PUPPETS ON A STRING China's most priceless artifacts are being smuggled into the U.S. An international crisis is about to explode -- unless a desperate trap to catch a thief succeeds. And one woman is the key . . . Lindsay Danner. Her worldwide reputation as an expert in ancient bronzes and her love for China make her the perfect pawn in a deadly game. But she needs protection. Jacob MacArthur Catlin. The Dragon. A renegade ex-CIA agent whose name is still whispered in tones of hatred and admiration throughout Southeast Asia. Now it is his job to make sure Lindsay Danner succeeds . . . and lives. Two puppets on a string. In a maze of intrigue where each deadly twist and turn leads deeper into deception and forbidden desire, friends can be enemies. Truth may be lies. Trust is a dirty word. And the only chance of getting out alive is to cut the strings . . . and grasp the only truth that remains . . . New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell has won countless awards, including the Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. She also writes mainstream fiction as Ann Maxwell, and mysteries with her husband as A.E. Maxwell. She presently resides with her husband in Washington.

Cast adrift during the War Between the States, Shannon Conner grew to womanhood in a lonely cabin high in the Colorado Rockies. Though stubborn and courageous, Shannon is ill-prepared to deal with the predatory Culpepper brothers — and the intoxicating ardor of the man who defends her honor, Rafael «Whip» Moran. A loner and a wanderer, a man tied to no place or promise, Whip aids the wary young «widow» who has a walk like honey and a determined grip on her shotgun. But neither the Culpeppers nor grizzlies are as dangerous to Whip as the passion Shannon offers him — passion that could cost Whip the freedom that is as much a part of him as his soul.

Could she let go of the past long enough to imagine the future?     Diana Saxton is planning to spend the summer alone, uncovering the native artifacts that are her passion-the only thing that has helped her survive a past that she would rather forget. But experience has taught Diana that the security of her academic world can shatter as easily as the delicate relics she collects.     Now, her love for history has brought her to the magical Colorado landscape. As an anthropologist, Diana's thrilled by the chance to discover the secrets of September Canyon. Then the solitude of her trip is jeopardized by a stranger as tough and commanding as the land itself. Tennessee Blackthorn knows that the shy professor doesn't welcome his company, but he's promised to watch over her safety.     Diana's never trusted anyone to share her world before. Now she's alone with a stranger, in a place where nature holds the history of the land. And suddenly, Diana is discovering more than the past. She's finding her future…

Returning to her sprawling Colorado ranch with nothing but her battered car and a treasure map, Mariah MacKenzie encounters prospecting partner Cash McQueen, an argumentative, burly type who becomes all too aware of Mariah's innocence.

With a team of Arabian horses, Willow Moran leaves her Civil War-ravaged home, hoping to join her brother in the Colorado Rockies-entrusting her fate to a dangerous gunfighter who is torn by twin passions for vengeance and a woman's tender touch. As wild as the uncivilized land he loves, Caleb Black guides the gently reared Willow with revenge in his heart-challenged at every turn by the spirited southern lady who has become a fever in his blood. and who awakens within him need so fierce he must possess her at any cost.

Lady Jessica Charteris has tricked her way out of marriage and into the arms of Wolfe Lonetree, the bastard son of a viscount and a Cheyenne shamans daughter. There's just one catch: Jessica must accompany her new husband to America. Wholly unprepared for the hardships that await her in America, Jessica is more terrified still of Wolfe himself, whose raw sensuality leaves her breathless…