I'm truly impressed with this author's excellent track record of taking a romantic (or in this case steamy sex) mystery and wrapping it genuine scholarly research on a particular subject of art or culture. The subject here is, obviously, jade. And when the main characters aren't examining each other's naked bodies, they are examining, discussing, and educating about priceless antique jade artifacts as well traditional Chinese culture. Her books could be just unusually well-written romances but she raises them up to a much higher level with intriguing subjects I didn't even know I was interested in. To my mind, Ms. Lowell has earned the fortune she's made from her writing by appealing to a broad spectrum of the reading public.
Like "Amber Beach", you learn a lot about jade in reading this book. Also like AB, there's maybe a little too much of the book. I kept finding myself wishing the story would move along instead of having to skim through another several pages of the Heroine's angst about her father's family and their refusal to acknowledge her.
But if you don't mind skimming through this sort of stuff, it's a good story.
Not her best, but still a good read.
