Book picks similar to
Sugar Fork by Walt Larimore


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Feast for Thieves: A Rowdy Slater Novel


Marcus Brotherton - 2014
    An impossible choice for a man who usually solves his problems with a rifle or his fists.Sergeant Rowdy Slater was the most incorrigible paratrooper in Dog Company during World War II. But after the war, when Rowdy robs a bank with the black-hearted Crazy Ake, he vows to turn his life around. The lawman, suspicious that Rowdy’s confession is a sham, gives him an ultimatum: Rowdy must serve for one year as the town minister, or go straight to jail. Rowdy’s choice? Preaching at the community church in Cut Eye, Texas, at the midpoint of nowhere and emptiness.At first the job seemed easy, particularly since Rowdy took over for the willowy female missionary who held the church together while the men were at war. But when Crazy Ake shows up with a plan to make some quick cash, Rowdy becomes ensnared and is forced to make a deadly choice.

The Anniversary Waltz


Darrel Nelson - 2012
    After the dance they gather the family and share their story—a story of love and courage overcoming adversity and thriving in the face of overwhelming odds. It’s the summer of 1946, and Adam has just returned from the war to his home in Reunion, Montana. At a town festival he meets Elizabeth Baxter, a young woman going steady with his former high school rival and now influential banker, Nathan Roberts. When Adam and Elizabeth share a waltz in a deserted pavilion one evening, their feelings begin to grow and they embark on a journey, and a dance, that will last a lifetime.

The Ticket


Debra Coleman Jeter - 2015
    R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up, the Weather Underground bombs the U.S. State Department, and Bill Gates founds Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As Communist forces take Saigon and the Vietnam War winds down, Tray Dunaway, an ordinary teenager from a poor Southern family, longs to become part of the popular clique at school.Tray's mother, Evelyn, lies in bed most days with her bipolar tendency toward extreme highs or desperate lows. Meanwhile, Tray's grandmother Ginny, still grieving over the loss of her husband, would love to move out and find a place of her own. Maybe even a bit of romance to replace the loss she feels. But given the sorry state of the family's finances that's not possible.Then the Dunaways' luck changes. Or so it seems.Tray's father drives a down-and-out friend of the family, Pee Wee Johnson, to Hazard, Illinois, so Johnson can buy lottery tickets. As a gesture of thanks, Johnson gives a ticket to Tray's father. And what do you know? The Dunaways' are suddenly rich.When Johnson demands his cut of the winnings, Tray's dad refuses. As Evelyn's illness spirals toward madness, Johnson threatens the family. Out of time, Tray makes one poor decision after another until what initially seemed like a stroke of good fortune quickly becomes a dangerous game of life and death for the Dunaways.

Threads of Change


Jodi Barrows - 2013
    Raging storms and adversities hit the small band of travelers, and it all seems unrelenting.Relieved to finally arrive at the abandoned military post at Fort Worth, Texas, they begin the hard work of establishing a new home, including the difficult task of building schools and churches while attempting to civilize the community with manners.When trials follow them, they must decide to become true warriors of their hearts, minds, and souls—or fall to the sufferings of prairie life.Join the four women on a passage of friendship, love, and self-discovery as lives are mended around the quilting frame.

For Love of Sarah


Hazel Statham - 2013
    But when Sarah fled just weeks after their wedding, his world came crashing down. Five years later, he has given up hope of ever finding her, until a freak accident strands him in a remote Yorkshire village where she is hiding.Sarah dared to hope she was finally safe. But when her husband is thrust back into her life, she fears her dark secrets—and the fact that she has a son—will come to light. Though her heart longs to reclaim the love they once shared, Sarah rejects Alexander’s offers of reconciliation. But fate is not so easily thwarted...Forced from their home by a flood, Sarah and her child have no choice but to accept Alexander’s hospitality in her former home. Yet with each passing day, the risk of discovery grows, threatening to drive Sarah from Alexander’s life forever. Is their love strong enough to triumph over the secrets of the past? Or will life’s cruel forces finally tear them apart?

A Most Precious Gift


Jacqueline Freeman Wheelock - 2014
    Having never cooked a day in her life, she is terrified of being found out and banished to the cotton fields as was her mother before her. But when she accidentally burns the freedom papers of Jonathan Mayfield, a handsome free man of color to whom she's attracted, her fear of the fields becomes secondary.A gifted cabinetmaker, Jonathan Mayfield's heart is set on finally becoming a respected businessman by outfitting a bedroom at the palatial Riverwood—until a beautiful new slave destroys his proof of freedom and his fragile confidence along with it. When the mistress of Riverwood orders Dinah to work alongside the sullen Mr. Mayfield, sparks fly setting the two on a collision course. Is their mutual love for God strong enough to overcome deep-seated insecurities and set the couple on a path toward self-acceptance and love for each other?

Josiah's Treasure


Nancy Herriman - 2013
    She plans to use the house left to her by family friend Josiah Cady as collateral for her studio. But will all be lost when the inheritance is challenged by an angry man claiming to be Josiah’s son and legal heir? Rumor of gold nuggets hidden in the house place Sarah’s life in danger. Her future uncertain and her safety threatened, Sarah has nowhere to turn. That is, unless she can soften a vengeful man’s heart – and they both learn that love is finer than any gold.

Livin' in High Cotton


Jennifer Youngblood - 2004
    One night her father, who has come home drunk, tries to molest her. Frightened, she fights him off and flees. But, through her many difficulties, she learns that blessings can come in unexpected ways. This novel addresses several fundamental human longings.

Promise Me This


Cathy Gohlke - 2012
    Determined to carry out his promise to care for Owen's relatives in America and his younger sister, Annie, in England, Michael works hard to strengthen the family's New Jersey garden and landscaping business. Annie Allen doesn't care what Michael promised Owen. She only knows that her brother is gone--like their mother and father--and the grief is enough to swallow her whole. As Annie struggles to navigate life without Owen, Michael reaches out to her through letters. In time, as Annie begins to lay aside her anger that Michael lived when Owen did not, a tentative friendship takes root and blossoms into something neither expected. Just as Michael saves enough money to bring Annie to America, WWI erupts in Europe. When Annie's letters mysteriously stop, Michael risks everything to fulfill his promise--and find the woman he's grown to love--before she's lost forever.

A Hope Undaunted


Julie Lessman - 2010
    Her boyfriend Jack fits all of her criteria for a husband—good-looking, well-connected, wealthy, and eating out of her hand. But when she is forced to spend the summer of 1929 with Luke McGee, the bane of her childhood existence, Katie comes face-to-face with a choice. Will she follow her well-laid plans to marry Jack? Or will she fall for the man she swore to despise forever?

Refiners Fire Pack, #1-3


Lynn Austin - 2004
    Each book in this powerful Civil War trilogy from award-winning novelist Lynn Austin's powerful Civil War trilogy offers a unique and shattering perspective on the conflict while exploring the deep affect the war had on the faith of a nation.

Heart of the West


Carolyn Twede Frank - 2018
    Yes, Kate would lead a proper life should she marry, but her dream of practicing medicine would surely be thwarted by her domineering fiancé. To follow her dream, she must take dramatic measures. So when she reads a newspaper ad seeking a qualified small-town physician, Kate embarks on a new life in the Wild West.Upon her arrival in the rugged settlement of Craig, Colorado, Kate is disappointed to discover that even in the West, no one wants a woman doctor. As she struggles to establish her practice, she is kept busy fending off the unwanted attentions of a local rancher, a man unnervingly reminiscent of the ex-fiancé she left behind in New York. Romantic entanglements are the last thing on Kate’s mind. That is, until she meets Lucas McCurdy, an Irish immigrant with whom she feels an undeniable connection. But when their relationship inflames a dangerous land battle, Kate and Lucas find themselves defenseless in a lawless town—a perilous position that may cost them everything.

The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest


Melanie Dickerson - 2015
    Jorgen inherited his post from the man who raised him . . . a man who was murdered at the hands of a poacher.When Jorgen and Odette meet at the Midsummer festival and share a connection during a dance, neither has any idea that they are already adversaries.The one man she wants is bound by duty to capture her; the one woman he loves is his cunning target . . . What becomes of a forester who protects a notorious poacher? What becomes of a poacher when she is finally discovered?

The Tapestry


MaryAnn Minatra - 1993
    Beginning in the early 1800s and spanning half a century, here is the story of two brothers, separated at birth, and the people who loved them. Set on the plantations of Mississippi and the Carolina Civil War battlegrounds, Tapesty is a dramatic tale filled with intrigue and brimming with vivid characters.

Sweet Dreams


Carla Stewart - 2013
    Instead she is sent to a private finishing school in East Texas. Although she's never wanted for material possessions, Dusty longs for independence and adventure. The only upside to attending Miss Fontaine's is having her cousin and best childhood friend, Paisley, join her. Paisley has traveled the country with her bohemian mother, but she dreams of putting down roots and living a settled life. At Miss Fontaine's, their loyalty to each other binds them, but when they fall in love with the same handsome young man, their relationship teeters on shaky ground. Only after a tragic accident do they learn where their true hearts-and dreams-lie.