Janet Woods

Janet Woods

Fremantle, Western Australia

Janet Woods was born and grew up in the county of Dorset in the UK. She left school at 15 and married the boy who lived up the road when they were both 19. They were born a day apart, attended the same schools and played together in the same park. In 1967 they emigrated to Australia and settled in the west with two of their 4 children. Janet enjoyed her time being a homemaker and mother. Becoming an author was something she'd never imagined for herself, but one day she read a historical romance that she enjoyed, and thought she might be able to write one just like it. So she did, and was instantly hooked on writing. That book will never see the light of day, but the rest is history. In 2002 she was proud to be rewarded for her efforts by winning the mainstream section of the Australian "Romantic Book of The Year" award with her first published historical romance, Daughter of Darkness. Janet enjoys writing historical and modern romance and regional saga.

Contemporary, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Romantic, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Paper Doll

A moving romance set in the 1920s - Julia Howard is a perfect daughter to her father, a now-bankrupt toy manufacturer who created a paper doll in her image. Julia longs for freedom, but marries wealthy businessman Latham Miller to please her father. Latham soon proves possessive and controlling, and when Julia is reacquainted with troubled war hero Martin Lee-Trafford, the attraction between them grows to love. But when Julia gives birth to a child, she faces a heart-wrenching decision - for if she runs away with Martin, she'll be forced to leave her beloved son with Latham.

Hearts of Gold

A romance set against the background of the Australian Gold Rush Western Australia, 1890. Sarette Maitland is orphaned when her father dies of a snake bite on the goldfields. Rescued by adventurer John Kern, she takes the place of his own dead daughter in his heart. When tragedy strikes and Kern is killed, Sarette is introduced to Kern's nephew, Magnus, whose honesty and heart are tested when he discovers his uncles has left Sarette a considerable fortune . . .

Secrets and Lies

A destructive secret is guarded by a network of lies . . . until they begin to unravel. 1933. Esmé Carr travels to Australia with her best friend in search of adventure. Left behind is Esmé’s adolescent niece. Meggie Elliot has an imaginative and independent frame of mind, but there is mystery surrounding her birth – one she intends to unravel, despite her mother’s warnings to leave the past alone. When the truth surfaces it’s not what Meggie wants to hear, and Esmé must reconcile the rift between mother and daughter.

A Fair Pretender

Graine Seaton impersonates Evelyn Adams because she wants to survive. Her new identity comes with a fortune, and betrothal to a man of letters. Graine doesn’t count on falling in love with Saville Lamartine, the master of Rushford House, nor does she envisage opposing the slave trade from which her fortune came. When her pretence is exposed and her life is under threat, will Saville come to her rescue?

I'll Get By

Meggie Elliot is a young woman of above average intelligence, and on the brink of adulthood. Living with her aunt and uncle in London at the outbreak of World War 2 she’s intent on going to university, then pursuing a career in law. She is encouraged in this by her solicitor – a man she admires a little too much. Too old for her, he lets her know it. Meggie follows her dream as best she can, knowing it’s unlikely it will ever come to fruition. In a burst of patriotism she joins the WRNS to do her bit for the war effort. Sent to work in a decoding unit she meets the dangerously exhilarating young aristocrat, Nicholas Cowan, who sweeps her off her feet. But Meggie suspects Nick of being the man who burgled her aunt’s home, and to expose him would ruin a lot of lives. Against all reason Meggie and Nick begin to fall in love . . .

The Stonecutter's Daughter (Dorset Saga Series)

Dorset, 1838. When a ship is wrecked in a storm off the Portland coast, a taciturn stonecutter by the name of Joseph Rushmore sends his rescue dog to haul in plunder. What it brings instead is a baby in a cradle. As Joseph's wife has just given birth to a stillborn child, the couple decide to keep the infant girl. The Rushmores never tell their adopted daughter the truth about her origins, but on the death of Joseph and his wife, when the girl, Joanna, is 16, she finds herself at the mercy of her abusive and violent Rushmore cousins. She is rescued by a middle-aged sea captain, Tobias Darsham, who is making a pilgrimage to visit his wife's grave. When Tobias suggests that he and Joanna should get married, the desperate girl feels she has no choice but to agree. However, soon after the wedding, Tobias gets a nasty shock when he discovers Joanna's childhood cradle - because he carved it himself for his daughter. Horrified at the thought that he might have married his own daughter, Tobias fakes his own death and sets sail for Australia, leaving Joanna in the care of his second-in-command, Alexander Morcant. Finding themselves mutually dependent, Alexander and Joanna's initial animosity gradually dissolves into a passionate attraction. But will she ever discover the truth about her origins?

Salting the Wound

A captivating romance set in nineteenth-century Dorset - Charlotte Honeyman jilts her long-time swain, and on the spur of the moment marries a stranger. His pride damaged and his matrimonial plans upturned, sea captain Nick Thornton threatens to take revenge. Charlottes younger sister, Marianne, takes pity on Nick and secretly boards his ship, where she meets with an

Where Seagulls Soar

Following a romantic shipboard marriage, Joanna Morcant has everything her heart could desire: a dashing new husband and an adorable baby son.But an unforeseen tragedy leaves Joanna destitute and with no choice but to return to her childhood home, the Isle of Portland off the Dorset coast, a place which holds disturbing memories from Joanna's troubled past.Just as Joanna is starting to make a new life for herself and her young son, Toby, the past rises up to haunt her once again. Toby's grandfather, the dissolute Lord Durrington, has vowed to take the child and make him his heir - whether Joanna agrees or not. And he's not the only sinister figure to emerge, determined to cause trouble.But in Joanna's darkest hour, a knight in shining armour will ride to her rescue - and that knight is someone she least expects.

Angelina

Angelina’s arrival at Wrey House forces her mother, the countess, to accept a daughter she didn’t know existed. But her sister, the exotic Rosabelle, may not be her twin at all. And who is the Highwayman—an enigmatic second son or the bastard half-brother imprisoned for the crime? Angelina knows but refuses to betray, though it ruins her chances for happiness.

Straw in the Wind

The stand-alone sequel to Salting the Wound - 1835, England. A married woman, pregnant with her sea-captain lover’s child, dies giving birth. The child, Serafina Finn, is abandoned to an orphanage and grows up longing to feel that she belongs somewhere. Eighteen years later, her father, hearing rumours that his lost daughter survived, dispatches a detective, Adam Chapman, to discover the truth. Adam finds, and falls in love with, Serafina - but, even if he can prove her identity, will her real family accept her?

Moon Cutters

1840. Miranda Jarvis would do anything to protect her sister – so when Lucy comes down with a fever, she thinks nothing of stealing a loaf of bread from a local landowner. After all, things can’t get much worse: after their father died, they were turned out of their home, and their mother lost her life on the road giving birth to a stillborn infant. Robbed by strangers, the pair of them have nothing, and no one to help them. Miranda doesn’t count on being nearly brained by the cook’s rolling pin . . . but nor does she count on the house’s owner himself. The seemingly respectable businessman Sir James, known for his philanthropy, takes a keen interest in Miranda and her sister, and they are soon established in his household. But Sir James has quarrelled with his nephew, the rakish but reluctant smuggler Fletcher Taunt, and – little does Miranda know – the hostility between the two men, one of whom she comes to love, will change her life forever . . .

Daughter of Darkness

Gerard Lytton was tricked into marrying young Willow Givanchy, his enemy’s unwanted and independent daughter. On his return after a four year absence, Gerard found Willow transformed into a beautiful young woman, but she retained those burdens of her mother’s dark reputation and her father’s dishonor. And then Willow’s supposedly long-dead mother turned up, followed by unsettling events.

A Dorset Girl

It's the time of the Tolpuddle trial and unrest. The Dorset labourers work under terrible conditions for starvation wages. When her mother and stepfather perish in a fire, an illegitimate peasant girl, Siana Lewis, is left destitute, with a young brother and baby sister to support. Securing a job with the local rector, Siana, with her wit and beauty, will attract the attention of three men. Daniel Ayres - a young man with high hopes and very little else - is her first love, who cruelly betrays her. Francis Matheson, the local doctor, admires Siana's determination and thirst for knowledge. The pair establish a relaxed friendship. Then there's the local squire, Edward Forbes. A sensual and devious man, Edward is used to going after what he wants. He desires the beautiful peasant girl at first sight of her - and will stop at nothing to get her.

Lady Lightfingers

A novel of Victorian England - Raised in the slums in 1850s London, Celia Laws is a rarity, an educated young woman whose creative skills have attracted notice. But with family to care for, circumstances have driven her to pickpocketing. In Celia’s harsh world, it’s a small step from picking pockets to prostitution. When a young man offers her a fortune to spend a week with him, she takes the money and runs. But Celia’s conscious can’t allow her to forget the money she stole, and she is soon brought face-to-face with her past . . .

Tall Poppies

One woman – two loves . . . - Dorset, 1917. If it's not enough that a girl from a good background is forced to work as a maid, Livia Carr is then violated by her master and falls pregnant. But help unexpectedly comes from her attacker’s son, Richard, a WWI hero who is not expected to live much longer. He marries her, and his death, though expected, comes as a great blow. Into the breach steps Livia's first love, Denton Elliott - but he does not know the truth about her child's parentage . . .

Different Tides: An 1800s historical romance set in Dorset, England

A young woman becomes a governess to two grieving orphans in the latest powerful historical romance from Janet Woods 1835. Clementine Morris, despite her youth and inexperience, is hired by Zachariah Fleet to care for his recently orphaned niece and nephew. He tells her he wishes the young children to have more than a governess, and her heart goes out to the grieving infants. Clementine, too, is an orphan, and all alone in the world. But little does she know that Zachariah Fleet is interested in her for more than just her usefulness as a governess. He believes she is a distant relation of his by marriage, and there is a chance she is a legatee for a useful amount of money. There are troubles ahead, though, when another young woman turns up with a claim to the inheritance . . . and troubles for Zachariah too. The self-possessed, wealthy businessman has never allowed himself to fall in love, but as he grows to trust Clementine he realises that he may be falling for her.

Benedict's Bride

Amber Rose Hartford’s grandfather made her dowry dependent on her marrying Viscount Costain. Though unaware of this condition, Benedict accepts it for more than one reason. He rescues Amber from her disreputable cousin Patrick, but before they can marry she is abducted. A large ransom is paid but Amber is not released. Benedict must rescue her again—and convince her of his honorable intentions.

In Bed with the Enemy

Darcie Channing returns to Australia to find her house missing. Businessman Leon Price, thinking he'd bought it, has demolished it. When Leon and Darcie are discovered in bed together, Leon's woman, Helen, won't listen to his perfectly reasonable explanation. With Leon's plans for the future destroyed, logic tells him he should marry Darcie, but all she seems to want from him is her house back!

From This Day Forth

To prevent the loss of his estate in a wager, Remy St Cyres agrees to abduct and wed the first woman who comes through the inn door. Fleur Russell is that woman. And, her reputation ruined, her brothers—who half kill her abductor—insist on marriage. The son of a Spaniard, Remy is recruited as a spy in England’s war with Spain. A tale of betrayal, revenge and untimely love…

Scroll to top