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. . . .

Perennial New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth
Lowell boldly puts the romance back into romantic suspense
with BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE — a story of passion and intrigue
centered around the ancient Mayan prediction of the
apocalyptic end of everything. Lowell’s thrillingly
imaginative tale unites a dedicated female archaeologist
with a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer
on a mission to recover priceless South American artifacts
that could bring deadly chaos into our world.

BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE is action, suspense, and love on a
bestselling par with Lisa Gardner, Linda Howard, Jayne Ann
Krentz, and Nora Roberts…and exactly the sort of romantic
adventure that inspired Johanna Lindsey to
declare, “Lowell is great!”