SaltwaterJoys's Reading List
57 stories
1520 Main by MoriahJovan
MoriahJovan
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Kansas City, Missouri, 1929 Trey Dunham, a mid-level cog in the Pendergast Machine during Prohibition, runs 1520 Main, Boss Tom's most prized speakeasy featuring good booze, hot jazz, and beautiful women. Trey wants to buy the joint and scrapes together every penny he can by running errands, guns, and booze. But every time he hits the sale price, Boss Tom jacks it up, keeping Trey digging holes in Brush Creek and making sure all the dead folks in Jackson County get to the polls. Twice. Then Boss Tom, seeing an opportunity to avenge an ancient grudge against one Reverend Gil Scarritt, offers 1520 Main as bait. If Trey can get the good reverend's daughter Marina knocked up without marrying her, Tom'll give Trey the bar lock, stock, and barrel. If he fails, Boss Tom will never sell it to him at any price. Trey never samples his own wares and he never bets against the house. But Tom's an inveterate-and very bad-gambler, and Trey's got several other reasons to take that bet because he's only ever wanted two things: Money and respectability. And he doesn't care what he has to do to get them.
Thief of My Heart (Watty Awards Finalist 2012) by sleepswithroses
sleepswithroses
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Hannibal Heyes is an outlaw trying to go straight. He's wanted dead or alive. The former leader of the Devil's Hole Gang doesn't have time or room for a woman in his life. But when he saves a girl from a band of murdering thieves, everything changes. With the threat of murderers on their tail and the ever growing attraction he has to his young and innocent new charge, Heyes must get to his quick drawing partner fast. Because he doesn't know who's a bigger threat to her...the villains or himself. Evangeline has lost everything. Her family has been murdered and her innocence and freedom nearly lost. But when she is rescued by a handsome, dimple faced cowboy, a whole new life opens up to her. Now she faces an uncertain future and an undeniable, burgeoning sexual awareness of her rescuer. As their friendship and their love grows, she finds that behind the strong, seemingly unshakable man, stands the shadow of a lost, lonely little boy who just may need rescuing himself.
The Gaze of a King by LizMack
LizMack
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*Sacred Crowns- Book 2* Her whole life she had been called beautiful. Glances and envious eyes were always cast her way. But never had Bathsheba expected to catch the eye of her King. And never in her wildest imaginings did she anticipate the tragedy it would wreak. Her life is thrust into a whirlwind of passion, betrayal, and heartbreak. Forced into a marriage with the man who orchestrated her husband's death, Bathsheba's heart is filled with rage and sorrow, struggling against a king who wields power over her life and destiny. Yet, beneath the palace's opulent façade, a story of healing begins to unfold.
The Queen of Persia by LizMack
LizMack
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*Now available for purchase on amazon. If you would like to read the entire story you can find it there!* *Sacred Crowns- Book 1* When Hadassah was a young girl she lost her beloved father prematurely to illness, marking her forever as an orphan. Her cousin Mordeccai, a palace scribe, loves Hadassah as if she were his own daughter. Hadassah grows under Mordeccai's careful guidance into a beautiful young woman. Then, unexpectantly, her modest life with Mordeccai is interrupted by all the splendor and luxury Persia has to offer. Hadassah is captured and taken to the palace against her will, along with hundreds of other young virgins. Each maiden will undergo beauty treatments in the palace's infamous harem, in order to vie for the enigmatic heart of King Xerxes. Only one can win the crown. The stakes are high and threats lurk behind every corner. Especially for those who harbor dangerous secrets.
The Highlander's Servant (Book One of the Highlander Possession Series) by foreverhopeful
foreverhopeful
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For Kirstin Croft, the lowlands of Scotland have always been a sanctuary for protecting her sense of virtue and purity. After she becomes involved in an unfortunate occurrence with Laird Lachlan of the Bateson Clan, her sanctuary begins to break into pieces and she experiences a loss of innocence. It is only when Lachlan makes her a servant of his manor within the highlands and includes Kirstin in the growing tensions with a bordering clan, that she discovers a hidden truth.
Necromancy In D Minor ✔️ by IntoTheTempest
IntoTheTempest
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Sin and symphony. That's all a necromancer needs. Octavia is a woman of many hats -- a maestro, an educator, a wanderer and an accomplished liar, and she wears all of them at once if need be. Masquerading as a music teacher, she travels the world on a mission to rid it of the netherborne -- a scourge from beyond the grave. When her travels take her to the tiny island of Hedalda, she finds a town on its knees, under the heel of the netherborne, and a people who believe necromancers are the worst thing to happen to humanity. Wit and a song, necromancy through music, was all she ever needed. But this time it isn't enough. The scourge looms larger with each song Octavia plays, and to save Hedalda she must navigate a web of deceit, look beyond sin and symphony, all while keeping her true identity a secret. Awesome cover was made by @scmimi
Color by thomaseng
thomaseng
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The Wattys 2018 Shortlist 1st Place Wattpad's The Historical Award 2019 During World War I, a black baseball player gets a second chance to play ball on an all-white steel mill baseball team, an action that shocks and divides an entire town. Targeted by opponents, his own team, and a ruthless gang, Henry Louis finds himself facing levels of anger and racism that threaten both his baseball career and his life. When Henry meets Sarah, a free-spirited girl with the dream of becoming a great writer, things get even more complicated as they fall in love. Sarah ignites Henry's heart to keep fighting for his right play the game he loves. But by refusing to back down, Henry will pay the greatest price. And in his suffering, Henry Louis will unite a town torn apart by prejudice and war ... not because of the color of his skin but because of the color of his dreams.
Rum for the Money by fernmorrow
fernmorrow
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Prohibition is the law of the land, but Nellie needs cash - after socking a gangster in the face, she's got ten days to make it right. Frightened and caught empty-handed, Nellie turns bootlegger. She accepts a job from her sly friend Lola to pick up some liquor. It should be a cinch, seeing as how Nellie's dependable mechanic friend Felix volunteers to help drive her car. But an encounter at a speakeasy sends idealistic cop Lester on the chase - and he's not exactly looking for cash. As tensions between Chicago lawmen and gangs grow worse by the day, all the fast talking in the world might not be enough to keep Nellie and her friends out of jail. Or alive. * * * * * * * * * * Felix drums his fingers along the steering wheel. A man exits the other car, dressed to the nines with a fine-looking fedora. A very bad feeling begins to swirl inside my chest. He's certainly no cop. The attendant is hurrying with the pump. Felix has tensed beside me, staring with fascination directly ahead. "Are they watching us?" "The one fella is." Felix presses his lips together. But he knows we can't leave. We need the gas. Felix has a back-up can of it stowed somewhere but that's for emergencies. Is this a real emergency? One of the other fellas hops out. Before the door slams I notice what his still-seated friend is holding. A tommy gun. My skin prickles. Felix pales. We're just playing at bootlegging now. But those folks are the real deal-complete with hired guns to protect their hooch. Felix's hand moves to the starter and I knock it away. The one in the fedora has seen us. He casually makes his way over and I know our story isn't good enough; this guy will notice we snooped even when we didn't mean to and we'll be in some sort of a mess. So I ditch our story. I throw myself at Felix and kiss him as thoroughly as I know how.
An Accidental Queen by Purplejeans
Purplejeans
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1334, Toulouse, Kingdom of France. Orphaned as a young child, Catherine Vimont dreams of nothing but the adventure and romance described in songs and stories. Confined to the walls of her manor, she resigns herself to the dull life of a laundress, guarding her dreams in secret and pining after her young master. When a storm ravages the manor and her young mistress perishes, a twist of fate propels Catherine into a position of royalty, one in which she is betrothed to the heir to the French throne. When one side of the royal family attempts to violently depose Catherine's new husband and spreads malicious rumours about her true identity, she must rise above the treachery and politics of the court, transforming from a meek peasant girl to the Queen of France.
Daughters of the King (Completed) by Purplejeans
Purplejeans
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{WATTYS 2020 WINNER} {FEATURED BOOK} Paris, 1663. 500 girls selected by King Louis XIV embark on a journey across the seas from their homeland. Each is given a dowry, and the expectation that they are to marry a French settler, in order to increase the population of New France. They are the historic Daughters of the King, or "les filles du roi." Eighteen-year-old Celeste Dubois is a free-spirited, educated and headstrong girl. She comes from a wealthy Parisian family that has squandered their money and is subsequently forced to journey to New France. However, Celeste doesn't plan on marrying a complete stranger. She hopes to use the dowry and the free voyage as a way to escape the poverty and social ranks of Paris. Matters are complicated when against her will, she falls in love. Romantic, kind and stunningly beautiful Lorraine Leblanc is a girl from a large family with children to spare. Unlike Celeste, she happily dreams of the day she will meet her future husband in New France. When she marries a mysterious widower with two young children of his own and still reeling after his broken heart, she realizes that married life isn't all she had hoped it would be, and begins to question her new husband's complicated past. - Wattpad Picks Blast to the Future Past list 2018 - The 50 Best Wattpad Stories of 2018/19 by Design Wizard - 2018 Youngblood Awards Winner (Romance) - 2018 True North Awards 2nd place for Historical Fiction and 2nd place Truly Canadian special category award - Featured by Wattpad Historical Fiction profile under Kings, Courtships and Empires, Young Adult Fiction profile under Love, Actually and Romance profile under Time will Tell *Please be aware that since this book covers the colonial period, it does contain sensitive themes of racism and violence that readers will find disturbing. There are resources at the back of the book that prompt further learning in the Historical Notes section.*