From Publishers Weekly
A close-knit family in the jewelry business, a clan of Southern aristocrats descended from smugglers, the FBI and a Russian assassin clash in this juicy final episode in Lowell's Donovan series (Pearl Cove, etc.). When Seattle-based jewelry designer Faith Donovan is commissioned by Davis MontegeauAher best friend Mel's future father-in-lawAto design a necklace using 13 priceless rubies of uncertain origin, she becomes the target of an assassin trying to recover jewels stolen from the fabled Hermitage in Leningrad. To protect Faith, her brothers assign Owen Walker, dashing troubleshooter and gem expert, to accompany her and the necklace to a jewelry show in Savannah and then on to the wedding on Hilton Head Island. From the moment Faith and Walker start out, the fate of the rubies becomes entwined with their budding romance. As Faith and Walker learn when they come to stay at Ruby Bayou, the Montegeau family's crumbling old plantation on Hilton Head, the alcoholic Davis has mortgaged the place to keep a failed land deal afloat, and as a result he's now mixed up with a New Jersey crime family. Davis's sister, Tiga, hasn't been right in the head for years, ever since her father, who had forced her into incest, was blasted with a shotgun by parties unknown. That same night, the Blessing Chest, filled with all the family gems, disappeared, and only Tiga knows where it might be. Though constantly shifting points of view and a few gratuitous sex scenesAeven by genre standardsAdetract from the tale, Lowell wraps things up neatly as all parties converge on the Bayou, and Faith and Walker contrive to save the day. (July) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Jewelry designer Faith Donovan has created a peerless necklace containing $1 million in rubies. Her plan is to exhibit the necklace and turn it over to the owners. Unfortunately, the gems appear to have dubious ownership. Owen Walker, ruby expert, works for Faith's brother Archer, who is insuring the rubies in transit; he also makes an excellent bodyguard. Faith is torn between resentment and attraction; Walker is simply torn. He wants Faith but doesn't believe he's in the same class as the Donovans. When mysterious accidents begin dogging the designer, social classes take a backseat to staying alive. Laural Merlington is a good match for Lowell's often emotionally charged story. Although her male voices and Southern drawl could use work, she effectively manages to keep the characters distinct and the pace lively. This is the latest Donovan family sequel; public libraries should expect demand. Recommended. Jodi L. Israel, Jamaica Plain, MA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The saga of the Donovan family, presented in Amber Beach (1997) and Jade Island (1998), continues here in this stand-alone installment featuring jewelry designer Faith. Owen Walker, injured in Afghanistan while seeking rubies in the employ of the Donovans, is assigned to guard Faith and the exquisite ruby necklace she has just created until it can be delivered to its owner. As murderous Russian Mafia and run-of-the-mill, thuggish, homegrown mobsters make attempts to steal the jewels, Walker skillfully protects Faith and the jewels, eventually leading them to Ruby Bayou, where the necklace will be handed over on the occasion of a friend's wedding. Arriving a few days beforehand, Walker finds the FBI has followed them and set up camp within spying distance. The plot thickens as Lowell reveals that Ruby Bayou is the ancestral home of the Montegeau family, whose current members include the bridegroom Jeff, who is soon to marry Faith's pregnant pal, Mel; Jeff's father, Davis, who is well on the way to losing more than the family fortune; and Aunt Tiga, a great cook who lives in her own deranged fantasy world but who may hold the key to the mystery of why all the bad guys are after Faith, not to mention the secret of a long-lost treasure. Lowell does not stint on the romance as she brings together two deeply wounded individuals who fear ever loving anyone else again but who can't beat the heat that builds up between them. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Kirkus Reviews
The last volume in romancer Lowell's gem tetralogy (Pearl Cove, 1999, etc.) recycles pretty much the same successful story for the fourth time.Faith Donovan, jewelry-designing sister of Seattle's gem-trading Donovan clan, has been commissioned to turn 13 rare Burmese rubies newly come into her inventory into a necklace that will become her best friend's wedding present after she takes it to Savannah to crown her booth at a jewelry expo. Little do Faith and her overly protective big brothers know that the rubies have been stolen from a necklace at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg--along with a 20-carat carved ruby called the Heart of Midnight. That's the one being sought by Russian thugs who would be pleased to torture and murder Faith to get it back--if only she had it. Archer, her eldest brother, agrees to insure the necklace if she'll agree to have Owen Walker guard her like a second skin until she delivers it to the Montegeaus. Walker, a tough old country boy with hot lapis-lazuli eyes who's just lost his younger brother on a ruby-hunting jaunt to Afghanistan, is afraid that he's doomed to fail anyone who loves and depends on him. For her part, Faith has just dumped her loser boyfriend Tony, who's convinced her that she's sexually unresponsive. While Lowell ladles on the full southern gothic treatment--gators, ghosts, alcohol, incest--Walker follows Faith to Savannah and then to Ruby Bayou in South Carolina, where he was born, carrying the necklace in a pocket jostling his own family jewels, and eventually proving Tony sumptuously wrong as he recovers the Heart of Midnight, slays the Russian dragons on Faith's tail, and helps to uncover a Montegeau family secret. As in earlier entries, Lowell lards her yarn with jewelry lore. Series alumnae will feel as comfortable around Harry Winston as they do in the bedroom. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Minneapolis Star-TrIbune
"Romantic suspense is her true forte."

Charlotte News & Observer
"Elizabeth Lowell's keen ear for dialogue and intuitive characterizations consistently place her a cut above most writers in this genre."

Jayne Ann Krentz
"I'll buy any book with Elizabeth Lowell's name on it."

Book Description
Faith Donovan is famous for crafting exquisite jewelry studded with fabulous gems. But the dangerous task of acquiring the rare rubies she needs for her art has taught Faith to be wary of anyone outside her own family -- especially someone like Owen Walker, an adventurer with an intimate knowledge of the ruby trade and man's murderous greed. But now necessity has thrown the them together, as they venture into the shadowy world of the wealthy and mysterious Montegeaus in search of quality stones.A powerful Georgia clan descended from pirates, the Montegeausare said to possess a staggering fortune in gems, hidden for generations in the legendary Blessing Chest. In the living shadows of historic Ruby Bayou. Faith and Walker are soon drawn into a terrifying web of corruption and betrayal, and haunted by the dark, unfolding secrets of the Montegeaus past and present. For there are those who would kill for the contents of the Blessing Chest. And now two outsiders who have learned too much stand in the way...

Download Description
Faith Donovan is famous for crafting exquisite jewelry studded with fabulous gems. But the dangerous task of acquiring the rare rubies she needs for her art has taught Faith to be wary of anyone outside her own family -- especially someone like Owen Walker, an adventurer with an intimate knowledge of the ruby trade and man's murderous greed. But now necessity has thrown the them together, as they venture into the shadowy world of the wealthy and mysterious Montegeaus in search of quality stones. A powerful Georgia clan descended from pirates, the Montegeausare said to possess a staggering fortune in gems, hidden for generations in the legendary Blessing Chest. In the living shadows of historic Ruby Bayou. Faith and Walker are soon drawn into a terrifying web of corruption and betrayal, and haunted by the dark, unfolding secrets of the Montegeaus past and present. For there are those who would kill for the contents of the Blessing Chest. And now two outsiders who have learned too much stand in the way...

About the Author
Elizabeth Lowell is the award-winning author of numerous historical and contemporary novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Forget Me Not, Only Love, A Woman Without Lies, Autumn Lover, and, Winter Fire. Her most recent major accomplishment is a four-book series of suspense novels featuring the unforgettable Donovan family -- Amber Beach, Jade Island, Pearl Cove and Midnight in Ruby Bayou -- all of which were immediate New York Times bestsellers. There are more than fifteen million Elizabeth Lowell, books currently in print. Ms. Lowell, lives in the San Juan Islands with her, husband, with whom she writesmystery novels under a pseudonym.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Since the breakup of a disappointing love affair, Faith Donovan has poured her heart and soul into making the exquisite artistic jewelry favored by the rich and famous. She needs rubies of the finest quality and to get them, she needs Owen Walker, a man with an intimate knowledge of the ruby trade. The idea of working with Faith makes Owen nervous. He suspects that protecting her and the fabulous wedding necklace commissioned by the Montegeaus, a family descended from smuggles and pirates, will be more dangerous than smuggling rubies out of Afghanistan.

Soon the two are drawn into a terrifying web of greed, corruption, and betrayal, as they discover shameful secrets of generations of Montegeaus—a discovery that has them racing for their lives across the black waters of the salt marshes, pursued by greedy men and a deadly past.

About the Author:

Elizabeth Lowell is the New York Times bestselling a;uthor of numerous historical and contemporary novels, including Amber Beach, Jade Island, and Pearl Cove, the first three books in the popular Donovan series. She lives in Washington State.

SYNOPSIS

Faith Donovan is famous for crafting exquisite jewelry studded with fabulous gems. But the dangerous task of acquiring the rare rubies she needs for her art has taught Faith to be wary of anyone outside her own family -- especially someone like Owen Walker, an adventurer with an intimate knowledge of the ruby trade and man's murderous greed.

FROM THE CRITICS

Jill M. Smith - Romantic Times

When it comes to delivering epic romance and suspense, Ms. Lowell is in a class by herself.

Raleigh News & Observer

Elizabeth Lowell's keen ear for dialogue and intuitive characterizations consistently place her a cut above most writers in this...genre.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Romantic suspense is her true forte.

Jayne Ann Krentz

I'll buy any book with Elizabeth Lowell's name on it.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Romantic suspense is her true forte. Read all 10 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Lowell is great. — Johanna Lindsey