila’s way to meet her intended as his mail order bride, Dan McCall, a federal agent, finds her lying on the side of the road unconscious. He rescues her and she attaches her heart to him immediately. Dan is NOT the marrying kind...or is he? Joe, her intended, is not happy to lose yet another mail order bride, and takes drastic measures to insure their marriage. Leila faces a dilemma, risk the man’s life who saved hers, or marry a man she despises.
Beautiful Exiles
Meg Waite Clayton - 2018
Headstrong, accomplished journalist Martha Gellhorn is confident with words but less so with men when she meets disheveled literary titan Ernest Hemingway in a dive bar. Their friendship—forged over writing, talk, and family dinners—flourishes into something undeniable in Madrid while they’re covering the Spanish Civil War.Martha reveres him. The very married Hemingway is taken with Martha—her beauty, her ambition, and her fearless spirit. And as Hemingway tells her, the most powerful love stories are always set against the fury of war. The risks are so much greater. They’re made for each other.With their romance unfolding as they travel the globe, Martha establishes herself as one of the world’s foremost war correspondents, and Hemingway begins the novel that will win him the Nobel Prize for Literature. Beautiful Exiles is a stirring story of lovers and rivals, of the breathless attraction to power and fame, and of one woman—ahead of her time—claiming her own identity from the wreckage of love.
From a Distance
Tamera Alexander - 2008
and the secret you've spent a lifetime guarding is finally laid bare? Determined to become one of the country's premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.Daniel Ranslett is a man shackled by his Confederate past, and he'll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He's a man of his word, but repaying that debt could reveal secrets from his past he would prefer remain buried.Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth's lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met from a distance.
P.S. I'll Make You Mine, My Duke
Violet Hamers - 2020
The eldest daughter of the Earl of Derswell is looking forward to visiting the old Cloudfield Manor, the most famous haunted house in London. Expecting it to be empty, she is shocked to discover that she is indeed not alone. With his business floundering, Reginald Carter, the young Duke of Cloudfield is almost ready to sign the papers and sell the manor that haunted his dreams for two decades. That is until the most beautiful lady falls right into his arms during an inspection. What starts as a spark erupts into a raging fire of passion, and promises of love made under the moonlight. However, not everyone is happy with their union and they will stop at nothing to prevent it. Even though the ghosts at Cloudfield Manor are silent, Amelia and Reginald are unaware that they have stirred awake other forces: very real, human forces that have been at work for more than twenty years... No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a strong happily ever after.
Christmas Kisses
Cynthia A. Clement - 2014
When he finally comes home to celebrate the holidays it’s to introduce his fiancée to his family.Will the Christmas season give them a second chance at happiness? Or will honor demand they separate forever?
Into the Free
Julie Cantrell - 2012
But she’s the only one strong enough to break the family cycle.In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs. For answers,Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse. Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free?Saturated in Southern ambiance and written in the vein of other Southern literary bestsellers like The Help by Kathryn Stockett and CrookedLetter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, Julie Cantrell has created Into theFree—now a New York Times bestseller—a story that will sweep you away long after the novel ends.
The Practice House
Laura McNeal - 2017
Aldine’s sister converts and moves to America to marry, and Aldine follows, hoping to find the life she’s meant to lead and the person she’s meant to love.In New York, Aldine answers an ad soliciting a teacher for a one-room schoolhouse in a place she can’t possibly imagine: drought-stricken Kansas. She arrives as farms on the Great Plains have begun to fail and schools are going bankrupt, unable to pay or house new teachers. With no money and too much pride to turn back, she lives uneasily with the family of Ansel Price—the charming, optimistic man who placed the ad—and his family responds to her with kind curiosity, suspicion, and, most dangerously, love. Just as she’s settling into her strange new life, a storm forces unspoken thoughts to the surface that will forever alter the course of their lives.Laura McNeal’s novel is a sweeping and timeless love story about leaving—and finding—home.
Claiming his Lady
Saskia Knight - 2014
But the year is 1207 and her father bequeaths the estates to a distant relative.Sir Saher de Bohun fought alongside her father for the King and has been rewarded with the wealthy Gresham estates, and the feisty Lady Rowena. But he will not take her by force and is determined to woo her into his bed.But will Saher's courtship be enough to allay her fears, enough to stop her from putting into action a plan, the discovery of which would incur both his displeasure and the King's wrath?Passion, hot enough to melt the heart of the iciest maiden, contained within.Claiming his Lady is a 23,000-word novella and was previously published as 'Claiming', book 1 in the Gresham Chronicles.--Norfolk Knights--Book 1--Claiming his LadyBook 2--Seducing his LadyBook 3--Awakening his LadyBook 4--Defending his Lady **full length novel**
The Last Bathing Beauty
Amy Sue Nathan - 2020
Back then Betty Stern was an eighteen-year-old knockout working at her grandparents’ lakeside resort. The “Catskills of the Midwest” was the perfect place for Betty to prepare for bigger things. She’d head to college in New York City. Her career as a fashion editor would flourish. But first, she’d enjoy a wondrous last summer at the beach falling deeply in love with an irresistible college boy and competing in the annual Miss South Haven pageant. On the precipice of a well-planned life, Betty’s future was limitless.Decades later, the choices of that long-ago season still reverberate for Betty, now known as Boop. Especially when her granddaughter comes to her with a dilemma that echoes Boop’s memories of first love, broken hearts, and faraway dreams. It’s time to finally face the past—for the sake of her family and her own happiness. Maybe in reconciling the life she once imagined with the life she’s lived, Boop will discover it’s never too late for a second chance.
The Rose and The Thorn
Mischelle Creager - 2015
He didn’t trust himself.The death of Sarah Greer’s husband granted her two things—freedom from his abuse and his large estate. In hopes of freeing her younger brother from their controlling grandfather, the pair travels to the new mining town of Central City, only Sarah finds herself caught up in scheme that forces her to marry again.The last thing widower Mac MacPherson wants is a marriage of convenience. Haunted by the past, the only reason he left his family’s Colorado ranch is to hunt down the last man to see his wife alive. But when he finds himself hitched to Sarah, he can’t ignore the woman who gets under his skin—or the sparks that fly when they’re together. Can Sarah and Mac put the past behind them and find a future together?This edgy historical romance is Book 1 in the MacPherson Brides series.Book 2: The Scar and The StarBook 3: The Hawk and The Eagle
At the Mercy of the Highlander
Fiona Faris - 2020
Now they are both doomed…Leanna Williamson was a dreamer. A young woman passionate for literature, who wouldn't settle for anything less than the heroes she grew up fantasizing about. Yet fate has other plans.When her father announces her engagement to the country's cruelest knight, Leanna has two options: succumb to a living nightmare, or prove that she is brave like her literary idols. And so, she escapes…Kaiden MacNaghten's existence was an eventful one. A man on the run, who invented the most colorful ways to survive. His latest ruse, pretending to be a priest, will cause much more trouble to Kaiden than he could have ever imagined.When he encounters an unprotected young woman on her way to the Highlands, his respectful guise will be her safe harbor, until his own longings will make it almost impossible to keep up with his lie…Who is the mysterious Highlander priest that makes Leanna want to sin? And how will Kaiden be able to protect her, when his presence is the biggest threat for her?She prayed for a savior… He prayed for freedom…
Mail Order Bride Margaret
Amelia Rose - 2015
Montana Bound Brides: Book 1 Declan O'Bryan left Ireland to seek his fortune in the New World, but the journey was long for a man without a penny to his name. It took years of back-breaking work as a sailor and a journeyman for him to finally reach Montana, and to have enough money to his name to earn the title of proud homesteader. There's only one thing missing from his life now, and unlike the boys in town, he's not convinced a man should find a wife in a catalog, the same way he buys a plow. But for Margaret McGreggor, answering an advertisement for a wife is the only way she can get out of her sister's cramped apartment and start a new life for herself. She came to America for adventure and opportunity, and marrying a stranger just might provide her with both.
Forgotten & Remembered: The Duke's Late Wife
Bree Wolf - 2015
A strong lady. And a little girl who needs them both.After losing his wife in an accident, GRAHAM ASTOR, DUKE OF KENSINGTON, decides that love is not worth the risk of having his heart broken all over again. Even his little daughter he keeps at a distance, afraid to hurt her with the darkness that now lives in his heart. Since he is unable to be the father she deserves, he vows to find her a mother who will heal her little heart.At a garden party, Graham spots a young woman with a shy smile tending lovingly to her little cousins…and he knows his duty.As the black sheep of her family, ROSABEL LANDER has no illusions about love. After her parents’ deaths, her aunt and uncle reluctantly took her in, demanding nothing short of complete obedience. Unable to live down her past, Rosabel only wishes for one thing: freedom.However, before she dares to take the first step toward an independent future, a cold-hearted stranger asks for her hand in marriage…and as the obedient niece, Rosabel cannot refuse.Will Rosabel find love after all? Or will the memory of Graham's late wife keep them both from finding happiness?This Beauty and the Beast story by a USA TODAY bestselling author proves that the past can never be forgotten, but its regrets can be forgiven.If you like marriage of convenience stories with a touch of mystery, a dash of humour as well as heartfelt emotion, then you’ll love this instalment of Bree Wolf’s emotionally charged Love’s Second Chance Series. Download FORGOTTEN AND REMEMBERED for FREE, grab a cup of tea, settle into your favorite reading spot and start this swoon worthy romance now!Love's Second Chance Series#1 Forgotten & Remembered - The Duke's Late Wife (Rosabel & Graham)#2 Cursed & Cherished - The Duke's Wilful Wife (Anna & Edmond)#3 Despised & Desired - The Marquess' Passionate Wife (Ellie & Frederick)#4 Abandoned & Protected - The Marquis' Tenacious Wife (Henrietta & Connor)#5 Ruined & Redeemed - The Earl's Fallen Wife (Charlotte & Sebastian)#6 Betrayed & Blessed - The Viscount's Shrewd Wife (Beth & Tristan)#7 Deceived & Honoured - The Baron’s Vexing Wife (Madeline & Derek)More to follow:#8 Sacrificed & Reclaimed - The Soldier's Daring Widow (Meagan & Edward) (Bonus Novella)A Forbidden Love Novella Series#1 The Wrong Brother#2 A Brilliant Rose#3 The Forgotten Wife#4 An Unwelcome Proposal#5 Rules to Be Broken#6 Hearts to Be MendedTo Follow:#7 Winning her Hand#8 Conquering her Heart