Title: Legacy of the Diamond
Series: Black Diamond
Author: Andrea Kane
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: January 1, 1997
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 0671534858
ISBN-13: 9780671534851
COURTNEY JOHNSTON, the lively daughter of a sea captain, is swept underneath a wave of despair when a pirate forces her father overboard. Taken captive and used in a sinister plot to win an English nobleman's rare black diamond, she now lives to fulfill one burning desire: to avenge her father's death.
SLAYDE HUNTLEY, the earl of Pembourne, will do anything to ransom his missing sister, Aurora, even turn over the priceless gem that has been his family's treasure-and curse-for generations. Lured to the pirate ship, he believes the golden-red haired beauty promised for the stone is his sister, but she is not...she is his destiny.
Even as the diamond brings Courtney and Slayde together, it glitters with a malice and mystery that draws them toward a haunting evil. Soon they fear losing a treasure more precious than any jewel-their chance for a future together.
My rating:
The black diamond, a gem of unfathomable wealth and beauty, has plagued the Huntley family for generations. It prompted the feud with the Bencrofts, it supposedly brought a curse upon the Huntleys...and now resulted in Aurora Huntley being kidnapped and held for ransom.
Slayde Huntley is more than happy to give up the diamond if it means saving his sister's life...Only it's not his sister that he saves, but Courtney Johnston, a sea captain's daughter whose ship had been attacked by pirates and whose father had been forced overboard. Aurora, on the other hand, had merely been in London for a short trip with a longtime family friend...
This book was a huge disappointment.
From the characters (the heroine and the hero's sister acted like children instead of young women and the hero was a curse-believing idiot for the better part of the story) to the suspense which could've worked if the story wasn't overburdened with the drama and angst of the characters. As it was, the big reveal of who the villain was, came as a huge surprise (the only plus of the book), while the motive ended up sounding rather idiotic, and the whole thing was resolved too quickly (a matter of pages).
It wasn't badly written, but was unfortunately weighted down by the characters and poorly developed suspense plot.
1 star, Andrea Kane, bitchslappable heroine/hero, historical, historical romance, re-read, regency, suspense/mystery/adventure/thriller
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