During the late 1800's in China, when the country was
overrun with opium and prostitution, Anna Marie Thompson
was orphaned at a young age. Desperate for a parent, when
a colleague of her father's comes to visit, she quickly
adopts him as her own. But her adopted father comes with a
high price. He gets her addicted to opium at a young age
and in order to support her deadly habit, she becomes a
drug runner for him. Tired of the uncertain life of a
runner, Anna's determined to get away from her adoptive
father and her opium addiction, only to run afoul with the
emperor's enforcer, a man who's vowed to kill all those
involved in the drug and prostitution business.
From the moment he sees her, Tau Zhi-Gang knows Anna is
going to change his life. For that reason alone, he's
prepared to kill her the instant he meets her. Even as the
emperor's enforcer, Zhi-Gang cannot kill without cause. To
give legal cause to punish her with death, he marries
Anna; for once she becomes his wife, he can kill her with
no one giving it even a second thought. No matter how hard
he tries, he just can't bring himself to harm her. Even
finding out she's an opium addict and a drug runner, the
two things he finds most vile, doesn't change the fact
he's falling in love with her. With Anna's knowledge of
the opium trade, Zhi-Gang can track down his missing
sister, who was sold into prostitution by his parents when
he was ten years old. She can also help him get far in his
quest to stop the flow of opium into his country, but the
temptation of the addictive drug may be too much for Anna
to handle. Will their love be enough to help her defeat
her addiction?
Every so often you read a book that truly touches you in
ways you never imagined a book could. Jade Lee has written
an incredibly poignant story with heart wrenching
characters that survive horrors that most of us couldn't
even dream of. Anna is an amazingly strong heroine who's
short life has seem more tragedy than all of Shakespeare's
plays. Yet the story doesn't dwell on it. That's what I
find so amazing about this book. All these horrors have
been committed in the heroine's life but the book is a
celebration of her triumph's and her love. Zhi-Gang is the
perfect man for her. He has his own demons to struggle
with but he's not the typical angst ridden hero. They
compliment each other and it makes for an incredibly
moving story of love and survival. Regardless of what sort
of genre you may typically read, I would urge anyone to
read this book. You won't be disappointed.
A DANGEROUS CURRENT China's Grand Canal saw all kinds of transport-food, slaves, even deadly opium. And when one woman planned to sail it to freedom, her flight would end in the arms of a Mandarin prince. There her true journey would begin. Orphaned and stranded, Anna Marie Thompson could trust no one, especially not her dark captor. Not when his eyes held secrets deadlier than her own. Though his caress was liquid fire, his arms a steely shield, Anna was still an Englishwoman and alone. She could not trust him when he swore they could tame the dragon, could together unearth the riches of the sweet cinnabar cave. But sadness and fear could be cleansed by soft yin rain, he whispered; safety and joy were but a breath away. And perhaps love. All was here for the taking, if she would just give in to temptation....
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