Hell and High Water

Hell and High Water

Charlotte E. English

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Mystery & Thrillers / Historical Fiction

Meet the baddest belles of London city. They were known as the fatales, once. Investigators and spies; killers and thieves; con artists and vigilantes — they fought fire with fire, did what had to be done, to make things right. Until the mission that broke them. Many decades later, the fatales have scattered to the winds. Fionn's the queen of London haute couture. Thetai's the star of the power metal scene. And Daix? Could be anything. Anywhere. It'll take a lot to bring them back together. When a model goes missing from a catwalk show, Fionn's frantic. The girl was a friend — and a fellow selkie. And she won't be the last to vanish. To catch the monster responsible, Fionn needs backup. It's time for the fatales to reunite, but can they get it together after eighty years apart? And will it be enough to face down an old enemy straight out of their murky, half-forgotten past?...
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Enemy of the Wallflower

Enemy of the Wallflower

Dawn Brower

Historical Fiction / Contemporary / Romance

Lady Cora Stephens has an enemy. A certain earl has always been the bane of her existence. Her father loved him and probably secretly wished he'd been his son, not his friend's. He'd tormented her when they were children, and his arrogance had only grown with age. She vowed one day to wipe the smugness away and replace it with the same pain she had endured for years.Hayes Grant, Earl of Thornton hadn't led the charmed life most had believed—even if the façade he presents to the world enhances that belief. His father was a brute of a man and beat him more times than he could count. He didn't get a reprieve until after the rotten man died, but the damage had already been inflicted, and could never be undone. Hayes lashed out at anyone that showed him kindness, not trusting its veracity—even the only girl he'd ever loved. He wished he could have taken back all the things he'd said to Cora over the years, but some things couldn't be changed. She would never...
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In the Valley

In the Valley

Ron Rash

Literature & Fiction / Historical Fiction / Mystery

From bestselling and award-winning writer Ron Rash ("One of the great American authors at work today."—The New York Times) comes a collection of twelve searing new stories and the return of the villainess who propelled Serena to national acclaim, in a long-awaited novella.Ron Rash has long been a revered presence in the landscape of American letters. A virtuosic novelist, poet, and story writer, he evokes the beauty and brutality of the land, the relentless tension between past and present, and the unquenchable human desire to be a little bit better than circumstances would seem to allow (to paraphrase Faulkner). In these twelve stories, Rash spins a haunting allegory of the times we live in—rampant capitalism, the severing of ties to the natural world in the relentless hunt for profit, the destruction of body and soul with pills meant to mute our pain—and yet within this world he illuminates acts of...
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Listening Well

Listening Well

Heather Morris

Historical Fiction

From New York Times bestselling author Heather Morris comes the memoir of a life of listening to others.In Listening Well, Heather will explore her extraordinary talents as a listener—a skill she employed when she first met Lale Sokolov, the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau and the inspiration for her bestselling novel. It was this ability that led Lale to entrust Heather with his story, which she told in her novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the bestselling follow up, Cilka's Journey.Now Heather shares the story behind her inspirational writing journey and the defining experiences of her life, including her profound friendship with Lale, and explores how she learned to really listen to the stories people told her—skills she believes we can all learn."Stories are what connect us and remind us that hope is always possible."—Heather Morris
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Shardlake 03 - Sovereign

Shardlake 03 - Sovereign

C. J. Sansom

Historical Fiction / Mystery / Thriller

Autumn, 1541. Following the uncovering of a plot against his throne in Yorkshire, King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to overawe his rebellious subjects there. Accompanied by a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility, and his fifth wife Catherine Howard, the King is to attend an extravagant submission of the local gentry at York.Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission - to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation.But the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. As the Great Progress arrives in the city, Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret papers that holds danger for the King's throne, and a chain of events unfolds that will lead Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age.
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Dead Man's Walk

Dead Man's Walk

Larry McMurtry

Literature & Fiction / Historical Fiction

Dead Man's Walk is the first, extraordinary book in the epic Lonesome Dove tetralogy, in which Larry McMurtry breathed new life into the vanished American West and created two of the most memorable heroes in contemporary fiction: Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call. As young Texas Rangers, Gus and Call have much to learn about survival in a land fraught with perils: not only the blazing heat and raging tornadoes, roiling rivers and merciless Indians but also the deadly whims of soldiers. On their first expeditions--led by incompetent officers and accompanied by the robust, dauntless whore known as the Great Western--they will face death at the hands of the cunning Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump and the silent Apache Gomez. They will be astonished by the Mexican army. And Gus will meet the love of his life.
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The Anarchists' Club

The Anarchists' Club

Alex Reeve

Historical / Historical Fiction / Mystery

'Leo Stanhope is a wonderful creation, his world atmospheric and terrifying, and his own story as powerful and enthralling as the mysteries he investigates' Sam Blake The second book in the acclaimed new historical crime series following on from the Richard & Judy Book Club 2019 pick, The House on Half Moon StreetIt's been a year since Leo Stanhope lost the woman he loved, and came closing to losing his own life. Now, more than ever, he is determined to keep his head down and stay safe, without risking those he holds dear. But Leo's hopes for peace and security are shattered when the police unexpectedly arrive at his lodgings: a woman has been found murdered at a club for anarchists, and Leo's address is in her purse. When Leo is taken to the club by the police, he is shocked to discover there a man from his past, a man who knows Leo's birth identity. And if Leo does not provide him with an alibi for the night of the woman's...
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Someone to Love

Someone to Love

Jude Deveraux

Romance / Contemporary / Historical Fiction

After three years, Jace Montgomery is still grieving over his fiancée Stacy's mysterious suicide. He hasn't been interested in another woman since her passing, and her family still blames him for her death. While flipping through one of her old paperbacks, Jace discovers a photo of a house stuck between the pages, bearing the cryptic message, "Ours again. Together forever. See you there." The note was dated the day before her death. Obsessed by the possibility of understanding Stacy's suicide, Jace seeks out the property - Priory House, a big brick fortress in Margate, England - and buys it. It doesn't take long to learn that the house is haunted by a headstrong and feisty ghost, Ann Stuart, whom he must tangle with if he's ever to solve the mystery. Ann died under circumstances similar to those of his late fiancée, and he has a hunch that there is a connection between the two. Through his own investigations and with the help of a beautiful foreign correspondent who is worn out by what she's seen in the world, Jace is forced to reconcile his fiancée's life and her death. What follows is a satisfying and seductive discovery of both time and love by one of America's favorite storytellers.
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One Night with the Major

One Night with the Major

Bronwyn Scott

Romance / Historical Fiction

One daring encounter Binds her to his marriage bed!Part of Allied at the Altar: In England, innocent tea heiress Pavia Honeysett has always been judged for her face or her fortune. She would much rather return to her uncle's palace in India. So to escape marriage to the aged man her father has chosen, she will ruin herself! But her red-hot night with Major Camden Lithgow changes everything. Suddenly, this stranger will become her husband...Allied at the Altar miniseriesBook 1 — A Marriage Deal with the Viscount Book 2 — One Night with the MajorBook 3 — Tempted by His Secret Cinderella — coming soon!Book 4 — also coming soon!"From page one the story has an element of danger, mystery and sexiness that is so wonderful to read" —Chicks, Rogues and Scandals on Awakened by the Prince's...
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War and Millie McGonigle

War and Millie McGonigle

Karen Cushman

Children's Books / Historical Fiction / Literature & Fiction

The Newbery Award-winning author of Catherine, Called Birdy and The Midwife's Apprentice tells a heartfelt and humorous story of WWII on the homefront.Millie McGonigle lives in sunny California, where her days are filled with beach and surf. It should be perfect—but times are tough. Hitler is attacking Europe and it looks like the United States may be going to war. Food is rationed and money is tight. And Millie's sickly little sister gets all the attention and couldn't be more of a pain if she tried. It's all Millie can do to stay calm and feel in control.Still—there's sand beneath her feet. A new neighbor from the city, who has a lot to teach Millie. And surfer boy Rocky to admire—even if she doesn't have the guts to talk to him.It's a time of sunshine, siblings, and stress. Will Millie be able to find her way in her family, and keep her balance as the the world around her loses its own?
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The Chainbearer; Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts

The Chainbearer; Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts

James Fenimore Cooper

Fiction / Historical Fiction / Politics

The Chainbearer; or The Littlepage Manuscripts is a novel by the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper first published in 1845. The Chainbearer is the second book in a trilogy starting with Satanstoe and ending with The Redskins.The novel focuses mainly on issues of land ownership and the displacement of American Indians as the United States moves Westward. Themes Critical to the trilogy of these novels, is the sense of expansion through the measuring and acquisition of land by civilization.The title The Chainbearer represents "the man who carries the chains in measuring the land, the man who helps civilization to grow from the wilderness, but who at the same time continues the chain of evil, increases the potentiality for corruption."The central position of the "Chainbearer" allows Cooper to deal with the cultural lack of understanding Native Americans had of European concepts of land ownership. This in turn allows Cooper to critique ownership in general. Also, Cooper, like in many of his novels, focuses on the growing corruption of individuals in "civilization" as it expands. This Cooper attributes "an inherent principle in the corrupt nature of man to misuse all his privileges. . . . If history proves anything, it proves this." Two characters, in particular, represent this growing corruption of civilization, Andries Mordaunt, the chainbearer, and Aaron, known as "Thousandacres". The men represent different types of the civilization, Mordaunt as the usurper of old civilization and Thousandacres representing an older society which the new "civilization" means to usurp. Eventually this new civilization decides to embrace force in order to lay full claim on the land. This displacement of Native Americans by the ever expansionist Americans repeatedly becomes an issue for Cooper throughout the trilogy of novels. In so doing, Cooper presents a very strong critique of Americans and America. James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 15, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. He lived most of his life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William on property that he owned. Cooper was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and, in his later years, contributed generously to it.He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society, but was expelled for misbehavior.Before embarking on his career as a writer, he served in the U.S. Navy as a Midshipman, which greatly influenced many of his novels and other writings. The novel that launched his career was The Spy, a tale about counterespionage set during the Revolutionary War and published in 1821.He also wrote numerous sea stories, and his best-known works are five historical novels of the frontier period known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Among naval historians, Cooper\'s works on the early U.S. Navy have been well received, but they were sometimes criticized by his contemporaries. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece.
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