Early Fiction

Driven from her home. Stalked by enemies. Now her closest ally may be a traitor. "Bravo Jacqui! A fine read and meticulous research." -- Sue Harrison, author of the acclaimed Ivory Carver Trilogy, Xhosa flees what she had hoped would be her new home after being attacked by invaders from the North. She leads her People on a grueling journey through unknown and dangerous lands of what we now call Europe. As she struggles to overcome strangers around her and disruptions within her People, Xhosa faces the reality that her most dangerous enemy may not be the one she expected. It may be one she ...

It's a matter of life and death for one, for the other, revenge, land, a way of life. The American frontier, 1777. The true story of a teenager and his little brother, sons of a German immigrant settler, alone on the family farm in rural Virginia. Suddenly, the teenager is knocked off his feet by a musket ball. He looks up to see a devilishly painted face running towards him with a raised tomahawk. He runs for his life. His little brother fights like a wildcat. The two brothers are quickly overwhelmed and captured. The boys so impress the Indian raiding party with their courage and fighting...

This volume, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson: The Early Adventures, is an amazing collection of some of Holmes and Watson’s fascinating cases that occurred during those first three years in Baker Street, when Holmes was creating his unique profession of consulting detective and Watson was still recovering from the war wounds that he’d received in Afghanistan and slowly returning to the business of being a civilian doctor. Included are 31 new stories in three companion volumes by some of today’s best Sherlockian pasticheurs.

Emma Rini is in a rut so deep she could shelve books there. While her sister awaits her first baby, and her parents kick off retirement with vow renewals and travel, Emma stays put among the stacks of the family bookshop. In fact, she can’t remember the last time she took a vacation. Or had a romance that hovered above disappointing. When her parents assume she’ll take over the shop for them without a break, she realizes she needs to get away—back to the nineteenth century.

In 1918, Winkler explodes from a community of 13 helpful souls to a crowded coal mining town of strangers with divided loyalties. War in faraway Europe means more money in the pockets of May Rose and her friends, but as a new wife and mother she feels cut off from people and community events. And though mine owners like her husband are making money hand over fist, the workers' poverty and resentment threaten trouble when the war ends.

Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.

Immerse yourself in a journey through early 18th century America with this richly detailed historical fiction saga set amidst the backdrop of the New York and the American frontier. This riveting narrative chronicles the adventures of Otetiani (Master Ormerod), a dispossessed English nobleman forced to brave the untamed wilderness of a youthful America in search of solace, redemption, and maybe even, a touch of mystic. The Journey Begins: Otetiani's tale begins with his exile from England and the blissful, yet fleeting, solace he found in the New World. After the tragic loss of his beloved ...

All is not right in the forest realm of Trellis. Birds have left their nests, and bears have abandoned their dens, as a mysterious magic threatens the natural order of the deep, dark woods. Together with a band of knights, Prince Lucas and Clara set out on an adventure that pits them against a dreaded sorcerer's shadow. There's only one problem: How can a shadow be defeated?

For fans of ALISON WEIR and PHILIPPA GREGORY ◆ FIRST PLACE WINNER - 2023 CHAUCER Book Awards - Early Historical Fiction ◆ WINNER - 2023 READERS' FAVORITE Awards - Fiction-Historical-Personage ◆ Royalty ◆ Power ◆ Politics ◆ Love ◆ Struggle Bestselling biographer and historian Sarah Gristwood, author of Game of Queens and The Tudors in Love, calls this tale of early 16th-century Europe's most brilliant power broker “Compelling and wholly convincing—at once a vividly readable novel and a long-overdue presentation of Europe's unsung heroine to the broad audience she deserves....

Dumped by her boyfriend and burnt out by her job, Kate Hamilton has returned to Gospel, Idaho, where a Mountain Momma Crafters' original poetry reading is about as good as it gets on a Friday night. Then her first attempted seduction of a hunky stranger is completely rejected. So much for her self-esteem! It turns out that Rob Sutter, former ice hockey madman, owner of Sutter's Sports - and the hunky stranger who told her to get lost - has been more than burned by love and isn't looking for a relationship.

Mr. Stamford meets Sherlock Holmes while studying at St. Bartholomew's Medical College in London. With his intense stare and unorthodox methods of doing things, Holmes has already gained a reputation as an eccentric but brilliant man. When suspected intruders are sighted at the British Museum, Holmes is called upon to give his opinion of what happened. But before he can come to any conclusions, something horrifying happens—one of the great treasures of the world, the priceless Rosetta Stone, is stolen from the museum.

Daughter of parents who counted President Washington as a friend, Sarah had a bright future. Until... she's caught up in a scandal and cast outside society. Three lonely years pass and to start afresh, she forsakes the thirteen United States for faraway French Colonial New Orleans. But sailing south through the pirate-ridden Caribbean is no place for an unprotected lady. Douglas “Mac” McKuen is hired to protect her. Though also outcast, at first he believes the ill-founded gossip. But during the dangerous voyage, the two forge a bond to face whatever comes—as friends. Mac plans to ...

On her 18th birthday, Jane Yellowrock leaves the children’s home where she was raised, and heads north to her first job. But she makes a detour and discovers where she came from, who she is, and what she is.

The victim was buried alive in the Georgia woods—then killed in a horrifying fashion. When Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver stumble upon the body, both become consumed with finding out who killed the pretty, impeccably dressed young woman. And for Sara and Jeffrey, a harrowing journey begins, one that will test their own turbulent relationship and draw dozens of lives into the case.

Victor and Zoey are getting old, well old-er, and it’s beginning to be a real problem. Best friends for a decade, they have seen each other through bad dates and office drama, late nights and hungover brunches, during their years together in New York City. As their wild twenties come to a close, though, the dynamic between the two is shifting. Coming off a tough breakup, Victor dedicates his energies toward building a career writing celebrity profiles for one of the last glossy magazines left, while Zoey navigates the terrain at her nascent fashion startup.

This collection of 25 Hercule Poirot adventures is compiled from short stories written by Agatha Christie for The Sketch magazine in 1923 from March to December. In these stories, including "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim", "The Veiled Lady", and "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb", the eccentric private detective slowly and surely solves mysteries involving jealousy, revenge, and greed. These stories were well-received at the time and cemented Christie's reputation as the worthy successor to Arthur Conan Doyle.

Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is the love of King Louis XII of France's life. Too bad he's already married. While his annulment proceedings create Europe's most sensational scandal of 1498, Anne returns to Brittany to take back control of her duchy that her late husband, Charles VIII, King of France, had wrested from her. At age 21, Anne is sovereign ruler of Brittany as well as Europe's most wealthy widow. But can she maintain Brittany's independence from France if she accepts Louis's offer to make her Queen of France once more?

On an ordinary Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty's phone buzzes with a disturbing text message. Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP. The words would be jarring from anyone, but the sender is the only man she ever loved. And it's been several years since she learned he died. Seeing Drew’s name pop up is heart-stopping. Ariel’s gut says it can’t be real. But she goes to the tree anyway. She has to. Nobody shows.

In this extraordinary World War II alternate history, master storyteller Harry Turtledove begins with a big switch: what if Neville Chamberlain, instead of appeasing Hitler, had stood up to him in 1938? Enraged, Hitler reacts by lashing out at the West, promising his soldiers that they will reach Paris by the new year.

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more (except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdalan) and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.