Mr. Jenkins and the Necklace

Mr. Jenkins and the Necklace

Adella J. Harris

Gay and Lesbian / Historical Fiction

Colin Jenkins has finally been hired to renovate one of the houses on Campion Square. He's always wanted to get his hands on one of those, and even better, he's just met the handsome historian cataloging the library of the house across the way.Albert Singer thought the job of cataloguing a library on Campion Square would be congenial but boring, until he met the charming decorator renovating a nearby house.Just as things seemed to be going well between them, Colin is approached in the street by a blackmailer demanding he steal a necklace from the house or he'll "tell where you've been." Not wanting to get any of the other residents of Campion Square in trouble, Colin feels he must do as the blackmailer says, and do anything he can to keep Mr. Singer out of it, even if that means breaking his heart.a gay - M/M romance set in Regency England approx 75,000 words
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Forced to Marry

Forced to Marry

Barbara Cartland

Romance / Contemporary / Historical Fiction

With her aging grandfather on his deathbed and not expected by his doctors to live for more than two or three months, it comes as little comfort to the beautiful Gytha Sullivan that he has made her the heiress to his considerable fortune.What is much worse is Sir Robert Sullivan's fear that she will be seduced by some 'smarmy fortune-hunter', who will squander her inheritance.And this deep concern of his makes him insist that she marries one or other of her two loathsome cousins, Vincent and Jonathan, who will do anything to take his fortune for themselves.Desperate to escape from this terrible fate, Gytha goes to visit the Master of the neighbouring estate, the dashingly handsome Lord Locke, whose life her father once saved in the War against Napoleon, and beseeches him to, in turn, save her by becoming engaged to her, thereby making a forced marriage to either of her cousins impossible.Appalled by the poor girl's plight his Lordship agrees much to the anger of Gytha's family...
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A Mystery at Carlton House

A Mystery at Carlton House

Ashley Gardner

Mystery & Thrillers / Historical Fiction / Romance

1818: Captain Lacey is drawn into affairs of the highest in the land when his friend Grenville is asked by the Prince Regent to look into odd happenings in his lavish abode of Carlton House. Objects of value have gone missing, paintings and sculpture have been moved, and some of the staff have reported strange sounds and movements in the shadows. The Regent and his cronies suspect ghosts or other malign spirits. The Bow Street Runners have a more human suspect for these doings, and Captain Lacey is asked by a Runner to help him prepare a case against the man they’ve already arrested. But the suspect is under the protection of James Denis, a leader of crime, which brings Lacey head-to-head with him once more. Opposing Denis can be dangerous, and so can dividing the loyalties of the men who work for him. Meanwhile Lacey has his family to worry about—his daughter, his wife, and new members who have joined. In addition, he’s not convinced that either Denis or the Runners have the right idea in this matter. He must produce the correct answer before Denis loses his patience or one malevolent Runner in particular makes Lacey answer for the crimes.
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Song of Years

Song of Years

Bess Streeter Aldrich

Historical / Historical Fiction / Fiction

The state of Iowa was still young and wild when Wayne Lockwood came to it from New England in 1851. He claimed a quarter-section about a hundred miles west of Dubuque and quickly came to appreciate widely scattered neighbors like Jeremiah Martin, whose seven daughters would have chased the gloom from any bachelor's heart. Sabina, Emily, Celia, Melinda, Phoebe Lou, Jeanie, and Suzanne are timeless in their appeal - too spirited to be preoccupied with sermons, sickness, and sudden death. However, the feasts, weddings, and holiday celebrations in Song of Years are shadowed by all the rigors and perils of frontier living, which captures the period in Iowa of Indian scares and county-seat wars, as well as the climate preceding the Civil War.
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Prey Zone

Prey Zone

Wilbur Smith

Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Historical Fiction

The explosive finale to a new series for the next generation from global bestseller Wilbur Smith - starring teen protagonists Ralph and Robyn Ballantyne.In the remote South African bush, the Ballantynes have captured the villainous Josef Gerhard and made him their prisoner. After his monstrous predasaurs unleashed a deadly virus on the world, and he framed the Ballantynes for it, he deserves to pay.But Robyn and Ralph are also racing to get the newly-created vaccine for the disease out before it's too late, and stop Gerhard's partner in crime, President Mbato, from snatching power once again.It's time to leave the wilderness and head to the city for the final showdown. But predators stalk the streets there too, and this time they've got a killer sting . . .Get ready for more predasaurs, more adventure and more action in the epic conclusion to PREY ZONE!
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Lizzie's Tale

Lizzie's Tale

Graham Wilson

Suspense / Historical Fiction / Memoir

Raped and reduced to working in a brothel to keep her baby, unwed, teenage mother, Lizzie, forges a new life for herself and her child in the Kimberley region of Australia. But can she evade her persecutors and ultimately bring to them to justice?Updated version of the second book in the 'Old Balmain House' SeriesRaped and reduced to working in a brothel to keep her baby, unwed, teenage mother, Lizzie, forges a new life for herself and her child in the Kimberley region of Australia. But can she evade her persecutors and ultimately bring to them to justice?This is a story of a girl from inner Sydney. Her family is poor, her father dies when she is nine, life is hard. But her courage rises above adversity. It is story of her struggle to survive and make a life of her own, first as a prostitute, then with her child in a remote outback town.This is the second book in the series, "Old Balmain House" and begins in the same house as the first book and continues part of the story of Sophie, the girl who vanished half a century ago. Lizzie, aged eight, meets Sophie, the girl who lived in the same bedroom as a child. Sophie becomes her friend.When Lizzie turns fifteen Sophie tries to warn her not to go in a car with three older boys.Lizzie ignores her warning and is brutally raped by these three men. Lizzie becomes pregnant and is determined to keep her child. She leaves Sydney and goes to Melbourne, to have and keep her baby. Here, penniless and desperate, she become a prostitute the only way she can support herself. She is discovered and the authorities try to take her child.She flees to Broome, a small town in the furthest corner of of Australia. Here she assumes the role of widow with a small child and settles into this friendly town. Her life is good until a man from her former life finds her and threatens to expose her or harm her child.She runs again. On a remote desert road her car breaks down. Without water, with her six year old daughter beside her, they face death from thirst. Help comes in an unexpected way. She takes refuge in a local aboriginal community. Her school friend from Balmain, now a journalist, seeks retribution from the the men who raped Lizzie many years ago and have continued their ways with others. Now, as successful business men, they seek to use the law to deny justice.
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Lazarus Key

Lazarus Key

Gilbert M. Stack

Fantasy / Paranormal / Historical Fiction

In a new series that blurs the line between historical fiction and dark fantasy, Mitch Pembroke follows the love of his life out of prohibition-era America to a remote Caribbean island. While his only thought is to learn why she ran away, he should be worrying about how he’s going to survive the deadly secrets of Lazarus Key.When the girl of Mitch Pembroke’s dreams responds to his invitation to meet his parents by fleeing home to a remote Caribbean island, the former Great War pilot does what he thinks any red-blooded American male would do—he drops everything and goes after her. But Mitch isn’t the first man to follow Lorali home and like his predecessors, he may not survive the visit. Lazarus Key is the first novella in a series that blurs the line between historical fiction and dark fantasy.
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A Stargazy Night Sky

A Stargazy Night Sky

Laura Briggs

Romance / Science Fiction & Fantasy / Historical Fiction

Starry autumn nights are bringing a rare celestial event and exciting new guests to the shores of the sleepy hotel Penmarrow.Maisie is happy to be back among its staff, even with the question of its future ownership still in the air and the fate of her unpublished manuscript soon to be in the hands of London acquisitions editors. More than anything else, she's happy to finally be in a relationship with Sidney Daniels, the sparks between them no longer denied. She's excited for the future and things couldn't be better with regards to romance ... except for those lingering little questions about Sidney's uncertain past, that is.Meanwhile, the staff at the Penmarrow is tasked with hosting a special celestial conference where stargazers are gathering for a glimpse of the much-anticipated comet. The ever-timid maid Molly is flustered by the return of charming astronomer George and seems to need a little advice on how to rekindle the spark they shared last autumn. Hotel...
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The Mars House

The Mars House

Natasha Pulley

Fiction / Historical Fiction

A compulsively readable queer sci-fi novel about a marriage of convenience between a Mars politician and an Earth refugee.In the wake of an environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London's Royal Ballet, has become a refugee in Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. There, January's life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January's job choices, housing, and even transportation are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a process that is always disabling and sometimes deadly.When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January's life is thrown into chaos, but Gale's political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes...
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Desert God

Desert God

Wilbur Smith

Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Historical Fiction

New York Times bestselling author Wilbur Smith—hailed by Stephen King as the “best historical novelist” and one of the world’s biggest-selling authors—returns to Ancient Egypt in this breathtaking epic that conjures the magic, mystery, romance, and bloody intrigue of a fascinating lost world. Game of Thrones meets Ancient Egypt in this magnificent, action-packed epic. On the gleaming banks of the Nile, the brilliant Taita—slave and advisor to the Pharaoh—finds himself at the center of a vortex of passion, intrigue, and danger. His quest to destroy the Hyksos army and form an alliance with Crete takes him on an epic journey up the Nile, through Arabia and the magical city of Babylon, and across the open seas. With the future of Egypt itself on his shoulders, Taita enters a world where the line between loyalty and betrayal shifts like the desert sands, evil enemies await in the shadows, and death lingers on the edges of darkness.
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A Journey of the Heart

A Journey of the Heart

Catherine M. Wilson

Historical Fiction / Fantasy / Gay & Lesbian

A Journey of the Heart Book II] shows the same strong storytelling ability of the first book. The language is still almost musical and wraps its sweet spell around you. Storylines that were just starting to grow in the first book are also very well developed here. Intrigue and conflict are fleshed out and take some surprising twists. All that I had hoped for, reading the first book, begins to bloom. "--from a review by Kate Genet on the website, Kissed By Venus "Catherine Wilson creates a magical sense of place, and of belonging to that place. Within that, she also tells how it feels to not belong. Ms. Wilson 's is a tale of bone wisdom. It whispers of what we remember when we sleep at night and dream. It calls us to remember that women had, and still have, a wise and powerful place in the world."--from a review on the blog, The Rainbow Reader, by Baxter Clare Trautman, author of The River Within "In this book we see Tamras world open from the House of Merin and its immediate environs into the lands beyond its borders. She meets other peoples, whose ways are different from those she knows. Similarly Tamras inner life expands as well: the feelings within her blossom into the romantic love that will be the linchpin her life will hinge on "--from a review by Charles Ferguson on the Goodreads website In Book II of the trilogy, Tamras 's apprenticeship as a warrior isn t turning out quite the way she expected. Her unconventional choices lead to her crossing swords, almost literally, with Vintel, the war leader of Merin 's house. She finds herself embroiled in a power struggle she is doomed to lose, but the loss sends her on a journey that will change her destiny and decide the fate of her people.
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The Nutmeg of Consolation

The Nutmeg of Consolation

Patrick O'Brian

Historical Fiction / Fiction

Shipwrecked on a remote island in the Dutch East Indies, Captain Aubrey, surgeon and secret intelligence agent Stephen Maturin, and the crew of the Diane fashion a schooner from the wreck. A vicious attack by Malay pirates is repulsed, but the makeshift vessel burns, and they are truly marooned. Their escape from this predicament is one that only the whimsy and ingenuity of Patrick O'Brian—or Stephen Maturin—could devise. In command now of a new ship, the Nutmeg, Aubrey pursues his interrupted mission. The dreadful penal colony in New South Wales, harrowingly described, is the backdrop to a diplomatic crisis provoked by Maturin's Irish temper, and to a near-fatal encounter with the wildlife of the Australian outback.(less)
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