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Sister Witch

The Life of Moll Dyer
David Thompson

2018 Finalist
265 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2018 Finalist
  Moll Dyer wants to leave her troubles behind when she immigrates to the New World... but even an ocean cannot keep the Dyer family curse from following her! Wanting only to find peace, she fights injustice in a new land founded on tolerance, but ruled by bigotry. In 1607, the ancient enemy returns, and Moll takes a stand. 300 years later, is the world finally ready for Moll's story?
           Life in the British colonies is tough on man and woman. Hunger, disease, Indian attacks, and drought test the resolve of the settlers daily. But troubles for the Dyers include another threat. In this land of religious fervor, devastating sickness, and persistent greed, can Moll turn back the evil alliance formed against her and her bloodline? Or will hell's bloody wrath extinguish her dream of a new life in the New World? How far will she go to protect her family and their world?
        Faith despite Betrayal. Courage in the face of Injustice. The triumph of love. 
        The legend of Moll Dyer originated in earliest colonial Maryland. Despite 300 years of civilization, and the advent of scientific reason, Moll's name is still often heard there, especially around campfires late at night, or as a warning to misbehaving little people. Her spirit is often seen as a wisp of unnatural fog in the swampy woodlands near her homestead, with her half-wolf companion at her side.

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The Other Side of Him

Alice Rene

2018 Finalist
300 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2018 Finalist

It’s the middle of the twentieth century, World War II is finally over, and Claire Wagner is on the brink of an exciting new life. With a well-deserved scholarship in hand, and much to her immigrant mother’s dismay, Claire flees the Chicago tenements for a prestigious graduate school program in California.

At first Claire keeps her nose tucked firmly into her books, but when her brother asks for a favor, she reluctantly agrees to a blind date. Greg turns out to be handsome, successful, and rich—and he’s definitely smitten with Claire. He introduces her to a sophisticated world she thought only existed in the movies, and before she knows it she’s trading her bobby socks and German home cooking for black silk and caviar. 

When Greg starts to show signs that he’s not as perfect as he appeared, Claire’s friends urge her to overlook his occasional short temper and controlling behavior. But the warning signs pile up, building to a crisis that will test even Claire’s power to persevere. 

Inspired by true events and steeped in the details of the 1950s, when vulnerable women weren’t protected by the law or society, The Other Side of Him is a provocative look at how darkness can lie under the most polished exteriors.

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Light of the Northern Dancers

Robin F. Gainey

2018 Honorable Mention
396 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2018 Honorable Mention
Fiery aristocrat, Eden Rose, uprooted from her native Scotland, has tended a foundering marriage and failing ranch at the corner of Crazy Woman Creek and the Powder River for a decade. Best friend, backwoods spitfire Maddie True, has her own woes a few miles away: widowed with a passel of young children, and caretaker to her addled father. Abandoned by her husband during the height of Wyoming Territory’s worst drought in history, Eden depends on her inept brother, Aiden, to see her through the coming winter. But when he disappears into the wild Bighorn mountains, she shuns Maddie’s fearful cautions, teaming with enigmatic Lakota holy man, Intah, to find her brother before the wicked snow holds them all hostage. “Light of the Northern Dancers is a powerful novel of a woman’s journey, thought-provoking and unsettling in its authenticity and unflinching honesty.” — Susan Wiggs, NYT Bestselling Romance Author “Half of what happens to us may have reason, the rest is chaos. Robin F. Gainey’s second novel, Light of the Northern Dancers, has this brand of existentialism. It’ real and it doesn’t let go!” — Tom Skerritt, Award Winning Actor, Writer, Director

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Slipper

Hester Velmans

2018 Bronze Medal
380 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2018 Bronze Medal
Meet the woman who'll inspire the author of the world's most famous story—
Lucinda, a penniless English orphan, is abused and exploited as a cinder-sweep by her aristocratic relatives. On receiving her sole inheritance—a pair of glass-beaded slippers—she runs away to France in pursuit of an officer on whom she has a big crush. She joins the baggage train of Louis XIV’s army, survives a horrific massacre, and eventually finds her way to Paris. There she befriends the man who will some day write the world’s best loved fairy tale, Charles Perrault.
There is much more: a witch hunt, the sorry truth about daydreams, and some truly astonishing revelations, such as the historical facts behind the story of the Emperor's new clothes, and a perfectly reasonable explanation for the compulsion some young women have to kiss frogs.
This is not the fairy tale you remember.

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The Composer's Legacy

Michael DeStefano

2018 Silver Medal
378 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2018 Silver Medal
Esteemed California music professor David Whealy is drawn to the other side of the country to investigate the circumstances behind his unexpected inheritance. As David probes deeper into the secrets of his benefactor, James Burton West, he finds more than just a wealth of unpublished music on the order of the great composers.

David's benefactor knew precious little about his own estate that had been in continuous family hands since 1724. He knew nothing about his colonial ancestor, a Thomas of historic import, nor the origins of that ancient iron key which held a secret even West knew nothing about.

A secret which may well have redrawn the map of the United States.

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The Secret Journals of Adolf Hitler

Volume I - The Anointed
A. G. Mogan

2018 Gold Medal
326 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2018 Gold Medal

*** Honors: 2018 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Winner -- Seen on NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX ***


What happenings and environments wrought the most hated man in history? How does a child become a young man who evolved into a self-proclaimed messiah? Why did this one man become a psychotic who was responsible for the deaths of more than 50 million people? 

This book follows the first, formative years of Adolf Hitler's life. Presented as a personal journal, this is a fact-supported re-telling of a desperate existence, as viewed by Hitler, and tracks the points of pain that forged his beliefs. From a childhood of abuse and cheating death to an agonizing unrequited love to torturous years as a beggar in Vienna to finally finding his destiny. Enflamed by delusions, Hitler embraced the powers he believed guided his life. 

This is a story of dire happenstances that broke a mind and spirit, created beliefs that twisted innocence, ultimately morphing into a malicious brew that changed the world forever. 

This is the one story that's never been told.


If you liked The Anointed, you will also like Volume 2, The Struggle.

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In the Shadow of the Storm: The King's Greatest Enemy #1

Anna Belfrage

2017 Finalist
385 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2017 Finalist
Adam de Guirande owes his lord, Roger Mortimer, much more than loyalty. He owes Lord Roger for his life and all his worldly goods, he owes him for his beautiful wife – even if Kit is not quite the woman Lord Roger thinks she is. So when Lord Roger rises in rebellion against the king, Adam has no choice but to ride with him – no matter what the ultimate cost may be.

England in 1321 is a confusing place. Edward II has been forced by his barons to exile his favourite, Hugh Despenser. The barons, led by the powerful Thomas of Lancaster, Roger Mortimer and Humphrey de Bohun, have reasons to believe they have finally tamed the king. But Edward is not about to take things lying down...

Adam fears his lord has over-reached, but Adam has other matters to concern him, first and foremost his new wife, Katherine de Monmouth. His bride comes surrounded by rumours concerning her and Lord Roger, and he hates it when his brother snickers and whispers of used goods.

Kit has the misfortune of being a perfect double of Katherine de Monmouth – which is why she finds herself coerced into wedding a man under a false name.

Domestic matters become irrelevant when the king sets out to punish his rebellious barons. The Welsh Marches explode into war, and soon Lord Roger and his men are fighting for their very lives. When hope splutters and dies, when death seems inevitable, it falls to Kit to save her man – if she can.

In the Shadow of the Storm is the first in Anna Belfrage’s new series, The King’s Greatest Enemy, the story of a man torn apart by his loyalties to his lord, his king, and his wife.

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The Laird's Kidnapped Bride

Mysty McPartland

2017 Finalist
119 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2017 Finalist
Furious and out for blood when she finds herself kidnapped of the streets of Stirling, Fern promises herself whoever was behind this fiendish act would pay with their life. When the filthy, stinking heathen who had stolen her informs her that she’s his contracted bride, she refuses to believe him. Beside she’s about to marry someone else, moreover she would have nothing to do with a man who would dishonour her by keeping his fat doxy in residence. There was nothing else for her to do but escape. Managing to outwit the reeking lunatic, she remains hidden for several days. Hunger and thirst drive her from her hiding place and she is outraged to find herself captured once more. The final blow to her freedom is the contract he thrusts in her face, declaring everything he said was true. Defeated but still proud she agrees to the marriage but rejects sharing a bed with him, and to keep him out of hers she refused to bath or keep clean. It was time to fetch his bride, and Cameron sent men to procure her. Once he set eyes on her and was drawn to her sweet clean scent, he knew he had to have her. Her beauty was another reason he was determined to wed her. Though he hadn’t bedded his mistress for some time, he realized he had made a tactical error in letting her stay. The insults from his bride at times insulted him and amused him. He was frantic when she somehow manages to escape her locked room. Continuously, he searches for her without any success. It was impossible for her to slip away so it only meant she was hiding somewhere close. He is determined to find her and once he does they will be married at once. As the days pass, he grows more alarmed for her safety but finally just as he is growing desperate, she reappears. Once she sees proof he was telling the truth she reluctantly agrees to marry him but he is mistaken that she has given up fighting him and stirring up trouble.

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Days of Sun and Glory

The King's Greatest Enemy #2
Anna Belfrage

2017 Honorable Mention
418 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2017 Honorable Mention
Adam de Guirande has barely survived the aftermath of Roger Mortimer’s rebellion in 1321. When Mortimer manages to escape the Tower and flee to France, anyone who has ever served Mortimer becomes a potential traitor – at least in the eyes of King Edward II and his royal chancellor, Hugh Despenser. Adam must conduct a careful balancing act to keep himself and his family alive. Fortunately, he has two formidable allies: Queen Isabella and his wife, Kit.

England late in 1323 is a place afflicted by fear. Now that the king’s greatest traitor, Roger Mortimer, has managed to evade royal justice, the king and his beloved Despenser see dissidents and rebels everywhere – among Mortimer’s former men, but also in the queen, Isabella of France.

Yet again, Kit and Adam are forced to take part in a complicated game of intrigue and politics. Yet again, they risk their lives – and that of those they hold dear – as Edward II and Mortimer face off. Once again, England is plunged into war – and this time it will not end until either Despenser or Mortimer is dead.

Days of Sun and Glory is the second in Anna Belfrage’s series, The King’s Greatest Enemy, the story of a man torn apart by his loyalties to his lord, his king, and his wife.

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Madame Presidentess

Nicole Evelina

2017 Honorable Mention
430 Pages
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Fiction - Historical - Personage

2017 Honorable Mention
Forty-eight years before women were granted the right to vote, one woman dared to run for President of the United States, yet her name has been virtually written out of the history books.

Rising from the shame of an abusive childhood, Victoria Woodhull, the daughter of a con-man and a religious zealot, vows to follow her destiny, one the spirits say will lead her out of poverty to “become ruler of her people.”

But the road to glory is far from easy. A nightmarish marriage teaches Victoria that women are stronger and deserve far more credit than society gives. Eschewing the conventions of her day, she strikes out on her own to improve herself and the lot of American women.

Over the next several years, she sets into motion plans that shatter the old boys club of Wall Street and defile even the sanctity of the halls of Congress. But it’s not just her ambition that threatens men of wealth and privilege; when she announces her candidacy for President in the 1872 election, they realize she may well usurp the power they’ve so long fought to protect.

Those who support her laud “Notorious Victoria” as a gifted spiritualist medium and healer, a talented financial mind, a fresh voice in the suffrage movement, and the radical idealist needed to move the nation forward. But those who dislike her see a dangerous force who is too willing to speak out when women are expected to be quiet. Ultimately, “Mrs. Satan’s” radical views on women’s rights, equality of the sexes, free love and the role of politics in private affairs collide with her tumultuous personal life to endanger all she has built and change how she is viewed by future generations.

This is the story of one woman who was ahead of her time – a woman who would make waves even in the 21st century – but who dared to speak out and challenge the conventions of post-Civil War America, setting a precedent that is still followed by female politicians today.

Winner - First Place – Chaucer Awards for Historical Fiction (U.S. women’s history)
Honorable Mention – Reader’s Favorite Book Awards, Fiction – Historical Personage category