Showing results for "Holly" in Historical Fiction

As Christmas looms, the villagers come under the spell of the Holly King, a demigod bent on destroying Woodville. Faye, Bertie and the witches are determined to stop him, but first they must confront terrible truths that threaten to tear them apart.

London, 1928. Marius Quin and Lady Bella Montague are ready for a quiet Christmas when they learn that Bella’s beloved Aunt Adele has met a shocking end in her picture-perfect cottage. Immediately heading for Holly Village, the enclave of retired aristocrats and eccentric pensioners where Adele lived, they discover that her death was far from natural.

In "The Holly and the Ivy," a Pride and Prejudice Variation Christmas Novella, Elizabeth Bennet finds herself in the bustling streets of London in late 1812. Unexpectedly, she crosses paths with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. They last met when Elizabeth vehemently rejected his proposal in March. Although Darcy's letter altered Elizabeth's perceptions, he avoided her, fearing the awkward aftermath.

Plymouth, 1954. The future seems rosy for Plymouth schoolgirl Anna Millington, as she prepares for teacher training college. But Anna's life is not what it seems. Her family is hiding a cruel secret that resulted from the worst night of the Plymouth Blitz. Now, the devastating consequences are about to erupt again. Fearing for her life, Anna leaves her dreams behind and flees to nearby Dartmoor. It isn't long before Anna secures a position as a serving girl at Ashcroft Hall.

Phillip Brown wakes up one bitter November morning to find a woman near frozen on the stoop of the Baltimore home he shares with his sister and uncle. The unconscious woman eventually awakens, unwilling to share who has terrified her while she makes a recovery in the Brown home. He continues his work at the Wiest Oyster Cannery and pouring beer on occasion at his neighborhood brewery while guarding his family from dangerous criminals’ intent of silencing his discoveries about the woman.

Phillip Brown and Timothy Sweitzinger became best friends as boys, went off to war together, and remained steadfast as men to guard each other’s backs from all threats. When Timothy is found in bed with a dead woman, covered in her blood and with no memory of what happened, Phillip vows to uncover what really happened. Phillip’s investigation takes him all over the city of Baltimore, from the lowest of its citizens to the highest, and even to those who were thought to be above suspicion.

As nursemaid to the eight-year-old Duke of Kielder, Robbie will spend her holidays with her young charge as a guest of Lord and Lady Jonquil. While the couple makes the child’s holiday magical, the handsome gardener works his own magic on Nurse Robbie’s heart. A Christmas house party offers two members of the ton an irresistible weekend of anonymity. But their charade comes with unexpected romantic consequences. Alice Hunt is searching for a Christmas miracle: a husband of her choosing. With the threat of an arranged marriage looming, she looks to an unlikely matchmaker for help.

Malcom MacKinnon has been gone from Chreagach Mhor for more than ten years. He's never met the youngest MacKinnon, but while he's looking forward to their first meeting, Alexander Ailbeart MacKinnon isn't quite as enthusiastic to meet the brother who, in his eyes, abandoned their clan. Having received word Malcom and his new wife are on the way, he's on his heels now, making sure their home is safeguarded from forces that threaten his family's joy. Will the brothers finally come together after so long?

The Bible is filled with stories of the miracles of Jesus. These gospels have been passed down for two thousand years, and for many Christians, they are as familiar to us as stories about our own family. But have you ever wondered what happened to the people who were healed? What did their lives look like after their encounters with the Messiah? How did they respond to their miracles? What happened next?

It's 1960s America, and Herbie Gneiss is forced to leave college to get a job. Mr. Gibbon, a patriotic veteran of three wars, works with Herbie at Kant-Brake toy factory. When Herbie is drafted, Mr. Gibbon feels that he, too, should do something for his country; and so he decides to rob the Mount Holly Trust Company....

Southern lawyer and Civil War veteran, Reed Jackson, returns to his family's plantation in a wheelchair. His father deems him unfit, and deeds the Jackson holdings, including his intended bride, to a younger brother. Angry and bitter, Reed moves west to Fenton, Missouri, home to a cousin with a successful business, intending to start over. Belle Richards, a dirt poor farm girl aching to learn how to read, cleans, cooks, and holds together her family's meager property.

Phillip Brown’s sister discovers a dead man, shot in the back, behind the dress shop she where she’s employed. Sarah Brown begs her brother to find out who has shot the man as the shop owner is fearful and harassed, caught up in the dead man’s crimes. The investigation leads Brown to danger from a notorious dockside fence. While uncovering the murder, his supervisor demands he investigate thefts at his home, the man convinced his servants are thieves. Brown uncovers the true culprit with the help of the daughter of the owner of the Wiest Cannery.

Holly and the Christmas Tree is a holiday collection of tiny stories. Set in various time periods, each tale draws the reader into all that is magical about the Christmas season. Wild New Year's Eve parties, the first Christmas trees sold at market, a little girl's dream present, an injured Santa Claus, and a family healing each other's broken hearts are just a glimpse of the touching, fun, bite-sized stories. There's something for everyone!

When Holly Christenson’s husband is killed on his family’s farmstead, his siblings—especially the second eldest who is now in control—heartlessly casts her from their midst. She takes a train to Denver and moves into the Broad Street Boarding House. With help from the Cartwright sisters and Cane, an obliging gentleman next door, she lands a teaching job. The holidays are upon them, and while helping Cane Givens at the Mission House and overseeing the Christmas play, sparks fly between the young couple.

1893. Jennifer Crawford, the peacekeeper in a well-to-do Boston family rife with anger, deceit, and even treachery, was born to solve mathematical mysteries at a time when women are only beginning to venture from home and into the world of commerce and politics. Beautiful and shy, she struggles to find the courage to face a scheming mother and guide a father denying their familial dysfunction, hesitant to traverse the volatile economics banks are facing at the turn of the 20th century.

Payden Thompson’s pursuit of the man threatening his family and his clan proves to be far from a straightforward confrontation. His hunt to kill the illegitimate relative and the man’s followers is brutal and he is imprisoned and beaten after daring a rescue attempt goes awry. Overwhelmed by the violence and loss in Scotland, Payden finds himself unable to shed his fears and trauma after his heroic return to America.

Ivy Ashton has lived her entire life on the outskirts of the kingdom of Starfall in a tiny village. Being left to fend for themselves against bandit raids with no help from the capital, she and her family have little to no love for the crown. Join Ivy on her journey, where a magical encounter in the woods one night changes her perspective on life. She’ll travel all the way to the capital, where she finds herself thrown into a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the whole kingdom.

1868. Elspeth Thompson is the middle daughter in a family with tightly held secrets. While she loves her family, she longs to break out from their overprotective hold, to find herself, to be noticed for who she is rather than as chaperone to her beautiful younger sister, Kirsty, or underling to her elder sister, Muireall. A chance meeting under scandalous circumstances offers her the opportunity to be seen for herself, but the repercussions could lead to the downfall of her family.

It is 1869. Matthew Gentry joined the Confederate Army at 18 years of age after an argument with his father, leaving Paradise, his Virginia home and famed horse breeding stables, for the fields of Gettysburg. Having survived the War Between the States, Gentry is haunted by the violence and inhumanity of the war. He continues to roam the country long after the conflict is over, finding solace in the arms of soiled doves and at the bottom of whiskey bottles. Finally traveling home after learning of a family tragedy, he nearly loses his life in a spring flooded riverbed.

1891... Spinster librarian Olive Wilkins is shocked to learn of her brother's violent death at a saloon gaming table and her sister-in-law's subsequent murder, traveling far from her staid life to rescue her niece and nephew, now orphans. She arrives to find the circumstances of her brother's life deplorable and her long held beliefs of family and tradition, shaken.