The Sapphire Pendant [Paperback]

Dara Girard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 2011

In a quest for a family heirloom a young woman uncovers secrets, betrayal and love. Jessie Clifton only wants one thing: The Sapphire Pendant, an heirloom her father sold years ago. When offered an opportunity to win the pendant back by charming an eligible bachelor, the hotheaded tomboy impulsively accepts. She soon regrets her decision when she learns that her target is Kenneth Preston, a man she's hated for years. Nevertheless, determined to win, she trades in her running shoes for high heels and jeans for dresses and puts her plan into action. But what starts out as a harmless wager leads her down a dangerous trail of secrets that could change her life, destroy the man she's come to love and affect an entire community. Will she risk everything, no matter what the price?

Product Details

• Paperback: 398 pages
• Publisher: ILORI Press (May 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977019128
• ISBN-13: 978-0977019120
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,535,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dara Girard is an award-winning author of novels that feature strong heroines, family dramas and romance. Her writing has been praised for its deft plot twists, witty dialogue and humor. Dara was born in the American Midwest to immigrant parents who moved around the country, before settling in Maryland. Dara's love of writing was evident at a very early age ' and supported by her close-knit family. After earning her undergraduate degree in communications, Dara held a variety of jobs and did some freelance writing. She was forced out of the corporate world when her last job was made redundant and that's when she decided to write full-time. Luckily this risk paid off and she received a two-book contract that same year. In July 2008, Power Play, was released. This is the first in her miniseries The Black Stockings Society about four women, one club and a secret that will make their fantasies come true. Dara is also the author of an award-winning non-fiction book for writers, The Writer Behind the Words (Ilori Press, 2007).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Young love can be true love, December 18, 2010

By 

krichie (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sapphire Pendant: A Novel (with linked TOC) (Kindle Edition)

I loved this book. Dara Girard has yet to disappoint me. These characters have a long history, and of course they get together in the end, but the journey to was a great one. Definitely pick this one up.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected, March 7, 2010

By 

Malaika Tamu "Sweet n' Sassy" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sapphire Pendant (Paperback)

The Sapphire Pendant is an UNUSUAL romance...one that forces the hero and the heroine to recognize and accept their true self before they can truly find their HEA with each other...Kenneth and Jessie's connection is DEEP...and their journey is TOUCHING and emotional as they each struggle with their own inner demons throughout...even though the story has a few slow patches...Ms. Girard's writing style, once again keeps me turning the pages with some UNEXPECTED twists and a COLORFUL cast of characters...another INTRIGUING tale...I would also love to read a follow-up to this story...just to DISCOVER what happens with some of the secondary cast of characters.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, December 14, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sapphire Pendant (Paperback)

Reviewed by Shawn Remfrey

Jessie comes from a long line of jewelers. She has been taught that each stone, each hunk of metal, holds ingrained a piece of history, a moment in time. Each piece of jewelry holds a special place in the world. One such piece, a sapphire pendant, has been missing from her family's treasure for awhile. It had to be sold to Deborah's wealthy family to send Jessie to college, and since then,

Jessie and her two sisters have been trying to raise the money to buy it and put it back where it belongs. Jessie's other talents include reading stones to tell the future-and being extremely clumsy. She knows she isn't beautiful, but she's smart and resourceful to compensate.

Kenneth is a hard worker with a difficult past. He does everything he can to live up to the Preston name. Prestons are honest, loyal, and full of integrity. To the outside world, Kenneth is known as Mr. Perfect. He has lots of money, girls swooning at his feet, a beautiful home, and the looks to match. Though he's having some inside trouble with the company he runs, his world seems to be perfect.

Though Kenneth and Jessie have had a strained relationship since high school, things get alot worse when Deborah, a scheming socialite, proposes a bet. If Jessie can get Kenneth to take her to a specific party, Deborah will return the sapphire pendant to Jessie's family. If Jessie loses, then she has to be Deborah's maid for a full year. To make matters worse, Kenneth's niece has run away from home and decided to live with him.

This was an engaging story, but I was mentally drawn to two different time periods. Several times when I was reading the story I would get the feel of the 1800s, and then all of a sudden there would be an electronics company. The way that the story is told doesn't seem to match the era it is placed in. The characters are somewhat realistic, but almost to the point of not being believable. I felt as if I was being pulled from one extreme to the other. One moment I loved the characters and could completely relate, and the next moment I was completely confused because I couldn't figure out why the character was behaving the way they were.

However, Dara Girard's writing style was the saving grace of this story. She kept me flipping from page to page until the very end.

Armchair Interviews says: A story with strong characters and writing that could have had better with some attention to time and place.