Book picks similar to
Sarnia by Hilary Ford


gothic
14-jan
islands-euro-other
vintage

The Dead Sea Cipher


Elizabeth Peters - 1970
    But in a Jerusalem hotel room a world away from everything she knows, Dinah van der Lyn hears angry voices through the wall, followed by a crash and a brief cry in English...for help! The brutal shattering of an evening's stillness becomes a prelude to terror. Without warning, Dinah has been unwittingly pulled into something unholy transpiring in a sacred city, and she must find answers hidden in the shadows. And she must trust an enigmatic stranger as she races through ancient, twisting streets teeming with secrets and peril, a man who may be leading her to safety...or to her doom.

The Shadowing


Rhiannon Ward - 2021
    Mercy was pregnant - both her and the baby are said to be dead of cholera, but the workhouse hasn't had an outbreak for years.Hester discovers a strange trend in the workhouse of children going missing. One woman tells her about the Pale Lady, a ghostly figure that steals babies in the night. Is this lady a myth or is something more sinister afoot at the Southwell poorhouse?As Hester investigates, she uncovers a conspiracy, one that someone is determined to keep a secret, no matter the cost...

No One Goes Alone


Erik Larson - 2021
    Was the cause rooted in the physical world . . . or were there forces more paranormal and sinister at work? Available only on audio, because as Larson says, ghost stories are best told aloud.A group of researchers sets sail for the Isle of Dorn in the North Atlantic in 1905 to explore the cause of several mysterious disappearances, most notably a family of four who vanished without a trace after a week-long holiday on the island. Led by Professor James, a prominent member of the Society for Psychical Research, they begin to explore the island’s sole cottage and surrounding landscape in search of a logical explanation.The idyllic setting belies an undercurrent of danger and treachery, with raging storms and unnerving discoveries adding to the sense of menace. As increasingly unexplainable events unfold, the now-stranded investigators are unsure whether they can trust their own eyes, their instincts, one another—or even themselves.Erik Larson has written a terrifying tale of suspense, underpinned with actual people and events. Created specifically to entertain audio listeners, this eerie blend of the ghostly and the real will keep listeners captivated till the blood-chilling end.Featuring Erik Larson reading his Notes for a Narrator.

The Restorer


Amanda Stevens - 2011
    I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer, and to his other victims, lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

Mountain Struggle


J.R. Pace - 2021
    The only wrinkle in the plan is the boy’s very handsome and very single father, Damien.He’s a single father, a protector, a hero. His heart is the only thing he can’t afford to give.Damien Gray, commander of the Chamonix Search & Rescue unit, is used to being in control. After all, he and his team are responsible for safety on Mont Blanc, one of the highest and most dangerous mountains in Europe.All semblance of control disappears when Jamie, his six-year-old son, and Tess, the boy’s nanny, go missing in the mountains. To get them back, and keep them safe, Damien needs to figure out who would want to hurt his son—and the woman he’s come to consider his.Action, adventure, romance … in the heart of the Alps.

Haunted by the Earl's Touch


Ann Lethbridge - 2013
    He is as remote as the ghosts that supposedly haunt the Abbey, …and like its crumbling walls her dreams fall apart.Occasionally she sees a different, more caring man behind the facade, so is she foolish to long for a happy home …and a family? His proposal is for a marriage of convenience, but his touch has awakened within her a fervent and forbidden longing….

The Shrouded Walls


Susan Howatch - 1974
    It was Sir Charles Stowell, a friend of my father's who finally told us the my father's forutnes and estates, including even the town house in London where we had lived all our lives with our mother, had reverted to my father's wife in Manchester. My father had been mcuh too gay and carefree to bother to make a will to provide for his mistress and the tiwns she had borne him...' When her parents die in a road accident, Marianne, illegitimate daughter of a French emigree and an English gentleman, loses her home and all her wordly goods. She faces life as a governess until she meets Axel Branson, a man who must marry within the year in order to inherit his father's wealth. Marianne grabs at the chance of a respectable marriage. A remote house in the Kent Marshes is now her home. But distrust of her husband and fear of the house seem to roll in as steadily as the sea mist...

O! Jackie


Mercedes King - 2012
    As a faithful wife devoted to an unfaithful husband, Jackie knew humiliation well. Living in the public eye intensified her disgrace. Through the years, Jack Kennedy's lustful escapades grew in carelessness and frquency. When his trysts with Marilyn Monroe threaten to become public, Jackie must decide how far she'll go to save the presidency and her marriage.

Motormouth


Courtney Lynn Rose - 2020
    A mercenary all my life, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. After the death of my mentor, I assemble a team to continue his work in protecting the citizens of Hollow Ridge. But The Lady Depot Club is about to bring a lot more trouble than some egotistical strippers. In my line of work, love is the last thing I’m looking for. But that doesn’t stop the new club DJ from catching my eye. Chris “Preacher” Boseman is a walking wet dream . . . and despite trying to ignore his advances, I’ve got no problem getting on my knees to pray in front of this guy. Even though I should be used to secrets, the one Preacher is keeping doesn’t just have the power to destroy us, but everything I’ve worked my life to build. When lines are drawn the truth comes tumbling out, everyone has to pick a side— but my choice might be the one that gets us all killed.

Reckless


Janet Elizabeth Henderson - 2016
    If the mission doesn't kill him, his sexy partner just might. Dimitri Raast and Megan Donaldson have a common enemy - the head of an organisation that specializes in human trafficking and sexual slavery. They have similar motivation - Dimitri's sister was taken by the organisation, and Megan's sister is threatened by it. They have the same goal - eliminate their enemy and save their sisters. Given they have so much in common, you would think working together would be a piece of cake. You would be wrong. While Dimitri brings skills and experience from years as a US Army Ranger to their partnership, Megan brings a background in failed career choices and an ability to cause trouble wherever she goes. Yet, even with so much at stake, Dimitri can't resist Megan's particular brand of crazy. She's wild, she's sexy and she's fearless. An irresistible combination for a man who lives his life completely in control. Now, after almost a year with one all-consuming focus, Dimitri finds himself torn between rescuing his sister and protecting the woman he wants - from herself. Before she gets them both killed.

The Alpha's Daughter (Wolfsong Book 1)


Lenai McGoveran - 2020
    

The Boundless Deep


Kate Brallier - 2008
    In The Boundless Deep, Kate Brallier explores this idea in a combination of strong storytelling and gifted characterization.Grad student Liza has long been plagued by vivid dreams of whaling. Offered the chance to trade her land-locked existence for a summer on Nantucket, the well-preserved heart of New England's whaling trade, Liza jumps at the chance, eager to see how well her dreams mesh with historical reality.The answer is: all too well. Liza's dreams become highly sexual; her visions of ship's captain Obadiah Young grow increasingly intense. At times the past and present mix before her eyes, with automobiles replaced by horse-drawn carriages.Though skeptical of Liza's claims of a past life, whaling museum curator Adam is drawn to Liza's intense desire to know the truth—about herself, and about Obadiah, accused of murdering his beautiful, young wife. But Adam isn't the only man with an interest in Liza—handsome Lucian, whose home Liza is sharing for the season, has designs on her as well.In a single summer, Liza must answer the riddle of her dreams, reunite lovers separated by death, solve a hundred-year-old murder . . . and figure out her heart's desire.

Rose Gardner Mystery Box Set #3


Denise Grover Swank - 2016
     Includes: Ripple of Secrets (novella) Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments Bonus Chapters Thirty-Five and a Half Conspiracies Thirty-Six and a Half Motives Sins of the Father (novella) Preview of Center Stage (Magnolia Steele Mystery #1)

Captivated by the Beast


Lindsey Hart - 2018
     He was the artist and she had been paid to be his model. She was going to be spending one whole month alone with this man. But everything about him was down-right strange and mysterious and she could not help but be drawn to him in the most elemental way … But what secrets was he hiding? Why was he living here in this mansion all by himself? Did he really need her here just to paint her portrait? Was she going to discover something she shouldn’t? This is a full length stand-alone steamy romance novel. No cheating. No cliff-hanger. And the kind of ending you will just love. HEA all the way!!

Penetralia


Jordan Krall - 2012
    Using the knowledge left by his father, the Plague Doctor, he seeks to unlock the secrets of the universe, but weakness of the flesh won’t be ignored. The sordid overtures of his nymphomaniac sister, combined with his own perverse desires, soil his subjects before revelation can be found.Now the return of Philip’s father is imminent. Judgment is at hand, and if the fate of his mother taught him anything, it’s that one mustn’t disappoint the Plague Doctor.