Thursday, June 21, 2012

Book Review: Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell

Beautiful Sacrifice
Author: Elizabeth Lowell
Publication: William Morrow (May 22, 2012)


Description: According to Maya legend, December 21, 2012, will mark the end of the world as we know it. Is it myth . . . or will their prediction become reality?


Archaeologist Lina Taylor has devoted her life to studying ancient Maya artifacts, splitting her time between digs in South America and the classroom teaching college students. But the professor's structured, academic life is about to spin out of control. Some extremely valuable and important Maya artifacts have gone missing. Are the culprits fanatics determined to create chaos and usher in annihilation?

Helping out a friend, former immigration and customs enforcement officer Hunter Johnston is determined to recover the missing pieces and he needs Lina's help. A man used to calling the shots and working alone, he isn't comfortable letting anyone get close, especially a beautiful and brainy woman like Lina. His gift for reading people tells him there's a lot going on below that professional exterior, and he's more than a little curious to probe her depths.

Burying herself in her work, Lina's had little experience handling men, especially one as fascinating and exasperating as the secretive, headstrong Hunter. A devoted archaeologist, she has the skill to excavate those protective layers all the way to his core.

But finding the missing artifacts is only the beginning of a mystery that will plunge these unlikely partners into adventure, romance, and danger more thrilling, sensual, and deadly than either of them knows. . . .


My Thoughts: Dr. Lina Taylor is an archaeologist at Houston's Museum of the Maya. She is a descendant of the Maya and of their Spanish conquerors. Her father is an eccentric archaeologist. Her mother sells antiquities. They hate each other and Lina is pulled between them but has come to accept each of them for themselves and build her life away from them both. 


When some very rare Maya artifacts go missing, Hunter Johnston goes on the hunt for them to help out a friend who might lose his career because of the loss. His hunt leads him to Lina because of her expertise, contacts, and because the artifacts probably came from lands her family has owned for generations in the Yucatan. He wasn't expecting to fall in love with her. He thought he buried his heart with his ex-wife and young daughter when they were killed in a head-on collision with a truck. He wasn't looking to put his heart on the line again. Lina wasn't looking for love either. She never thought she would find a man as comfortable in the city or the jungle as she was. 


But someone else wants the artifacts Hunter and Lina are searching for too and is willing to kill anyone in the way. Added to this is the fact that Dec. 21, 2012 is an auspicious day in the Maya calendar. According to that calendar, the world will end and be remade then. Religious fanatics who believe this and want to help the prophecy along are also on Hunter and Lina's trail as they try to track the missing artifacts.


Hunter and Lina have to deal with her obsessed father, her aging grandmother, her mother's expectations and a cult that believes in blood sacrifice as they travel from Houston to the depths of the Yucatan searching for ancient Maya artifacts.


The romance grows naturally between Hunter and Lina as they face danger together and learn that they hold fundamental values in common. The story was filled with danger, intrigue, adventure and wonderful scenery. I recommend it to fans of romantic suspense.


Favorite Quote:
"Crutchfeldt." She said it like a curse. "I can't decide whether to shower before or after we see him."

Hunter laughed. "I'll shower down the hall while you decide. Because if I shower near you, we'll be in severe danger of making a baby."

Lina got up. She'd much rather have lured Hunter into bed or into the shower, and knew he felt the same way. But she didn't object out loud. They had used up all the available condoms. Not that she didn't want to have a baby. She did. Just not nine months from today.

Sometimes being an adult sucked.
I bought this one because Elizabeth Lowell is an auto-buy for me. She has written some of my favorite romance. You can get your copy here.

2 comments:

  1. I like books with mythology in them. And as a kid I wanted to be an archaeologist, so this sounds like my kind of book!
    Juli @ Universe in Words

    ReplyDelete
  2. nice posting.. thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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