Book picks similar to
Ravenscraig by Sandi Krawchenko Altner


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The Virgin Cure


Ami McKay - 2011
    As a young child, Moth's father smiled, tipped his hat and walked away from her forever. The summer she turned twelve, her mother sold her as a servant to a wealthy woman, with no intention of ever seeing her again. These betrayals lead Moth to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks and prostitutes, where eventually she meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as "The Infant School." Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are "willing and clean," and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth. Through the friendship of Dr. Sadie, a female physician, Moth learns to question and observe the world around her, where her new friends are falling prey to the myth of the "virgin cure" - that deflowering a "fresh maid" can heal the incurable and tainted. She knows the law will not protect her, that polite society ignores her, and still she dreams of answering to no one but herself. There's a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

Touched By Fire


Gwyneth Atlee - 1999
    Passing herself off as an innocent mail-order bride, she arrives in Wisconsin to meet her future husband--never anticipating the flames of passion that will sear her soul, and send her into the arms of another man. TEMPTED BY DESIRE Strong, steadfast John Aldman is pleased with his pretty bride-to-be, but it is his brother, Daniel, whose every glance, every gesture touches Hannah's heart with fire. Just when desire threatens to burn out of control, Hannah's deception is discovered, sparking off bitterness that may cost her Daniel's love. Now, while raging brushfires blaze through the land-as red hot and unstoppable as the passion of two lovers-Hannah knows she must confront her past...before she can claim a love destined to burn brightly forever.

The Rebel's Pledge


Rita Gerlach - 2001
    Haunted by war and wrestling with a troubled past, Matthew Hale pledges to protect the daughter of his former owner and bring her from England to her father’s plantation along the Chesapeake, an undertaking that challenges the depth of his courage, and the strength of his faith.Lara Carey will only wed for love, having kept the story of her parents’ unwavering devotion for each other in her heart. When she learns her guardian has promised her in marriage to a rich English lord in order to save the ancestral home, her hopes unravel, until she meets the heroic stranger that rescued her from the hands of a highwayman.

Of Moths and Butterflies


V.R. Christensen - 2011
    Gina Shaw is a servant in his uncle’s house. Clearly out of place in the position in which she has been discovered, she becomes a source of fascination . . . and curiosity. A girl with a blighted past and a fortune she deems a curse, Gina has lowered herself in order to find escape from her family and their scheming designs. But when she is found, the stakes suddenly become dire. All Gina wants is the freedom to live her life as she would wish. All her aunts want is the money that comes with her. But there is more than one way to trap an insect. An arranged marriage might turn out profitable for more parties than one. Mr. Hamilton is about to make the acquisition of a lifetime. But will the price be worth it? Can a woman captured and acquired learn to love the man who has bought her?

Isabelle's Choice


AnneMarie Brear - 2007
    On the death of her mother and sister, Isabelle Gibson is left to fend for herself and her brother in a privately-run workhouse. After the matron's son attacks her, Isabelle decides to escape him and a life of drudgery by agreeing to marry a moorland farmer she has never met. But this man, Farrell, is a drunkard and a bully in constant feud with his landlord, Ethan Harrington. When Farrell bungles a robbery and deserts her, Isabelle and Ethan are thrown together as she struggles to save the farm. Both are married and must hide their growing love. But despite the secrecy, Isabelle draws strength from Ethan as faces from the past return to haunt her and a tragedy is set to strike that will change all of their lives forever.​

Allerednic: A Regency Cinderella Tale--In Reverse


Chautona Havig - 2012
    Wealthy, beautiful, and one day she will be a Countess in her own right. No mother has ever loved a daughter more. Her sisters admire and adore her, and of course, her father dotes on her. She is one of the most eligible ladies of the Season.Mr. Jasper Seyton misses the country. Along with his trusted servant, Worley, he endures the delights of Town for one purpose. After three Seasons, he has little confidence in the so-called “Marriage Mart.”They enjoy each other’s company, and her father approves. She knows he intends to propose. He knows that she will accept.So where is she when he returns to Everston Hall, and why does she think there is no hope for happiness again?

Into the Whirlwind


Elizabeth Camden - 2013
    Her future looks bright until the night her beloved city is destroyed in the legendary Great Chicago Fire. With her world crumbling around her, Molly must do whatever it takes to save her company in the aftermath of the devastating fire.Zack Kazmarek is an influential attorney with powerful ties to the political, mercantile, and ethnic roots of Chicago. His only weakness is Mollie Knox, a woman who has always been just beyond his reach. However, all bets are off after the fire destroys Chicago, and Mollie is in desperate need of assistance. Just as Zack finally begins to pursue the woman he loves, competition arises in the form of a hero from her past who can provide the help she needs to rise from the ashes.While Mollie struggles to rebuild, the two men battle for her heart. One has always loved her, but the other has the power to save her. In the race to rebuild the city, can she survive with her business and her heart intact?

1929


M.L. Gardner - 2009
    With the help of their former, outspoken, Irish maid, Maura, and a new, equally Irish friend, Shannon, the wives become even closer than before.The couples' rocky path leads to more turmoil, however, when a business rival, Victor Drayton, creates one disaster after another. From petty tricks to outright violence, Victor's nefarious mind will stop at nothing to beat down Jonathan's last glimmer of hope.Despite everything, Jonathan and his friends are fixated on surviving.Emotional and financial destruction nip at their heels, until finally, with a lucky twist of fate, they escape city life and begin anew in their hometown of Rockport, Massachusetts.A story set in the past, 1929 is full of romance, drama, and humor. Vivid, expertly crafted characters make this novel more than memorable–1929 is unforgettable.

Remember Me


Danice Allen - 1996
    Aware of the dangers in nursing a potential scoundrel back to health, she nevertheless takes a chance on the handsome stranger—especially when he awakens with no memory.When Jackson Montgomery comes to, he is greeted by a vision of beauty that instantly sparks the fire of passion within him. But as his memory returns, the shattering secrets hidden in his past threaten to destroy any chance he has of winning Amanda’s love. Only through feigned amnesia can Jackson capture Amanda’s heart, but can he do so before she learns the truth of his brazen charade and his dark past?

The Butterfly Legacy


Kathleen M. Rice - 2011
    Feeling the familiar rush of intrigue, Raleigh removes the kid's latest note from behind the ceramic half-moon tacked above the cottage door. The note contains a riddle half-written in Gaelic. Mystified and irritated, he puts the note away with other childish things - soon to be forgotten. Twenty-six years will pass before Raleigh, now a Boston police detective, realizes that the note holds clues he needs to solve a murder; and that it contains the key to his true heritage, which began with star-crossed lovers a century before he was born.Against the backdrop of Ireland's "Great Hunger," the violent struggle of the 1860s to free Ireland, and "The Troubles" of the 1970s, The Butterfly Legacy , a 95,000-word historical novel, is a richly rendered story of Nelly, a young Irish girl and her descendants that began when she and an English captain fall in love. Resulting in twins who are separated at birth, their affair ends with the captain's presumed abandonment of Nelly and her subsequent exile to Prince Edward Island, Canada where she enters into an arranged marriage to a man she does not know.From Nelly's near fatal voyage with the healthier twin across the Atlantic in a "coffin ship" to the 1978 murder of an Englishman whose brutalized body is found on the grounds of Winnekenni Castle located in Haverhill, Massachusetts (the city featured in Andre Dubus's acclaimed memoire, Townie), the novel traces the adventures of 6 generations of characters as they encounter adversity and twists of fate, suicide and other family secrets, misguided patriotism and murder. These themes - tempered with healthy doses of Irish wit - will resonate with readers from most any ethnic group as they are drawn into the pain and joy of difficult lives fully lived.Amazon.com Best Seller

Lady in Waiting


Denise Domning - 1998
    But the beautiful, headstrong Anne is a lamb among wolves, easy prey to treachery and an aging queen's jealousy. She never suspects that handsome courtier Chirstopher Hollier has been sent to ruin her.Christopher Hollier is the only man in Elizabeth's court uninterested in making a rich marriage--for himself. All that matters to Christopher is reclaiming the title Lord Graistan for his brother. If doing that requires him to destroy Anne, so be it...even if her destruction costs him his life. But a tide of betrayal sweeps Anne and Christopher into a dangerous dance of plots to defy crown and country that could ultimately cost them their lives, and their love.

Undaunted Love


Jennings Wright - 2012
    And what he wants is the Colton's prime land and the destruction of the Colton family. What he doesn't count on is his own daughter falling in love with Rafe Colton.Ripped apart by the Civil War, the young couple must find a way to keep their secret love alive. The end of the War should mean a joyous reconciliation, but when Rafe is accused of a terrible crime, he runs away, leaving Livvie behind once again. Will this finally break their bond, or will their love survive?A sweeping romance set in the South, Undaunted Love is a tale of faith, hope, patience and the redemption of God's love.

One Mississippi


Howard Littleson - 2012
    . . to have your life change forever.Joplin Missouri, 1933, Kathryn Nash believes that her life has finally changed for the better. Her abusive husband of eighteen years, Clayton, has passed away suddenly and she has met an intriguing handsome stranger, John Stevens. Will a dark secret from Kathryn’s distant past surface and place Kathryn at odds with everyone in her world and set her life on a collision course with destiny that threatens her very life and the lives of those she loves the most? The Great Depression, The Great Midwestern Crime Spree, and the early incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan all converge on the small town and shape not only history, but the very course of Kathryn’s life. One Mississippi is a fast paced work of historical fiction that will keep you wondering what could possibly happen next and eager to find out just what can really happen in the time it takes to say the word “Mississippi.”

The Widow of Larkspur Inn


Lawana Blackwell - 1998
    Worse, she is told by his bankers that he gambled away their fortune. Now, the family's hope rests on The Larkspur, an old abandoned coaching inn in the quaint village of Gresham.Driven by dread and her desire to provide for her children, Julia decides to turn the dilapidated inn into a lodging house. But can she--who was accustomed to servants attending to every need--do what needs to be done and cope when boarders begin arriving? And then an eligible new vicar moves into town...

Push Not the River


James Conroyd Martin - 2000
    It is then, at the young and vulnerable age of seventeen, when Lady Anna Maria Berezowska loses both of her parents and must leave the only home she has ever known. With Empress Catherine's Russian armies streaming in to take their spoils, Anna is quickly thrust into a world of love and hate, loyalty and deceit, patriotism and treason, life and death. Even kind Aunt Stella, Anna's new guardian who soon comes to personify Poland's courage and spirit, can't protect Anna from the uncertain future of the country. Anna, a child no longer, turns to love and comfort in the form of Jan, a brave patriot and architect of democracy, unaware that her beautiful and enigmatic cousin Zofia has already set her sights on the handsome young fighter. Thus Anna walks unwittingly into Zofia's jealous wrath and darkly sinister intentions. Forced to survive several tragic events, many of them orchestrated by the crafty Zofia, a strengthened Anna begins to learn to place herself in the way of destiny--for love and for country. Heeding the proud spirit of her late father, Anna becomes a major player in the fight against the countries who come to partition her beloved Poland. PUSH NOT THE RIVER is based on the true eighteenth century diary of Anna Maria Berezowska, a Polish countess who lived through the rise and fall of the historic Third of May Constitution. Vivid, romantic, and thrillingly paced, it paints the emotional and unforgettable story of the metamorphosis of a nation--and of a proud and resilient young woman.