Landry Series by V.C. Andrews

In the heart of the bayou, Ruby Landry lives a simple, happy life. But innocence can't last forever... The only family Ruby Landry has ever known are her loving guardian, Grandmère Catherine, a Cajun spiritual healer, and her drunken, outcast Grandpèrb Jack. Although thinking about her dead mother and mysterious father sometimes makes her feel as mournful as the wind sighing through the Spanish moss, Ruby is grateful for all she has. Her life is filled with hope and promise.. moreIn the heart of the bayou, Ruby Landry lives a simple, happy life. But innocence can't last forever... The only family Ruby Landry has ever known are her loving guardian, Grandmère Catherine, a Cajun spiritual healer, and her drunken, outcast Grandpèrb Jack. Although thinking about her dead mother and mysterious father sometimes makes her feel as mournful as the wind sighing through the Spanish moss, Ruby is grateful for all she has. Her life is filled with hope and promise...especially when her attraction for handsome Paul Tate blossoms into a mysterious, wonderful love. But Paul's wealthy parents forbid him to associate with a poor Landry, and Grandmère urges her to follow her dream of becoming a great painter, foreseeing a time when Ruby will be surrounded with riches in the dazzling city of New Orleans! Yet she cannot know how close that uncertain future looms.... In a faded photograph, Ruby glimpses for the first time the image of her father -- and learns of a shameful deception and a shocking scheme of blackmail that now must come to light. Stunned by these revelations, she is devastated when Grandmère dies, leaving her to seek out her father in his vast New Orleans mansion. There, in a house of lies, madness, and cruel torment, Ruby clings to her memories of Paul to keep her heart alive. For only their love can save her now.... less

Fate whisked Ruby from a simple life in the Louisiana Bayou. But her new riches bring more treachery than happiness... Even after a year as a Dumas, Ruby still wonders at the splendor of the family's New Orleans mansion, and rejoices in the love of the father she had never known. But true happiness in her new home is as elusive as d swamp mist. Ruby must carefully avoid a venomous enemy: her stepmother, Daphne, who cringes and sneers at her backwater upbringing... moreFate whisked Ruby from a simple life in the Louisiana Bayou. But her new riches bring more treachery than happiness... Even after a year as a Dumas, Ruby still wonders at the splendor of the family's New Orleans mansion, and rejoices in the love of the father she had never known. But true happiness in her new home is as elusive as d swamp mist. Ruby must carefully avoid a venomous enemy: her stepmother, Daphne, who cringes and sneers at her backwater upbringing. And Ruby's every effort to befriend her twin sister, Gisselle -- especially since Gisselle's crippling accident -- is answered with bitterness and vicious backstabbing. So idyllic Greenwood -- the exclusive girls' boarding school that her father has chosen for his daughters' senior year -- seems to promise some peace from the conniving Daphne, and maybe even a fresh start with Gisselle. But Ruby's kind isn't welcome at Greenwood, and the legendarily strict headmistress, Mrs. Ironwood, plots with her stepmother to make her life miserable. Meanwhile, Gisselle is on a mission to break every school rule, leaving Ruby to suffer the humiliating punishments. But Ruby doesn't lose hope -- until a terrible tragedy leaves her alone in a world that never really wanted her. Ruby will have to summon every last ounce of her Cajun strength to reclaim her home, her future, and the happiness she once knew.... less

Driven from the Dumas Mansion back to her beloved bayou, Ruby's only hope is that fate will let her begin anew... Living again in a humble shack, Ruby is determined to make a secure and happy home for her precious infant daughter, Pearl. Paul Tate-- her first love, whom she was forced to abandon-- is at her side once more, now a man of dazzling wealth. When he whisks her into his grand house, it seems their future is assured... moreDriven from the Dumas Mansion back to her beloved bayou, Ruby's only hope is that fate will let her begin anew... Living again in a humble shack, Ruby is determined to make a secure and happy home for her precious infant daughter, Pearl. Paul Tate-- her first love, whom she was forced to abandon-- is at her side once more, now a man of dazzling wealth. When he whisks her into his grand house, it seems their future is assured. As mistress of Cypress Woods, Ruby can forget even the shocking reason she and Paul must wed in a secret ceremony and remain husband and wife in name alone. But the thick, expensive walls of Cypress Woods cannot shut out the terrible memories that have woven their fabric over her destiny, or the cold eyes of Paul's mother, Gladys, reminding Ruby of the secret she must keep to give Pearl a loving father. Then her venomous twin sister, Gisselle, arrives to taunt her with news of Beau Andreas, the true father Pearl has never met, and the only man Ruby will ever long for with all her body and soul, Desperate to find the complete, fulfilling life she craves, Ruby builds a precarious new existence, a flimsy shanty of hope that the first flood washes away. Only when the storm exposes the very blackest evils of the past will she glimpse the rainbow's fragile promise, a morning of sunshine and laughter with a family of her own... less

Hidden Jewel is the fourth thrilling novel in the V.C. Andrews Landry series. Following All That Glitters, the spellbinding story of Ruby Landry's daring struggle to find a happy life with Beau Andreas and to protect their precious daughter. Sheltered from sorrow, innocent young Pearl thrives in the sunshine of a loving home...except for the haunting nightmares of her earliest years, and the dark family secrets she worries will one day shadow her destiny... moreHidden Jewel is the fourth thrilling novel in the V.C. Andrews Landry series. Following All That Glitters, the spellbinding story of Ruby Landry's daring struggle to find a happy life with Beau Andreas and to protect their precious daughter. Sheltered from sorrow, innocent young Pearl thrives in the sunshine of a loving home...except for the haunting nightmares of her earliest years, and the dark family secrets she worries will one day shadow her destiny.... Raised in a New Orleans mansion filled with kindness and laughter, Pearl dreams of becoming a doctor. With all the finest families wishing her well, her high school graduation party is almost as festive as Mardi Gras itself. But still, she fears that she will never know the essence of romantic passion, or her family's buried secrets. Yet her summer job in an elegant old hospital is fascinating...and an experienced intern is eager to share his friendship with her. But the sultry Louisiana heat cannot dispel her family's sinful legacy, the snakelike treachery of a man who threatens Pearl's innocence, or an awful portent of disaster. After a cruel accident befalls one of Pearl's twin brothers, the bayou that seized him beckons to Ruby who flees, tormented, back to her Cajun roots. Pearl's faith in her mother abides, but she cannot hold back her tears when her other brother falls deathly ill, and her father retreats into his own bourbon-soaked world. Pearl's dreams of success swirl away with the hurricane winds, and she journeys to the swamps in search of her mother and the shocking truths of her heritage. In the warm embrace of a gentle Cajun man, she discovers a blessed refuge. But, until the storm clouds clear, Pearl cannot savor the springtime sweetness that always, always seems beyond tomorrow.... less

Growing up in her beloved swamp, Gabriel is supremely happy, despite the ever-widening rift between her Mama and her conniving, whiskey-drinking Daddy. Her classmates tease her, calling her "La Femme Au Naturel," the Nature Girl, because she seems more interested in poling her pirogue through the canals than she is in romance. But Gabriel nurtures her own secret dreams... moreGrowing up in her beloved swamp, Gabriel is supremely happy, despite the ever-widening rift between her Mama and her conniving, whiskey-drinking Daddy. Her classmates tease her, calling her "La Femme Au Naturel," the Nature Girl, because she seems more interested in poling her pirogue through the canals than she is in romance. But Gabriel nurtures her own secret dreams. Then, days before her high school graduation, rich cannery owner Octavious Tate surprises her in a secluded pond and shatters her innocence. Pregnant and desolate, wishing to spare her dear Mama the scandal, Gabriel agrees to a shocking plan that will allow Octavious's frigid wife Gladys to claim the baby as her own and will net Gabriel's furious Daddy a huge payoff. Hiding in a tiny abandoned playroom in the Tate mansion, Gabriel is miserable. Her only visitor is Mama, whose mission as a Traiteur, a Cajun healer, gives her an excuse to treat Gladys Tate's "pregnancy." But nothing is more wrenching than the moment Gladys takes baby Paul away forever. Returning home to the swamp, Gabriel drifts in a world of twilight gloom, brightened only by chance glimpses of her son. But as Jack Landry's reputation as a swamp guide grows, a hunting party brings handsome, gentle Creole millionaire Pierre Dumas to the bayou. Falling desperately in love, Gabriel will not heed the voice warning that their joy may bring her more grief than she can bear.... less