Lily Rose Larsen dreamed of traveling and working abroad for as long as she could remember. Her grandmother's steady flow of bedtime stories about her colorful years visiting exotic places and living in Hong Kong during the early 1960's had planted the flighty seed. Lily Rose's many childhood summers spent in Marina's Sag Harbor beach cottage left her filled with love and awe of her grandmother's adventurous, fearless past.
Now, as a young woman, the luxury hotel Lily Rose works for as an event planner, offers infinite foreign options, so what is holding her back from asking for a transfer to an exciting location? When she meets Mingyu Ho, a handsome young gem dealer at a New York trade show, her decision becomes decidedly easier. Wanting to experience her grandmother's glory years abroad and wishing to make memories of her own, Lily Rose decides to embark on the journey of a lifetime, but the road to Hong Kong is far from smooth. Dealing with heart breaking loss, adversity and a surprise encounter with Hong Kong's dangerous underworld at a treacherous time of political uncertainty, Lily Rose has more to navigate than she anticipated. She arrives in Hong Kong as the city grapples with "one country, two systems" in a flurry of mounting political unrest.
As Lily Rose sets out to retrace her grandmother's footsteps, she unknowingly unravels Marina's mysterious past. Will this discovery haunt or enhance her foreign sojourn? Marina's stories don't lose their luster, but there is one shocking truth her grandmother failed to disclose. Prior to leaving, Lily Rose makes her first surprising discovery in Marina's bedroom closet in Sag Harbor. She finds a stack of mysterious letters from Asia and a small trove of priceless jade jewelry, the most majestic piece, an imperial jade dragon pendant, the first clues to Marina's secret life.
Living abroad, Lily Rose's eyes are opened to the rich Chinese culture, the beauty of jade and the perils of being affiliated to the 14Ktriads. The close bond she forms with a smitten co-worker, an insanely talented gangster's daughter and a sensuous Chinese lover, transport her to a different world. Her grandmother's pendant, meant to honor and protect, uncovers an unexpected deep-rooted appreciation for gems and a scandalous story that touches Lily Rose's heart and soul. When her treasured jade dragon pendant mysteriously disappears, she fears the person who desperately desired it, is untouchable. Can she get her family's heirloom back? Can she trust her new friends to help her? Will she come out of Hong Kong alive and craft her own enchanting future in the process?
