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Recommendations > Looking For Some Early American Historicals That Are Not Christian/Inspirational

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message 1: by C. (last edited May 26, 2013 05:05AM) (new)

C. | 289 comments Hi everyone,I just finished reading the fabulous Regency~Edenbrooke:A Proper Romance by Julianne Donaldson,and I totally loved it,but I miss my cowboys!

Anyone know of some nice clean but not Christian/Inspirational historical western romances,that are of a decent length? I prefer a minimum of 288 pgs-[or 85,000 words for a Kindle ebook].
I'm thinking of more along the lines of Montana Dawn (McCutcheon Family Series - Book 1) by Caroline Fyffe,
Texas Twilight (McCutcheon Family Series - Book 2) by Caroline Fyffe, and 'For the Love of Texas (Harlequin Heartwarming)' by Ginger Chambers.

I also love romances set in the era of settling the west.

I am familiar with Marsha Lynn McClure and have some of hers to read.Her Medival romance 'Highwayman Of Tanglewood' is my favorite romance,probably do to my everlasting infatuation with Disney's Zorro,and her personal afterword story of her gal friends and hubby's surprise Zorro BD party for her at the end of this book,and the book's hero reminds me of Zorro.

So I also love Knights and castles and Lords and Ladies.

P.S. I do not like books full of WOE and ANGST throughout,but prefer more lighthearted,and upbeat and love humor between the leads as long as they can also be serious and romantic.


message 2: by Abigail (new)

Abigail (handmaiden) | 72 comments Check out the group bookshelf. Link to the top right. There is a Frontier/Western category, and several time period categories that should have some possibilities.


message 3: by C. (last edited May 26, 2013 07:07AM) (new)

C. | 289 comments Thank you,I did look there first thing,but to my dismay and despite the instructions for this group by it's creator -Joyce, almost every page on the bookshelves has books that are Christian/ Inspirational!

I am very familiar with them because I have read most of them myself and had my own forums for Christian romance, but I now prefer to read non Christian,but still clean.

Also many of the books that are not Christian when checked at Amazon are very,very short.More like booklets than an actual book!

I did get a few titles from the bookshelves like those by Caroline Fyffe,but I was hoping that maybe more readers of the forums know of some more clean,romances that will abide by this group's terms and suggest titles that are NOT by authors of Christian fiction.

Unlike 'smutty' books where it's fairly easy to know when those parts are coming to be able to skip them,Christian books are so full of god-talk that it's impossible to read them without getting bombarded by all the proselytizing!I would just rather read books that don't have that at all. :]


message 4: by Nanci (new)

Nanci | 62 comments I never can find any that are clean and not Christian/Inspirational other than Mclure. Some of Jodi Thomas books aren't too bad, but some are, so it depends on what your threshold is. I can't remember specific titles on which is which sorry to say. I will be looking forward to see if anyone else has ideas I am not aware of. You can always go to Louis Lamour, doesn't he have a little romance?


message 5: by C. (last edited May 27, 2013 02:28PM) (new)

C. | 289 comments Hi Nanci,
I can find other genres that are clean without the religion such as Regency,but so many those stories are just such tales of ANGST and Woe,and old codgers[14 or more years older] with young ladies and I find that just Ewwwww!

So I'm hoping to find more early American historicals with nice YOUNG heroes[closer in age,no more than 7 yrs.difference to the heroines]LOL!

So far Caroline Fyffe,RaeAnne Thayne,Cheryl St.John, Deborah Hale,Ashley Kath-Bilsky,and Ginger Chambers all sound promising.

Return To Red Castle by Dorothy M. Keddington was very good!

Don't really want to read westerns by a man,as I believe it would be more of a 'shoot em up' type of book,not historical western romance!


message 6: by Cindy (new)

Cindy I have found that one of the best ways to determine whether a book is inspirational or not is to check the publisher. Some publishers or lines have obvious titles such as "Love Inspired" or "Bethany House" but some other publishers aren't as obvious in the name. But I've found that many publishers tend to publish either "inspirational" or "not". So if you've read a book that was one or the other - check the publisher and either seek that publisher out or know to avoid it, as your preference dictates.
May not always be true, and doesn't work for self-published e-books, but it's been helpful to me in some cases.


message 7: by C. (last edited May 27, 2013 08:08PM) (new)

C. | 289 comments Hi Cindy, that is true and I sometimes do that,but since I am so familiar with most of the Christian/Inspirational authors,I know them as soon as I see their name!

Usually the book's genres are given at the bottom of it's Amazon page,which should be a huge help,as well.

What gets me is how the creator of this group made very clear at least- 'twice' that this group is NOT for Christian/Inspirational books[since they are already very well represented],yet these threads have people posting very well known Christian authors/book titles,and adding those same books to the bookshelves[such as three by Julie Klassen on the very first page!],that are only supposed to contain clean-'secular' romances!

That is just flat-out disrespecting this group's creator's intent and wishes!


message 8: by Monya (new)

Monya (monyamary) | 61 comments Christine wrote: "Thank you,I did look there first thing,but to my dismay and despite the instructions for this group by it's creator -Joyce, almost every page on the bookshelves has books that are Christian/ Inspir..."

I delayed suggesting my own The Pirate And The Puritan (wr/as Mary Clayton), not because it is secular, non-Christian and clean, but because it is now hard to find. Perhaps try Abe Books, but do read the reviews still available on GoodReads and Amazon.

Not to be confused with the romance of the same name by Cheryl Howe, which I haven't read.


message 9: by Monya (new)

Monya (monyamary) | 61 comments P.S. for Christine - the first review mentioned on my page tells me the reader was disappointed by the characters' morals! Someone else found it "a bit steamy". It is clean, but ladies were put off by (a) a couple of steamy kisses, and (b) an incident where the heroine sat in the hero's lap.


message 10: by C. (last edited May 28, 2013 03:49AM) (new)

C. | 289 comments Hi Monya,Sheesh, that's really sad!
If there is no physical attraction no kissing or sparks flying then why on earth would anyone marry?It would be way more gross to procreate with someone who made you feel nothing at all!

I definitely want sexual tension in my romances and kisses that make you weak in the knees,and love to read how the object of your attraction makes your heart pound and your hands shaky,because 'been there, done that' and as an old widowed lady[after 30 yrs. of marriage],love to recall those days,LOL!

Don't need nor want anything more graphic,however.Well maybe a few throaty groans from the hero now and then,he-he!


message 11: by Linda (new)

Linda Carroll-Bradd (linda_carroll-bradd) | 158 comments Christine wrote: "Thank you,I did look there first thing,but to my dismay and despite the instructions for this group by it's creator -Joyce, almost every page on the bookshelves has books that are Christian/ Inspir..."
I agree with Christine on keeping the books in this group true to the intent of the person who created the group. As a reader and an author of clean romance, I like having this group for those titles. Sexual tension is a must to keep the sparks flying and the plot moving, but books with full-out descriptions are for other groups.


message 12: by Linda (new)

Linda Carroll-Bradd (linda_carroll-bradd) | 158 comments Nanci wrote: "I never can find any that are clean and not Christian/Inspirational other than Mclure. Some of Jodi Thomas books aren't too bad, but some are, so it depends on what your threshold is. I can't reme..."

I know of two e-publishers for you to check. One is Astraea Publishing--everything they offer is sweet romance. The other is the Sweetheart line of The Wild Rose Press. Best of luck.


message 13: by C. (last edited May 29, 2013 10:05AM) (new)

C. | 289 comments Linda wrote:I know of two e-publishers for you to check. One is Astraea Publishing--everything they offer is sweet romance. The other is the Sweetheart line of The Wild Rose Press. Best of luck. "

Great,I do have a Kindle, so I will check those publishers out.I have also found that the Harlequin Historical line has some good titles.I also need to check out...

Avalon

Silhouette Romance

Aspen Mountain Press has a new line of historicals. They publish traditional clean regencies under the Aurora Regency line and other historical eras under Aurora Historicals.

ETA: OOPS just found out online that Aspen Mountain Press shut down!


message 14: by Nanci (new)

Nanci | 62 comments Linda wrote: "Nanci wrote: "I never can find any that are clean and not Christian/Inspirational other than Mclure. Some of Jodi Thomas books aren't too bad, but some are, so it depends on what your threshold is..."

I don't have an ebook reader so that doesn't really help me. No fun to read sitting in the office in front of the computer. I am still in the dark ages I guess. I like the feel of a book in my hands so I am stubborn.


message 15: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer (jmckeit) | 9 comments Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt is great! Here's my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 16: by Sara (new)

Sara Petersen | 3 comments My novel, On Her Way Home, by Sara Petersen is a clean historical romance set in 1923 Montana. No proselyting :) It's free on amazon right now.


message 17: by Abigail (new)

Abigail Bok (regency_reader) I'll give a shout-out for Barbara Hambly's novel Founding Mothers, about the wives of some of the Founding Fathers (Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, etc.).


message 18: by Mary (new)

Mary My book FOUR SUMMERS WAITING, fits your request for Early American Historicals that are not Christian/Inspirational. It is a Civil War saga that becomes a romance. Try it for your Kindle.


message 19: by Monya (last edited Aug 27, 2014 05:29AM) (new)

Monya (monyamary) | 61 comments The Pirate And The Puritan by Mary Clayton (me) is in this category but is no longer availabe as an e-book or in print. Try Abebooks for second-hand copies. Good luck in your search.

P.S. Later - just Googled it. My goodness, ridiculous prices. Possible on e-Bay.


message 20: by Melinda (new)

Melinda Hammond (lindahooper) | 28 comments Try Liz Harris - A Bargain Struck. Lovely book by a great writer.


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