Here are 100 books that The Lady's Mine fans have personally recommended if you like
The Lady's Mine.
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As both a writer and a reader, I love romance novels set in the late 1800s because many of the problems people faced back then are similar to the problems encountered today. For example, we worry about losing jobs to AI. Back then, workers worried about mechanization. Also, while researching a book, I was fascinated to learn that meetings, dating sites, games, and “text” messages were just as prevalent then as they are today, thanks to the Victorian Internet (aka the telegraph). Another reason I’m fascinated with the Old West is because it caused women to challenge traditional roles and enter into professions previously dominated by males.
I have always held a deep appreciation for Mary’s novels, but this particular one struck a chord with me on a deeper level. The narrative is rich with adventure and suspense, making it an exhilarating read. Trace emerges as one of my favorite protagonists; I admire his ability to navigate the complex themes of responsibility and love in his role as a protector, even though he’s overwhelmed with the task he’s taken on. I also liked the heroine.
Though she was initially portrayed as a damsel in distress, she showed remarkable strength, which I found particularly engaging. The story has unique characters and a community that emphasizes shared values. I also appreciated the subtle humor that is interwoven throughout the story.
When Trace Riley finds the smoldering ruins of a small wagon train, he recognizes the hand behind the attack as the same group who left him as sole survivor years ago. Living off the wilderness since then, he'd finally carved out a home and started a herd--while serving as a self-appointed guardian of the trail, driving off dangerous men. He'd hoped those days were over, but the latest attack shows he was wrong.
Deborah Harkness saved her younger sister and two toddlers during the attack, and now finds herself at the mercy of her rescuer. Trace offers the only shelter…
Bettina Jaja spent years of her life obeying a man everyone both revered and feared, a man she called her husband - a man of God who gave her a comfortable life by all external accounts. Why, then, was she so unhappy? Pouring her heart out in her uncensored life…
As both a writer and a reader, I love romance novels set in the late 1800s because many of the problems people faced back then are similar to the problems encountered today. For example, we worry about losing jobs to AI. Back then, workers worried about mechanization. Also, while researching a book, I was fascinated to learn that meetings, dating sites, games, and “text” messages were just as prevalent then as they are today, thanks to the Victorian Internet (aka the telegraph). Another reason I’m fascinated with the Old West is because it caused women to challenge traditional roles and enter into professions previously dominated by males.
I loved how this wholesome romance novel effectively captured the essence of frontier life through its relatable characters and their interactions within a close-knit community. I especially liked the heroine, Hannah, who stands out due to her occupation as a tailor, which was quite unusual for women during that era. Initially, the hero misjudges Hannah, perceiving her as someone who prioritizes fashion over more serious matters.
This created much of the romantic tension that kept me turning pages. I really enjoyed the humor of Hannah’s attempts to assist the hero’s sister in finding a beau. This subplot not only provided me with laughter but also impressed me with how it enriched character relationships and showcased Hannah’s resourcefulness.
Jericho "J.T." Tucker wants nothing to do with Coventry, Texas's new dressmaker. He's all too familiar with her kind--shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothing, this seamstress is not at all what he expected. Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man? When Hannah decides to help Jericho's sister catch a beau--leading to uproarious consequences…
As both a writer and a reader, I love romance novels set in the late 1800s because many of the problems people faced back then are similar to the problems encountered today. For example, we worry about losing jobs to AI. Back then, workers worried about mechanization. Also, while researching a book, I was fascinated to learn that meetings, dating sites, games, and “text” messages were just as prevalent then as they are today, thanks to the Victorian Internet (aka the telegraph). Another reason I’m fascinated with the Old West is because it caused women to challenge traditional roles and enter into professions previously dominated by males.
I have a particular fondness for stories involving mail-order brides, and this one stood out for me due to its unique twist. A well-intentioned neighbor takes it upon himself to order a mail-order bride for the protagonist without his knowledge. To complicate matters further, Evelyn arrives in town completely unaware that the hero has not been informed of her arrival or her reason for coming. Despite this rocky start, they enter into a marriage of convenience.
I found their humorous exchanges delightful as they navigated their emotional challenges while trying to make their marriage work. However, what truly captivated me was how friends and family play pivotal roles in guiding the couple onto their path toward love.
"Melissa Jagears is a stand-out talent! Her fresh new voice is strong, stylish, and makes A Bride for Keeps a page-turner for anyone who fancies a stirring love story." -Rosslyn Elliot, author of Fairer Than Morning and Sweeter Than Birdsong
"A Bride for Keeps treats readers to an engaging, prairie romance...delivering a heartwarming, satisfying read." -Maggie Brendan, CBA bestselling author of The Heart of the West and The Blue Willow Brides series.
"Melissa Jagears has penned a tender tale of a mail-order bride who takes both the groom--and herself--by surprise when love comes softly...quietly... to heal their broken hearts." -Julie…
In the small town of Grady, Montana, twenty-four-year-old Tad Bungley has a reputation for trouble. When he lands a job at Come Around Ranch, however, his life seems to take a positive turn. As he develops a soft spot for Sam, the ranch owner's disabled son, and a special bond…
As both a writer and a reader, I love romance novels set in the late 1800s because many of the problems people faced back then are similar to the problems encountered today. For example, we worry about losing jobs to AI. Back then, workers worried about mechanization. Also, while researching a book, I was fascinated to learn that meetings, dating sites, games, and “text” messages were just as prevalent then as they are today, thanks to the Victorian Internet (aka the telegraph). Another reason I’m fascinated with the Old West is because it caused women to challenge traditional roles and enter into professions previously dominated by males.
I found this book to be incredibly enjoyable. I was captivated by Edythe’s experience as she tackles her first teaching job, which is set in a one-room schoolhouse in Nebraska. Initially, the town folks were delighted, as she replaced a teacher they deemed ruthless. However, their delight soon turned to dismay at Edythe’s teaching style, which made me laugh out loud. Not only did she shock the town by having her students catch bugs, but she also took them on an outrageous field trip to a women’s suffrage rally. Oh, my!
I loved the hero. As a widower, he believed that having a female teacher would provide just the kind of influence his two boys needed. However, with the town up in arms—along with his own uncertainties— he is unsure how much longer he can support her unconventional ways. This caused romantic conflict that kept me turning pages, eager to…
Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a strong believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her?
Joel Townsend is thrilled to learn the town council hired a female teacher to replace the ruthless man who terrorized his nephews for the past two years. Having raised the boys on his own since their parents' untimely deaths, Joel believes they will benefit from a woman's influence. But he sure didn't bargain…
I’m passionate about reading books in which three-dimensional female heroines are put into situations where they are challenged to reach their full potential, along with being capable of looking after themselves and facing their fears. A great, suspenseful thriller allows me to delve into that dangerous part of the world, which is frightening but strangely enticing.
I loved this book because it reminded me of how brutally the Suffragettes were treated, even by their own families.
I loved the history behind the story, which included World War I and how women looked after their families in a time of great poverty.
At times, I was angry for the heroine, but I loved how her fortitude and resilience to survive made me feel empowered. In the end, it was an uplifting story of hope and love.
Eveline's father believes a woman's place is in the home...
But when she is accidentally caught up in a suffragette march, it changes her life forever.
She finds friendships, and even the possibility of love too in the form of the gentlemanly Laurence Jones-Fairbrook. But will she be forced to choose between her family and friends... between duty and love?
(Note: previously published as Give Me Tomorrow by Elizabeth Lord)
I love morally complex sci-fi noir books because they tend to ask the hard questions that I find interesting. What is the point of seeking justice in an unjust world? How can we judge others when we ourselves are corrupt? Often, we think of noir as being dark—and it is—but it’s the pinpricks of light that make the shadows fascinating to me. I try to blend this complexity into my own writing, whether it’s in a tense relationship with religion, rampant corruption, or a struggle to do the right thing when there just aren’t any options left.
I love this book because it perfectly blends the surreal with noir and science fiction and comes together with its own brand of dark humor. While parts of this book are unsettling and strange, there’s a solid throughline of the investigator seeking the truth in a broken world.
Of all the books here, I think this one has the most damaged society, and the main character, Conrad Metcalf, is a match for it. Drugs that make you forget everything and be complacent. Baby heads. Uplifted animals. The book is never afraid to get stranger, but it also tackles some pretty heavy themes. This is a world where asking questions is taboo, and the moral and ethical implications of that shape the entire world in which Metcalf lives.
The first novel by Jonathan Lethem (author of the award-winning Motherless Brooklyn) is a science-fiction mystery, a dark and funny post-modern romp serving further evidence that Lethem is the distinctive voice of a new generation.
Conrad Metcalf has problems. He has a monkey on his back, a rabbit in his waiting room, and a trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. (Maybe evolution therapy is not such a good idea). He's been shadowing Celeste, the wife of an Oakland urologist. Maybe falling in love with her a little at the same time. When the doctor turns up dead, Metcalf finds himself caught…
Readers describe Krenik's writing style as “fast-paced, engaging, making complex plotlines easy to follow.”
Set in a dystopian world where dragons exist, this series offers readers layers of mysteries to unfold. Romance flares between a viscount and the nanny of his five-year-old twins. But not everyone is as they seem,…
I grew up hearing stories about my grandfather, who was the blacksmith in Saratoga, California, from the 1920s to the 1940s, and I wanted to write a novel about him. As I began to research his life, a world opened up to me. I learned how the suburbs I’d grown up in were built on one of the world’s greatest fruit-growing regions, and the story about my grandfather grew into a story about the profound changes we’ve wrought upon the land. That novel, The Blossom Festival, was the beginning of my lifelong engagement with the peoples and places of my home state that I’ve carried through in all the books I’ve written.
California stories are frequently immigrant stories, and there are many to choose from.
I loved Elaine Castillo’s debut novel about three generations of Filipinos who settle in the Bay Area and fight their way to a place for themselves. The characters are vibrant and alive, querulous, sexy, ambitious, dreamy. They never completely overcome the shadow of the past in the Philippines or the conflicts of the present in the United States, but despite sadness and tragedy, the book ends with love.
Moderation, the 'passionate and tender love story' (Kaliane Bradley), is out July 2025 - available to pre-order now ______________________
Longlisted for the Aspen Literary Prize, 2019 Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, 2018 Longlisted for Elle's Big Book Award, 2018
A giant debut novel about the redemptive, restorative power of love; about trust and fear; hair and makeup; food and sex; it's about belonging and...not belonging. It's a soulful literary saga set in the early nineties of San Francisco; a coming-of-age about leaving home and, sometimes, the necessity of turning back.
I grew up hearing stories about my grandfather, who was the blacksmith in Saratoga, California, from the 1920s to the 1940s, and I wanted to write a novel about him. As I began to research his life, a world opened up to me. I learned how the suburbs I’d grown up in were built on one of the world’s greatest fruit-growing regions, and the story about my grandfather grew into a story about the profound changes we’ve wrought upon the land. That novel, The Blossom Festival, was the beginning of my lifelong engagement with the peoples and places of my home state that I’ve carried through in all the books I’ve written.
James D. Houston is an underrated California novelist, and Continental Drift is his best book.
I love this story of a family trying to re-establish a life in a world haunted by the aftermath of the Vietnam War and threatened by a string of inexplicable murders.
Houston’s descriptions of the land rival Steinbeck’s, and he situates the family’s home on the legendary San Andreas Fault—symbolically invoking the potential for disaster that lurks beneath the fertile soil.
The San Andreas Fault is both a real and a metaphorical player in this novel of northern California in the early 70s. Set on a ranch near Monterey Bay, it explores relationships in a family jarred by the return of a son from Vietnam, almost whole but shaken and confused. His return coincides with a series of bizarre killings that panic the community a reminder that in the legendary land of promise abundant possibilities and agents of destruction live side by side.
When I was eighteen, I had an experience I call religious: I was sitting outside of an ivy-covered building at my undergraduate school and reading the opening words of Vergil’s Roman epic, The Aeneid (in Latin, but I didn’t know Latin yet). The sky became clearer; it shone with different light. It became clear to me at that moment that I was supposed to be a poet. So, yeah, I went on to learn lots of stuff, including languages, so that I could read poetry in them. I did all that to serve the greater goal of being a poet.
This book taught me that you can surf the line between realism and the incredible (even the ridiculous). The main character, Oedipa Maas, is my favorite heroine because of her openness to every tantalizing possibility (and the possibilities keep ramifying infinitely).
Everything in this book is both fully a symbol and fully itself.
By far the shortest of Pynchon's great, dazzling novels - and one of the best.
Suffused with rich satire, chaotic brilliance, verbal turbulence and wild humour, The Crying of Lot 49 opens as Oedipa Maas discovers that she has been made executrix of a former lover's estate. The performance of her duties sets her on a strange trail of detection, in which bizarre characters crowd in to help or confuse her. But gradually, death, drugs, madness and marriage combine to leave Oepida in isolation on the threshold of revelation, awaiting The Crying of Lot 49.
In the shadows of the Roman Colosseum, a young slave woman discovers friendship, belonging, and the fragile beginnings of love.
Rome, 80 AD. Althea has spent her life unseen, recording the words of powerful men while silencing her own. But when she is sent to serve Marcus, the grieving manager…
History has always fascinated me. I majored in history as an undergrad, but what really shaped me was listening to people tell their stories. My earliest memories are of sitting with my grandparents and listening to them share bits of their lives with me. Those stories helped me understand that history is not a list of events, but rather a sharing of the human experience. Each of the stories in this book list highlights a moment in history, but they also show readers our humanity across time; that people have the same hopes and dreams no matter where they came from and what they experienced.
This is a historical fiction graphic novel and a time-travel story that pulled me in immediately.
The main character, Kiku, goes back in time and experiences her grandmother’s time in the Japanese Internment camps. Even though I have read several novels about this topic, the illustrations accompanying the story proved very powerful for me and led to a new level of understanding.
This story is timely and impactful and draws connections to the present. It is a reminder that history is cyclical and that displacement can happen to any group of people.
Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II.
These displacements keep occurring until Kiku finds herself 'stuck' back in time. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.
