Elegant and Historical
10 stories
Duplicity [Available on Radish] by CasterKendall
CasterKendall
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[Read free chapters of "Duplicity" on Radish via @radish_fiction https://radishfiction.com/stories/15109 Or own the ebook through select major online retailers through: https://books2read.com/DuplicitybyCKendall] ******************************** Lord Davenport wanted to see for himself the young debutante who had captured his cousin's heart. He didn't expect to fall for her himself. She was beautiful, but was she as pure as she looked? If so, why was she slinking off into dark corners with a mystery man at a monumental risk to her reputation? Why couldn't he get her out of his head? Ah, such thick, silky dark hair, pale alabaster skin, and lips that invited kisses and sin. All Lady Evelyn ever wanted was to uncover the mystery surrounding her illegitimate birth. It's a stain that haunted her all her life. But when she found herself married to the domineering and jealous Lord Davenport, he put a stop to her pursuit that's already placed her in danger. Undeterred, she continued to do so in secret. But her husband must have discovered her disobedience, for he turned cold and distant overnight. She couldn't have known the capricious stranger she married had unspeakable secrets he couldn't reveal. Desperate and confused, she sought help and advice where she could to win him back. Only the friends she trusted aimed to destroy her instead. Unbridled passion always exacts a heavy price. Friendships ruined. Familial bonds severed. How could happily ever after be possible when every smile hid hearts filled with duplicity? ******** Tag ranking: #1 lovehate #3 duplicity #6 darkfiction
A Fairy Tale [Available on Radish] by CasterKendall
CasterKendall
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[This book has been renamed "Kingdom of Lore," Season I. A thoroughly revised version is currently being released on Radish. Check out "Kingdom of Lore" on Radish via @radish_fiction https://radishfiction.com/stories/15622 Or own the ebook! Now available at select major online retailers: https://books2read.com/KingdomOfLorebyCKendall] Kidnapped and brutalised, Princess Aurora knew more horrors lay ahead if she waited to be rescued. So she, along with a fellow captured peasant boy, set off on a daring escape. Together, they risk life and limb to return to her kingdom. But was home the safest place for either of them? As the Princess faced choosing between duty or following her heart, her father, the king, is toppled and killed! With fortune's reversal, a princess becomes a servant while the peasant boy rises to command her kingdom. Could Aurora believe the boy she once loved didn't plot against her? Would she rise again? Or should they allow their undeniable passion for each other to destroy a kingdom. ************ Historical Fiction reading list Stories Undiscovered, featured November, 2021
A is For Arson: A Langley & Porter Mystery (FIRST FIVE CHAPTERS) by ANHorton1227
ANHorton1227
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Alexander Langley wasn't looking for trouble but Charlotte Porter found him anyway. Only, this new partnership has them in over their heads and way before their time. 2020 WATTYS WINNER in MYSTERY The life of a poor merchant's daughter in Victorian Era London is quite boring. Charlotte Porter, it seems, is the exception. Desperate for a source of income once her father's gambling debts have drained their funds and placed them in the sights of some of London's most notorious criminals, Charlotte is in search of salvation. It comes in the form of handsome detective Alexander Langley, a curious gentleman with a strange connection to Scotland Yard and an even stranger connection to the American West. Charlotte soon finds herself swept into his world of investigation and intrigue. When a case of art theft turns into murder and she and Alexander are thrown into the seedy underbelly of the London elite, Charlotte realizes that the work isn't the only thing she's become attached to. But now, her father's powerful creditors are ready to close the books on them, and Charlotte must find a way to keep them out of the red because this time it won't be written in ink. Book 1 of the Langley & Porter Series *Featured on: The Wattpad Stars For Fans of Bridgerton List Wattpad's Strong Female Leads List @HistoricalFiction 's The Gothic List EDITOR'S PICK April 2021 Content warning: This story contains violence. **This is only the first five chapters. The rest of the book is available on Amazon for purchase and via KU.**
1928 ✓ by highfoxes
highfoxes
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Rose Davies, a modern-day university student, finds herself trapped in the body of a 20s Lady, who had been brutally murdered at her time. Cutthroat gangs, fancy pubs and a new aristocratic lifestyle pull her into the hazardous world of Old London. An encounter with the Walker Twins, leaders of a subversive organisation, throws her into a blind alley as she tries to save herself from the dangerous fate that awaits her. Looking for a way to turn back to her world, what will cross her path in the meantime? Hardship? Crime? Betrayal? New friendships? And perhaps, love? Cover made by nelysian Copyright © 2020 by L (highfoxes)
Merry Sister Mary and the One and Only Killer by Jules_Haigler
Jules_Haigler
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🏆Wattys 2019 Winner for Mystery & Thriller🏆 Sister Mary has lost her way, or so people think. Kicked out of her convent and sent away to be reformed, this jolly nun discovers her gift of glee is perfect for solving murders and the occasional naughty peek. ________________________________________ Merry Sister Mary is the world's most happy-go-lucky nun, and where the nuns are concerned, possibly the worst. She has none of the qualities reserved for a traditional lady of the cloth: a fear of water, an odd relationship with an umbrella, and no talent in teaching or nursing, yet Sister Mary believes she has a special God given power, laughter. Such a belief has led her to be kicked out of her convent in Chicago for accidentally flashing a group of churchgoers and deemed in desperate need of reform. She is sent on a bus to a stricter convent in New Orleans, Louisiana, but in a drama fueled twist, God has different plans for the joyous nun. She is to solve a murder. After missing the bus Sister Mary is forced to seek refuge with a Catholic family in the small town of St. Francisville. A horrific murder occurs sending the town into a frenzy of bittersweet joy. The person killed has long been despised and so named the Stanton Witch for the mystery surrounding her husband's death and the decades of misfortune since her arrival. In an effort to expose the truth, Sister Mary finds herself in the middle of one family's terrible and insidious secret. As the bodies pile up she uses her gift of glee to uncover the clues missed by the police and hopefully stop the killer from claiming another innocent victim. Her goal-- prove to the world once and for all that one does not need to be traditional to make a difference. Comedy ■ Mystery ■ Thriller [COMPLETED] Copyright © Jules Haigler No parts of this book may be distributed, copied, or sold on any media without permission of the author. All names, places, and themes are a work of fiction.
The Painted Altar by bigimp
bigimp
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WATTYS WINNER 2020 Two interconnected murders, 64 years apart. One woman's search for truth and identity. Readers' comments: 'a masterpiece', 'impeccably written', 'amazing', 'superbly crafted page-turner', 'hauntingly beautiful', 'tremendous plot and character development', 'one of a kind', 'fantastic story telling', 'loved this book', 'a wonderful read", 'absolutely beautiful', 'brought tears to my eyes' and many more Wattys judging panel: 'This is VERY good. We were HOOKED from the beginning, and the writing and plot hold up throughout. This is a very unique, polished, well-written and well-researched piece.' Plot Set partly in rural England, partly on the sun-kissed coast of southerm Italy, The Painted Altar is a murder mystery mixed with romantic and historical elements (World War Two). Given away at two days old, Mary Rice has spent her life in the shadows. When discovering the suspicious circumstances surrounding her biological mother's death, she embarks on a journey which will shine a light not only on the truth but also on her own identity. Brief extract Suddenly, the door had inched open, half a wrinkled face visible behind the tautened chain. "Hello. Who is it?" The words I was going to say had of course been well-rehearsed, repeated over and over in my mind like a mantra, but now that the moment had arrived I found myself struggling to remember them. "Mrs Harvey... I think that you might... well, that you might be..." The door closed, then slowly opened once more, the chain this time unlatched. And there she was before me - half a metre away, within arm's reach. Thin lips gradually crooking upwards at each corner like the slow beatific kindling of a summer's dawn. "Oh yes love, I know who you are." Length: 70,000 words About the author: Originally from England but for the last 16 years I've been living in Italy. I hope therefore that the Italian aspects of the novel will have a certain gloss of authenticity.
Who Kissed Charlie Fine? by SeventyMurphy
SeventyMurphy
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* 4 Sample Chapters * Inquisitive heir, Charlie Fine's obsession with the truth makes him an excellent fraud investigator, but there's one mystery he's never been able to solve: the identity of the girl who gave him the greatest kiss of his life during a high school game of 7 Minutes In Heaven. Twenty years of experiments attempting to recreate the chemistry of that kiss have gotten him nowhere but frustrated and he's about to resign himself to a life without relationship fireworks when an invitation to his high school reunion steels his resolve to get answers once and for all. Accompanied by his binge-drinking best buddy, Martin, he heads home to grill his lovely suspects only to find his skills better put to use in solving the disappearance of an old friend's father and the sabotaging of a maple farm. Thwarted by a shady detective, distracted by a former classmate's troubled sister, will Charlie be able to find out who done it and who done it best? Will the same suspect hold the answers to both mysteries and will her identity be that of the dream girl he let get away? Who kissed Charlie Fine? You could skip to the end, but you'd miss more bear attacks, booby traps, pickled cabbage, flying cardboard, dry lightning, ghost parrots, creepy crawlers, maple syrup and tea cozies than in any cozy mystery about smooching you've ever read! Please know this story contains mild cursing and three F bombs - one of which is totally necessary. *Cover art uses "On-De-Fence" by Gil Elvgren which is to the best of my knowledge in the public domain. *No part of this story may be reproduced or used in any manner without express written permission by the author. © All Rights Reserved
The Numbered by bnlfan
bnlfan
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Imagine the second you're born, a consultant removes you from your mother's grasp and runs a battery of genetic and physiological tests on you. Thirty minutes later they give you a score out of one hundred which denotes your level of perfection. If your score is above eighty and you work hard to maintain that score you will have a charmed life; well fed, well-rewarded, spoiled. But fall below eighty and you're labelled Flawed, and life will not be so kind. Hannah is adopted by a Flawed family when her birth parents choose their social standing over their daughter and endures a life of struggle, hunger and service. One day Hannah is escorted to the regional government office and told that the Consultant who delivered her, who labelled her Flawed got it wrong! Now, she is being relocated back to her birth parents, to live as one of the Ninety-Five- all medically and legally judged as perfect. Entering this new life Hannah has an impossible decision to make which puts not only hers, but the lives of everyone she cares about at great risk. "The Numbered- where no one wants to be number one". Authors notes: -This is a first draft of my story and will be edited soon. -2013 Began writing Flawed -2015 Watty Winner/ Named changed to The Numbered -2016 Completed The Numbered -2019 Optioned by eOne for development into a TV show.
The Nymph of Versailles by KateValent
KateValent
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A 2019 Watty Winner. For fans of Allison Pataki and Philippa Gregory, THE NYMPH OF VERSAILLES is based on the true story of Madame Montespan's rise and fall at the court of King Louis XIV. Being the Sun King's mistress is a coveted position in a court full of greedy courtiers vying for power and Athénaïs de Montespan won't let anything stand in the way of her stealing the king's heart-not even poison. When the king's interest in his mistress Louise begins to wane, Montespan sees the position as a possible escape from her husband's mounting debts and loveless marriage. Her strained friendship with Louise doesn't stop her from charming the king. However keeping his heart is tricky in a court full of plotting beauties eager to have him for themselves, especially with her jealous husband bent on ending her seduction. Then her children's governess becomes an unexpected rival for the king's heart and the only woman who can contend with Montespan. With the court swirling with rumors of poison, Montespan finds herself caught in the web of accusations. Her position with the king begins to crumble as she fights to hold on to the life she's built. Without the king's love, she fears she will lose everything as she falls from grace.
Emma made me do it by PhenaPoo
PhenaPoo
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GOING BACK IN TIME WAS NEVER PART OF KATS PLAN FOR THE FUTURE... Kat Jones is an average teenager in her last year of school and all she wants to do is get it over with so that she can get into her dream university and get her dream job. However her life's plans are disturbed when she is mysteriously transported back in time, to the year 1807, and into the body of Lady Katherine Ainsworth, where manners and decorum are important and one small mistake could ruin your reputation. ERIC'S FUTURE IS CAUSING HIS PAST TO CATCH UP WITH HIM Lord Eric Hartford is stuck in a marriage arrangement with a girl he has no interest in, and all he wants to do is live the rest of his lonely life in peace. When his fiancee has an accident that causes her to lose her memory, he secretly hopes to get out of the marriage but there's something about her that's changed and is attracting him towards her...