English Historical Fiction

Hoping to escape the shame of her street urchin's life in Boston, Anna Reardon plotted a desperate scheme - to become Karl Lindstrom's mail-order bride in the beautiful, dangerous frontier of Minnesota. A kind and gentle man, Karl forgave Anna for her deceptions. But there was still one burning secret she had to hide from him, knowing its revelation would destroy the love they had come to cherish.

As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything - beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses - but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets.

At the height of California's Gold Rush, men left everything behind for the chance at striking it rich. Now, some 30 years after its peak, gold fever still entices adventurous Easterners like James Macklin Chance, a poor Pennsylvanian who is drawn to California by the dream of lasting wealth - a dream so powerful he'll stop at nothing to see it through.

Widower Benjamin Romilly, earl of Furness, lives a melancholy life. The loss of his wife in childbirth four years before has robbed him of all happiness. He can barely look at his son, who resembles his mother so strongly and is a constant reminder of her loss. But Jean Saunders, a relative of Benjamin's late wife, erupts into the grief-stricken household to restore order and take Benjamin's son away. From all Jean has heard, she assumes he won't care - but she doesn't know how wrong she is. As they come together to raise Geoffrey right, their budding attraction is undeniable.

The shocking murder of Sir Henry Claybourne leaves Regency London shaken and horror-struck. But for genteel spinster Miss Emmeline St. Germaine, the crime slices far too close to home. Just hours before the knight's death she held a dagger to him, threatening him to stay silent as she rescued a scullery maid he had procured for his pleasure. Did the man - or woman - who murdered the knight know of her visit? Her secret identity at risk, her reputation and life in jeopardy, Emmeline must solve the crime or face scandalous exposure and ruination for a crime she did not commit.

In the Celestial Empire, a land ruled by Immortals and stalked by Spirits and Beasts, a young girl from the slums of an unimportant city is found to have the Talent that may allow her to become an Immortal herself. Sent to the storied Argent Peak Sect to harness her talent, she must work desperately to catch up to peers who have been preparing to walk the Way for years. The Sect grants new students only three months to prepare and grow before the true challenges begin and the disciples are freed to battle each other for resources and strength.

Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him. A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of Soseki's best-known novels. Considered by many as the greatest writer in modern Japanese history, Soseki's I Am a Cat is a classic novel sure to be enjoyed for years to come.

The lands of Arbonne and Gorhaut are on the verge of an all-consuming conflict. When a devious high priest of Gorhaut seizes the opportunity to wage a holy war against residents of Arbonne, an epic clash between the two cultures ensues.

With starvation stalking in 1915 Alaska, Leah welcomes her brother Jacob's dogsled full of supplies. But not until she unwraps the scarf-covered sled driver does she realize she's been embracing Jacob's friend Jayce, the man who broke her heart a decade ago. Although she insists that Jacob get rid of Jayce immediately, a sudden snow storm and a disabling injury delay his departure.

Determined to see his hellion of a sister wed, Highlander Alexander Waters is willing to face anything - even the English. He just didn't expect his own rough manners to cause such a riot...or for a blooming English rose to catch his eye. Gently bred Catherine Middlebrook must find a respectable man to marry, or her family will be ruined. She won't allow herself to be distracted by Highland barbarians, no matter how her body may thrill whenever Alex is near. Catherine wasn't part of the plan.

The Marquess of Bromton has just learned that he's a bastard. Feeling his honor is at stake, he attempts to bestow his estate upon a rightful heir by manipulating a high-stakes card game. But the winner demands more than Bromton bargained for-a marriage...to his spinster sister. Lady Katherine may be the least marriageable lady in all of England, but a child of their union would be a rightful heir....

When Elsinore Cosgrove escapes a ballroom in search of adventure, she has no idea it will lead to a hasty marriage. The youngest daughter of a duke, all she wants is to make her own choices. Now she's engaged to an infuriating, handsome Scottish baron who doesn't even know her name! Using all her feminine wiles, along with advice gleaned from a training guide for hunting hounds, Elsinore is determined to mold her baron into the husband she wants.

Pursued by a Texas bounty hunter, Matthew returns to Fountain Creek, Colorado, to apologize to his brother for insulting his wife Annabelle and to share his Idaho homestead. Learning that his brother has left already, he answers an ad for someone to guide a widow to Idaho. But he's shocked to see the widow is Annabelle, a woman whose sordid past repulses him.

Garnering three RITAs and a Christy Award, Francine Rivers is acclaimed for classics like Atonement Child. Set in the 1850s Smoky Mountains, this Gold Medallion-winner tells the gripping tale of a girl who's desperate to remove the guilt of her sister's death and anxious to absolve her departed grandmother of sins. While seeking the elusive Sin Eater, she uncovers a hideous secret and finds the truth.

Two hotheaded Highlanders, the offspring of feuding lairds, are tricked by the King's Regent into a desperate choice: marry or die. Bhaic MacPherson is more disposed to lead his clan into battle than stay married to the daughter of his enemy. But perhaps the intensity of his feelings has more to do with desire than hostility. Ailis Robertson wanted a husband, not a savage - but when her family was faced with a deadly ultimatum, she had no choice.

In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north.

Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes... for a fee.

In town, they called her "Crazy Widow Dinsmore". But Elly was no stranger to their ridicule - she had been an outsider all her life, growing up in a boarded-up old house under the strict eye of her eccentric grandparents. Now she was all alone, with two little boys to raise, and a third child on the way. Will Parker drifted into Whitney, Georgia, one lazy afternoon in the summer, hoping to put his lonely past behind him. He yearned for the tenderness he had never known, the home he'd never had. All he needed was for someone to give him a chance.

The throne of England is slipping from King Henry’s grasp. His only son has drowned in the English Channel, and the predators are gathering ready to devour both England and Normandy. When the last of King Harold’s housecarls returns to England to die, he brings with him a reluctant hero who will save the kingdom. Alfraed, son of Ridley, is the first of a new breed; he is an English knight.

It is 1918. Coming out of retirement, an aging Sherlock Holmes travels to Palestine with his 19-year-old partner, Mary Russell. There, disguised as ragged Bedouins, they embark on a dangerous mission. If they fail, the holy city goes up in flames.