Pearl Cove [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Elizabeth Lowell (Author), Dick Hill (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

It is desperation that inspires young widow Hannah McGarry to call Archer Donovan. She only saw the man twice in the past ten years, and he struck her as a cold, ruthless piece of work. But as a silent partner in Pearl Cove, her late husband's pearl farm business, Donovan might be willing to help her...if the price is right. At twenty-nine, Hannah has been freed to live her life again. Now she faces the mystery of her late husband's death, the prospect of bankruptcy...and the disappearance of the Black Trinity, a necklace containing a three million dollar fortune in black pearls that was supposed to be her financial security. Archer Donovan would rather forget he'd ever heard of Pearl Cove. It links him to memories of living life on the dark side, the old lure, the heart-pumping, soul-numbing certainty that there was no law, no justice, no mercy; just hunters and the hunted. That life had taught him to trust no one but family. But when Hannah McGarry calls in an old debt and offers a million dollars, Archer is plunged back into the hell he vowed never to revisit; into a deadly game of money, power, cutthroat competition, and treachery in pursuit of a stolen fortune. At his side is a woman he shouldn't want, yet cannot resist...a woman who may know more than she's telling about her husband's death...and more than is safe to know about the dark and elusive black pearls. With a feeding frenzy of human sharks on their tails, Archer and Hannah race through uncharted waters in search of the fabulous Black Trinity...and the closer they come to finding the coveted pearls, the closer they come to danger and death...and to each other.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Contemporary Seattle, Washington, and Pearl Cove, Australia
Sensuality: 8

The eldest brother in one of Seattle's most powerful families, Archer Donovan is handsome, dangerous, and fascinated by pearls. He's also been in love with Hannah McGarry, his half-brother's wife, for the last 10 years. Far away in Australia, Hannah's loveless marriage ends in violence when a cyclone tears apart her pearl farm and her husband, Len, dies. But Len's death wasn't an accident; he was murdered. Desperate for help, Hannah places a call to Archer, who rushes to her side and quickly finds that powerful competitors in the pearl trade are circling Pearl Cove like buzzards.

Businessmen, criminals, and government agencies are willing to do whatever it takes to find a fabulous pearl necklace, named the Black Trinity, and to learn Len's secret formula for producing the extraordinary black pearls. Racing against time and tracked by enemies too numerous to count, Archer and Hannah begin a dangerous game of hide and seek to find Len's murderer and recover the Black Trinity. But even if the two lovers survive their adventure, will Archer find a way to convince Hannah that he's a different man from his unbalanced half-brother? And can Hannah find the courage to chance her heart and love again?

Readers who have waited impatiently for this third book about the Donovan family won't be disappointed. Lowell combines her trademark sophisticated suspense and sexual intensity with a plot rich in the fascinating lore of cultured pearls and full of Australian atmosphere and the sights and sounds of Seattle. --Lois Faye Dyer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Formulaic but fun, Lowell's latest romantic suspense novel returns to the glamorous Donovan family she created in Amber Beach and Jade Island. When wheelchair-bound pearl harvester Len McGarry turns up dead on an Australian beach with an oyster shell sticking out of his chest, his beautiful widow, Hannah, knows that Len was murdered for his $3 million rainbow pearl necklace, the Black Trinity, now missing. Feeling herself in danger, Hannah seeks help from Len's partner and half-brother, the ruthless but hunky Archer Donovan. Archer fell for Hannah 10 years ago, when she was Len's teenage bride, and he's only too happy to help her track down both Len's killer and the necklace. Archer uses his family's resources, his inside knowledge of the pearl trade and his U.S. government connections to find the (rather predictable) bad guys. True love turns out to be harder to locate. As soon as they fall into bed, Archer knows he wants Hannah to have his baby. But Len was a cruel, unworthy husband, and Hannah, still recovering from her marriage, has trouble committing to Archer. Lowell uses the double search as backdrop for the push-and-pull between a reticent heroine and an oddly insistent, "elementally masculine" hero. Neither her plotting nor her airy prose take the romance genre anywhere new. Lowell does, however, infuse the minutiae of pearl diving and of international gem sales into a racy light read. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Paperback Nova Audio Books; Abridged edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567403484
• ISBN-13: 978-1567403480
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,499,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell has numerous historical and contemporary novels in print, including her four-book series of suspense novels featuring the unforgettable Donovan family--AMBER BEACH, JADE ISLAND, PEARL COVE and MIDNIGHT IN RUBY BAYOU. Ms. Lowell's current release, DEATH ECHO, is Book 5 in her St. Kilda Consulting series and features twin yachts, international gangsters, and plenty of romantic-suspense. There are more than thirty million Elizabeth Lowell books currently in print. Ms. Lowell lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THANK YOU ELIZABETH LOWELL - FOR DOING IT AGAIN TO ME, September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pearl Cove (Hardcover)

Thank you Elizabeth Lowell, for once again doing it to me. This book was definitely the best of the series yet. I have read all three in the series and can't wait for number four. I would recommend these books to anyone and everyone at this point, and definitely to read in order. I love this family and the way Ms. Lowell portrays them as scrapping, teasing, bullying, but most of all loving of each other. It was lovely to see her Archer character - being the hardest and toughest of them all (with the exception of THE DONOVAN), also be the one with the deepest heart so far. I suspected as much with the way he so fiercely tried to protect Honor and Kyle in Amber Beach and Jade Island. I so look forward to the next books for Faith, Justin, and Lawe, and hope that Ms. Lowell, might also consider writing the original before long as well (the story of THE DONOVAN). Again, Ms. Lowell, thank you, I have you on my favorite authors list - now and forever.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Donovans just keep getting better!, April 3, 2001

By 

mirope "mirope" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pearl Cove (Donovan, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Let me reveal my prejudices right up front - I'm a big Elizabeth Lowell fan and I've loved all of her contemporary novels, especially the Donovan series. "Pearl Cove", however, is truly exceptional. Archer Donovan is the oldest Donovan brother, and he has a definite edge about him. He's physically amazing - of course - but he also has deep emotions that he keeps tightly controlled. When his illegitimate half-brother's wife, Hannah, asks him to come to Pearl Cove, Australia following the brother's murder, he immediately leaves his comfortable home in Seattle. The trip stirs up a lot of emotions for Archer. There's his complicated relationship with the half-brother, his uncomfortable past as a secret operative, and his forbiden attraction to Hannah herself. You're in for lots of love, lust and adventure as he and Hannah sort it out.

One of Lowell's fortes is her wonderful research which she artfully weaves into her story. You'll learn any amazing amount about the fascinating world of pearls while you're reading this book - the way they're made, how they are appraised and the international pearl market - but Lowell so skillfully adds it to the story that you won't feel like you're getting a lesson. You will also love her well-developed and exciting characters, not to mention the Donovan family. I like my family quite a lot, but I'd be happy to be adopted by the Donovans... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Lowell will give us the stories of the absent twin brothers!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Action-Packed, Romance-Filled Adventure Down Under, February 4, 2004

By 

Ruthie Ramirez (San Diego) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pearl Cove (Donovan, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ten years ago Archer Donovan fell in love with Hannah McGarry, but she was with his bitter half-brother Len, so he let her marry him and move to Australia. What he didn't know was that three years later, after Len was paralyzed in an injury, that he started abusing Hannah, making her life a bitter hell.

In his quest for the perfect black pearl, Len had developed a secret process and had been secretly making and hoarding black rainbow pearls, while he was trying to create the perfect necklace. He had already made enough beauties to make the "Black Trinity" which was worth about three million dollars.

A cyclone ravages Pearl Cove, Australia and Len is killed. Everybody wants to believe it's an accident, but the truth is nobody liked Len McGarry, in fact everybody hated him, nobody was going to miss him. Hanna would be better off without him, but she wouldn't be better off without their entire inventory of black pearls, which was apparently lost in the storm.

She calls Archer for help when greedy, opportunistic, unscrupulous and dangerous competitors start coming around, believing she knows the secret of how to create these pearls and, of course, Archer comes.

When he gets to Australia their passion reignites while they try to stay alive. Hannah's foe have bitten of more than they can chew, for Archer knows about the kind of men who are after Hannah and the black pearls. Not so long ago he'd lived on the dark side where justice and the law didn't matter. And they don't matter now, not when he's defending the woman he's always loved. But can he find Len's killer and retrieve the black pearls in time?

All I can say about this book is, "What a terrific read." The Donovan's are a great family and Ms. Lowell knows how to make you feel like you're a member of the clan as you race through the story, dying to see what happens next.