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Priceless
The award-winning New York Times bestselling author whose tender and sensual love stories touch readers' hearts weaves her signature magic, unfolding an unforgettable tale of a man and a woman who find that love is the most precious treasure of all...When underwater archaeologist Sam McGowan is asked to help salvage a sunken Confederate blockade runner, he's eager for the opportunity to investigate his own family history—especially since the project is being handled by Gordon Chandler, a notable authority in underwater salvaging. When he finds Gordon's daughter Rachel in charge, Sam is not pleased. She can't possibly be her father's match. But not only has Sam wildly underestimated Rachel's professional abilities, he has yet to discover the many other facets of this complex woman. All her life, Rachel Chandler has dreamed of finding sunken treasure. While grateful to run her first solo operation, she resents having been assigned to run the salvage operation of a sunken blockade runner while her father is investigating a pirate ship. Most definitely, she does not want to work with a man who will question her every move. But when she and Sam stumble onto an unexpected cache of gems aboard the sunken wreck, they're drawn into something that fast becomes far more than just a working partnership. As Rachel and Sam start to dream of a future together, they also begin to realize that the fabulous treasure they have discovered holds more danger than they ever suspected.
402 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1999
78 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Mariah Stewart
88 books1,528 followersMariah Stewart is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of forty-one novels and three novellas and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. She is a RITA finalist in romantic suspense and the recipient of the Award of Excellence for contemporary romance, a RIO Award for excellence in women's fiction, and a Reviewers Choice Award from Romantic Times Magazine. A three-time winner of the Golden Leaf Award presented by the New Jersey Romance Writers, Stewart was recently awarded their Lifetime Achievement Award (which placed her in their Hall of Fame along with former recipients Nora Roberts and Mary Jo Putney — very excellent company, indeed!)
After having written seven contemporary romance novels, Stewart found true happiness writing murder and mayhem. She considers herself one lucky son of a gun to have landed the best job in the world: getting paid for making up stories. At home. In sweats and J. Crew flip flops. Could life be sweeter?
After having written seven contemporary romance novels, Stewart found true happiness writing murder and mayhem. She considers herself one lucky son of a gun to have landed the best job in the world: getting paid for making up stories. At home. In sweats and J. Crew flip flops. Could life be sweeter?
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 24, 2019
This is a backlist novel of this popular author, but the first I've read. The premise, a marine archeologist hero and marine salvager heroine bringing up artifacts from a ship sunk during the Civil War, attracted me.
September 26, 2009
I've been reading all of Ms. Stewart's books from her first first (Moments in Time) to hopefully all of her recent releases. I like reading another author's entire back list so I can see how he or she has grown and changed over time. In Ms. Stewart's case I've enjoyed watching the shift from women's fiction with really little emotion to these fuller stories. Priceless has some great diving scenes.
What disappointed me though were two revelations at the end - one was such a non-event I almost missed it after such a build up to it. The other just blew by. When you read it, look for the family connection. I do recommend this one.
What disappointed me though were two revelations at the end - one was such a non-event I almost missed it after such a build up to it. The other just blew by. When you read it, look for the family connection. I do recommend this one.
July 31, 2014
Not a complete waste of time, but this was a very monotone read for me. There was nothing to attatch me to any of the characters who showed little or no personality at all. I basically had the entire story figured out and concluded about 1/4 of the way through, which is a big turn-off for me. The description of the "found cache of gems" doesn't show up until about the last 70 pages, and is by that time rather uneventful. Definitely not up to the usual standards of other works I've read by Ms. Stewart.
August 12, 2013
This book has it all: engaging characters, a good mystery, a believable romance, interesting family dynamics ... The only disappointment is the heroine's inability to rise above her feelings of inadequacy for much of the book. The chip on her shoulder made an otherwise strong heroine seem childish and immature, thus the four star rating.
July 2, 2018
I bought this for $1 at my library's bookstore around 2011 and read it twice. It was good enough to keep and reread, so that's pretty good in my book. I remembered that they were searching for treasure on a shipwreck and a scene where he taught his bird to say coward, because she had chickened out of doing something with him. And vaguely them being at the plantation house together near the end.
I didn't like that it started out in her dad's perspective, especially since he described Rachel and her brother Jared as playing, remembered them as children. So they came off as children frolicking in the water.
Interesting way to look at a shipwreck as finding out what the people on board thought was worth dying for, like gold. I liked the mention of a shipwreck in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wilmington was the last Southern port to stay open during the union blockade.
I didn't like that Sam had the same name as his great-great-grandpa. Sam McGowan. It already proved confusing in the beginning when they had to say the first Sam McGowan.
The first exchange with Norman Winters, who was funding the search, was uncomfortable to the extreme. Rachel was pushy and forcing she opinion, judging the Southerners from the past, questioning every move Norman mentioned, and Norman was weird, taking offense, getting mad, not understanding anything she said. It was too forced, too soon. I started to remember that he was the bad guy because the author established it right out of the gate. There should have been little signs that he was odd, but not this soon. And, at the end of the chapter, the author all of a sudden switched to his POV, saying that he knew what they would find and he wasn't going to show it to anyone. Who has the readers know who the bad guy is this suddenly? I wish she would have eased into it. I know most of it was due to me vaguely remembering that Norman had an ulterior motive, but he came on way too strong.
It was a good, believable problem that Sam was looking forward to working with her dad of brother and was disappoint that he'd gotten her.
I agreed with her. She wanted a beer but would have had to ask Sam and she didn't want to talk to him. She didn't look at Sam when he asked her questions but looked at Norman instead.
The mention of Mel Fisher was so cool. In the last book I read which also featured a shipwreck and treasure, he was mentioned as the one who found the Atocha. I hadn't remembered that name, but in 2014 I bought a necklace made from silver from that shipwreck. Incredibly cool how these books overlapped. I was really enjoying the shipwreck salvaging field.
I was so pleasantly surprised that I was enjoying it. I thought it was just ok and once I put it up in a box in my closet I never thought about it again, until this year.
Rachel spoke to her dad about their progress so far on the Melrose, and it came up that she and Sam were doing separate sketches of the wreck. Her dad advised them to work together and do one sketch, and I was so excited that she swam right over to Sam's boat. He was just getting out of the shower and only had a towel on. That was a nice moment. She had captured details of the surroundings that he hadn't, like a rock shelf that he recognized as the one she had sat on, and the seaweed where she had found the sand dollars. Rachel was surprised that he'd had time to watch her and I liked that he noticed her even though he was working.
I was enjoying it so much but I must admit the kiss came way too soon. They had just agreed to be friends and she was leaving his boat, and he called her out on being afraid, then just decided to kiss her. They hadn't been getting along for weeks, he kept insulting her inadvertently, she didn't want to have anything to do with him. She was attracted to his eyes and chest and that was it, and he liked her scent. They weren't ready for it and it wasn't the right time. I was enjoying the tension and this kind of relationship where they didn't get along. The kiss just ruined it.
It was a nice setup that Rachel wouldn't date any of their crew because she thought they just wanted to get to her dad through her, but Sam told Rachel that her dad had tried to hire him already and he said no. So that cleared that up that Sam wasn't using her to get to her dad.
It was a bit uncomfortable and unrealistic that Sam noticed all these things that Rachel had in common with his mom. A don't get in their way attitude when they're doing something. Focus on the job and ignore everything else. Always prepared before doing something. Pitches in and doesn't wait for anyone to ask them to help. Impatient during a job. Takes up for the underdog. They'd only known each other a month but thanks to time being skipped it felt like a week. That's a lot to notice about someone and it made me feel like he was looking for someone like his mom.
Also, something small but as they were walking their hips touched. Idk how your hips can touch without your arms banging together. The arms would be the first thing to touch.
I didn't remember anything about a ghost, but it was way out there and not consistent with the story to suddenly have a ghost sighting. Their very first night at Eden's End, Rachel saw the ghost of Trinity, Sam's great-great-grandma. The book had been so practical, I never would a be expected any hint of the supernatural.
I got chills as Sam's dad said his sister almost drowned as a kid and a lady reached into the water and pulled her out. She described her and their aunt said that was Trinity. She comes to people when they're threatened.
I know when I first read this I had no idea of Norman's identity, not even an inclination, so it was a surprise. This time around it was obvious that he was the descendant, having restored Old Sam's mistress' house the first thing, taking Trinity's painting down and putting up the other woman's. He lied and said Trinity's portrait needed repairing and it was in the attic. He tore the oldest part of the house down, that had the most significance. Boy, that made me mad! To have such history ruined!
Sam really kept it smart. Once he put all these inconsistencies and oddities together paired with Norman's weird behavior, him not being surprised by anything, only seeking to care what the ship held and not the preservation of it, and always knowing everything, lying about Trinity knowingly burning the mistress' home down with her in it, he did everything right. He woke up early, toured the grounds and found the rebuilt mistress house, stole Trinity's diary to get copies made, and left Eden's End early, lying and saying he had sketches to make. When they finally got to the captain's cabin, precious gems came up in the basket and he kept the finds to himself, knowing Old Sam must have practiced pirating to have such treasure. Rachel really got on my nerves though, the way she didn't take Sam's concerns about Norman seriously. No matter what he said, he said Norman lied and said Trinity purposely burned the mistress and that was a lie!, Rachel still stuck up for Norman and had a reason for everything. Sam is confusing in you, you're supposed to be on his side, not thinking he's grasping at straws. Gosh, I couldn't stand her. Just go along with it. She also bothered me the way she said such lame things, like her feeling like Barbie at the house, and thinking about calling Sam "Ken," kept saying she should be wearing a hoop skirt and all that. It seemed so immature. Then she giggled at Trinity's room and said Trinity sure liked pink. Norman didn't appreciate that. That was the fashion then, it's restored to period accuracy and Norman went to God only knows how much cost and effort to restore it to its former glory, can you contain your childish, impulsive thoughts? She came off as so immature.
It was nice that Norman wanted to give every one of the crew a gold coin.
Me being a diehard romance reader, I couldn't help but ask "Where is the sex?" The story was really getting on and there hadn't been enough interactions. The heat level was very low, a couple of tame kisses with an extreme lack of description and a little touching on the balcony at Eden's End. There wasn't enough attraction of reason for me to believe they desired each other. There needed to be more sexy moments. They didn't have sex until pg. 263. I can't even fathom that. And I feared it was going to be that short, flowery unfolding that I hate. It was. It was so lacking, happened so fast. He literally placed her down on his bed, entered her and then it was over. The whole thing lasted 4 sentences and was described as "rocking with the ancient rhythm," and "until rhythm became rapture and rapture took them home." Wtf? That sucks. I waited 263 pages for that? It's a slap in the face to put readers through all of this and then not even give them a hot sex scene.
The next morning Sam noticed that Rachel was nestled in the blanket like a child. That was the second time he'd said she looked like a kid while in bed. I'll never understand why authors write that their heroine appears childlike. He just slept with her. Should he really be comparing her to a kid??
The author skipped right over 3 more nights of them having sex. AH!
I was on cloud 9 that there were no mentions of past relationships, until Rachel thought back to a college boyfriend who had invited her to meet his family. Then Rachel and Sam talked about being in love before and she had loved who broke up with her and married someone else. Sam said he'r been in love a few times and I would have rather just not heard about it. At least he said it wasn't the kind where you wake up at night and your heart stops because she isn't there, and thought that's the way it is now, so he had more with Rachel.
Rachel was uncomfortable with his compliments about her looks, didn't think she was beautiful. She didn't like talking about her feelings, her family, or love. She was all about work, didn't take vacations that didn't involve diving, had trouble leaving work behind.
They went out for pizza when they got back to the mainland, on their 5 day break. They ended up taking it to go, Sam promising her a night of romance. The author cut it off right there, then picked up the next morning. Rachel thought back to them dancing on the deck of his ship in the moonlight, him humming tunes. They had sex on the lounge and in his room, and he fed her strawberries. I was ticked off that it wasn't written out. I HATE decisions like that. The romance took such a backseat to everything else, and we never got to experience them having sex again. Uh-uh. That's the quickest way to ruin a book for me.
Rachel's cavalier attitude toward Hugh's fears of sharks and the manta ray really annoyed me. It was throughout the entire book. She literally did not care about sharks, always saying at night the ocean was full of the same things that were there during the day. Sharks didn't bother you, blah blah blah. Hugh saw a giant shadow overhead and told them about it, and her response was that it didn't bother her now because it didn't bother her then. Which is fine, but you can see that Hugh is afraid of sharks and manta rays, whether they'll hurt you or not. The next day she made a big show of having Hugh watch her go up and pet the manta ray. That bothered me so badly. She could have tried to understand instead of just brushing him off like he was a crybaby. Her and Sam also talked about how Hugh didn't seem to enjoy diving, he didn't like to at night, he didn't like the cold water. FYI, he doesn't have to like diving in all conditions just because you two do. I kept wishing she would give the poor guy a break.
And then it happened.
The mighty Rachel finally had a fear. Something she didn't like and wanted to avoid. Idk if the author purposely did that, or if she forgot how she had written her character and how she had Rachel respond to Hugh's fears. At Sam's parents' home, his mom told her there were alligators and Rachel stumbled as she walked, said she really didn't like alligators. She grimaced. "She really did not like alligators." What's the matter Rachel? Margaret said they don't bother people, they leave when you come near. Just like what you said to Hugh. She should have known that everyone has fears and Hugh's fear of sharks was like her fear of alligators. Rachel also shivered at the thought of mud and felt queasy. When she finally did go in the pond the mud made her feel nauseas. Idk if she realized how massively hypocritical that made Rachel, but she was unlikable because of it.
It was Rachel's turn to be uncomfortable, but then she ended up liking the mud. Go figure.
It was sweet when his mom said she sensed Rachel was special and Sam said she was. His mom told him not to let her get away and Sam said he had no intention of letting her get away.
Rachel turned white at the mention of snakes and said she wouldn't have gone in the pond had his mom mentioned there were snakes. I was blown over that she said she felt about snakes like Hugh did about the manta ray. At least she acknowledged it.
At some point I had remembered that the diary got stolen, but I didn't remember that the gems had been taken too. While they were at his parents, his boat was trashed, Trinity's diary stolen and the aspirin bottle with the gems. It made me so mad that he left them on the boat and didn't just bring them with him where they would have been safe. And he didn't make copies of the diary like he said he was going to. How stupid.
Sam played it smart though, suggesting these crazy theories about the identity of the ship and why it had that much gold on it to Norman, to see if Norman would take the bait. Sam knew Norman knew more than he was telling and he was trying to find out what it was. And Sam had found a gold box with rubies inlaid, and had brought it up without telling anyone. Not sure how he accomplished that, where he could have possibly placed the box while they were working, how he carried it up to the surface, and how he got on the boat without anyone seeing. Seems like a huge convenience. But he had the brains to take that box home with him, makes me wonder why he didn't bring everything else.
The Tears of the Angels thing was completely random. Seven diamonds the size of hen eggs, found 140 years ago in India. The Vatican had them made for angel statues. They didn't fit at all. Here we have a story of a southern gentleman in the time of the Civil War who illegally bought an English ship during the Union blockade. He pirated other ships and stole treasure, and then all of a sudden Italy and India were coming into the story with these lost jewels we'd never heard of.
It was a bit much that Trinity gave money to the abolitionists, ran the Underground Railroad, and helped her slaves leave so Sam couldn't sell them. She seemed like a bad person, using her home and money to lure Sam in, then cursing and everything in her diary, and burning the house down, even tho she didn’t know the woman was in it at the time. But of course she had to help slaves and be an angel. Of course his 2xgreat gma had to be cleared of any badness.
Norman had worked at Eden's End when he was younger, found Old Sam's diary and the treasure stashed in the library and took it all. That's how he knew about the diamonds and why he didn't care about the history of the ship or the other treasure. He sold off all the pieces to make money to salvage the shipwreck.
Turk turned out to be an FBI agent, who followed Norman around because he was wanted in 3 countries for the illegal sale of antiques. That was too much for me. It was enough that Sam had called the FBI, but to have had an agent working on the ship the entire time...why would he have remained on the project and not arrested Norman the first time he saw him? Hugh was Norman's partner and he trashed the boat. It majorly sucked that the jewels got away. I hated that. Norman having pink irises and bloodshot eyes was weird. That’s why he wore the glasses, but it was random. What did that have to do with anything??
The beginning was so promising but the romance wasn’t treated as well as the grand plot and the historical elements were. The attraction was too soon but it was so shallow. I didn’t know why they liked each other outside of a little bit of physical attraction. The steam level was below lukewarm. There were no hot moments, no tension and chemistry whatsoever. And I can’t stand authors that don’t write sex; it’s a complete and utter waste. Rachel had too many hang-ups; but the author didn’t resolve them. I thought she was going to have a talk with her dad about always choosing her brother, only addressing him when he talked of his travels, taking Jared out of school to go on trips with him and leaving her behind, which she kept mentioning throughout the book, but she never did. That was a talk they needed to have. Rachel didn’t want a relationship at first, but then just decided somewhere along the way that she’d fallen in love with Sam and she did want him. What happened to her misgivings? She must have worked through them off the pages. Don’t tackle so many issues if you don’t want to spend the time on working through them. Rachel wasn’t exactly unlikable, but I didn’t really like her that much. I would have scored higher had there been sex, but when you don’t actually write the sex out the first time, and then you skip over the rest of it, you’re not going to get 3 stars.
I didn't like that it started out in her dad's perspective, especially since he described Rachel and her brother Jared as playing, remembered them as children. So they came off as children frolicking in the water.
Interesting way to look at a shipwreck as finding out what the people on board thought was worth dying for, like gold. I liked the mention of a shipwreck in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wilmington was the last Southern port to stay open during the union blockade.
I didn't like that Sam had the same name as his great-great-grandpa. Sam McGowan. It already proved confusing in the beginning when they had to say the first Sam McGowan.
The first exchange with Norman Winters, who was funding the search, was uncomfortable to the extreme. Rachel was pushy and forcing she opinion, judging the Southerners from the past, questioning every move Norman mentioned, and Norman was weird, taking offense, getting mad, not understanding anything she said. It was too forced, too soon. I started to remember that he was the bad guy because the author established it right out of the gate. There should have been little signs that he was odd, but not this soon. And, at the end of the chapter, the author all of a sudden switched to his POV, saying that he knew what they would find and he wasn't going to show it to anyone. Who has the readers know who the bad guy is this suddenly? I wish she would have eased into it. I know most of it was due to me vaguely remembering that Norman had an ulterior motive, but he came on way too strong.
It was a good, believable problem that Sam was looking forward to working with her dad of brother and was disappoint that he'd gotten her.
I agreed with her. She wanted a beer but would have had to ask Sam and she didn't want to talk to him. She didn't look at Sam when he asked her questions but looked at Norman instead.
The mention of Mel Fisher was so cool. In the last book I read which also featured a shipwreck and treasure, he was mentioned as the one who found the Atocha. I hadn't remembered that name, but in 2014 I bought a necklace made from silver from that shipwreck. Incredibly cool how these books overlapped. I was really enjoying the shipwreck salvaging field.
I was so pleasantly surprised that I was enjoying it. I thought it was just ok and once I put it up in a box in my closet I never thought about it again, until this year.
Rachel spoke to her dad about their progress so far on the Melrose, and it came up that she and Sam were doing separate sketches of the wreck. Her dad advised them to work together and do one sketch, and I was so excited that she swam right over to Sam's boat. He was just getting out of the shower and only had a towel on. That was a nice moment. She had captured details of the surroundings that he hadn't, like a rock shelf that he recognized as the one she had sat on, and the seaweed where she had found the sand dollars. Rachel was surprised that he'd had time to watch her and I liked that he noticed her even though he was working.
I was enjoying it so much but I must admit the kiss came way too soon. They had just agreed to be friends and she was leaving his boat, and he called her out on being afraid, then just decided to kiss her. They hadn't been getting along for weeks, he kept insulting her inadvertently, she didn't want to have anything to do with him. She was attracted to his eyes and chest and that was it, and he liked her scent. They weren't ready for it and it wasn't the right time. I was enjoying the tension and this kind of relationship where they didn't get along. The kiss just ruined it.
It was a nice setup that Rachel wouldn't date any of their crew because she thought they just wanted to get to her dad through her, but Sam told Rachel that her dad had tried to hire him already and he said no. So that cleared that up that Sam wasn't using her to get to her dad.
It was a bit uncomfortable and unrealistic that Sam noticed all these things that Rachel had in common with his mom. A don't get in their way attitude when they're doing something. Focus on the job and ignore everything else. Always prepared before doing something. Pitches in and doesn't wait for anyone to ask them to help. Impatient during a job. Takes up for the underdog. They'd only known each other a month but thanks to time being skipped it felt like a week. That's a lot to notice about someone and it made me feel like he was looking for someone like his mom.
Also, something small but as they were walking their hips touched. Idk how your hips can touch without your arms banging together. The arms would be the first thing to touch.
I didn't remember anything about a ghost, but it was way out there and not consistent with the story to suddenly have a ghost sighting. Their very first night at Eden's End, Rachel saw the ghost of Trinity, Sam's great-great-grandma. The book had been so practical, I never would a be expected any hint of the supernatural.
I got chills as Sam's dad said his sister almost drowned as a kid and a lady reached into the water and pulled her out. She described her and their aunt said that was Trinity. She comes to people when they're threatened.
I know when I first read this I had no idea of Norman's identity, not even an inclination, so it was a surprise. This time around it was obvious that he was the descendant, having restored Old Sam's mistress' house the first thing, taking Trinity's painting down and putting up the other woman's. He lied and said Trinity's portrait needed repairing and it was in the attic. He tore the oldest part of the house down, that had the most significance. Boy, that made me mad! To have such history ruined!
Sam really kept it smart. Once he put all these inconsistencies and oddities together paired with Norman's weird behavior, him not being surprised by anything, only seeking to care what the ship held and not the preservation of it, and always knowing everything, lying about Trinity knowingly burning the mistress' home down with her in it, he did everything right. He woke up early, toured the grounds and found the rebuilt mistress house, stole Trinity's diary to get copies made, and left Eden's End early, lying and saying he had sketches to make. When they finally got to the captain's cabin, precious gems came up in the basket and he kept the finds to himself, knowing Old Sam must have practiced pirating to have such treasure. Rachel really got on my nerves though, the way she didn't take Sam's concerns about Norman seriously. No matter what he said, he said Norman lied and said Trinity purposely burned the mistress and that was a lie!, Rachel still stuck up for Norman and had a reason for everything. Sam is confusing in you, you're supposed to be on his side, not thinking he's grasping at straws. Gosh, I couldn't stand her. Just go along with it. She also bothered me the way she said such lame things, like her feeling like Barbie at the house, and thinking about calling Sam "Ken," kept saying she should be wearing a hoop skirt and all that. It seemed so immature. Then she giggled at Trinity's room and said Trinity sure liked pink. Norman didn't appreciate that. That was the fashion then, it's restored to period accuracy and Norman went to God only knows how much cost and effort to restore it to its former glory, can you contain your childish, impulsive thoughts? She came off as so immature.
It was nice that Norman wanted to give every one of the crew a gold coin.
Me being a diehard romance reader, I couldn't help but ask "Where is the sex?" The story was really getting on and there hadn't been enough interactions. The heat level was very low, a couple of tame kisses with an extreme lack of description and a little touching on the balcony at Eden's End. There wasn't enough attraction of reason for me to believe they desired each other. There needed to be more sexy moments. They didn't have sex until pg. 263. I can't even fathom that. And I feared it was going to be that short, flowery unfolding that I hate. It was. It was so lacking, happened so fast. He literally placed her down on his bed, entered her and then it was over. The whole thing lasted 4 sentences and was described as "rocking with the ancient rhythm," and "until rhythm became rapture and rapture took them home." Wtf? That sucks. I waited 263 pages for that? It's a slap in the face to put readers through all of this and then not even give them a hot sex scene.
The next morning Sam noticed that Rachel was nestled in the blanket like a child. That was the second time he'd said she looked like a kid while in bed. I'll never understand why authors write that their heroine appears childlike. He just slept with her. Should he really be comparing her to a kid??
The author skipped right over 3 more nights of them having sex. AH!
I was on cloud 9 that there were no mentions of past relationships, until Rachel thought back to a college boyfriend who had invited her to meet his family. Then Rachel and Sam talked about being in love before and she had loved who broke up with her and married someone else. Sam said he'r been in love a few times and I would have rather just not heard about it. At least he said it wasn't the kind where you wake up at night and your heart stops because she isn't there, and thought that's the way it is now, so he had more with Rachel.
Rachel was uncomfortable with his compliments about her looks, didn't think she was beautiful. She didn't like talking about her feelings, her family, or love. She was all about work, didn't take vacations that didn't involve diving, had trouble leaving work behind.
They went out for pizza when they got back to the mainland, on their 5 day break. They ended up taking it to go, Sam promising her a night of romance. The author cut it off right there, then picked up the next morning. Rachel thought back to them dancing on the deck of his ship in the moonlight, him humming tunes. They had sex on the lounge and in his room, and he fed her strawberries. I was ticked off that it wasn't written out. I HATE decisions like that. The romance took such a backseat to everything else, and we never got to experience them having sex again. Uh-uh. That's the quickest way to ruin a book for me.
Rachel's cavalier attitude toward Hugh's fears of sharks and the manta ray really annoyed me. It was throughout the entire book. She literally did not care about sharks, always saying at night the ocean was full of the same things that were there during the day. Sharks didn't bother you, blah blah blah. Hugh saw a giant shadow overhead and told them about it, and her response was that it didn't bother her now because it didn't bother her then. Which is fine, but you can see that Hugh is afraid of sharks and manta rays, whether they'll hurt you or not. The next day she made a big show of having Hugh watch her go up and pet the manta ray. That bothered me so badly. She could have tried to understand instead of just brushing him off like he was a crybaby. Her and Sam also talked about how Hugh didn't seem to enjoy diving, he didn't like to at night, he didn't like the cold water. FYI, he doesn't have to like diving in all conditions just because you two do. I kept wishing she would give the poor guy a break.
And then it happened.
The mighty Rachel finally had a fear. Something she didn't like and wanted to avoid. Idk if the author purposely did that, or if she forgot how she had written her character and how she had Rachel respond to Hugh's fears. At Sam's parents' home, his mom told her there were alligators and Rachel stumbled as she walked, said she really didn't like alligators. She grimaced. "She really did not like alligators." What's the matter Rachel? Margaret said they don't bother people, they leave when you come near. Just like what you said to Hugh. She should have known that everyone has fears and Hugh's fear of sharks was like her fear of alligators. Rachel also shivered at the thought of mud and felt queasy. When she finally did go in the pond the mud made her feel nauseas. Idk if she realized how massively hypocritical that made Rachel, but she was unlikable because of it.
It was Rachel's turn to be uncomfortable, but then she ended up liking the mud. Go figure.
It was sweet when his mom said she sensed Rachel was special and Sam said she was. His mom told him not to let her get away and Sam said he had no intention of letting her get away.
Rachel turned white at the mention of snakes and said she wouldn't have gone in the pond had his mom mentioned there were snakes. I was blown over that she said she felt about snakes like Hugh did about the manta ray. At least she acknowledged it.
At some point I had remembered that the diary got stolen, but I didn't remember that the gems had been taken too. While they were at his parents, his boat was trashed, Trinity's diary stolen and the aspirin bottle with the gems. It made me so mad that he left them on the boat and didn't just bring them with him where they would have been safe. And he didn't make copies of the diary like he said he was going to. How stupid.
Sam played it smart though, suggesting these crazy theories about the identity of the ship and why it had that much gold on it to Norman, to see if Norman would take the bait. Sam knew Norman knew more than he was telling and he was trying to find out what it was. And Sam had found a gold box with rubies inlaid, and had brought it up without telling anyone. Not sure how he accomplished that, where he could have possibly placed the box while they were working, how he carried it up to the surface, and how he got on the boat without anyone seeing. Seems like a huge convenience. But he had the brains to take that box home with him, makes me wonder why he didn't bring everything else.
The Tears of the Angels thing was completely random. Seven diamonds the size of hen eggs, found 140 years ago in India. The Vatican had them made for angel statues. They didn't fit at all. Here we have a story of a southern gentleman in the time of the Civil War who illegally bought an English ship during the Union blockade. He pirated other ships and stole treasure, and then all of a sudden Italy and India were coming into the story with these lost jewels we'd never heard of.
It was a bit much that Trinity gave money to the abolitionists, ran the Underground Railroad, and helped her slaves leave so Sam couldn't sell them. She seemed like a bad person, using her home and money to lure Sam in, then cursing and everything in her diary, and burning the house down, even tho she didn’t know the woman was in it at the time. But of course she had to help slaves and be an angel. Of course his 2xgreat gma had to be cleared of any badness.
Norman had worked at Eden's End when he was younger, found Old Sam's diary and the treasure stashed in the library and took it all. That's how he knew about the diamonds and why he didn't care about the history of the ship or the other treasure. He sold off all the pieces to make money to salvage the shipwreck.
Turk turned out to be an FBI agent, who followed Norman around because he was wanted in 3 countries for the illegal sale of antiques. That was too much for me. It was enough that Sam had called the FBI, but to have had an agent working on the ship the entire time...why would he have remained on the project and not arrested Norman the first time he saw him? Hugh was Norman's partner and he trashed the boat. It majorly sucked that the jewels got away. I hated that. Norman having pink irises and bloodshot eyes was weird. That’s why he wore the glasses, but it was random. What did that have to do with anything??
The beginning was so promising but the romance wasn’t treated as well as the grand plot and the historical elements were. The attraction was too soon but it was so shallow. I didn’t know why they liked each other outside of a little bit of physical attraction. The steam level was below lukewarm. There were no hot moments, no tension and chemistry whatsoever. And I can’t stand authors that don’t write sex; it’s a complete and utter waste. Rachel had too many hang-ups; but the author didn’t resolve them. I thought she was going to have a talk with her dad about always choosing her brother, only addressing him when he talked of his travels, taking Jared out of school to go on trips with him and leaving her behind, which she kept mentioning throughout the book, but she never did. That was a talk they needed to have. Rachel didn’t want a relationship at first, but then just decided somewhere along the way that she’d fallen in love with Sam and she did want him. What happened to her misgivings? She must have worked through them off the pages. Don’t tackle so many issues if you don’t want to spend the time on working through them. Rachel wasn’t exactly unlikable, but I didn’t really like her that much. I would have scored higher had there been sex, but when you don’t actually write the sex out the first time, and then you skip over the rest of it, you’re not going to get 3 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2018
This is an engaging, page-turning suspense with a good dose of romance thrown in. I thought Steward did a good job of showing the relationship evolve from a rocky start to passionate, caring lovers. The main thrust of the story though is Norman Winter, their boss on the salvaging project, and what he's hiding. Woven throughout is the story of Sam's ancestor (the original Sam McGowan) who was on the boat they are salvaging and owned the plantation that Norman is now refurbishing. Stewart keeps the intrigue at a low simmer for most of the book; just enough to keep you turning pages to try and figure out what's going on!
March 31, 2023
The writing was fine. The story was fun. I really disliked the female lead. Could not stand her. Liked everyone else, just not her. I also would have loved an epilogue to find out what happened to the house, the stolen goods, Renny.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2024
Good Read
This book did not disappoint. It kept my interest throughout the whole thing. Would recommend you take a look at reading it.
This book did not disappoint. It kept my interest throughout the whole thing. Would recommend you take a look at reading it.
June 6, 2011
like it!
March 13, 2012
I enjoyed this book, there were some twists at the end that I hadn't figured out - but for the most part it was "predictable". Still an enjoyable read.
February 12, 2015
I will be rereading this book and will write my review then.
December 19, 2012
I think I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy my smut ;)
January 16, 2015
An easy, enjoyable read and a cute love story, Similar to The Reef by Nora Roberts.
August 3, 2016
rating 4.5
May 18, 2017
Good entertaining story.
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