Review: Beyond Eden

Reviewed by Shelly
 

I’ve had this story in by TBR for a long while now and have been hesitant to read it because, to me, the premise is sensitive and I wasn’t sure how this would work out. I’ve read other BDSM stories and for the ones I enjoyed, the overarching theme has been ‘sane, safe, and consensual’; one or two out of three doesn’t work – it has to be three out of three for me. The premise and promise of this story was good and I still think that the story itself was good; it was the telling that I had trouble with.

I didn't and still don't understand some of the details in this story. I mean I get that it’s fiction but it has to pass my single rule for all stories --- it has to make sense. Thank goodness there’s a category warning so I pretty much expected something that I might or might not be comfortable with to happen. Eve, Paul and Danny were all unlikable and let me not even get started on them as cheaters -- one of my big nos. Each of them thought that Paul cheating on his fiancé was justified because in the words of Paul, she's the c-word. I’m calling bullcrap on that because the woman was the nicest person and did absolute nothing to warrant the treatment that she got from Paul or any of the other two.

Who did I dislike the most of the three? It's a tossup, but Paul was my biggest problem. You can't treat people like you treated Trisha and it be okay. Yes, you have a pain fetish that you can’t tell anyone outside of the BDSM world about, but you didn't even give your fiancé a choice and, by the way, use a condom if you're going to lie.

As Danny is introducing Eve to the lifestyle and she’s going along just fine, everything is hunky-dory but she pauses to ask Danny if she needs a safe word because, hey she’s not stupid, just a novice. That jerk of the century has the nerve to say to her ‘Nope’…’if you trusted me, you wouldn’t have asked for it. I’m disappointed’ --- seriously, asshat, where’s the safety and trust in that? So other than getting up and leaving, which she clearly doesn’t want to do, because she’s asking you for guidance Mr. Professional Dom, how is she supposed to communicate to you that she wants to stop or take a break? When Eve continues to talk, Danny tells her she doesn’t have permission and BAM! he moves her right into puppy play immediately followed by being tied up and gagged. There’s some verbiage that Danny uses for his explanation for tying up Eve, and I just couldn’t believe he was saying that to someone’s first day on the job, per se. Talk about no learning curve.

Keeping with the idea of Eden, these are three of the most beautiful you’ve ever seen. But the only person who knows he’s beautiful is Danny, so apropos for Satan. So beautiful in fact, Danny can get any man or woman he wants as easily as a wink or a smile. Paul’s pain fetish and feeling of low self-worth is so deep he can't separate his work life from his home life. I didn't see evidence of that but I was told that, so I guess I should just go with it. He chose his profession as a lawyer because his self-worth is so low that he knows that’s all he deserves (sorry if you're a lawyer.) He constantly punishes himself but I don’t see him doing that, I’m only told. There's a scene of Danny whipping Paul to a bloody mess which was the only pain scene in the story and it was very rough to read, even Eve in her own sweet (insert sarcasm) way contributed on that one.

One of my biggest problems with this story was that for the majority I was told after about the things that each person would do, making everything seemed detached for me. I would have liked a lot more seeing of the actual actions that happened either between the threesome/twosome or individually. By the time things started getting a little interesting and feelings started coming to the surface, it was more than three fourths of the way through and too late for me to care.

Happy Reading Folks!

Rating: D

*ARC provided by Loose-ID via NetGalley 

Click to purchase: Amazon

Beyond Eden

by Kele Moon

Release Date: September 8, 2010

Publisher: Loose ID