Books like 'Stage Dreams'
Readers who enjoyed Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical romance action / adventure military, war & conflict lgbtq historical-fiction western wlw trans-mc poc-mc
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The Emerald Horizon by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBerlin, 1944. Ariella Bannon is being hunted. Someone is determined to betray her as a Jew, but she has survived against incredible odds, and the end is in sight. She will be reunited with her precious children, no matter what it takes.Meanwhile, Liesl and Erich have found a home in Ireland, away from the chaos of war-ravaged Europe...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Return to Robinswood by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsOne Irish house, two very different families, and a war that changed everything. Robinswood Estate, County Waterford, Ireland. 1946.Years of neglect and abandonment have left the family seat of the Keneficks almost derelict, but the new Lord Kenefick and his charming young wife Kate, are determined to breathe life into the old house once more...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss. The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West... -
The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this haunting tale from the bestselling author of The Storyteller of Casablanca, Beatrice kept a wartime secret to protect the innocent. Now, could telling it set her free?Tuscany, 1943. Stranded in war-ravaged Italy, Beatrice’s dream of an escapist year teaching English is shattered... -
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Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsMattie was never truly mine. That knowledge must have filled me as quickly and surely as the milk from her breasts. Although my family ‘owned’ her, although she occupied the center of my universe, her deepest affections lay elsewhere. So along with the comfort of her came the fear that I would lose her some day. This is our story..Categorized as:
civil-war family female-mc friendship historical-fiction poc-mc abuse action-adventure -
The Secrets We Left Behind by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsOccupied France, 1940. When the staff at a field hospital draw straws to find out who will join the evacuation from Dunkirk, Nurse Cate is left behind. But when the Nazis arrive to claim prisoners of war, she takes her chance and flees into the night, taking one patient with her.Fifty miles away, the surrendering soldiers of the Royal Norfolk Regiment are shot dead by the advancing Germans...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
The Sapphire Brooch by Katherine Lowry Logan
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe long awaited sequel to the Kindle Time Travel Romance Bestseller THE RUBY BROOCH! The saga of the brooches continues in this Civil War Time Travel Romance... A Union soldier risks everything to save the life of Abraham Lincoln, while a Confederate surgeon races through time to preserve Lincoln’s Legacy. Reenactor Dr...Categorized as:
civil-war historical-fiction industrial-era war western 19th-century action-adventure adult -
For All Their Lives by Fern Michaels
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the wildly beloved bestselling author Fern Michaels, a haunting portrait of love and war—and the passionate woman swept into an epic of desire, heartbreak, and destiny. Casey Adams, a dedicated nurse, loses her heart overseas to idealistic officer Mac Carlin, the rebellious scion of a wealthy family. Then tragedy strikes... -
Under a Sky of Memories by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Last Correspondent comes the powerful story of three brave women who go to war—and end up fighting for their lives.Sicily, 1943. Three American women, all nurses in the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, are determined to do all they can for their country...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Return to the Island by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhat would her life look like without her beloved island in it? Where would she go? Ellen had come back here—to the place she felt she belonged—thinking she would stay here. But was it home… or just a place to hide?1918, Canada: The First World War is over and those who have been fighting in Europe are heading for home, forever changed... -
The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLoch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper’s daughter Flora’s remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit community changes forever. In defiance of his disapproving father, the laird’s son falls in love with Flora, and as tensions build in their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Spitfire Girls by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThree skilled aviators determined to help win the war. Three brave women who know their place is not at home. At the height of World War II, the British Air Transport Auxiliary need help. A group of young women volunteer for action, but the perils of their new job don’t end on the tarmac. Things are tough in the air, but on the ground their abilities as pilots are constantly questioned...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
A Maiden's Voyage by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThursday's child has far to go . . . 1912, London.Eighteen-year-old Flora Butler is going up in the world. She has the prized position of lady's maid to young Constance Ogilvie, and is able to provide for her beloved parents and four younger siblings. She has even fallen in love, and though she does not feel quite ready to marry the charming Jamie Branning, her future seems clear... -
The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBestselling author Kristy Cambron concludes the Lost Castle novels with this sweeping tale of art and secrets long buried in England. It was supposed to be a one-week job: survey an art find, collect a hefty fee, and use that to settle historian Kiera Foley’s life back into balance...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction industrial-era war 20th-century action-adventure -
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A River Between Us by Jocelyn Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCora Mae Stewart’s world collapses when Sherman destroys the Georgia cotton mill where she works and has her arrested for treason and sent North. Faced with impossible choices, she does what she must to keep a little girl safe in an inhospitable land.Convinced he won’t survive the war, Union Sergeant Ethan Howard determines to make his death count for something...Categorized as:
historical-fiction civil-war western industrial-era romance christian historical audiobook -
Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsWhen gunslinging Amani Al'Hiza escaped her dead-end town, she never imagined she'd join a revolution, let alone lead one. But after the bloodthirsty Sultan of Miraji imprisoned the Rebel Prince Ahmed in the mythical city of Eremot, she doesn't have a choice...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction industrial-era poc-mc war western action-adventure -
North and South by John Jakes
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsPart history, part novel, this book chronicles two great American dynasties over three generations. Though brought together in a friendship that neither jealousy nor violence could shatter, the Hazards and the Mains are torn apart by the storm of events that has divided the nation...Categorized as:
civil-war family historical-fiction industrial-era war western 20th-century action-adventure -
Daughter of the Reich by Louise Fein
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor fans of The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See, a spellbinding story of impossible love set against the backdrop of the Nazi regime. She must choose between loyalty to her country or a love that could be her destruction… As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsRebel by chance. Traitor by choice.Gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she’s fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne... -
Fire Along the Sky by Sara Donati
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsWith epic sweep and breathtaking adventure, Sara Donati’s bestselling saga of an Early American family’s struggle for survival in the Northeast wilderness continues with the story of an indomitable woman and an unforgettable journey of redemption across a young nation threatened by the flames of war.The year is 1812 and Hannah Bonner has returned to her family’s mountain cabin in Paradise... -
Sister of Mine by Sabra Waldfogel
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen two Union soldiers stumble onto a plantation in northern Georgia on a warm May day in 1864, the last thing they expect is to see the Union flag flying high—or to be greeted by a group of freed slaves and their Jewish mistress. Little do they know that this place has an unusual history...Categorized as:
civil-war family historical-fiction industrial-era poc-mc war action-adventure adult -
The Girls of Pearl Harbor by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of Wives of War comes a harrowing tale of four brave young nurses whose lives change forever in the wake of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.When Grace, April, and Poppy join the US Army Nurse Corps, they see it as little more than an adventure, one made all the better by their first station: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
What Once Was True: An Irish WW2 Story by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRobinswood, Co Waterford, 1939. The once grand Irish house is home to two very different families. Despite delusions of grandeur, Lord and Lady Kenefick and their adult children, live a life of decayed opulence as the money needed to keep such a large house and grounds ever dwindles...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Yankee Stranger by Elswyth Thane
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOn the eve of the Civil War, Eden Day encounters Cabot Murray on Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg. As they shelter together from a passing thunderstorm, they fall in love. The obstacles to their future are instantly obvious. Hers is a prominent Virginia family, and he is a Yankee newspaperman. Their country is about to split apart, and they will be on opposite sides...Categorized as:
civil-war family historical-fiction industrial-era war action-adventure adult american-civil-war -
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Never Say Duke by Erica Ridley
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYes, Virginia, there is a Viscount…Miss Virginia Underwood cannot resist rescuing a stray. Her latest find turns out to be a surly, reclusive war hero trying to recover from his wounds in peace. He doesn't want her help—and Virginia definitely doesn't want to fall in love... -
Silver Wings by H.P. Munro
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWINNER - 2014 Golden Crown Literary Society - Historical FictionWhen in 1943, twenty-five-year-old Lily Rivera is widowed, she finally feels able to step out of the shadows of an unhappy marriage. Her love of flying leads her to join the Womens Airforce Service Pilots, determined to regain her passion and spread her wings, not suspecting that she would experience more than just flying... -
Angels of the Resistance by Noelle Salazar
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Angels of the Resistance brings to life a deadly-effective and deeply moving sisterhood.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose CodeFrom the bestselling author of The Flight Girls comes a story inspired by true events, about courageous women who risked everything for country, for family, and for each other...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
Burning Sky: A Novel of the American Frontier by Lori Benton
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“I remember the borders of our land, though I have been gone from them nearly half the moons of my life. But who there will remember me? What I have seen, what I have done, it has changed me.I am the place where two rivers meet, silted with upheaval and loss.Yet memory of our land is a clear stream. I shall know it as a mother knows the faces of her children. It may be I will find me there... -
Into the Darkest Day by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe had to step outside and hold the paper up to the moonlight to read it, but when she was able to make out the words, her heart felt as if it would drop right out of her chest. Because the message was in German.1944, London:When Lily meets enigmatic GI Matthew in war-torn London, she doesn’t expect to fall in love... -
The Last Chance Cowboy by Jody Hedlund
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs a midwife, Catherine Remington is successful in bringing new life into the world, but she's failed one too many times in finding true love. When she's accused of a murder she didn't commit, she's forced to flee and decides to run away to Colorado to honor a patient's dying wish to deliver a newborn infant to his father.The repentant prodigal Dylan McQuaid is finally back in Fairplay...Categorized as:
animals civil-war family friendship historical-fiction horses industrial-era western -
A Very Lusty Christmas by Cara Covington
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings[Siren Ménage Everlasting: Erotic Western Ménage a Trois Romance, M/F/M, HEA] Lieutenant Kate Wesley couldn’t believe the audacity of the two pursuit pilots! Bad enough Gerald Benedict grabbed her into a steamy, delicious kiss, but his brother Patrick did the same thing! They let her go, promising to see her soon. Kate knows that will never happen... -
The Rebel Bride by Shannon McNear
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCan Love Form Amidst Tensions of War? During the clash between Union and Confederacy, quiet Tennessean Pearl MacFarlane is compelled to nurse both Rebel and Yankee wounded who seek refuge at her family’s farm. She is determined to remain unmoved by the Yankee cause—until she faces the silent struggle of Union soldier Joshua Wheeler, a recent amputee... -
Winter at Bletchley Park by Molly Green
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe second inspiring novel in the heartwarming and hopeful Bletchley Park Girls series from historical fiction queen, Molly Green...When Rosie Frost was jilted on her wedding day, she didn't think life could get any worse. But six years later in the throes of the Second World War, she is unceremoniously dismissed from her job after they discover her illegitimate child... -
The Valentine's Curse by Jodi Thomas
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas takes you back to the Old West, where two strangers find love in the least likely place, with the least likely person, just in the nick of time . . -
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Yankee in Atlanta by Jocelyn Green
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen soldier Caitlin McKae woke up in Atlanta after being wounded in battle, the Georgian doctor who treated her believed Caitlin's only secret was that she had been fighting for the Confederacy disguised as a man. In order to avoid arrest or worse, Caitlin hides her true identity and makes a new life for herself in Atlanta...Categorized as:
civil-war historical-fiction industrial-era war action-adventure adult american-civil-war audiobook -
On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss, Helen MacCormac
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs World War II draws to a close, can two young people find love, hope—and freedom?February 1942: Terrifying reports of the Wehrmacht’s advance across the Soviet Union spread like wildfire, striking new fear into the already oppressed German families living there.Harri Pfeiffer, now sixteen, is summoned to the forced labour camp in Chelyabinsk...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Berlin Butterfly: Ensnare by Leah Moyes
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDeath or Freedom? Hardly a choice. Aug 12, 1961, Berlin Germany. Nationale Volksarmee soldiers roll barbed wire across the war-torn city to create the first Berlin Wall. Families are separated, livelihoods destroyed, death comes easily as crippling fear paralyzes the occupants on both sides of the wall... -
Storm Clouds Rolling In by Virginia Gaffney, Ginny Dye
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCarrie Cromwell comes of age as the dark clouds of the Civil War swallow the country. Born with a fiery spirit and a strong mind, she finds herself struggling between the common wisdom of the South and the truth she has discovered. The activities of the Underground Railroad and her close friendships with the Cromwell Plantation slaves create difficult choices... -
Legacy of Greyladies by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWiltshire, December 1915. Widow Olivia Harbury has been persuaded by her cousin Donald to live with him and his wife, but tensions soon rise between the pair. Then, much to Donald’s disapproval, Olivia becomes involved in starting a new Women’s Institute.A chance meeting brings Olivia to Greyladies, an ancient manor house run by Phoebe Latimer, and she feels as though she’s finally come home...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Miss Dauntless by Grace Burrowes
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMatilda Merridew, former hoyden of the first water, finds herself widowed, weary, and in want of coin. Along comes Marcus, Lord Tremont, with an interesting–and decent–proposition. Tremont will provide Matilda a handsome salary and keep a commodious roof over her head if she will relieve him of the burden of managing a houseful of unruly former soldiers... -
The Lieutenant's Girl by Shari J. Ryan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPearl Harbor, 1941. War planes hurtle across the horizon, skimming the clouds. Gunpowder fills the air as the earth shatters. Everett’s hands cup my cheeks. “If I lose you, Elizabeth, please know that the time I’ve spent with you has been worth every second I’ve been alive...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
The Irish Princess by Elizabeth Chadwick
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIreland, 1160Aoife MacMurchada is just 14 years old when her father Diarmit, King of Leinster, is brutally deposed, and her family is forced to flee Southern Ireland into English exile. Diarmit seeks help from King Henry II, an alliance that leads him to the charismatic Richard de Clare, lord of Striguil, a man dissatisfied with his lot and open to new horizons... -
Stuck Together by Mary Connealy
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTina Cahill, newly arrived from the East, is determined to get the saloon in Broken Wheel, Texas, closed for good. To that end, she pickets outside the place every afternoon. Unfortunately, so far no one has paid any attention. Vince Yates earned the nickname "Invincible Vince" because of his reputation for letting absolutely nothing stop him. Not his tyrant of a father...Categorized as:
civil-war historical-fiction industrial-era western action-adventure adult audiobook book -
Over the Edge by Mary Connealy
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBestselling Author Mary Connealy Delivers Her Trademark Historical Romantic Comedy Seth Kincaid survived a fire in a cave, but he's never been the same. He was always a reckless youth, but now he's gone over the edge. He ran off to the Civil War and came back crazier than ever. After the war, nearly dead from his injuries, it appears Seth got married...Categorized as:
civil-war historical-fiction industrial-era western action-adventure adult audiobook book -
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Dead to Me by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiscover a compelling story of loyalty, love and the strength of friendship in war-torn Britain, from the international bestselling author Lesley Pearse'Glorious, heartwarming' Woman & Home'Full of love, passion and heartbreak' Best___________Spring 1935.On London's Hampstead Heath, two girls meet by chance: well-mannered and smartly dressed Verity and dishevelled and grubby Ruby...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Love and War by John Jakes
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe Hazards and the Mains -- the first fatal shot fired at Fort Sumter divided them irrevocably with loyalties more powerful than family ties. The young would clash on the bloody battlefields of Bull Run and Fredericksburg, while in intrigue-ridden Washington and Richmond strong-willed men and beautiful women would defend their principles with their lives..Categorized as:
civil-war family historical-fiction industrial-era war western action-adventure adult -
The Bastard by John Jakes
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOne man’s quest for his destiny leads him to the New World and into the heart of the American Revolution. Meet Phillipe Charboneau: the illegitimate son and unrecognized heir of the Duke of Kentland. Upon the Duke’s death, Phillipe is denied his birthright and left to build a life of his own...Categorized as:
civil-war family historical-fiction industrial-era war western action-adventure adult -
The Campaigners by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings1815: Napoleon's escape from Elba and the preparations for battle entangle the Morland family in a web of romance and heartbreak. The Allied Army is gathering in Flanders, and where the army is, the fashionable world must go - so London society hastens to Brussels to enjoy the most exhilarating Season ever...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era war action-adventure adult alternate-history -
The Regency by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings1807: the Napoleonic Wars continue and their violence reverberates in the lives of the Morland family. Lucy, trying to rebuild her life after the death of her lover, Captain Weston, is thrown into doubt and confusion by an unexpected proposal of marriage. At Morland Place, the hard-won happiness of James and Heloise is threatened by his rebellious daughter, Fanny...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era war action-adventure adult alternate-history -
The Victory by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings1803: Napoleon is poised to invade England, with only Nelson's weather-beaten ships in his way, but the French fleet are not the only threat to the fortunes of the Morland family. In the North of England, Mary Ann's relationship with the missionary, Father Rathbone, introduces her to the stark realities of life in plague-torn Manchester...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction industrial-era war action-adventure adult alternate-history
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