Customer Reviews

Dark Emerald

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

By 1290 Wales, the birth of Tara of Gaelf remains buried in mystery. Some locals believe she is a noble's lost daughter. Others feel she is a witch, child of a midwife. The only known thing about Tara is a DARK EMERALD ring that she has always owned, which might prove she is the rightful heir to Twyll.

Tremaine exiled his half-brother Rhys, who now leads a bunch of thieves. Rhys rescues Tara when Tremaine's men try to abduct her, but, in turn holds her as his prisoner. He quickly realizes that if she is Twyll, than his father was the murderer of her parents. Still, Tara does not trust her jailer or her heart, which announces she loves Rhys. He shocks himself by finding he loves his bewitching prisoner. However, she constantly tries to escape until ultimately she forces the final showdown.

DARK EMERALD is a complex Medieval romance that will gain much acclaim for Lisa Jackson. The story line moves forward on several levels that ultimately tie together in an exciting finish. The lead characters are a passionate duo while the secondary players strengthen the entire novel. Ms. Jackson has struck a gemstone mine with her "Jewel" trilogy (see DARK RUBY)

Harriet Klausner

Well it started off interesting enough. It had all the makings of an interesting novel but somewhere along the line it became incredibly tedious. First there was the missing child, then the mysterious emerald, the outlaw, and a beautiful pagan, and a villain bent on revenge. It had all the makings of an interesting novel. But it became incredibly boring half way through. I couldn't believe all the good reviews for this novel. If you have read any other of Ms. Jackson's novels you know what I mean when I say this doesn't measure up to rest of her works. Tara is a headstrong heroine but all the stupid things she kept doing just got plain annoying instead of me applauding her bravery after her attempts of escape. Another thing I didn't like was that the villain was too evil. It was like good vs. evil, plain black and white when in reality it isn't really like that. When I usually read Ms. Jackson's books there are shades of gray between the good guys and bad guys. It makes it more believable and easier to read. The relationships between the two characters were unrealistic and premature. I didn't believe them one bit. It was like the book wasn't long enough for them to develop proper a relationship. All in all I was extremely disappointed in reading it, not what I expected at all.

I just finished reading Dark Emerald. This is the 3rd book I've read by Lisa Jackson and I've yet to be disappointed. The chemistry between the two characters, Tara and Rhys, was great. The storyline was pretty good and it also had a small twist at the end of the book. I recommend it, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Yes he kidnaps her and takes her back to his castle where they fall in love and that is soooooooo overdone but LJ does this great. She put me there and that is probably the most important thing to me. I really got wrapped up in this one. I love that because it's so hard for me to get there these days. I am very picky and 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 is 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.

I could not finish this silly novel. At first I found it amusing that in order to add some period tone to the book the author used the word "mayhap". A lot, over and over it shows up. It is so much of a distraction, that instead of enjoying the story, I found myself waiting for the next "mayhap". There is not much of a wait. The author must use "mayhap" on almost every page. I finally tossed the book in disgust, unable to finish. "Mayhap" the author should find a few different words.
Also a jennet is a donkey, not a horse!

The action in this novel was exciting -- but that alone doesn't make a good novel. Corny and melodramatic writing can be fun at first, but it wears thin. Especially if you add a heroine who keeps doing stupid things. Not to mention subplots that fizzle out.

The only character I remember strongly is the villain. He could have been a fun character, but he became too eeeevil to be believed. He even goes so far as to kick a dog, much like the villain from an old movie!

At All About Romance, I gave this book a D+.

I enjoyed this book greatly, it has an interesting story line as well as a nice twist.

I'm a huge fan of Ms. Jackson's romantic suspense stories and this is the first time I've read any of her historicals and I found this read to be a strong read but after ahwile I became bored with Tara's attitude and "need to escape" mentality. In the beginning yes, it was believable, toward the middle and end it was just down right disbelieving.

Tara has lived her life with a mystery hanging over her head. The circumstances of her birth are held as a secret. She has been raised by Lodema in a forest with an Emerald as her only legacy. Little does she know that the Emerald identifies her as the long lost heir to Tower Twyll. Tara wants a lot out of life, what she doesn't count on is being abducted by an outlaw in the forest, nor does she count on the feelings he makes her feel. What will happen when they find out that their actually suppose to be enemies?

Rhys has been banished from Twyll by his evil half brother. As a result he has made a new life for himself as an outlaw. He finds the beautiful and tempting Tara and at the same time sees the Emerald and makes the choice to abduct her for his own purposes. He does not plan on feeling things for his beautiful captive, and these feelings could possibly change his desire for revenge if he lets it. Will he continue with his plan of vengence, or will he follow his heart?

Again this was a strong read but I found some of the characters rather clichéd, and as I stated earlier I started to feel frustration with Tara. The chemistry between Rhys and Tara is hot and despite the strong willed nature of these two people they were able to find a strong love. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Jackson's historicals in the future.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

All I want to say is this,If you buy this book you will not be sorry.This is the best book and plot was so cool I near could have guested.So please go for it!