100 Books Like Wild Bells to the Wild Sky

One of my all-time favorite stories set on the high seas with a daring sea captain and a worthy heroine. The story involves two competing shipping companies in 19th century England, and two captains (the English Earl, Captain Sutherland, and the American, Captain Lassiter). Each must win the Great Race from London to Sydney to survive.

When Lassiter is imprisoned, his daughter, Nicole, who has been raised at sea decides to enter the race for him. Nicole is attracted to the handsome Sutherland, who when he first encounters her in a dockside bar, thinks she's a whore. Circumstances make them enemies. When sabotage of her ship forces her to join him on his ship, her spirit and his wall of stone collide. The result? A fast-paced story that grabs you.

Set during the War of 1812 this is a great pirate romance. It tells the story of innocent, sheltered Merry Wilding, an American living in Virginia with her maiden aunt. Merry has a talent for drawing faces from memory, a talent her brother, an American spy will use to his benefit, exposing her to pirates and worse. On her way to England with her aunt, she is kidnapped. Taken to a pirate ship, Merry meets the English pirate, Devon, who remembers her from a night long ago. 

The writing is superb, the characters courageous, heartwarming, and very special; the descriptions vivid. The story is a wonder to read. You will be swept away on a pirate ship to experience adventures, battles at sea, storms, death, humor, and love.

Set at the dawn of the Regency era, the story begins on a British naval vessel on its way to Australia, transporting a famous prisoner—American privateer, Justin Phillips—as well as civilian passengers, including shy, 17-year old Christina Marks, in mourning for her father’s death and going to live with her uncle.

Justin and Christina share a love for books and ideas but are terribly different personalities. Were it not for the unusual circumstances in which the shy, unselfish girl speaks through a small window to a prisoner she can’t see, they never would have formed the bond they did. 

Horsman has brilliantly crafted this tale of a sheltered vicar’s daughter and a hardened man. Despite all against them, the two fall quickly and desperately in love.

Superbly written, heart-stopping, action-filled. It’s the story of highborn 18-year-old Cassie Brougham, who on the day before her marriage to a viscount she has loved for years, is abducted by 34-year-old Anthony Wells, the Earl of Clare, who has been watching her since she was a child all the while believing she is his perfect mate. 

Though Anthony’s intention is marriage, that doesn’t stop him from rape to claim her, nor imprisonment, first on his yacht and then in his Italian villa, as he tries to persuade her to marry him. The plot is intricate and intriguing with lots of action and lots of mystery. The characters are richly drawn, including the hero who has a noble side notwithstanding his selfish and brutal act of taking another man’s bride.

Jen Turano is the queen of quirky characters. This book had me giggling and guffawing with all its crazy shenanigans. Who knew an oversized bustle could double as a floatation device? Daphne Beekman is a successful author who pens thrilling mysteries yet swoons at the first sign of danger in real life. As a consultant for an all-female inquiry agency, she puts her intelligence and creative mind to work solving crimes. But when the reclusive author, and incredibly handsome, Herman Henderson hires the agency, Daphne determines to take a more active role. Outlandish disguises, daring adventure, and bookish banter ensue as Daphne and Herman solve the greatest mystery of all—love.

This book was originally marketed as a “romance for the fans of the Game of Thrones”, and it is one of the books I really enjoy. The main character, Vitala, is sent by her secret order of rebels to assassinate the powerful Emperor of Kjall. When she arrives at court, she is quickly dropped into a torrent of intrigue that makes her question everything she’d learned, including her own mission. 

This book is pure fun, from start to finish. From the assassins’ standpoint, Vitala is a refreshing one, because her powers come from a special skill she possesses rather than weaponry. In fact, most of the imperial guards, as well as the Emperor himself, are much more capable than her when it comes to combat, and yet in the end the danger she brings outpowers them all. This book taught me a lot about writing action, intrigue, and romance.

I love this book because it brings two lost souls together for the trip of a lifetime. The heroine, Anna, is an emotional wreck, struggling to move on from the death of her fiance. The hero, Keane, is a steady guy recovering from a major accident. Anna needs a sailing partner for her trip around the Caribbean, and Keane is the perfect man for the job.

I’m a sucker for messy, imperfect heroines like Anna. Trish Doller delivers relatable characters in a charming page-turner of a romance. I love the island-hopping journey, Keane’s Irish accent, and all of Anna’s missteps as she navigates a sea change. 

Almost A Lady is filled with love, passion, and adventure for the restless soul. It has a fiery heroine who isn’t afraid to fight for her life, and the most ideal roguish pirate scoundrel one longs for in a Historical Romance. The perfect enemies-to-lovers tale that will have you staying up late for more. I loved this book because it revealed far more than what a traditional HR setting could be. It gave me love and peril and a hot slow-burn of fervor and intensity one needs in a great Historical Romance.

In 1950s Sewanee, Chang and Katherine slowly fall in love and find that the Souths of Korea and Tennessee are not that different after all, both subject to lingering issues of class, family, race, and civil war. I love the poetic language in this novel, as well as its ambitious story and the complexity invested in every relation.

Semi-spoiler alert: this book has the best ending line ever so don’t flip to the end or you’ll rob yourself of something very precious. I adore a nice ending twist and although not so much an O’Henry plot twist (love his stories) as an “aha” shift in perspective, it has stuck with me more than any other element of the story.

The book’s blurb very aptly describes The Sea of Tranquility as “... a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.” I’m a sucker for second chance stories, especially following an injustice. The beauty of this story lies not in the how the protagonist, Nastya, recovers her power by confronting and righting the injustice but in how she subtly and simultaneously learns to look forward instead of backward.