So working in a new school you need to find your way around. Granted there are only a few really necessary things you need to locate : a working toilet, a refrigerator, a microwave, the supply closet, and the copy machine. While scoping out the copy machine I scanned the inevitable collection of crap that tends to accumulate over the years in such a communal space. Scrap paper, really old magazines, catalogues for those terrible at home parties (Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, etc.), angry notices about how to change the toner, and a bookshelf. Such bookshelves are a treasure, because they are the home of the lost book. Some are discards from the school library that have been salvaged, some are donated, others simply are picked up from the hallway floor and make a home their. I love these kinds of bookshelves, and it is where I found Pearl Cove. I had read one other Elizabeth Lowell novel, or rather closer to a novella called Outlaw. Not being much for cowboys I wasn't blown away by it, and found the repressed sexuality as a result of date rape a little heavy, incongruously heavy for the subject matter. I must confess however that I really like Pearl Cove. First aside from either the romance story between Hannah and Archer or the mystery of who murdered Len, Hannah's husband and Archer's half-brother or the thriller-style race to find the missing Black Trinity necklace...I just found it an interesting book to read in terms of back story.
Romances are notorious for being cookie cutter, falling into neat categories; Regency, Western, Paranormal, Medieval... the list goes on and on. Trends come in and out of fashion, however when you're writing something as mundane as boy-meets-girl and they have sex and fall in love, what sets it apart are the details. I'm never one to put a book down because of historical or factual inaccuracies (regardless of how much they irritate me) however it definitely colors my opinion of the work as a whole. Going in I knew nothing about pearl farming or the pearl trade and I have to say I was very impressed with the amount of research that Elizabeth Lowell must have done, because it was so real and so exact that it almost eclipsed the other elements of the story. Bottom line, it was fascinating to read, because she got the details right, or at least damn close.
Having not read the other Donovan family stories I can't say how Pearl Cove compares, however it seems like a solid set of ideas for a series, even if the Donovans aren't quite as cool as Jo Beverly's Mallorens. There is a certain spy school, trained assassin element that at time is a little far fetched but Lowell doesn't overplay that hand too much. The romance runs hot an cold, but it is eventually satisfying and there is a rough-and-tumble, thunder down under appeal to the sex. The line "if you want sex or protection press six" is also a real winner in my estimation. In the end Pearl Cove is a sailboat book, its not about the destination, its about the journey to get there. The way the story develops along the way is this books greatest strength, and character development, while slow is eventually pretty solid. I'm tempted to have another go at Elizabeth Lowell, I'll have to do some more shopping in the copy room.
