A selection of this week’s new Historical and Romance fiction titles to 11th May – Jill’s Book Cafe
Here’s my pick of this week’s new hardback/paperback fiction titles. In some cases the eBook might already be available.
Just a reminder, I don’t have access to a complete list of titles being published, and, as I don’t see any advance copies, my choices are based on the cover, blurb, gut instinct and what takes my fancy at the time.
(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)
Index
Historical (I tend to take this as pre 1960’s ie not in my lifetime!)
Historical
My Name is Emilia Del Valle by Isabelle Allende
Emilia del Valle was always destined for great things.
Abandoned at birth by her Chilean aristocrat father, Emilia comes of age in nineteenth-century San Francisco as an independent and fiercely ambitious young woman, decades ahead of her time. She will do whatever it takes to pursue her life’s passion for writing, even if it means publishing under a man’s name.
When Emilia lands a position as a journalist for the Daily Examiner, her unwavering sense of adventure – and new-found determination to survive in her own name – leads her to seize the chance to cover a brewing civil war in Chile alongside another talented reporter.
But the assignment offers Emilia more than just an opportunity to prove herself as a writer. Before long she embarks on a treacherous, life-changing journey in a homeland she never knew, to uncover the truth about her father – and herself.
The Propagandist by Cecile Desprairies
In a grand Paris apartment, a young girl attends gatherings regularly organised by her mother. They talk about clothes and exchange the day’s gossip, but the mood grows dark when they start to talk about her past, and the great love she is said to have known during the Second World War.
When the girl grows up, she looks into the enigmatic figures in and around her family. Who was the man her mother fell in love with before the war? Why did they zealously collaborate with the Nazi occupiers of France? And why did they remain for decades afterwards obsessive devotees of that lost cause?
In The Propagandist, a historian of Vichy France investigates the secrets, lies and omissions in her own family in the way she has investigated those of France itself. It is a masterpiece of psychological insight, revealing how people can spend a lifetime deceiving themselves, rather than confront their own past.
Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons
Cleopatra, Egyptian Princess, grows up the favoured daughter of the Pharoah, hiding amongst the scrolls in the great library of Alexandria with her beloved slave Charmian, longing for the chance one day to write her own story.
Then when her father dies, willing that Cleopatra rule with her selfish brother Ptolemy, danger stirs. As the young Egyptian Queen sails the Nile to greet her people, he plots to destroy her and take the throne for himself.
But while Ptolemy has the power of Egypt behind him, Cleopatra has her wits. And when the great Caesar arrives from Rome, she realises he could be the key to her salvation – though courting this powerful man could cost her everything.
Can Cleopatra save her life, her throne, her beloved Egypt and finally command her own history?
Sheena’s Promise by Carol MacLean
Can she fix her family before the war is over?
When Eileen, known to all as Sheena, is forced to move back to Kiltie Street from Devon by her landlady, she is unsure how she will start over again. With the help of friends old and new, she finds work at a garment factory. And though she catches the eye of some local men, her fiancé, Jimmy, overseas is never far from her mind.
As life settles in, a surprise appears at Sheena’s door: a woman named Amy, claiming to be her cousin. Amy has strange habits and a frantic personality – but Sheena agrees to house her for the time being. However, her suspicions grow around Amy’s secretive ways, especially when Jimmy returns from war, and Amy refuses to leave the newlyweds.
With war coming to a close, Amy is hiding more than Sheena imagined. With help from the rest of the Kiltie Street girls, can Sheena find a way to mend their differences, and be a family once again?
The Secrets of Eastby End by Anna Jacobs
Livia Blake has lost her husband far too soon and faces a crossroads. It’s her friend Pearl Grayson, head of Bristol’s nursing school, who suggests she would make an excellent district nurse. With training completed and no ties left, a job offer to join the team in rural Eastby End feels just like the fresh start she needs. But just before she leaves she is called out to attend a woman named Jane, left terrified and beaten by her abusive husband and desperate to escape. On the spur of the moment, both women board the train to Eastby End.
Ellis Quinn has buried his beloved wife and mother to his son, Gil, and doesn’t know how to carry on in London. A chance meeting with carpenter Logan brings a glimpse of life in the Ollindale countryside, a place Logan loves, and soon Ellis and Gil are on their way to a new life away from the city.
Life in Eastby End is improving, but not nearly as fast as councillor Walter Crossley would like. He is on a mission to end the poverty and danger that blights too many lives, and bring better healthcare and opportunities to as many residents as he can. With Livia in place and swiftly making a difference, and Ellis looking to set up a new business, things look brighter. But change isn’t welcome everywhere; and there are some in the town who will fight for things to remain exactly as they are …
Last Train to Freedom by Deborah Swift
1940. As Soviet forces storm Lithuania, Zofia and her brother Jacek must flee to survive.
A lifeline appears when Japanese consul Sugihara offers them visas on one condition: they must deliver a parcel to Tokyo. Inside lies intelligence on Nazi atrocities, evidence so explosive that Nazi and Soviet agents will stop at nothing to possess it.
Pursued across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Express, Zofia faces danger at every turn, racing to expose the truth as Japan edges closer to allying with the Nazis. With the fate of countless lives hanging in the balance, can she complete her mission before time runs out?
New Hope for the Clarks Factory Girls by May Ellis
1917: As the war reaches its final moments, the families of the Somerset village of Street take comfort in new arrivals among them, but can they allow themselves to hope, or are more dark times around the corner?
Following her recent marriage to Lucas, Louisa is delighted to discover she is expecting. But after everything she’s lost since the war began, dare she believe that this is a sign of brighter days ahead?
Meanwhile, Louisa’s friends Kate and Jeannie struggle to balance factory work alongside their responsibilities at home, with shortages, illness and bad news from the front putting them under ever more pressure. Then unexpected news means that Jeannie can finally get her heart’s desire but can she accept her happiness at someone else’s expense? And when Kate’s tyrannical father dies, Kate pledges never to let another man have power over her, and to forge a career for herself, whatever it takes. But when the armistice brings a surprise reunion, will she risk her independence for a chance at love?
One thing is certain, things are changing in the quiet village of Street. Can the Clarks factory girls navigate a changing world and stick together?
The Spitfire Girl’s Secret by Karen Dickson
Amidst the chaos of war, this spitfire girl will soar.
As Europe edges closer to war, Bella’s world is focused on avoiding a future like her mother’s. She doesn’t want to go to secretarial school to become another proper young lady; standing by prettily waiting to be chosen as a wife by her employer or another suitable man.
Bella wants more than that life can give. And like many women, her first opportunity for a different future comes when war is declared and duty calls her to the skies. It allows her a proper escape from a father who is determined to keep her away from the one man she thinks she could love, Will.
But wartime brings the threat of pain as much as it does freedom. And Bella’s tentative happiness is set to be risked by a secret much closer to home.
Can she escape the darkness at home and fly her way to liberty and happiness?
Ghost Wedding by David Park
When George Allenby is put in charge of building a lake in the grounds of an imposing Irish manor house, he intends to do the job as swiftly as possible and return to Belfast. Allenby is still wrestling with his time as an officer during the First World War, burdened by the many things he could have done differently.
Almost a century later, Alex and Ellie are preparing for their wedding, sparing no expense to hire a venue overlooking the very lake Allenby built all those years ago.
Like Allenby before him, Alex is haunted by decisions he made in the past. Now, with the wedding drawing ever closer, he is at a crossroads. Telling the truth might free him from his guilt; it might also take away everything he cares about, including Ellie.
In this masterful portrait of love and betrayal, David Park reveals the many ways the past seeps into the present: destructive, formidable, but also hopeful, in the moments of fragile beauty that remain.
Romance
Beach Vibes by Susan Mallery
What would you do if you caught your brother cheating on your best friend?
While Beth is proud of her Malibu beach shop, Surf Sandwiches, she’s even prouder of her charismatic brother Rick, who rose from foster care through surgical residency. She makes subs, he saves lives. Life takes a turn for the happy after she finds out Rick is dating her new best friend, Jana. Then Jana’s handsome brother adds even more sparkle to Beth’s days…and nights.
But when she catches Rick with another woman—like, with-with—her visions of an idyllic family future disappear in one awful instant. Either she betrays her brother, or she keeps his secret and risks losing the man she loves and her best friend.
Booked for Summer by Kathryn Freeman
A love story she didn’t see coming…
When book lover Jade Taylor applies to manage the Little Bay Book Shack on Nantucket Island over the summer, the last thing she needs is the distraction of billionaire resort owner, Liam Haven.
But things take an unexpected turn when Liam becomes Jade’s boss – a man who reads nothing but contracts for pleasure…
In a bid to save the bookshop from being absorbed into the Haven resort, Jade is determined to teach Liam that there’s more to life than acquiring real estate. And if she can make him realise happily ever afters do exist, might she be able to save the island’s bookshop in the process?
So That Happened by Christy McKellen
Two strangers. One Bed…
After three months of travelling, all entrepreneur Connor Preston wants to do is return to his holiday home in the South of France, sink into his own bed and shut the world out temporarily. The last thing he expects is to find a stark-naked woman already there….
Forced by her business partner to take a break in her sumptuous French farmhouse, workaholic Josie Marchpane wasn’t anticipating company either. So imagine her shock when six foot four inches of pure muscle with a disturbingly sexy smile stranger and apparent co-owner of the house walks in and tells her to leave!
Knowing she has every right to be there, Josie stands her ground, she’s not about to give up without a fight. Because Josie plays to win. The problem? Connor does, too. And with only one bed between them, things are about to get interesting….
Jilted by Vi Keeland
Weddings. I spend every working minute talking and writing about them, when just the thought of one makes me want to scream. After my fiancé abandoned me at the altar last year, my dream job at Bride magazine has turned into a reoccurring nightmare.
To add insult to injury, the bridezilla at my latest assignment, somehow roped me into filling in for a missing bridesmaid. Of course, I had to get paired with the most gorgeous groomsman. Wilder Hayes is perfect-except when he opens his mouth and we end up bickering all evening. That is, until the coat closet incident.
At least I’ll never have to see him again. Or so I think… Until I walk into work on Monday and find out Wilder isn’t just a jerk, he’s also my boss’s son. And I’ll be spending the rest of the season working with him at every single wedding I cover this year.
It’s a match made in heaven . . . or hell. Only time will tell.
Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
Bel’s joined the tiny Manchester office of a national paper from her indie podcast.
Thirty-something Connor is going to back to the start as the new intern.
The latest office news? They can’t stand each other.
So of course Bel bumps into Connor when she’s working undercover on the biggest scoop of her career. And of course she’s forced to improvise, pretending they’re a couple. A couple deeply in love.
Two rivals. One fake romance. The headline writes itself…
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
What happens when you find love, but life keeps getting in the way?
When she first meets Adam, Coralie is new to London and feeling adrift. But Adam is clever, witty, and – he insists – half an inch taller than the average British male. His charming four-year-old daughter, Zora, only adds to his appeal.
And yet ten years on, something important is missing from the life Coralie and Adam (though let’s face it, mostly Coralie) have built. Or maybe, having gained everything she dreamed of, Coralie has lost something she once had: herself.
Set against an eventful decade that included the soap opera of five Prime Ministers plus Brexit and Covid, Consider Yourself Kissed puts the subjects of love and family on a grand stage, bringing to life how the intimate drama in our homes inescapably competes for energy and attention with the shared drama of our times.
The Last Sunrise by Anna Todd
Between chronic health issues and an overprotective mother, twenty-two-year-old Oriah Pera feels like she’s stuck waiting for her life to begin. But when her mother’s job takes them to Majora, Ry’s ready to break free and make this summer hers.
In her first small act of rebellion, she escapes to explore the island on her own – only to run into an infuriatingly charming Spaniard who sees her as nothing more than a sheltered tourist. With unexpected tension simmering between them, Ry isn’t sure if she should start listening to her head or her heart.
As the summer rolls on, Julian has a way of pulling Ry out of her shell and showing her the adventure she’s always craved. But with her return to America looming, and her mother’s expectations of their life weighing on her, Ry must decide if she’s brave enough to take a chance on love and start living for herself.
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
I never anticipated Charlie Florek. But Charlie Florek changed my life.
Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s Nan always says. And it’s true. It’s where Alice took that photo, the one that catapulted her career.
But when Nan falls, Alice puts down her camera and heads back to Barry’s Bay. No camera. No deadlines. Quiet… until he shows up.
Charlie Florek. He was nineteen when she accidentally photographed him. Now he’s back – taller, hotter, and somehow even more unforgettable.
Sun-soaked days, slow-burning nights – and when Charlie looks at her like that, Alice starts to wonder if her heart’s in danger.
She’s spent her life seeing others. But no one’s ever truly seen her…until now.
Stolen Dreams by Natasha Madison
Montgavin Township will never be the same when one night changes the lives of six people.
The course of their lives and the trajectory of the town sets them on a collision course for disaster.
Lilah
I was left for dead when I was eighteen.
Coming to Mustang Creek Ranch gave me something to live for.
My boss is grumpy and reclusive.
But I’m secretly in love with him, even though he’s made it known he’ll never settle down.
Even though he’s made it clear, he’ll never be mine-or anyone’s.
Emmett
I’ve kept my distance from Lilah for years. No matter how much I want her, she’s off-limits.
The only family I will ever have are the ones I fought beside in battle-the family I chose.
Until the phone rang and I found out I had an eight-year-old daughter.
Watching Lilah with my daughter makes me wonder what it would be like to do the thing I
swore I never would: have a family and fall in love.
When I move her into my house to keep her safe from the dangers of her past, all bets are off.
An Italian Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack
Can old flames reignite under the hot Italian sun? 🌞
When the destination wedding agency Sophie works for merges with an adventure travel company to create unique ceremonies for outdoor enthusiasts, Sophie is horrified to discover her gruff ex-boyfriend Andreas works there. Even worse: he’s been assigned as her guide for a scouting trip to Italy, in search of the perfect location for a summit-top wedding.
Thrown together to make another couple’s romantic dreams come true, all Sophie can think about are the dreams she once had for them. But when the truth of what actually happened eight long years ago finally emerges, will Sophie risk imagining a happily-ever-after and opening her heart to Andreas again…?
The Cornish Cottage by the Sea by Kim Nash
A new start by the sea…
For Jo Jenkins, life has always been about putting others first. But with her children grown and her ex-husband as rotten as ever, she knows it’s time to put herself at the heart of the story. So, when she inherits a beautiful beachside cottage in Cornwall, she grabs the chance to start over.
The crumbling old cottage needs a little love, but so does Jo. And with the help of her new friends – a kind-hearted jeweller, a no-nonsense businesswoman, and a local Jack of all trades with a past of his own – Jo begins to rebuild more than just bricks and mortar.
But tucked away inside the cottage is a secret that could change everything. As the waves roll in and the sea air clears her mind, Jo must decide if she’s ready to let go of the past. Will she finally learn to embrace the life she truly deserves?
So that’s all for this week.
Happy Reading!
