Fans pick 100 books like The Russian's Pride

By Cap Daniels,

Here are 100 books that The Russian's Pride fans have personally recommended if you like The Russian's Pride. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Spitfire Women Of World War II

Nicholas Harvey Author Of Deadly Sommer

From my list on kick-ass females of sea and sky.

Why am I passionate about this?

My wife is a beautiful, intelligent, and determined woman. She took up rock climbing in her forties. She rides a motorcycle on and off-road. She scuba dives with sharks, she’s jumped out of an airplane, and she strapped crampons on her feet when I said we’re climbing a snow-covered mountain. One of my best friends in the world is from Finland. Typical of Finns, and Scandinavians in general, he has a dry wit and keen observations and thoughts which he delivers matter-of-factly in few words. Combining these two with a sprinkling of my own imagination produced Nora Sommer.

Nicholas' book list on kick-ass females of sea and sky

Nicholas Harvey Why did Nicholas love this book?

I have an obsession with WWII, submarines of the era, and especially the Battle of Britain. As women in dangerous and often traditionally masculine roles also appeal, it makes sense that true stories of these gallant pilots are right in my wheelhouse. Or cockpit…

During the war, female pilots were recruited to ferry planes for the Air Transport Auxiliary to RAF bases, freeing up male combat pilots.

Unarmed, without instruments or radios, the women often flew over the hostile skies of southern England in new or repaired aircraft, flight testing them on the way. Navigation was done by compass headings and visual references on the ground.

This book does a wonderful job of shining a light on the relatively small group of brave souls who did their part during dark times.

By Giles Whittell,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Spitfire Women Of World War II as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The story of the unsung heroines who flew the newest, fastest, aeroplanes in World War II - mostly in southern England where the RAF was desperately short of pilots.

Why would the well-bred daughter of a New England factory-owner brave the U-boat blockades of the North Atlantic in the bitter winter of 1941? What made a South African diamond heiress give up her life of house parties and London balls to spend the war in a freezing barracks on the Solent? And why did young Margaret Frost start lying to her father during the Battle of Britain?

They - and…


Book cover of Low Tide

Don Rich Author Of Coastal Jury

From my list on coastal mystery and adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an entrepreneur who was born literally within sight of the Intracoastal Waterway in South Florida. Got my first boat (a dinghy) when I was six. I used to drive an airboat on Lake Okeechobee and learned to fly back when I was a teenager. Since then, I’ve flown over a dozen different types of planes and even a helicopter. As a kid, I spent a lot of time in the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, and the Antilles. In my late teens I worked on various private sportfishing boats in Florida, Georgia, and the Bahamas. With this much time spent on, in, under, or around the water, I was destined to write coastal novels. 

Don's book list on coastal mystery and adventure

Don Rich Why did Don love this book?

Dawn Lee was a friend and an inspiration to me. Cancer took her from us way too soon, but she left behind a large legacy of great books that were set on the Gulf coast in the panhandle of Florida. Low Tide is the first book in her Forgotten Coast Florida Suspense series which launched her into the bestseller ranks. If you ask anyone who’s read her what makes her writing so special, they’ll all tell you it’s her uniquely crafted characters. The plots and the twists of her stories are top-notch as well, but the characters are simply amazing.

By Dawn Lee McKenna,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Low Tide as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Apalachicola, Florida, sinister things are afoot, as sinister things tend to be.Lt. Maggie Redmond is called to a crime scene on St. George Island, where she is met with the body of Gregory Boudreaux. The medical examiner calls it a suicide, but no one knows that Maggie has a horrible connection to the dead man.When Gregory’s uncle, Bennett Boudreaux, the richest and scariest man in town, takes a sudden interest in Maggie, people start to wonder, Maggie included. Maggie knows he may suspect her of killing his nephew, but she finds herself slowly drawn to the man. As Maggie…


Book cover of Learning to Fly: An Uncommon Memoir of Human Flight, Unexpected Love, and One Amazing Dog

Nicholas Harvey Author Of Deadly Sommer

From my list on kick-ass females of sea and sky.

Why am I passionate about this?

My wife is a beautiful, intelligent, and determined woman. She took up rock climbing in her forties. She rides a motorcycle on and off-road. She scuba dives with sharks, she’s jumped out of an airplane, and she strapped crampons on her feet when I said we’re climbing a snow-covered mountain. One of my best friends in the world is from Finland. Typical of Finns, and Scandinavians in general, he has a dry wit and keen observations and thoughts which he delivers matter-of-factly in few words. Combining these two with a sprinkling of my own imagination produced Nora Sommer.

Nicholas' book list on kick-ass females of sea and sky

Nicholas Harvey Why did Nicholas love this book?

Have you heard of Alex Honnold? The guy who climbs shear-faced mountains without a rope… Steph Davis does that too. She also skydives and flies in a wingsuit. This book took me on an amazing voyage into the life and mind of a woman with nerves of steel, yet a loving and beautiful soul. A life brimming with achievements, yet littered with tragedy. I spent half the book with my jaw dropped open, and parts with tears streaming down my face.

Steph Davis is undoubtedly a kick-ass female.

By Stephen Davis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Learning to Fly as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When professional rock climber Steph Davis started skydiving, she discovered new love, hope, and joy in letting go.

“It’s not so surprising that on the day of my fifth wedding anniversary I would be crouched in the open door of an airplane, thirteen thousand feet above the Colorado plains, about to jump out. That coincidence of timing really wasn’t.”

Steph Davis is a superstar in the climbing community and has ascended some of the world’s most awe-inspiring peaks. But when her husband makes a controversial climb in a national park, the media fallout—and the toll it takes on her marriage—suddenly…


Book cover of Merciless Charity

Nicholas Harvey Author Of Deadly Sommer

From my list on kick-ass females of sea and sky.

Why am I passionate about this?

My wife is a beautiful, intelligent, and determined woman. She took up rock climbing in her forties. She rides a motorcycle on and off-road. She scuba dives with sharks, she’s jumped out of an airplane, and she strapped crampons on her feet when I said we’re climbing a snow-covered mountain. One of my best friends in the world is from Finland. Typical of Finns, and Scandinavians in general, he has a dry wit and keen observations and thoughts which he delivers matter-of-factly in few words. Combining these two with a sprinkling of my own imagination produced Nora Sommer.

Nicholas' book list on kick-ass females of sea and sky

Nicholas Harvey Why did Nicholas love this book?

Former Olympian and U.S. Army helicopter pilot, Charity is another heroine who is as comfortable under sail as she is behind the collective of an AH-64 Apache. An operative used for dangerous tactical ‘kill’ missions, Charity battles her demons borne out of captivity and torture in Afghanistan, to keep her aggression under control.

An emotionally tormented loner, Charity kicks some serious ass.

By Wayne Stinnett,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Merciless Charity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What can be done to stop madness from sweeping the world when political indecision is the norm? When the nation's leaders lack the backbone to stand up to them, what can stop an enemy that knows no rules? Charity.Charity Styles is a former Olympian and U.S. Army helicopter pilot. Captured and tortured by terrorists in Afghanistan after the opening blows of the War on Terror, Charity has a score to settle. Now working for the Department of Homeland Security, she is offered the opportunity to make a real difference.Critical memories of her ordeal are buried deep in Charity’s subconscious. When…


Book cover of The Russian Moment in World History

Marcus C. Levitt Author Of The Visual Dominant in Eighteenth-Century Russia

From my list on nonfiction that offers new and unexpected views of Russia.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have chosen the five books below as the most original and thought-provoking ones on Russian history and culture, books that I return to again and again when thinking about the questions they raise. They are not books that I always agree with, but to me that makes them all the more valuable!

Marcus' book list on nonfiction that offers new and unexpected views of Russia

Marcus C. Levitt Why did Marcus love this book?

This is, in my opinion, the best short history of Russia (only about 100 pages). It’s full of unexpected ideas, provocative and challenging.

It was published in 2003 and is written from the perspective of a Russia in decline (Russia of the 1990s, before Putin), but nevertheless offers a brilliant analysis of why the country has tended toward isolationism and xenophobia. It is thus almost predictive of Putin’s recent break with the West. I have assigned it to classes and recommend it to friends.

By Marshall T. Poe,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Russian Moment in World History as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Is Russian history one big inevitable failure? The Soviet Union's demise and Russia's ensuing troubles have led many to wonder. But this is to look through a skewed prism indeed. In this provocative and elegantly written short history of Russia, Marshall Poe takes us well beyond the Soviet haze deep into the nation's fascinating--not at all inevitable, and in key respects remarkably successful--past. Tracing Russia's course from its beginnings to the present day, Poe shows that Russia was the only non-Western power to defend itself against Western imperialism for centuries. It did so by building a powerful state that molded…


Book cover of Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets

Michael Cassella-Blackburn Author Of The Donkey, the Carrot, and the Club: William C. Bullitt and Soviet-American Relations, 1917-1948

From my list on dealing with a world unexpectedly coming apart.

Why am I passionate about this?

After spending many years as a historian, I could be really negative about humanity. We have done many bad things to each other and the planet, but I don’t think there is a downward trajectory. I don’t believe in fate. My last published works have been about using fear and conspiracy to gain certain ends, but 99% of those were imagined connections, not some sophisticated plans of evil geniuses. The imagined conspiracy came after the actions. So, the books I have listed that I think are excellent are ways out of terrible situations, some of our own making, but often not. I hope you enjoy the books.

Michael's book list on dealing with a world unexpectedly coming apart

Michael Cassella-Blackburn Why did Michael love this book?

This book was absolutely amazing. The author interviewed many Soviet citizens in the 1990s after the Soviet Union’s collapse. I loved this book because it showed how people dealt with the massive change of the fall of the Soviet Union.

I also happened to be doing research in the Soviet Union in 1990 and then in 1995. So, I had an idea or two about before and after, but what about the people themselves? It shocked me to learn how many people believed in Stalin and how they thought they were changing the world even as it went far astray.

I also learned in the wonderful stories how they struggled to survive, some more, some less. The stories were heartbreaking but also illuminating and even encouraging.

By Svetlana Alexievich, Bela Shayevich,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Secondhand Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A symphonic oral history about the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia, from Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • The Wall Street Journal • NPR • Financial Times • Kirkus Reviews

When the Swedish Academy awarded Svetlana Alexievich the…


Book cover of Reckless Heir

Stacy Kristen Author Of Jax: An Age Gap, Second Chance at Love MC Romance

From my list on unforgettable spicy romance reads.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an indie romance author obsessed with all things romance, the spicier the better! I’m all about the happy ending, so all my books feature a happy ever after (HEA) or happy for now (HFN).

Stacy's book list on unforgettable spicy romance reads

Stacy Kristen Why did Stacy love this book?

This book intrigued me from the start, as it has an arranged marriage trope involving the Bratva and the Cosa Nostra mafia. As soon as I read the blurb, I was like, ‘Won’t they just kill each other and be done with it?’ But alas, no. The main character is a pawn between the two entities and the author intertwines the plot beautifully, creating one amazing book.

By Jenika Snow,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Reckless Heir as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*A top 35 Amazon bestseller*

From USA Today bestselling author Jenika Snow comes a new full-length standalone arranged marriage mafia romance set in the Underworld Kings world that blurs the lines between right and wrong.

My father sold me off to a ruthless killer in the Russian mafia, an alliance between the Bratva and the Cosa Nostra.

An arranged marriage where I’d be at the mercy of the man who’d no doubt see me as his property, where I was sure he’d be just as cruel and violent as every other Made Man I’d known in my life.

Nikolai Petrov,…


Book cover of Vow of Deception

Helena Newbury Author Of Lying and Kissing

From my list on falling for a mafia boss.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved the blend of drama and romance that mafia romance brings ever since I read my first one. It’s the larger-than-life heroes: rich, powerful, morally gray but ultimately human and flawed, that draw me in. But it’s the heroines who act as these men’s sweet kryptonite that keep me reading. I’m also a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romantic suspense author, including the mafia romantic suspenses The Double, Lying and Kissing, Kissing My Killer, and Kissing The Enemy.

Helena's book list on falling for a mafia boss

Helena Newbury Why did Helena love this book?

This is the mafia romance that upended all my beliefs about what the genre could be. I vividly remember opening this book for the very first time, reading the prologue and the first few pages, and saying out loud, “Oh!” And then settling into the chair because I’d realized I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

Yes, there’s a great hero and heroine, yes, there’s heat, but what I love about this book is the mystery. I just had so many questions and they were the right sort of questions: I was intrigued, not bewildered. I just wanted to sink into the book until I’d devoured every page, which is exactly what I did.

By Rina Kent,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Vow of Deception as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

My husband. My Tormentor.

The most notorious man in the city offers me a job.
Act as his dead wife.
Adrian Volkov isn’t the type of person who takes no for an answer.
He commands with an iron fist and all his orders are met.
When he approaches me with the offer, I have two options.
Go to prison or put myself under his wrath.
I choose to have a roof over my head. What’s so hard about acting, right?
Wrong.
The moment I step into his wife’s shoes, everything spirals out of control.
My only way of survival is…


Book cover of Cruel Paradise

Helena Newbury Author Of Lying and Kissing

From my list on falling for a mafia boss.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved the blend of drama and romance that mafia romance brings ever since I read my first one. It’s the larger-than-life heroes: rich, powerful, morally gray but ultimately human and flawed, that draw me in. But it’s the heroines who act as these men’s sweet kryptonite that keep me reading. I’m also a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romantic suspense author, including the mafia romantic suspenses The Double, Lying and Kissing, Kissing My Killer, and Kissing The Enemy.

Helena's book list on falling for a mafia boss

Helena Newbury Why did Helena love this book?

I’ve never come across a book that mixes mafia romance’s sumptuous luxury and knife-edge danger as well as this one. It almost feels like a billionaire romance: the hard-working assistant ignored by her cold, arrogant boss, the lavish cars and apartments, the way money is life-or-death for the struggling heroine but an irrelevance for the hero.

But Ruslan, the hero, isn’t just a CEO: he’s a Russian Mafia boss, and that brutal danger runs through the book like a vein of silver. I loved the way the heroine, Emma—who’s wonderfully self-reliant and has a BIG heart—stood up to him. I adored Ruslan’s cold exterior and secret warm heart, but it was the way he bonded with Emma’s adopted family that melted me.

By Nicole Fox,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cruel Paradise as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What’s more embarrassing than a butt dial?Butt dialing your boss…And leaving a dirty voicemail when you’re uhh… “thinking” about them.. Working as Ruslan Oryolov’s personal assistant is the job from hell.After a long day spent tending to the billionaire’s every whim, I need some stress relief.So when I get home that night, that’s exactly what I do.. Problem is, my thoughts are still stuck on the bosshole who’s ruining my life.That’s fine—because of all Ruslan’s many sins, being gorgeous might be the most dangerous.Tonight, fantasies of him are just what I need to push me over the edge.. But when…


Book cover of Second Wind

Leah St. James Author Of Adrienne's Ghost

From my list on series that should be made into movies or TV shows.

Why am I passionate about this?

Aside from reading (preferably at the beach), one of my favorite pastimes is watching movies or TV with my husband. We enjoy analyzing plots and talking about what we do or don’t like, what surprised us, or how we might have handled a scene differently. It seems the better ones are most often based on novels, usually with strong, well-developed characters, emotional punch, interesting settings, and/or hard-to-guess plot twists. This is my list of stories I think are strong in those characteristics and would make great movies or TV shows/series.

Leah's book list on series that should be made into movies or TV shows

Leah St. James Why did Leah love this book?

This story is filled with quirky characters, a beautiful backdrop, suspense, and sweet romance, perfect for a romantic comedy. Escaping an abusive fiancé, Laurel McDowell flees with her feisty feline Rufus and her few belongings to her family home in California’s Big Sur. Trouble quickly follows. Soon, she is embroiled in a money laundering conspiracy and finds herself in the cross-hairs of the Russian Mafia. Luckily, FBI forensic accountant Jake Carlson is on the case. This author has a gift for humor, and I found myself chuckling as I read. The supporting characters—Laurel’s restaurateur mother, her two artist sisters, and a high school friend—are likable to the point I wish I could take a cross-country drive to visit. 

By Alison Henderson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Second Wind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Action. Suspense. Mystery. Romance.

Desperate to escape her abusive fiancé, sculptor Laurel McDowell pawns her engagement ring, loads everything she owns into her VW Beetle, and heads for the sanctuary of her family home in Big Sur.

After her ex’s body washes up on Carmel beach, she finds herself dragged into a scheme involving money-laundering Russians, a pair of bikers named Snowflake and Twitchy, and a hot FBI number-cruncher who’s more comfortable in a T-shirt and shorts than a suit.


Book cover of Spitfire Women Of World War II
Book cover of Low Tide
Book cover of Learning to Fly: An Uncommon Memoir of Human Flight, Unexpected Love, and One Amazing Dog

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in mafia romance, the Soviet Union, and Russia?

Mafia Romance 17 books
The Soviet Union 380 books
Russia 390 books