Dark Emerald

Dark Jewels Trilogy #2

by Lisa Jackson

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson delivers a powerful historical romance, starring a woman of mystery—and the enemy who could be her one true love…
 
Tara’s life is shrouded in secrets. All she knows is that her past is somehow entwined with a dark emerald—the jewel identifying the lost heir to Tower Twyll.
 
Banished from Twyll by his brutal half brother, Rhys has carved out a new life as the Outlaw. But then he captures a raven-haired beauty who not only inflames his desire, but carries the legendary jewel that threatens his very quest for revenge.
 
From the first, the infamous criminal stokes a passion seductive yet frightening in Tara. For if she is the true heir to Twyll, then she is the sworn enemy of the man who has captured her heart…

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Medieval, Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Adult

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Lisa Jackson is the number-one New York Times bestselling author of over ninety-five novels, including the Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya Series, the Pescoli and Alvarez Series, the Savannah series, and numerous stand alone novels. She also is the co-author of One Last Breath, Last Girl Standing, and the Colony Series, written with her sister and bestselling author Nancy Bush, as well as the collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous, written with Nancy Bush and Rosalind Noonan. There are over thirty million copies of her novels in print and her writing has been translated into twenty languages.

Before she became a nationally bestselling author, she was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.

With dozens of bestsellers to her name, Lisa Jackson is a master of taking readers to the edge of sanity—and back—in novels that buzz with dangerous secrets and deadly passions. She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional, and the downright twisted. As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies, and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families.

Visit http://www.LisaJackson.com where you can find a Media Kit with photos and more information.

Reviews

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book way more than the first in the series, it had much more action and excitement to keep things interesting and kept me turning the pages to find out what could possibly happen next. I was slightly annoyed with Tara at times but my love for Rhys more than made up for that. I enjoyed his character so much, what can I say, I’m partial to the dark brooding hero!

[Kristie Novak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this! Set in medieval times, and I suppose I didn't catch that when I read the back of the book, but it was a nice change of pace from what I usually read.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just didn't do anything for me. For most of the book I disliked Rhys because he was a jerk and Tara just allowed things to happen to her and didn't try hard enough to get away. Her many efforts were pathetic, unplanned and she was easily caught. Not my favorite in this series.

[Chris Rahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not big on witches and such, but this was a great book. I love this author so I gave this book a chance and was very surprised.

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tara has had a shock of a lifetime upon being told that the woman who raised her is in fact not her mother. That her parents were Lords and Ladies before being betrayed and murdered for their title. As their only child, she is destined to inherit the land and title and the priceless mystical gem stone in her possession if her proof. When on the road to claim her birth right she is besieged and kidnapped by the worst kind of villain, a handsome thief.

Rhys was betrayed himself, beaten within an inch of his life and left to die after having an affair with the lord’s wife. A woman horribly abused by her husband, a woman he loved more then life. Vowing revenge, Rhys sees an opportunity to kill the man who wronged him and come into possession of the stone which will solidify his claims for the title. He never imagined falling in love with the spirited young witch who should be a means to an end.

I kept waiting for something, anything to happen in the story to make me perk up and pay attention. Unfortunately, the whole thing was bland and lifeless. Characters that I have no investment in both protagonist and antagonist alike. And a story that all in all, meant nothing. It was also barely paranormal. I thought the stone of magical, characters dropped himself that it was but it was just a gem stone. Tara herself wasn’t a witch either, despite being told plenty of times that she was and her praying to the goddesses. Her mother, I mean the woman who’s not her mother, was a witch.

A lot of time was spent of subplots involving secondary characters and that time should have been spent developing a reason for the main characters love. Because all I felt like lust. And Stockholm syndrome.

[Christine]

This book was focused on everything else except the main characters so must history and flashbacks half of the book and every character in the book is like the main character so many details it's lost touch it could have been fairly 300 page book but the slow pace n many flashback n characters the writer wasted us

[Vicki Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge Fan

Read them all so far. I've really enjoyed both series. Looking into Wild And Wicked now. Last of them. We

[Rozanne DuBois]

THUMBS DOWN

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more but I just didn't engage with the heron or heroine.

[Zenei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really like the Hero but I can't exactly pinpoint why I like him so much. He does remind me of the hero in "My Forever Love". Yes he kidnaps her and takes her back to his castle where they fall in love and yes, that is soooooooo overdone, but LJ does this one great. She is very good at putting you right there in the story, and that is probably the most important thing to me. I really got wrapped up in this one, which is rare for me these days. I am very cynical and usually will pick a book apart and more often than not I'll just throw it against the nearest wall in frustration. Sometimes the periods between really good books are so long that I start to wonder if I am losing my love of books. And then I will come across a book like this... Another thing that is just as important is secondary character development. Nobody does this better. Well Maybe Marsha Canham but no one else. I mean from the woman who raised Tara to the evil brother of Rhyes and the cook and all of the riffraff that lived in that old haunted broken down castle. I mean they all came to life. The story seemed real to me. Like it really happened. As far as I'm concerned, this is a classic. I absolutely loved it and it will always be among my all time favorites.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tara's life is shrouded in secrets. It seems no one can reveal the mysterious circumstances surrounding her birth. All she knows is that they are somehow entwined with a dark emerald - the jewel identifying the lost heir to Tower Twyll.

Banished form Twyll by his brutal half brother, Rhys has carved out a new life as the Outlaw. But then he captures a raven-haired beauty who not only inflames his desire, but carries the legendary jewel that threatens his very quest for revenge.

From the first, the infamous criminal stokes a passion seductive yet frightening in Tara. For if she is the true heir to Twyll, then she is the sworn enemy of the man who has captured her heart.

[Darcie Dibble · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the premise and action of the story, and I liked Rhys, but I felt that was about it. Though Tara was described to be headstrong and defiant, she was constantly easily captured (though she kept escaping) and was always getting herself and others in trouble (but I guess little else would allow for the story to progress?) and had to have Rhys or someone else save her. That kind of bothered me about this book.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Emerald is the second of the books in the Dark Jewels Series by Lisa Jackson. It takes place in Wales and involves a Dark Emerald, magic, a hero that helps the woman he loves to overcome evil men to gain her rightful inheritance. This second book is just as great as the first one Dark Ruby.

[Debbie "QBW2" · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can honestly say that I have not enjoyed any "older" books quite so much as I have enjoyed reading this series!

[Casey Mage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this one was good. The begining really sucked, but i thought that the story was fair. Cute love

[Michaelbatte · Rating 3 out of 5]

not what I was expecting - graphic romance novel set in 13th century - like her modern mystery genre much better

[Laura]

Picked this one up from the libraries book sale so I made myself read it. It was not quite my style but was an easy book to read.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually loved this book. I dont really read romance books (my husband does) but this book had adventure, mystery and romance. couldnt put it down till i was done

[D Grosskopf]

Typical

[Robin Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite the bodice ripper/throbbing manhood etc... the story was good though.

[Kit731 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oproti prvnímu dílu zdá se mi tento slabší :/