Historical Fiction California

Like the small towns J. California Cooper has so vividly portrayed in her previous novels and story collections, Wideland, Oklahoma, is home to ordinary Americans struggling to raise families, eke out a living, and fulfill their dreams. In the early 20th century, Irene and Val fall in love in Wideland. While carving out a home for themselves, they also allow neighbors Bertha and Joseph to build a house and live on their land.

Investigative apprentice Lyra Brazier, the newest resident of Burning Cove, is unsettled when her boss suddenly goes on a health retreat at an exclusive spa and disappears without another word. Lyra knows something has happened to Raina Kirk, and she is the only one who can track her down. The health spa is known for its luxurious offerings and prestigious clientele, and the wealthy, socialite background Lyra desperately wanted to leave behind is perfect for this undercover job.

The Mexican American War has ended, but in a California divided between two nations, Anglo squatters continue to antagonize citizens of Mexican descent by making claims on their land. Against this charged backdrop, the lives of the Alamar family - the rightful owners of a San Diego ranch - become politically, economically, and romantically entwined with a family of New England settlers, the Darrells. Inspired by experiences in her own life, Ruiz de Burton insightfully captured a troubling time in American history - a period of intense corruption, greed, racism, and classism.

Termed the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the southwestern Indians and the first protest novel of California, Ramona is the story of 3 cultures - Indian, Mexican, and Anglo - locked in combat. The upheaval and injustice are humanized through the romance of a beautiful half-Indian orphan who grow up as the ward of Señora Moreno in privileged surroundings, then falls in love with an Indian and joins him in a life of poverty and tragedy. The Ramona Pageant in Hemet, California, based on this romance, has played each year since 1923, reenacting the transition period between Mexican traditions and the new U.S. and state governments.

De la escritora de romance histórico Constanza Chesnott, llega una novela fascinante de traición y lealtad, de amistad y heroísmo, una historia inolvidable, tributo a todo lo que nos une y al poder indómito y sanador del amor. La joven reportera americana Jane Sunbright abandona su Boston natal los meses previos al estallido de la guerra entre Estados Unidos y México. Huyendo de una pasión tormentosa, pretende forjar su propio destino como periodista. Estar en la primera línea del conflicto y convertir el periódico familiar en un referente informativo es cuanto desea. Pero lo que no...

Maggie Lodge, assistant to the reclusive advice columnist known only as Dear Aunt Cornelia to her readers, hires down-but-not-quite-out private eye Sam Sage to help track down the person who is blackmailing her employer. Maggie and Sam are a mismatched pair. As far as Sam is concerned, Maggie is reckless and in over her head. She is not what he had in mind for a client, but he can’t afford to be choosy. Maggie, on the other hand, is convinced that Sam is badly in need of guidance and good advice. She does not hesitate to give him both.

1800's Spanish California meets modern-day crime tale leading to the Monterey Peninsula. For James Michener, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Clive Cussler fans. The Monterey Peninsula's rich past and present are tied together through a two century old secret and the legacy of Robert Louis Stevenson in this complex mystery/thriller. The Stevenson Plan delves beyond the well-known images into the history and culture of this unique corner of the world. FBI Agent John Gibson finds himself re-assigned to investigate a mesmerizing heist from the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank that leads him to ...

It is the Summer of Love as Cinnamon Kiss opens, and Easy Rawlins is contemplating robbing an armored car. It's farther outside the law than Easy has ever traveled, but his daughter, Feather, needs a medical treatment that costs far more than Easy can earn or borrow in time. And his friend Mouse tells him it's a cinch. Then another friend, Saul Lynx, offers a job that might solve Easy's problem without jail time.

Frank Norris, accused of theft and unable to prove his innocence, leaves for excitement and adventure in the California gold fields of 1850s America. He sails the Atlantic, braves a storm while working as a barge man on the Mississippi, survives an Indian attack while crossing the plains with a caravan, strikes it rich in the California gold mines, and is finally able to clear his name and return to England to claim his rightful inheritance.

What happens when everything you believe is true is turned upside down? A character-driven story of money, power, friendship, and second chances. In 1876, Dick Baker, a down-on-his-luck California gold miner, dreams of striking it rich. He doesn't want much, just to be the richest man in Calaveras County — and that his secret past stay buried on Mackinac Island. When he wins an abandoned goldmine while gambling in Chinatown, his life is turned upside down. Join the adventure that changes his life forever. Dick is about to learn a valuable lesson. True happiness is right in front of us if ...

Clean and Wholesome American Mail Order Bride historical western short story romance Box Set. By Bestselling Western Author Katie Wyatt. 4 Wonderful Inspirational titles in one amazing historical romance box set. Collection 2: Books 5 - 8 (8 Book Series) Book 5 Promised Sunset Reeling from his fiancée’s betrayal, Benjamin Moore gives up on love but decides to at least give marriage a chance. He places a mail order bride and finds himself immediately enthralled by the feisty, beautiful, intelligent woman who steps off the train and into his life like a passionate whirlwind. Book 6 Dusk...

Pasadena, David Ebershoff's sweeping, richly imagined novel, is set against the backdrop of Southern California during the first half of the twentieth century and charts its rapid transformation from frontier to suburb.

Southern California, 1960s: endless sunny days surfing in Malibu, followed by glittering neon nights at Whisky A-Go-Go. In an era when women are expected to be housewives, Carol Donelly is breaking the mold as a legendary female surfer struggling to compete in a male-dominated sport—and her daughters, Mindy and Ginger, bear the weight of her unconventional lifestyle.

I really loved this one! The characters have so much depth to them, and I found myself thinking about them even when I wasn't reading! So much going on too! Never boring! — Jackie Logue, Owner JML Copyediting Services. Reading your words, I was stunned at your personal rendition of the setting and situation, as if you had lived it in detail. — D. Hartley A character-driven story of redemption --- An episodic, historical novel filled with adventure, forbidden love, second chances, and the value of having a best friend. A Confederate soldier's journals are found hidden away, and they ...

Can Alex’s faith rekindle Penny’s trust? The Civil War drove Penny and Alex apart for a third time. Alex disappeared near Santa Fe in the South’s fatal drive north. With no word from Alex and no money to care for their baby daughter, Penny falls back on the only life she knows, singing in a saloon. She’s a grand success and gathers a ragtag family of misfits around her as she builds her business. But she loses faith in love and humanity, especially after a local businessman sets out to destroy her best friend and her business. Released from a prisoner of war camp, Alex searches for ...

Oakland, California, 1983: a city churning with violent crime and racial conflict. Officer Hanson, a Vietnam veteran, has abandoned academia for the life-and-death clarity of police work, a way to live with the demons that followed him home from the war. But Hanson knows that justice requires more than simply enforcing the penal code. He believes in becoming a part of the community he serves - which is why, unlike most officers, he chooses to live in the same town where he works. This strategy serves him well...to a point. He forges a precarious friendship with the drug king of East Oakland.

On the ship from Ireland, Eliza O’Connor loses her mother and husband to cholera. After training under the local physician, she longs to become a doctor, but few schools accept women. Now the doctor has passed away, and she works at her father's boarding house. When a handsome physician arrives, beaten and stripped of his jacket and boots, she believes he's another gold-crazy miner heading for the hills where her brother has ventured. At his mother's desperate request, Dr. Levi Dumont travels from Boston to find his younger brother and bring him home. After Levi is robbed, his trustworthy...

A marijuana mystery, the story of Rolland Greene. Rolland Greene, a local writer, and his friends find themselves wrapped up in a complex paper chase. Rolland Greene takes you to the heartland of Northern California and reveals the mind and heart of a Mendonesian caught up in high strangeness. Rolland spends his time writing his political treatise, but suddenly finds himself trying to survive the tumult surrounding his lifestyle and friends. Rolland and his buds all find themselves tormented by bad luck when criminals begin pursuit of a treasure unique to Mendocino, the guidebook to crime. ...

Bound for Gold continues New York Times bestselling author William Martin’s epic of American history with the further adventures of Boston rare-book dealer Peter Fallon and his girlfriend, Evangeline Carrington. They are headed to California, where their search for a lost journal takes them into the history of Gold Rush. The journal follows young James Spencer, of the Sagamore Mining Company, on a spectacular journey from staid Boston, up the Sacramento River to the Mother Lode.

A historical fiction book set in California during the Gold Rush of 1848. Embark on a thrilling adventure in "Gold and Grit," where dreams of fortune meet the harsh realities of the untamed West. Follow a young man's desperate search for meaning as he joins his friend Malcolm on an exhilarating journey from Oregon to California, responding to the euphoric whispers of gold discovered in the fertile Sacramento Valley. As excitement grows and the stakes rise, the duo quickly learns that the path to striking it rich is fraught with peril and unpredictable twists at every turn. As they navigate ...