The warm weather has me thinking about vacations. Before you leave, I wanted to share some great reads.
There are a lot of great books out there. My favorite genre is historical fiction. Even better if it’s a series. Here are several that will keep you reading all summer long. Enjoy!
Kinsman Redeemer Series ~ Betty Thomason Owens
“If you think you can come back here and throw yourself on my mercy, you are quite wrong.”
After their husbands perish in a fishing boat accident, Connie Cross determines to follow her mother-in-law, Annabelle, from Southern California to Tennessee. Her misgivings begin as they cross the bridge over the muddy Mississippi River. In their new town, where living conditions are far below their previous expectations, they must set up a household and hunt for work to survive. Thanks to the kindness of Annabelle’s handsome, young cousin, life begins to settle down. But Connie has a secret that could uproot them once again.
Inspired by the Book of Ruth, Annabelle’s Ruth is a 1950’s era “Ruth” story, set in western Tennessee. How will Connie adapt to her new life amid the cotton farms, racial tension, and culture shock?
Daughters of Riverton Series ~ Dawn Kinzer
A would-be missionary longs to leave heartbreak behind.
A widowed pastor yearns for the way things were.
They shared a past, but can they share a future?
Sarah McCall is waiting to leave for the mission field when the man she once loved steps back into her life. Abandoned as a child by her mother and gambler father, she strives to overcome a tarnished history she didn’t create and a heartbreak she can’t forget. Peter Caswell returns to his Wisconsin hometown a pastor, dedicated to his four-year-old daughter and new congregation. But no matter how hard he tries to move on with his life, he can’t forgive himself for his wife’s death. Although ten years have passed since he left Riverton, Peter hopes Sarah still cares enough to give him a second chance.
They shared a past, but can they share a future?
Uncertain Riches Series ~ Stephanie Daniels
What price will she pay for following her heart?
Chicago, 1871. Sixteen-year-old Whimsy Greathart would rather fight against Chicago’s child labor practices than attend her privileged family’s high society events. And a very public social blunder only strengthens her resolve to use her influence for good.
On the night of the Great Chicago Fire, her tenderhearted choice leads her into danger and results in life-changing consequences.
With her world turned to ash, she must rely on the mercy of poor relations to rebuild her future and is forced into the very labor system she wished to fight against. As Whimsy staggers under the weight of street gang violence and hazardous working conditions, a chance at deliverance persuades her to make a promise. One she intends to keep. But now she must determine whether it’s God’s heart she’s following or her own.
House of Fire Series ~ Sandra Ardoin
Just when she thinks she’s defeated the past, it returns with a vengeance.
Fighting to keep her late husband’s dream alive and her land-grabbing neighbors at bay, Laurel Tillman longs for a peace she knew before the war. But when her skill with a rifle saves a stranger from a mountain lion attack—a man whose life she once wouldn’t have hesitated to take—wartime memories rush back.
While raising her daughter and taking responsibility for the stray women who work on her sheep ranch, Laurel can’t wait to get the injured Yankee out of her house. Getting him out of her heart is an entirely different matter.
Quinn Spencer, a former Union cavalry officer, owes Laurel a debt, but his career as a new lawyer in town comes with a warning to stay away from the unconventional women of La Casa del Fuego. Then, with the discovery of a dead man on Laurel’s ranch, Quinn must choose between his career and justice for a woman who can’t bear the sight of him.
As they battle an unknown adversary who sets out to destroy Laurel, will she join forces with her former enemy? Or will she allow the past to overcome any chance of a truce between them . . . and, possibly, something more?
Set in the late 1870s, meet the women of La Casa del Fuego—House of Fire—as circumstances compel them to live their lives outside the bounds of accepted femininity.
Victorian Romantic Suspense Series ~ Sandra Byrd
Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Uprising of 1857, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. People are surprised to see her…and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca’s name but also her home and income.
That pretender died within months of her appearance and was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father’s investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over.
Against her best intentions, Rebecca falls in love with Whitfield, forcing her to question his motives—does he want her or Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, she may suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca.”
Ladies of Distinction Series ~ Jen Turano
Miss Arabella Beckett has one driving passion: to help the downtrodden women of America. Naturally, she supports the women’s suffrage movement and eagerly attends rallies and lectures across the country. On her travels, she makes a simple offer of assistance to a young woman in need that goes sadly awry and lands both ladies in more trouble than they can manage. An independent sort, Arabella is loath to admit she needs help and certainly doesn’t need help from an arrogant, narrow-minded knight in shining armor.
Mr. Theodore Wilder, private investigator extraordinaire, is on a mission. A mission that began as a favor to his good friend Hamilton Beckett, but swiftly evolved into a merry chase across the country. By the time he finally tracks down Hamilton’s sister, Arabella, he is in a less than pleasant mood. When the lady turns out to have radical ideas and a fiercely independent streak, he soon finds himself at his wit’s end.
When they return home to New York, circumstances force their paths to continue to cross, but the most peculiar feelings growing between them certainly can’t be love. When the trouble Arabella had accidentally stirred up seems to have followed her to New York and threatens her very life, the unlikely couple must face the possibility that they might have landed in the most peculiar circumstance of all: love.
Looking Back
Can you believe it’s June? Maybe I’ve had my head buried too deep in my stories. It seems like time is flying! This past month I assembled several raised beds, planted seeds, raised chicks, and welcomed two baby goats.
What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments
Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.
When Eleanor faces her season of tests, she questions her resolve—and her ability to make the right decision. Does she have what it takes? Can she trust her heart or must she listen to her head? As she works through her problems to untangle the web of deceit surrounding Lord Lydney’s treasures, we see her character shine forth as gold.
Bestselling author Sandra Byrd has published more than fifty books over her editing and writing career. Her traditionally published books include titles by Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, Tyndale House Publishers, WaterBrook Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and Bethany House. She’s also an independent author.
Gail Johnson 