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If I Wait For You
Everyone in New Bedford, Massachusetts believes Sara Dawes murdered her own parents. A price is on her head and someone has tried to kill her—not for revenge but to keep her quiet. Fearing for her life, Sara begs the stern and too-handsome-for-his-own-good Captain West Mitchell to allow her to go with him when he leaves port. She wants only to be safe.West Mitchell wants nothing to do with Sara, but when she nearly dies in his arms, he has no choice but to take her aboard his ship. He quickly realizes he’s made a terrible mistake. The girl he thought would be a hindrance is finding a way into his heart—a heart he’d already promised to another.When West finally realizes he cannot live without Sara, it may already be too late…AUTHOR'S I'm a bit red-faced about this, but at the back of this book I allude to Jared's story as being unwritten. I did, in fact, write his story although it was never officially tied to this one. The result is that If I Wait For You is a prequel to Gifts From The Sea. Thanks K. Miller...and it's nice to have such wonderful fans out there!! I'll be getting all my older books out on Kindle soon!
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 26, 2011
18 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Jane Goodger
24 books285 followersI grew up in western Massachusetts and have lived most my adult life in New England. Thanks to my adventurous husband, I've also done brief stints in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Naples, Italy. Although I've written four contemporary romances under the name Jane Blackwood, my first love is historical romances set in Victorian times. I've written 17 of those with more on the way.
I have three kids, one a college grad, one in college, and one still in high school (who's a fantastic writer). I love the Red Sox and the New England Patriots. I work full time, have an editing business, and in my free time write like a fanatic.
Above the desk in my office is this sign: "And They All Lived Happily Ever After." It may not be reality, but it's real nice to think about...
I have three kids, one a college grad, one in college, and one still in high school (who's a fantastic writer). I love the Red Sox and the New England Patriots. I work full time, have an editing business, and in my free time write like a fanatic.
Above the desk in my office is this sign: "And They All Lived Happily Ever After." It may not be reality, but it's real nice to think about...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 29, 2021
New Bedford Mass. 1853, out to sea, New Bedford again
1856. This story had distracting wrong tenses and typos.
Romance w/ murder mystery. Gave it 2.5 stars.
West Mitchell, a middle son, was a whaler ship captain. He
felt indifferent toward his society-lady fiancee & wanted
another occupation. The eldest son, Jared, also a captain,
went wild after the death of his wife and baby while at sea
w/ Jared. Gardner served as the youngest son. The 3rd mate
of West, Zack, asked to allow his sister Sara (wrongly sus-
spected of murder) to travel on H's whaler ship. Permission
granted. West & Sara each engaged in too much internal
rumination.
West had Sara pose as his new wife & share quarters on the
whaler, with her using the smaller of the 2 beds. West acted
angry & rude toward her b/c of his sexual frustration. This
went on for 6 mos. Then he made an ill-advised decision.
Hero didn't see Sara was in a no-win situation RE murders?
Sara needed to start over w/ a new love interest?
West prided himself on integrity but he came up short. His
alpha posturing got old. Sara cried too often. Sara & Gardner
seemed filler. What was the rationale for the murders? Did I
miss this? This could have been a better story.
I might want to read (lost soul) Jared's story, but it appears
the author has not written it.
1856. This story had distracting wrong tenses and typos.
Romance w/ murder mystery. Gave it 2.5 stars.
West Mitchell, a middle son, was a whaler ship captain. He
felt indifferent toward his society-lady fiancee & wanted
another occupation. The eldest son, Jared, also a captain,
went wild after the death of his wife and baby while at sea
w/ Jared. Gardner served as the youngest son. The 3rd mate
of West, Zack, asked to allow his sister Sara (wrongly sus-
spected of murder) to travel on H's whaler ship. Permission
granted. West & Sara each engaged in too much internal
rumination.
West had Sara pose as his new wife & share quarters on the
whaler, with her using the smaller of the 2 beds. West acted
angry & rude toward her b/c of his sexual frustration. This
went on for 6 mos. Then he made an ill-advised decision.
Hero didn't see Sara was in a no-win situation RE murders?
Sara needed to start over w/ a new love interest?
West prided himself on integrity but he came up short. His
alpha posturing got old. Sara cried too often. Sara & Gardner
seemed filler. What was the rationale for the murders? Did I
miss this? This could have been a better story.
I might want to read (lost soul) Jared's story, but it appears
the author has not written it.
December 9, 2011
Absolutely beautiful read! I fell in love with both Sara and West! Just so emotional, breathtaking and I had so many tears as I often do for Jane Goodger's books. I so am going to dig out GIFTS FROM THE SEA and read again! I remember every book I read of Jane's were all 5 star from me because they moved me so much when I read them. You just can't go wrong with any of her books! I borrowed the Kindle in the house to read this one and kept putting it to my chest just to hug this story! You will too!
May 4, 2013
I fell in love with this story and with Sara and West instantly. Not being able to put it down, I read this book in 4hours.
Loved how it tears your insides apart from the hurt, the love, and the decisions they had to make.
Loved how it tears your insides apart from the hurt, the love, and the decisions they had to make.
July 24, 2019
Enjoyable.
October 18, 2012
3.75/5.0 stars
I originally picked up If I Wait For You by Jane Goodger because the settings looked particularly interesting. Part of the story takes place in a whaling ship and the other in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and of course that made this historical romance different enough to draw me like a magnet.
Captain West Mitchell takes Sara Dawes aboard his ship as his make-believe wife after she almost dies in his arms. She's sister to his third mate and has been forced to flee New Bedford, Massachusetts after having been wrongly accused of murdering her parents and setting fire to their home. Since West is already engaged and an honorable man, he figures sharing his cabin with Sara won't be a hardship. That changes quickly when sharing close quarters and Sara’s beauty unexpectedly trigger dishonorable thoughts. In the meantime, Sara can't believe that she's sharing space with a man she has admired for years, but no matter all the day dreaming, she knows that he's only keeping her aboard his ship on sufferance, and that his heart will never belong to her. Or will it?
This is one of those romances that takes years to reach the happy ever after and a final resolution to all the different threads -- a whole three years. I love the sexual tension that Goodger uses to build up the relationship between Sara and West while they are on the whaling ship. Sara's relationship with the crew, the whaling details, and the adventures they all share are part of what makes this a wonderful read. Later, the story moves to New Bedford where we meet Sara again after she has become part of society, and where the mystery of her parent's murders are finally solved.
The romance and main characters did not quite win me over, though. There's a push and pull that, although great at the beginning, goes on for way too long. West and Sara both play a game where neither will admit to themselves, never mind to each other, that they love the other when it's plainly obvious that they do. West becomes frustrating during their shared voyage, while Sara is frustrating in the extreme once West returns to New Bedford and the two are reunited after a few years apart. During those years apart Sara supposedly grew up, unfortunately her actions rarely show maturity and she uses West's younger brother in a way that was tough to appreciate.
If I Wait For You by Jane Goodger is an enjoyable historical romance with an excellent setting. It also has that 'old style' historical atmosphere with wonderful details that I so enjoy (particular to this story: the whaling and seafaring life details), a sea voyage with a great crew as secondary characters, and excellent sexual tension that is used to build up intimacy between the protagonists. However, at times the main characters are not necessarily sympathetic and the plot devices utilized to drive the romance somewhat overdone, making this a mixed bag read for me.
As a side note, If I Wait For You is self-published, so expect a few of those pesky editing errors along the way. It is also the prequel to Jared's romance, *Gifts from the Sea, a backlist release by Goodger that is currently out of print. However, per the author, look for a release in ebook format in the future. Jared is West's older brother and one of the most intriguing secondary characters appearing in this book. I’m looking forward to reading his romance.
I originally picked up If I Wait For You by Jane Goodger because the settings looked particularly interesting. Part of the story takes place in a whaling ship and the other in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and of course that made this historical romance different enough to draw me like a magnet.
Captain West Mitchell takes Sara Dawes aboard his ship as his make-believe wife after she almost dies in his arms. She's sister to his third mate and has been forced to flee New Bedford, Massachusetts after having been wrongly accused of murdering her parents and setting fire to their home. Since West is already engaged and an honorable man, he figures sharing his cabin with Sara won't be a hardship. That changes quickly when sharing close quarters and Sara’s beauty unexpectedly trigger dishonorable thoughts. In the meantime, Sara can't believe that she's sharing space with a man she has admired for years, but no matter all the day dreaming, she knows that he's only keeping her aboard his ship on sufferance, and that his heart will never belong to her. Or will it?
This is one of those romances that takes years to reach the happy ever after and a final resolution to all the different threads -- a whole three years. I love the sexual tension that Goodger uses to build up the relationship between Sara and West while they are on the whaling ship. Sara's relationship with the crew, the whaling details, and the adventures they all share are part of what makes this a wonderful read. Later, the story moves to New Bedford where we meet Sara again after she has become part of society, and where the mystery of her parent's murders are finally solved.
The romance and main characters did not quite win me over, though. There's a push and pull that, although great at the beginning, goes on for way too long. West and Sara both play a game where neither will admit to themselves, never mind to each other, that they love the other when it's plainly obvious that they do. West becomes frustrating during their shared voyage, while Sara is frustrating in the extreme once West returns to New Bedford and the two are reunited after a few years apart. During those years apart Sara supposedly grew up, unfortunately her actions rarely show maturity and she uses West's younger brother in a way that was tough to appreciate.
If I Wait For You by Jane Goodger is an enjoyable historical romance with an excellent setting. It also has that 'old style' historical atmosphere with wonderful details that I so enjoy (particular to this story: the whaling and seafaring life details), a sea voyage with a great crew as secondary characters, and excellent sexual tension that is used to build up intimacy between the protagonists. However, at times the main characters are not necessarily sympathetic and the plot devices utilized to drive the romance somewhat overdone, making this a mixed bag read for me.
As a side note, If I Wait For You is self-published, so expect a few of those pesky editing errors along the way. It is also the prequel to Jared's romance, *Gifts from the Sea, a backlist release by Goodger that is currently out of print. However, per the author, look for a release in ebook format in the future. Jared is West's older brother and one of the most intriguing secondary characters appearing in this book. I’m looking forward to reading his romance.
November 14, 2013
A very emotional romance that grabbed my heart and made me cry more than once. The time Sara and West spent on the whaling ship was the best part; seeing their feelings for each other develop while trying to hide it from the other was delicious yet heart wrenching. The peripheral storyline--the murder mystery, Sara's pending engagement to West's brother--was somewhat distracting and not half as riveting as the couple's romance. I especially felt West's turbulent struggle to remain true to a promise made to Sara's brother. A truly wonderful, romantic tale and recommended at a solid four stars.
January 27, 2015
Not a bad book. I enjoyed reading it and picked it out primarily because I grew up in New Bedford, MA. Sara is thought to have killed her father, mother and a young man besides burning down their home. She runs off to contact her brother who is a mate on a whaling ship. Lots of back and forth love (sex) while she stows away on the ship. A bit too much of "I love you" and "I can't have you" talk with the handsome captain. If you like that kind of book, you'll really like it.
August 21, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. Set in New Bedford, with a whaling background, it is a really good read. The dance of 'I love you, but I am not telling you' between the hero and heroine is a little excess. You do care about the main characters and do read to make sure they get together.
April 19, 2015
3.5 stars. It was nice to read a historical romance with a more unusual setting (whaling). Only complaint is that this needed a good proofreading. I made a lot of use out of the "report content error" feature on my Kindle.
April 21, 2012
Some editing errors lessened my enjoyment but it was a good story.
July 19, 2012
Amazing book... My first and favorite JG book!
March 28, 2015
Intensely sweet
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews