Amber Beach (Donovan #1)
by
Elizabeth Lowell (Goodreads Author)
Honor Donovan is a shrewd businesswoman, yet she has been shut out of Donovan International by her father and four brothers. When her favorite brother Kyle vanishes, along with a fortune in stolen amber, Honor's questions are ignored by the Donovan males. Defying them, she heads to the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest in search of answers.Honor needs a guide becau...more
ebook, 384 pages
Published
January 1st 2002
by HarperCollins
(first published 1997)
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This book is your typical Romance/Suspence/Thriller. Its major selling point is that this series revolves around a gem hunting family and thus gems play a big part (as if you didn't know that from the title). I thought the inclusion of the fabled Amber Room was great. Not many people know about it. Other than that (and the repartee between the two main characters), the book is kind of bland. The main female character, Honor, is learning how to drive her brother's boat so she can find him. While...more
I fell in love with the Donovan series many years ago and have just replaced my original almost falling-apart paperbacks with hardcover versions from some Amazon resources. It's a worthwhile endeavor, IMHO, because this series is outstanding!! There are four books (Amber Beach, Jade Island, Pearl Cove and Midnight on Ruby Bayou) and each is a sparkling gem! (No pun intended) Elizabeth Lowell has created a family anyone would adore to belong to, and heroes that are studly, gorgeous, talented, hum...more
I read Jade Island first before I read this book. Naturally, I had to read up on Honor Donovan and Jake Mallory after Jade Island. Amber Beach is the first book from four-parts of The Donovans series.
Honor is in a desperate search for his brother, Kyle Donovan, who went missing after a shipment of amber went wrong and a death of a man is pinned on his beloved brother. She then hires Jake Mallory as a fishing guide without knowing that Jake is actually looking for Kyle himself. While Honor is wor...more
Honor is in a desperate search for his brother, Kyle Donovan, who went missing after a shipment of amber went wrong and a death of a man is pinned on his beloved brother. She then hires Jake Mallory as a fishing guide without knowing that Jake is actually looking for Kyle himself. While Honor is wor...more
Re-read. Used to reread this series often but haven't in years.
An old favorite. I felt Honor might have been a little too insistent on staying, in the face of danger, but I still love the chemistry between her and Jake.
An old favorite. I felt Honor might have been a little too insistent on staying, in the face of danger, but I still love the chemistry between her and Jake.
This was a wonderful read. Unfortunately, I set it down and then couldn't locate the book.
This book is bacically about a family called " The Donovans". The family deals in mtlti countries for raw gems and amber. The story started out a little slow, but after getting halfway through I just couldn't put it down. There is a Amber Room, in Russia that is supposedly very pure and exact. When a panel of the room comes up missing and so does one of the Donovan brothers, the youngest Kyle; Honor Donovan...more
This book is bacically about a family called " The Donovans". The family deals in mtlti countries for raw gems and amber. The story started out a little slow, but after getting halfway through I just couldn't put it down. There is a Amber Room, in Russia that is supposedly very pure and exact. When a panel of the room comes up missing and so does one of the Donovan brothers, the youngest Kyle; Honor Donovan...more
TBR Challenge 2011- General: this book has been on my TBR list since July 2010.
2.5* Rounding up to be nice.
Stubborn characters and a weak plot characterize this romantic suspense. The most interesting parts of the book had to do with (somewhat outdated) information on the Russian economy as it switched to free market, or amber. I was surprised to find I enjoyed the author's tangents on amber, and I even enjoyed some of the boating information. the plot was silly and any semi-smart reader is goin...more
2.5* Rounding up to be nice.
Stubborn characters and a weak plot characterize this romantic suspense. The most interesting parts of the book had to do with (somewhat outdated) information on the Russian economy as it switched to free market, or amber. I was surprised to find I enjoyed the author's tangents on amber, and I even enjoyed some of the boating information. the plot was silly and any semi-smart reader is goin...more
Amber Beach is going back a while in my re-read queue, back to earlier days of Elizabeth Lowell's romantic suspense novels. It's the first of her Donovans series, which to this day remain among my favorites of hers. Not because they're particularly better written or less formulaic than her later work, but more because I'm partial to the family of characters she depicts. Plus, while the cast travels all over the globe, they're headquartered in Seattle. And I'm a sucker for books that reference Pi...more
Honor Donovan's brother has gone missing with a fortune in amber, and the ship captain she's hired to help her find him has his own agenda.
Yes, I continue to binge read romantic-suspense by Lowell. This leans more toward romance than than her more recent St. Kilda books, by which I mean the interactions between the leads have more echoes of traditional romance tropes. I think I preferred what Lowell did with this particular milieu (boating, Pacific NW) in the more recent Death Echo.
Yes, I continue to binge read romantic-suspense by Lowell. This leans more toward romance than than her more recent St. Kilda books, by which I mean the interactions between the leads have more echoes of traditional romance tropes. I think I preferred what Lowell did with this particular milieu (boating, Pacific NW) in the more recent Death Echo.
Overall this was a great quick read.
The relationship/chemistry between Jake and Honor was fantastic. Not enough action (talking about plot action -not sex) in the book for me and that is just a personal preference. There were a couple times where I felt that too much description slowed the flow of reading down. I was drawn in by the Donovan family and continued on to read the rest of the series.
The relationship/chemistry between Jake and Honor was fantastic. Not enough action (talking about plot action -not sex) in the book for me and that is just a personal preference. There were a couple times where I felt that too much description slowed the flow of reading down. I was drawn in by the Donovan family and continued on to read the rest of the series.
There wasn't enough substance to the book, I was disappointed. It sounded so good... I thought for sure I'd get the rest of the series (so Crystal, let me know what you think when you read the rest). I, too, liked the way they kept dodging each other, and the banter was slick, but other than that, it was lacking... hugely. And the ending... What the hell was that? Sure, they find Kyle, but the suspense and the climax left me saying: "What? That's it?!" The last few pages where the characters are...more
Completely and totally loved this book. The writing was flawless and Jake and Honor stole my heart on the first page. There were a few times I felt Honor should have been a little more suspicious and there were some boring parts during which there wasn't a lot of action but other than that the plot was good. Great read and I look forward to reading more books by Lowell.
I am a little embarrassed about mentioning that I read this book. It's like a sex book with a side of mystery and adventure. I thought I was getting mystery and adventure with a side of ... well, you get what I mean. Nevertheless, I finished it. OCD, or something else entirely? Don't really want to explore that.
Nov 27, 2012
Kristen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012,
romantic-suspense
This is a hot romantic series from Elizabeth Howell. We're introduced to Honor Donovan who's looking for her missing brother and some missing amber. With help from Jake Mallory as her fishing guide, they team up to find him. But Mallory has a different agenda of his own. But dangers follows them on and off the ocean for the hunt, while it kicked off a leg to this four book series. This has tons of humor, lots of sparkling sexual chemistry, and a great suspense that kept us on a great ride. This...more
I really wanted to like this book, what with the great ratings - but I have to admit. It's so terribly DRY! A hundred pages in and I was groaning with the need for SOMETHING to start happening. The interactions between the main couple were pretty great, witty and fun to read, but there was just far too much extraneous information about sailing, fishing, etc.
It was just so unnecessary.
Not to mention the whole book feeling kind of like a made-for-tv movie you watch because it's raining outside.
Sin...more
It was just so unnecessary.
Not to mention the whole book feeling kind of like a made-for-tv movie you watch because it's raining outside.
Sin...more
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Individually and with co-author/husband Evan, Ann Maxwell has written over 60 novels and one non-fiction book. There are 30 million copies of these books in print, as well as reprints in 30 foreign languages. The novels range from science fiction to historical fiction, from romance to mystery to suspense.
In 1982, Ann began publishing as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous p...more
More about Elizabeth Lowell...
In 1982, Ann began publishing as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous p...more
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Aug 11, 2012 07:09pm