Olivia has had enough of paradise. The Bay Babe is hers, bequeathed by her father. The young woman sneaks out of the Hawaiian harbor bound for Alaska. It’s a long trip to be tackled single-handed, but Olivia is determined to reach home on Kachemak Bay. She’s been dreaming of going home for years.Adrift in a lifeboat on the Gulf of Alaska, Don wonders if he’ll live to see morning. Every rotten … to see morning. Every rotten thing he’s ever done haunts him as he bails. The white sails of an approaching yacht might mean survival. It’s a lone woman skippering the boat.
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I’m glad the author gave this bad boy a chance to redeem himself and not kill him off. His name, Donald Dick, will make you laugh… and as Ole, his love interest, thinks, “It’s just wrong to name a child that.” Every time I read on of the author’s romance novels, I’m impressed by her ability to make them more than simply a romance story. The characters are real and have to deal with believable situations. You’ll learn much about living in Alaska–in this story about sailing and about those who make their living from fishing. All this adds to the authenticity of the story. The story is well-written and one even non-romance fans will enjoy.
As the saga continues in the Homer series, we find the nefarious Don Dick stranded in the deadly Alaskan waters drifting out into the ocean in a dinghy with a bag full of illegally panned gold. During this time, he begins questioning his many life choices as he pails water from his dinghy. Before long, he gets rescued by Olivia on her sailboat that she sailed from Hawaii all by herself. They get along well enough and as she teaches him about sailing, Don grows more found of her. Love blossoms but Don’s shady past catches up with him and jeopardizes everything between the two of them. There’s plenty of high seas drama and romance that I’m sure will keep you hooked on this fishing story. I highly recommend this one!
Alaskan Adventure…
It didn’t take me long to become immersed in Sailing Backwards. FYI, this is the third book in the series but definitely does not need to be read in order to enjoy Olivia and Don’s story, but couldn’t hurt. For those readers who have never been to Alaska, me included, the author has a way of bringing Alaska to life for the reader and I found that I could visualize the area and even the thrill of being on the sea.
The book’s opening scene finds Don adrift on a raft in the Gulf of Alaska and if not for the fact that Olivia was blown off course during a storm, Don would have surely become fish food. He owes her his life and so much more. In Don’s case, he realizes that there is so much more to life than his previous not so above-board escapades and after having met Olivia is bound and determined to put his past behind him. This is no chance encounter, the two were destined to meet, and their story is well worth the read.
I have to admit that for me, the story started off just a bit slow, and I had to get used to the author’s writing style, but once I fell into the rhythm of the story it picked up for me and I soon found myself wondering what was going to happen next, and hoping like heck that Don wasn’t going to screw up his chances with Olivia. Make no mistake, this is not your sugary sweet romance, but then again there are times when Don does surprise me when he displays an uncharacteristic tenderness with Olivia. The leading men in this series are all alpha males. I’m giving Sailing Backwards 4 solid stars and would recommend this book to anyone looking for an Alaskan adventure.