Books like 'The Fragrant Concubine'
Readers who enjoyed The Fragrant Concubine by Melissa Addey also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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The Letter by Ruth Saberton
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Letter is a beautiful novel set in England between the First World War and the present day. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, it is the story of an aristocratic family, a forbidden love affair and the darkest of secrets kept for over one hundred years. On the eve of the First World War aspiring poet Kit Rivers looks forward to a bright future... -
An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a tale of love, loss—and one last extraordinary dance.Christmas Eve, 2019. Ninety-four-year-old Molly lies in her hospital bed. A stroke and a fall may have broken her body—but her mind is alive with memories.London, 1940s. Molly is a bright young woman, determined to help the war effort and keep her head up despite it all...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book family -
The Trouble With Secrets: The Kilteegan Bridge Story by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsKilteegan Bridge, County Cork 1958For eighteen year old Lena Mullery, life is predictable and dull. A future of hard work, marriage to a local boy, and a family of her own one day is all she has to look forward to. People from her background know not to expect too much, but Lena yearns for something different.Malachy Berger was different, for him, the world is at his feet... -
The Unknown Beloved by Amy Harmon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsChicago, 1923: Ten-year-old Dani Flanagan returns home to find police swarming the house, her parents dead. Michael Malone, the young patrolman assigned to the case, discovers there’s more to the situation - and to Dani Flanagan herself - than the authorities care to explore. Malone is told to shut his mouth, and Dani is sent away to live with her spinster aunts in Cleveland... -
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The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsFollowing on from the bestselling The Seven Sisters and The Storm Sister, The Shadow Sister is the third book in Lucinda Riley's spellbinding series, loosely based on the mythology of the Seven Sisters star cluster...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book drama -
The Tell Tale by Clare Ashton
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA small town, enduring love, a web of secrets.The Tell Tale has been watching and waiting, because there’s something queer about the village of Foel.Beth Griffiths has returned home to raise her daughter in the Welsh hills. They arrive to the open arms of the community, but not all is what it seems and Beth isn’t home for the reason she pretends either... -
The Mystery of Mr Daventry by Adele Clee
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHow long can one keep up a charade?A gentleman who hides many secrets.Society thinks it has the measure of Lucius Daventry, illegitimate son of the Duke of Melverley, but they know nothing of the dangerous man who lies beneath the constructed façade. As a member of a secret group known as the Order of Themis, he works to right injustices, to make wicked men pay...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult book fiction historical -
The Best Part of Love by Amy D'Orazio
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsElizabeth Bennet may capture Mr. Darcy’s heart, but what is the truth of her past? When Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Miss Elizabeth Bennet, a simple country girl from a humble estate, he has no idea that she—and indeed, the entire town of Meryton—harbors a secret. Before she meets Darcy, Elizabeth has spent two years hiding from the men who killed her beloved first husband...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book fiction forced-proximity -
The Girl in the Picture by Melissa Wiesner
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs the newspaper clipping falls from the cardboard box Tegan takes in the woman in the picture: her chestnut hair, her eyes full of laughter, the way she nestles against the man beside her. And as she reads the words in the article, Tegan almost stops breathing...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc mystery fiction historical journey friendship -
The Whisper Sister by Jennifer S. Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe author of Modern Girls delivers an atmospheric coming-of-age story set in Prohibition-era New York, tracing one immigrant family’s fortunes and a young girl’s journey from the schoolyard to the speakeasy.The streets of New York in 1920 are most certainly not paved with gold, as Minnie Soffer learns when she arrives at Ellis Island...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age female-mc fiction audiobook historical sci-fi true-crime -
The Promise by Michelle Vernal
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA wonderfully heartwarming, touching and romantic story - Tammy Robinson Author of Differently Normal Two women from different generations brought together by another’s wrongdoing. When British backpacker, Isabel Stark happens across a car accident on a lonely stretch of road in the South Island of New Zealand her life changes forever...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction romance historical 20th-century fiction mystery -
The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage by Qian Shan Cha Ke, 千山茶客
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Di daughter of military lineage – pure, amiable, quiet and yielding – foolishly in love with Prince Ding, threw herself into the role of a wife.After assisting him for six years, she finally became the mother to the world (empress), and he the emperor.She accompanied him to fight for the country, to flourish the country’s territory, and even took risk to be a hostage in a foreign country...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ancient-china ancient-civilization royalty female-mc romance historical fantasy -
Journeys by Jeanne Roland
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA barracks full of beautiful boys. A girl in disguise, living among them.It’s the 14th century, and the longbow is king. But in the northern European principality of Ardennes, archery isn’t just the nation’s defense. It’s the national obsession...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age literary-fiction romance young-adult historical medieval fiction -
The Memory Tree by Linda Gillard
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCan the power of love overcome life’s darkest memories and deepest losses? When her favourite beech tree is felled in a storm, Ann feels as if someone has died. But when long-hidden seed packets are found inside the trunk, Ann realises there are more memories than her own lurking within the ancient tree . . -
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Survivor Pass by Shirleen Davies
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSurvivor Pass, Book Five, Redemption Mountain Historical Western Romance Series “The Redemption Mountain series is as good as historical romance gets—vivid settings, memorable characters, love, and lots at stake. Shirleen Davies knows how to bring the old west to life. You feel as if you've traveled, with the characters, to the frontier...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 19th-century action-adventure adult book fiction -
A Gentleman's Curse by Adele Clee
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe wait for vengeance is over. When a man wakes to find himself gripping a dagger and sprawled next to a corpse, what else can he do but board a boat sailing for India? But after five years spent avoiding the hangman’s noose, Hudson Lockhart has returned to England to prove himself innocent of any crime... -
The Secrets She Carried by Barbara Davis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a young woman returns to North Carolina after a thirty-year absence, she finds that the once grand tobacco plantation she called home holds more secrets than she ever imagined... -
Eternal Deception by Jane Steen
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLove or independence? Few choices remain for Nell and her new family on the Kansas frontier… Kansas, 1872. Unwed mother Nell Lillington hopes to support her daughter Sarah and friend Tess by working as a seamstress in an isolated seminary. When her only ally among the seminary's leaders dies, she must choose between returning to her old life in Chicago and remaining in charge of her destiny... -
The Gang of St Bride's by Emily Organ
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLondon 1885. A gang of lady thieves is targeting Piccadilly’s wealthy shoppers and no one seems able to stop them. As frustrations build, the body of a young woman is pulled from the River Thames. Reporter Penny Green has a lot to write about, and she faces a new challenge when a stranger approaches her with a riddle...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc romance mystery fiction historical crime -
Dovetail by Karen McQuestion
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of Hello Love comes a spellbinding new novel of enduring love, family secrets, and mysterious death.Joe Arneson’s ordinary life is upended by troubling dreams of himself as a different man in another place and time. It isn’t until he visits his estranged grandmother, Pearl, in her Wisconsin hometown that a startling connection emerges... -
Beyond This Broken Sky by Siobhan Curham
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings1940, London: An unforgettable novel about the strength of the human spirit in the face of war and the remarkable women who put themselves in danger on the front lines during the Battle of Britain.As a volunteer for the ambulance service, Ruby has the dangerous task of driving along pitch-dark roads during the blackout...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc ww2 historical mystery fiction friendship -
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn all failed relationships there is a point that passes unnoticed at the time, which can later be identified as the beginning of the decline. For Helen it was the weekend that the Hidden Man came to Westbury Park.Croydon, 1964. Helen Hansford is in her thirties and an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital where she has been having a long love affair with a charismatic, married doctor...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc coming-of-age romance fiction historical audiobook -
The Paris Secret by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOn the brink of the second world war, a beautiful Parisian bookshop hides a heartbreaking secret that will tear one family apart forever … The last time Valerie was in Paris, she was three-years-old, running from the Nazis, away from the only home she had ever known...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book family -
The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIf you loved I AM ANASTASIA you won't want to miss this novel about her sister, Grand Duchess Maria. What really happened to this lost Romanov daughter? A new novel perfect for anyone curious about Anastasia, Maria, and the other lost Romanov daughters, by the author of THE SECRET WIFE...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction royalty 20th-century adult alternate-history audiobook book -
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The Rogue's Redemption by Cecelia Mecca
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis eighth installment of the bestselling Border Series can be read as a standalone novel. He thought himself irredeemable. She showed him the truth. The Rogue Reid Kerr has always known his place. He’s the brother no one can depend on, the rogue who’s determined never to marry... -
Forsaken Falls by Shirleen Davies
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWyatt Jackson has lost everything. Successful in his role as a soldier, he can no longer find a home in the region he fought so hard to save. Sick and on the edge of starvation, he journeys west, searching for the one man who might help him. A deputy in Splendor, Montana.Nora Evans has never found a place to call home...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc literary-fiction romance mystery historical fiction western -
Restless Wind by Shirleen Davies
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA headstrong rancher determined to make it on his own. A society belle intent on creating her own life. Is there any chance they’ll become each other’s future? Restless Wind, Book Thirteen, Redemption Mountain Historical Western Romance Series Dominic Lucero is a man driven to succeed. Leaving his family’s profitable ranch in Texas, he strikes out to build a new life. Becoming a Montana U.S...Categorized as:
female-mc literary-fiction historical-fiction romance mystery historical fiction western -
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsAn “evocative, sensitive, and compelling novel” (Delia Owens, New York Times bestselling author of Where the Crawdads Sing) that explores the deadly consequences of a love triangle in an English farming village as dangerous secrets from the past resurface—perfect for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing.“The farmer is dead. He is dead and all anyone wants to know is who killed him...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc romance fiction mystery historical love-triangle -
Heart's Thief by Emma Prince
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA dangerous mission… Although Colin MacKay is thought a charmer, he hides an old wound behind his quick smile and dancing blue eyes. To ease the pain of a past betrayal, he has devoted his life to the cause for Scottish freedom... -
When Scandal Came to Town by Adele Clee
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRead the next thrilling adventure in the Scandalous Sons series. Can a past betrayal ever be forgiven? A shocking surprise awaits him at the Serpentine. When Benedict Cavanagh, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Tregarth, discovers the lady he was once destined to marry lying half-naked and ruined in Hyde Park at dawn, his conscience demands he does something to save her...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction adult age-gap book enemies-to-lovers fiction -
The Mystery of the Debonair Duke by Ellie St. Clair
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThere was one man Lady Emma vowed she would never marry.The rakish Duke of Warwick — brother to her very best friend.But one chance encounter on a balcony has Lady Emma questioning all she ever believed about the duke. When her friend — and the duke’s sister — is abducted, they must work together to find her, and determine who has been threatening the Remington family...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book fiction historical industrial-era -
Dauntless by Adele Clee
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNoah Ashwood has suffered his fair share of injustices. It’s why he joined the Gentlemen of the Order, why he solves crimes committed against the vulnerable and needy. To his friends he’s known as Dauntless—a fearless fighter, a man with steely determination. And yet his strength is tested when he forms an infatuation for his new client...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book fiction historical -
The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn Taiwan, the bond between grandmother and granddaughter opens up a healing world for them both in an inspiring family saga about the comfort of food, untold histories, and indomitable mother love.Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise…until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc romance fiction mystery historical family -
The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom Lynda Cohen Loigman, the bestselling author of The Two-Family House and The Wartime Sisters, comes a heartwarming story of two extraordinary women from two different eras who defy expectations to utilize their unique gift of seeing soulmates in the most unexpected places in The Matchmaker's Gift... -
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Hand of Fire by Judith Starkston
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA legendary war, an invincible warrior, a woman forced to defend her family and realm--and her independent spirit. Will she become the captive or the captor?Briseis struggles to protect her city, an ally of Troy, from marauding Greeks and her husband's arrogant violence. She finds strength in visions of a handsome warrior god until he appears before her in flesh and blood... -
The Second Son by Elise Marion
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHe has always loved her. She is still reeling from the lost of her first love... -
The Bridled Tongue by Catherine Meyrick
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDeath and life are in the power of the tongue. England 1586 Alyce Bradley has few choices when her father decides it is time she marry as many refuse to see her as other than the girl she once was—unruly, outspoken and close to her grandmother, a woman suspected of witchcraft...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book early-modern family -
Secret Dreams of a Fearless Governess: A Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance Novel by Abby Ayles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn his hour of need, an angel will bring light into his life. But angels are fragile things… After the death of his parents, Edmund Hardwicke, the young Earl of Kelt, finds himself burdened with enormous responsibilities - none heavier than being in charge of his many younger siblings. When Joanna Warrick, the new governess, arrives at his home, she breathes life into everything...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc literary-fiction christian regency victorian historical industrial-era -
The Christmas Key by Phillipa Nefri Clark
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA hot summer Christmas Day is just around the corner in the Australian seaside town of River’s End. Beachside BBQs and sumptuous dinners are on the menu. But Martha Blake is like a dog with a bone, determined to solve the last of the cottage mysteries. She and great-niece Christie begin a secret investigation. Meanwhile, Thomas is busy with his own clues and enlists a reluctant Martin...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction christian suspense mystery fiction holidays -
Above and Beyond: A Novel of the Civil War by Jessica James
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAbove and Beyond is the winner of the 2014 John Esten Cooke Award for Southern Fiction and a Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Award contest and the USA Best Book Award contest. “Jessica James has a gift for reaching into the past and bringing it back to life.” – Tiffany Kohler “Another great story with lots of imagery, intrigue, and intricate details. The words are like magic...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult book christian civil-war -
The Unlikely Chaperone (Dorothy Mack Regency Romances) by Dorothy Mack
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA captivating Regency adventure! Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Jane Aiken Hodge and Jane Austen. Can Alexandra reach the end of the season without losing her heart? Regency England At twenty-eight, Alexandra Farrish has no hopes of marrying... -
The Crown Jewel Mystery by Anna Elliott, Charles Veley
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA young American actress arrives in London hoping to learn her identity, just as Sherlock Holmes is closing in on a master criminal. Their worlds collide, and not even Holmes could have foreseen the impact! This novella is the prequel to The Sherlock Holmes and Lucy James Mystery series. It takes place three days before the opening of The Last Moriarty...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction romance historical mystery christian suspense -
The Duke's Secret by Allie Kensington
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA woman determined to hide, a duke determined to fulfill his duty, and a London Season where neither expects to fall in love.Miss Emma Gray has always known she is a burden to her aunt and uncle. Her only source of comfort is her sweet cousin for whom she acts as chaperone and companion...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc royalty literary-fiction romance historical industrial-era regency -
Deadly Caress by Brenda Joyce
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBrenda Joyce's New York Times best-selling novels have thrilled millions of readers. Now, in her latest Francesca Cahill novel, return to the lush mansions and teeming streets of New York City's Gilded Age, where intrigue and seduction lie on every corner... The year is 1902. The place is New York City... -
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The Courtship of Chloe by Dorothy Mack
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA whirlwind romance set in Regency England! Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Jane Aiken Hodge and Jane Austen. Can Chloe bring order to the Montrose family? Regency England As a practical doctor’s daughter living in the countryside, Chloe Norris has had little experience among the aristocracy...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book class-difference cozy -
Bel Lamington by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBel Lamington finds London a very lonely place - until a charming young artist literally drops in on her rooftop garden... Bel Lamington, an orphan daughter of an Army colonel, is brought up in an English village and flung into the whirl of London life to earn a hard living as a secretary while attempting to navigate romance, unexpected friendships and urban life...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book classics cozy female-author -
A Wicked Wager by Adele Clee
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTwo lonely people discover that true love doesn’t have to be perfect. The gentleman makes a wager. Devlin Drake is out for revenge. Since his brother’s mysterious death, the cruel and devious Miss Bromfield has taken to spouting vicious lies, spreading vile gossip—and he vows to make her pay. How better to punish the lady than to make her his wife? A lifetime of misery is what she deserves...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book fiction historical -
The Lady's Protector by Emma Prince
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Battle of Bannockburn may be over, but the war is far from won. Her Protector… Ansel Sutherland is charged with a mission from King Robert the Bruce to protect the illegitimate son of a powerful English Earl. Though Ansel bristles at aiding an Englishman, the nature of the war for Scottish independence is changing, and he is honor-bound to serve as a bodyguard...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction adult alpha-mc bodyguard book -
Letters From the Past by Erica James
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA sweeping story of family, love and betrayal set in a quintessential Suffolk village, from Sunday Times bestselling author Erica James With its winding high street lined with a greengrocers, post office, pub and church, Melstead St Mary is the perfect English village. Neighbours look out for neighbours, and few things trouble the serene surface of the community... -
The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe secret is hidden within a collection of Dior dresses.... London, 2017. There’s no one Lucille adores more than her grandmother (not even her mother, she’s ashamed to say). So when her beloved Granny Sylvie asks Lucille to help secure the return of something precious to her, she’s happy to help...
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