Tagged: Condensed Descriptions

Diane’s books are historical fiction, based very heavily in fact and are, therefore, not politically correct.  Visit my website at: www.dlrogersbooks.com; Facebook at: www.facebook.com/dlrogersbooks; Email at: dlrogers2@peoplepc.com; Amazon Author Page at: tps://www.amazon.com/author/www.dlrogersbooks.com

Released June 2024: SNIPPETS: Stories of the Civil War: It was a time when friends became enemies and families were divided because of their beliefs. When every day meant survival--or death--based on your geography and those beliefs. From lady spies and infamous outlaws to "angels" and a twelve-year-old sergeant, relive the Civil War through the eyes of those who lived it.

Released March 2024: ELIZABETH'S WAR: Aftermath (Sequel to ELIZABETH'S WAR: Missouri 1863):  War is hell, its aftermath just as devastating, as evidenced in western Missouri after the Civil War. Four years of taxes came due, and a new constitution was issued, excluding those who fought on the "wrong" side from voting, teaching, even preaching. Former Bushwhacker Buck Jackson wants only to leave his past behind. Nora Miers is the girl to do it. But is Buck the man she should trust her heart to--until he proves everyone deserves a second chance.

Re-released 2023:  (ELIZABETH’S WAR: MISSOURI 1863):  In 1863 along the Missouri / Kansas border, raiders, bushwhackers, soldiers, and local militia ruled the land. Neighbors and relations fought each other from opposite sides of the Civil War and when General Order No. 11 was issued, it forced thousands of mostly women, children and the elderly to leave their homes and everything they loved.  Although Elizabeth prepared for and began her journey with a plan, those plans meant nothing in the face of her enemies as she races the clock, drought, and the soaring Missouri temperatures to reach her kin and save her family before it’s too late.

Released 2022: 50 SOMETHING: Death, Divorce & Menopause:  Experience the joys and disappointments of four women through three decades of friendship. From college to menopause, share the bonds that develop through death, divorce and other adversities as they grow older. Together.

Released July 2021 - PERILS ON THE MISSOURI: A Tale of Life and Death Along the Big Muddy:  Following the death of their mother, sisters Josephine and Jessica Tate board the Steamboat Arabia to head for Parkville, Missouri, to meet their father whose plan is to build a new mercantile along the Kansas/Missouri border. While aboard the steamboat, Josie and Jess find more adventure than they bargained for—before and after the Arabia strikes a floating torpedo that sends her to the bottom of the river. In the as yet un-named “Border War” between Kansas and Missouri, tensions are rising and the girls wind up smack in the middle of it.

Released December, 2020 - TREACHERY AT MIDNIGHT: A Daughter’s Remembrances of the Civil War, Wayside Rest and her (Special) Friendship with Cole Younger:  War is devastating. The Civil War in Cass County was hell on earth. On the shared border between Kansas and Missouri the sayings “brother against brother,” “father against son” and “neighbor against neighbor” must have certainly originated here. It was not only spoken—it was lived. From the Border War, which began five years BEFORE the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, to the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, fear was an everyday companion to the people who lived in this rural Missouri county. This is the story of one family who met each new day with the fear of being robbed, beaten or murdered. Even with Federal “Protection Papers” to prove him as a Union man, Robert Allison Brown, whose home was better-known as Wayside Rest, where many a weary traveler was given a meal and a bed, was set upon nearly a dozen times. His family was terrorized, property stolen and buildings burned. Through the eyes of his fourteen-year-old daughter, Lizzie, you, too, can experience how Cass County became known as “The Burnt District” during those turbulent Civil War years.

Released March, 2020 (BURY ME WITH MY PEOPLE: The Arrests of Elizabeth Temms and the Roswell Mill Workers)  To feed her family in the final years of the Civil War, Martha Harrison works at the woolen mill of the Roswell Manufacturing Company. There "Roswell Gray" cloth is made for Confederate uniforms. Each day Martha prays Sherman, in his vow to "Make Georgia Howl," doesn't go through Roswell on his way to Atlanta. But he does. Four hundred women and their children are arrested at the mill and sent to the Louisville Military Prison hundreds of miles away. There Elizabeth Temms teaches Martha how to survive their living hell-and what real heroes look like.

Released June, 2019 (LOU'S STORY: She Adder or Patriot?)  May 14, 1863, Lou McCoy's life changed forever.  That day Lou's husband, a Rebel recruiter she hadn't seen in weeks, appeared at her door for an unannounced visit. He left with a kiss and a strong, "Don't tell anyone I was here."  Later that night five Federal soldiers came to her home and demanded to know where her husband was hiding. She refused to tell and was arrested the next day. She left three children behind.  Imprisoned in Saint Joseph, Missouri, Lou does the best she can to make the best of her situation, while bushwhacker forces plan retribution for her arrest. From Missouri City to Saint Joseph to Arkansas, Lou was led by her conscience--and her strongly vocalized convictions.

Released June, 2019 (FIRE ON THE HORIZON: The Death of the Morro Castle)  In an era when most Americans struggled to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, those who could still afford it spent a week of indulgence aboard the Morro Castle, a luxury liner that sailed from New York Harbor to Havana, Cuba. Aboard ship, the Depression and Prohibition were forgotten. Food and liquor flowed freely. And the on-going party started the moment she set sail and didn't end until seven days later when she docked back in the Harbor. That was until fire ravaged her and destroyed it all.

Released June, 2018 (CROSSFIRE IN THE STREET: Lone Jack 1862)  The Civil War yielded many bloody battles and the Battle at Lone Jack was among the worst. Fought across a sixty-foot strip of dusty road, brothers fought brothers, neighbors fought neighbors, cousins fought cousins, and the blood of horses and men ran together in the street under the blistering August sun. The Green family tried to keep from being caught up in the war headed for their doorstep, but their efforts were lost—even before the Yankees came to town. Live the Battle at Lone Jack and its aftermath through the eyes of one family just trying to stay alive.

Released May, 2017 (THE OLD COOTS: Blue, Gray and Gold)   Sam Whitmore and Tom Hansen, childhood friends who fought on opposite sides of the Civil War, reunite fifteen years later with a common goal—to save Sam’s family home from Northern bankers. Sam recruits Tom to do the only thing he can think of to save it. Find gold! Setting off for the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory, they find more than they bargained for in the form of Mother Nature, Lady Luck, would-be claim jumpers, and thieves.  Can Sam and Tom find the gold they’re looking for and make it back in time to save his home? Or will it all be for naught?

Released May, 2016:  (THE OLD COOTS: Tom)  Tom Hansen is a simple man, despite his family’s Boston money. Intent on making his own fortune, he starts by racing the thoroughbred stallion he is given at age 15—and winning. Growing to prominence in the racing world, he meets a filly named Abby that he must tame, or lose himself to everything he believes. As unrest between the northern and southern states grows, choices are made, both by Tom AND by those around him, forcing him to choose sides and, ultimately, the loss of everything he’s worked for over the years. Join Tom in his journey of survival through love—and war.

Released June, 2015:  (THE OLD COOTS:  Sam) Sam Whitmore hates slavery. Turning his back on his slave-holding family, he purchases a run-down tobacco plantation with the hope of someday making it a success. Freeing Horace and Jefferson, the slaves who came with what he now calls Summerset, they become Sam’s new family...Until the night he meets Ellie Baker and his life changes forever. Ellie believed what Sam believed and upon their marriage, she happily stays in Tennessee to help him make Summerset a success. The first few years Sam’s dreams are realized, but soon after the weather deserts him, leaving a worthless property and a wife who wants only to return home with their two children—to Missouri. The KS/MO border explodes in violence, a precursor of the coming Civil War. From Missouri to Tennessee, Virginia, Gettysburg, and finally Appomattox, against all he believes, Sam fights for the southern cause—to soothe the burning need for revenge that burns in his belly—and costs him almost everything. 

Re-released 2023:  (ELIZABETH’S WAR: MISSOURI 1863)  In 1863 along the Missouri / Kansas border, raiders, bushwhackers, soldiers, and local militia ruled the land. Neighbors and relations fought each other from opposite sides of the Civil War and when General Order No. 11 was issued, it forced thousands of mostly women, children and the elderly to leave their homes and everything they loved.  Although Elizabeth prepared for and began her journey with a plan, those plans meant nothing in the face of her enemies as she races the clock, drought, and the soaring Missouri temperatures to reach her kin and save her family before it’s too late.

THE WHITE OAKS SERIES - (In the Order I would Read Them):

 (Beginnings: Into the Unknown) Although BEGINNINGS was the last book written in THE WHITE OAKS SERIES, it’s really the beginning. Starting with a frightening steamboat trip up the Missouri, join Jonathan and Emma Carter as they experience a "star shower," the opening of the Oregon Trail, the Great Flood of 1844, the Mexican-American War and pre-Civil War, and two cholera epidemics while building the new town of Independence and, at the same time, building their own lives and a new “ranch” called WHITE OAKS.

(Tomorrow’s Promise) After their wagon train is attacked by the Lakota, Sarah is taken captive and spends a year in captivity. Once rescued, Sarah must fight to regain her husband’s heart. When the Civil War begins, Ben leaves to fight for the Union cause at Wilson’s Creek, Lexington & the Battle of Hemp Bales (where he’s sent to Libby Prison), Shiloh, and Sherman’s March to the Sea. In his absence, Sarah must endure General Order No. 11, slave catchers, and Quantrill’s Raiders.  

(Caleb) Former slave Caleb sets out to find his freedom and self-worth up north.  From a ruthless former overseer to an out-of-control town and the brutality of Mother Nature, Caleb follows his heart to find love and freedom, but when called upon, he returns to White Oaks and risks his life to save his friend Sarah, the one person who gave him a chance and set his feet toward the freedom he sought.

 (Brothers by Blood) Half-blood Blue Fox with Two Hearts wants only to be accepted.  From the schoolroom to the camps of the Lakota, join Blue as he grows to manhood amongst his mother’s people, the Lakota.  From the Battles of the Rosebud and the Little Bighorn (from the Lakota Point-of-View), to the love that grows between Blue Fox and Amy, the woman Blue rescues from the Crow during a Lakota raid on their village, Blue Fox vows to find acceptance—somewhere.

(Amy) From the first firing on Fort Sumter, through the Union blockade, the fall of the Confederacy and Reconstruction, to gold fever in the Black Hills and finally the Battle of the Little Bighorn, join Amy, the eight-year-old little girl who experiences all of these while growing to womanhood amidst one of the most tumultuous periods in our history! 

(Ghost Dancers) From the Battle of the Little Bighorn to General George Crook’s Horsemeat March as he trails the Lakota for months after the Little Bighorn, to the corrupt reservation system, the surrender of Dull Knife at Fort Robinson and it’s horrific results, the surrenders (and deaths) of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, and the Ghost Dance that lead to the fated Massacre at Wounded Knee, George Hawkins vows to “make a difference” for the Lakota.

 (Maggie) Maggie is a “forward-thinking” woman who can out shoot, out ride, and out do most of her male counterparts. Maggie stomps for women’s rights in Boston then goes to Cheyenne to write for the Cheyenne Sun. Riding the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage to report on the deadly 1879 Deadwood fire that wiped out half the town, she comes face to face with Indians, ladies of the night, robbers and lawmen while searching for a lost love before winding up at the Standing Rock Agency in Dakota Territory. From Boston to Cheyenne to the Dakota Territory, Maggie makes a difference—and gets into all kinds of trouble while doing it!

Echoes in the Dark:  Stepping off the plane in Da Nang, Adam knew his life was forever changed.  Wanting only to survive his tour in Vietnam and return home to Belinda, he learned quickly the harsh reality he’d been thrust into and the frailty of life and looming death.  Once home Adam deals with PTSD, alcoholism, Survivor’s Guilt, anger, & how to forgive the parents who sent him away.

 ReReleased October 2021 - The Journey:  Reeling from her husband's betrayal Rosemary, and her recently widowed best friend, Joy, are dragged off to Europe by a young, vibrant new teacher at their school.  What they discover about themselves on their "journey" is both enlightening, educational...and fun!  Join Rosemary, Joy, and Kristen as they discover the beauty and history of Europe, while discovering who they are, and a little bit of love, too.  (A little naughty)