One rash decision will lead him down the path toward revolution...
Nathaniel Hill, eldest son in a well-connected and respected English family, is offered two choices by his father after being caught in a compromising situation: public shame to force his good behavior, or to sever his family ties and leave on the first ship for the colonies in America. Rather than endure the life his father expects him to lead, he makes the choice to begin anew where he knows no one. Landing in Boston, Massachusetts in 1772, he uses what money he has to purchase a tavern for a bargain price from a desperate seller, and sets about scraping together a life in a city he quickly realizes is on the verge of complete catastrophe. Though he attempts to remain neutral in the politics ripping at the city's foundations in the years that follow, he is destined to fail. A musket, a British officer, a rebel spy network, and a dashing Frenchman are fated to disrupt his carefully-held neutrality. Main character's identity: gay, demisexual Romance included: yes, sub-plot |
"You can't believe a letter of marque from a rebellious colony will be considered legal. You will be no better than a pirate."
Miles Dunn has sailed the seas his entire life it seems. The moment he was old enough he learned the operations on his father's fishing ship, and as a youth he joined his father on a privateer that harassed French trade. Now he commands his own whaling vessel out of Nantucket and lives a comfortable life in Dunnstown, a town he and his family have built through the spoils of generations of smuggling and piracy. Miles is an honest man, though, and has no desire to engage in the smuggling so many on the coast are increasingly involved in as bitterness grows over taxes and British laws made so far away from the American lives they involve. That changes for Miles with the outbreak of war between England and the colonies. Miles is faced with a choice to relocate to England with his employer, or to become unemployed in the midst of a war that might soon end, or that might drag on for years. The timely meeting with a merchant whose family's wealth has been tied to the smugglers and pirates of Miles's own family presents Miles with a third option. It is an option that, once accepted, changes everything for Miles. It renders him a traitor to his king and the British navy's most wanted criminal. It sends him on his way to New York to locate an old friend in the service of the Royal Navy, and to incite a mutiny on a British ship of war. BOOK SPECIFIC CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of whaling (no actual whaling scenes), mentions of sexual assault (no actual assault), one scene of torture (whipping - navy punishment) Main character's identity: aromantic, asexual Romance included: no, only mentions of side characters in relationships |
Main character's identity: asexual, heteroromantic
Romance included: no, only mentions of side-characters' relationships |
"We are all committing treason by supporting the rebel cause."
Since war began outright in 1775, Bethiah Rogers has learned how military events may impact the everyday lives of those with no ties to the military at all. In addition to the rising tensions before the outbreak of the war, Bethiah has witnessed the recent occupation of Philadelphia by the British army. The war has also postponed her expected marriage to her longtime friend, Levi Finley, who has been establishing his role in his father's business interests in Boston with the expectation to move her there once settled. It is an arrangement that benefits both Bethiah and Levi, allowing Levi to remain with the man he loves and Bethiah to not endure the usual intimate expectations of a wife. As the war continues seemingly without end, Bethiah and Levi choose to cease postponing the wedding, allowing Bethiah to join Levi and his partner, Jasper, in Boston. There she takes up the operations of the shopfront where acquired goods are sold, and she becomes a partner in the ownership of a privateer known as the Scot. Yet, as Bethiah is enjoying her new life and the family they have created for themselves, it becomes clear that the war may disrupt their happiness yet again. Soon they are beset by those seeking to be paid the bounty for capturing Levi, a bounty put on him for his association with the Scot, a vessel that had been a ship in the British Royal Navy before being taken to serve as a privateer. By the time they discover the identity of the master behind the plot against them, it may be too late for Bethiah's family - both the family in Boston and the father she left behind in Philadelphia - and it may also prove too late for the Continental Congress and Washington's army. BOOK SPECIFIC CONTENT WARNINGS: references to non-monogamy, mentions of slavery (one of the major characters was previously enslaved), attempted kidnapping, references to death of a mother from childbirth complications, anticipated death of a parent (who does not die), housefire, creepy dudes who won't take no for an answer and keep writing letters even when they are ignored |
War made them enemies. Could they ever be anything more?
The war has not been kind to Elijah Fulton, Major in the Continental army. After nearly losing his leg during the Battle of Monmouth, he returned to his home in Pennsylvania only to discover his herd of livestock severely diminished and his ability to continue his trade in textiles nearly impossible. He can only be thankful that his horse, Hercules, wasn't killed. As he works to rebuild his life in the ever-present shadow of war, he learns he is to help keep an eye on a group of prisoners captured at Yorktown and brought to town for an unspecified amount of time. Among those soldiers is an officer who is to be given a place in Elijah's home until the prisoners leave. All Colonel Benjamin Edmonds wants to do is return to England with his steadfast horse, Achilles, and what remains of his regiment. Between the battles, disease, and desertion, his force has dwindled and so has his tolerance of war. He can think of little that appeals to him less than living in the home of an American officer while his men are confined to a poorly-built prison in the middle of town. Yet, he soon learns Major Fulton isn't a spiteful man who despises Benjamin simply for being his enemy. In fact, he seems to be a good man, and a gentleman. Bound together by their desire to see the prisoners treated properly, they both begin to see each other for who they truly are. But with the war ending and Benjamin certain to be returning home before too long, do they dare look for comfort and affection in each other? BOOK SPECIFIC CONTENT WARNINGS: prisoners of war, disabilities from wounds received in battle, death in battle, PTSD, past death of a spouse, past death of a lover, past death in childbirth, references to death of a newborn, mentions of slavery, references to non-monogamy |
Main character's identity: one gay, one bisexual; demiromantic rep
Romance included: yes, major plotline |