From Publishers Weekly
When struggling New York jewelry designer Allegra Sheridan is hired to fly to Paris and bid up to $100 million on an Arab princess's emerald ring, she figures it's an easy way to make some quick cash. From the moment she lies to her boyfriend Todd about her trip, though, it's clear that she's getting in over her head. Soon she'll be within arm's reach of a king's ransom in jewels—as well as the evildoers who always pursue such jewels. But warning bells don't begin to go off until Allegra narrowly misses getting shot at a private club after winning the emerald on the auction floor. And since the bank where she was to stow the ring is closed, she's under the "protection" of Ramtane Tadjer, a wickedly good-looking—and wickedly wicked—Paris jeweler with designs on the ring. Indeed, there are plenty of folks willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Just when it seems there's no safe place for Allegra and the emerald, Todd comes to the rescue—and then Allegra is plunged into even more serious danger. Fans of the bestselling Gould will enjoy her designer label name-dropping, her lush descriptions of the places rich folks romp and, of course, the deliciously trashy sex scenes, but they shouldn't expect much plot connecting them. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Manhattan jewelry designer Allegra Sheridan is struggling, and just when it seems as though her business is about to go under, reclusive billionaire Hilton Whitehead makes a strange, possibly lucrative request. He wants Allegra to go to Paris to bid on a famous emerald ring. What could be simpler than going to Paris for a few days on a private jet with an enormous expense account, attending an elite auction, and bidding with someone else's money? Well, first Allegra has to lie to her boyfriend, and then she discovers that she has stiff competition. There is great interest in the ring because of its owner, Princess Karima, an aging Arabic aristocrat famous for her scandalous lifestyle and her decision to sell her possessions for charity. And then there's Ramtane Tadjer. He now owns the exclusive Paris jewelry store that sold the ring, and he wants it back for his own nefarious purposes and will let nothing get in his way, not even the attractive jewelry designer from New York. Glamorous people, upscale locations, and the mystery of the ring will keep readers hooked. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Parisian Affair FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Allegra Sheridan is a jewelry designer in Manhattan. Though far from rich and famous, the young gemologist has made a name for herself designing one-of-a-kind pieces for a small but elite clientele - one of whom has offered Allegra an extraordinary opportunity. Wealthy software entrepreneur Hilton Whitehead has a mistress he's eager to please. What Kitty wants, Kitty gets. And this time Kitty wants the legendary Princess Karima emerald coming up for auction in Europe. Whitehead's proposition: He'll pay Allegra a small fortune to travel to Paris and bid in anonymity for him." Once in Paris, Allegra successfully completes her mission. However, possession of the extraordinary jewel invites threats from the lethally handsome Ramtane - a man willing to murder for the secret that the Karima gem holds. For Allegra has in her safekeeping a treasure worth far more than anyone imagined - one that contains a dangerous mystery and a scandalous past of international conspiracy that could mean death to anyone who discovers the truth.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
When struggling New York jewelry designer Allegra Sheridan is hired to fly to Paris and bid up to $100 million on an Arab princess's emerald ring, she figures it's an easy way to make some quick cash. From the moment she lies to her boyfriend Todd about her trip, though, it's clear that she's getting in over her head. Soon she'll be within arm's reach of a king's ransom in jewels as well as the evildoers who always pursue such jewels. But warning bells don't begin to go off until Allegra narrowly misses getting shot at a private club after winning the emerald on the auction floor. And since the bank where she was to stow the ring is closed, she's under the "protection" of Ramtane Tadjer, a wickedly good-looking and wickedly wicked Paris jeweler with designs on the ring. Indeed, there are plenty of folks willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Just when it seems there's no safe place for Allegra and the emerald, Todd comes to the rescue and then Allegra is plunged into even more serious danger. Fans of the bestselling Gould will enjoy her designer label name-dropping, her lush descriptions of the places rich folks romp and, of course, the deliciously trashy sex scenes, but they shouldn't expect much plot connecting them. Agent, Alan Nevins at the Firm. (Oct. 5) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Emeralds to die for. Who is the mysterious lady disguised in sunglasses and scarf who placed the gems for sale with a Parisian jeweler in the 1970s? She demanded that they be reset, in an apparent effort to conceal their provenance-that's how Ramtame, the brooding Algerian boy who served as assistant to Jules Levant, remembers the fateful day. Ramtame grew up to be a brooding Algerian man who also remembers every ethnic slur ever hurled his way in the long-ago days of blatant political incorrectness. Yes, those who dismissed him once will pay for their evil ways. Back to the emeralds: Kitty Nguien Fleischman, sultry, boob-enhanced Eurasian mistress of a megamillionaire, wants at least one! She collects such baubles when not writhing around dramatically in orgasmic bliss. Her lover does his damnedest to get his hands on the ring that holds the most famous of all, the Princess Karima stone (named for the aging Arab beauty who now owns it), to no avail. What is the mysterious flaw within its green depths that makes it so very, very valuable? Lips are sealed. Don't even ask! Segue to Allegra Sheridan, talented, beautiful, struggling jewelry designer. (Note to author: young, hip women in 2004 do not wear the garments described here as "slacks.") She, too, spends a lot of time in the sack, with Todd, a man of insatiable sexual appetites and truckloads of money made in Manhattan real estate. Princess Karima is about the only one who sleeps alone, alas (flabby arms and wrinkly neck-apparently she doesn't know the name of Kitty's plastic surgeon). But it's time for Ramtame, the brooding Algerian, to stop sulking and put his master plan for world domination through terrorism into action. Shadowydeals are struck in Arab alleys, and all these people skulk around trying to figure it out. Hey, who was the mysterious lady in sunglasses at the beginning? Let's just say the English royal family still doesn't think much of her. Toothless thriller, written to old-fashioned glitz specifications: European settings, tons of silly sex, and scheming bitches by the score.
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