After almost two years of following Nick Dahlquist online and chatting as Lady JHawk, Jae Washington believes there’s hope for an in-person relationship between her and Nick. When a job as helicopter pilot becomes available on the Crisis Response Team, she moves to Deep Haven. But when their first meeting does not go as she’d hoped, Jae wonders if she’d done the wrong thing.
The Characters in Right Here Waiting
In some ways, Jae was a contradiction. She moved from Texas to Deep Haven without any encouragement from Nick thinking they could have a physical relationship but she doesn’t want to open up. She joins the Crisis Response Team because she wants to help but she doesn’t want to accept help from anyone…
In a lot of ways, I understood where she was coming from but her determination to be independent was off-putting and in at least two cases, dangerous.
Nick was also somewhat contradictory. He was about to go broke but did not want to use the skills he’d acquired, outside of mushing or breeding puppies, to finance his life. I understand that he just wanted to share his love of the outdoor with others but I felt that he could have found someone to give him some good business advice since that wasn’t his strength.
Nick and Jae’s online relationship was sweet and I would have liked to see more of that on the page without the big secret hanging over them.
Towards the end, both Nick and Jae will fnd new depths in themselves and you see a glimmer of what they’ll become if they can remain free of the lies that had kept them entangled for much of the book.
The Themes in Right Here Waiting
A major theme in Right Here Waiting was finding a place to belong. Jae was searching for a home and a family since she felt out of place among her extended family. Nick was also the odd one out in his family, though I do believe they should have forgiven him for the one accident that happened when he had been a child.
Readers will be reminded that home isn’t some elusive thing or place, rather, home is found wherever you choose to make it and with the people who you choose (who choose you back).
Final Thoughts on Right Here Waiting
Right Here Waiting is the final book in the six-book series set in Deep Haven. It was great seeing the characters from earlier books and to see the Crisis Response Team finally come together.
I didn’t read the original Deep Haven series though I own a few if them. This series had me hunting through my bookshelves to find the books I owned from the original collection to add to my TBR (when they will get read is another story but they’re on the list).
I received an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher through Just Read Tours; a positive review was not required.
Purchase Right Here Waiting on Amazon
About Right Here Waiting
He lives in a world of winter.
Sled dog musher and outdoor adventurer Nick Dahlquist doesn’t mean to be a loner—he just feels at home in the woods, with his dogs, and also online in his vlogging world, where he’s amassed nearly a million viewers. But he’s just a simple guy, with simple goals—care for his dogs, teach people how to survive the cold, and run the Iditarod. Unfortunately, life turns cold when his lead dog is injured, and he’s low on funds. Good thing he has LadyJHawk to chat with. She’s become an online friend he can turn to, and he’s starting to need her more than he’d like to admit. But the last thing he wants is for some random woman to show up on his doorstep…
She doesn’t belong in his world.
Chopper pilot and Texas gal Jae Lynn Washington has been following Nick’s DogQuest videos and Get Lost in the Woods vlogs since she inherited her deceased boyfriend’s military working dog. Three years later, his encouragement and help as online chat buddies have made her wonder if he could be more than a friend. What if she moved to Deep Haven? Would that be considered stalking, even if she had a bonafide job on the Crisis Response Team?
But she’s determined to try…
When Jae shows up in Deep Haven—and on Nick’s doorstep—he’s not at all the man she met online. The last thing she’ll do is tell him she’s really LadyJHawk. And when Nick is tapped to train the Crisis Response Team, he’s pretty sure that petite, summer-loving Jae won’t last a moment in the brutal cold—a fear he pours out to LadyJHawk. As their training takes a personal turn, their chilly start begins to thaw. But is he ready to shake off his online relationship for the one in real life? And if Jae tells him the truth, will it spook him back into the woods?
When a blizzard strikes, and the CRT is called out into the storm, it might be too late…
Cozy up to this delightful, wintery twist on You’ve Got Mail set in the snowy escape of Deep Haven.
About the Authors:
Susan May Warren is the USA Today best-selling novelist of more than 85 books. With more than 1.5 million books sold, she is beloved by reviewers and readers around the world. Visit Susan at www.susanmaywarren.com.
Michelle Sass Aleckson lives the country life in central Minnesota with her own hero and their four kids. She loves rocking out to 80’s music on a Saturday night and getting lost in good stories—especially stories that shine grace. And if you’re wondering, yes, Sass is her maiden name. Visit Michelle at www.michellealeckson.com.