Paul, Danny and Eve have been best friends and inseparable since grade school. When high school arrived, both men had fallen in love with Eve, but Danny stepped back in order for Paul to date Eve. Paul and Eve became exclusive high school sweethearts, until Eve left for college to pursue her art career in New York City. Paul was devastated by loosing his first love, but remained in their hometown to attend college on a football scholarship.
Paul has been programmed all his life to be obedient by his physically abusive father. As a coping mechanism he turned that abuse into a game of tolerance. Considered the “golden boy,” he has never been rebellious and now as an adult, his greatest concealed desire is to be a slave/professional submissive. Further, as a result of his childhood abuse, Paul now has a disturbingly strong fetish for hard core pain. This extreme fetish, while teetering on the verge of deadly, is what pushes Paul to the highest state of sexual arousal and euphoria.
Danny has had his share of abuse as well. His escape from reality and a drunken father was reading books. A rebel against rules and school, he still had a passion for literature and a hidden desire for unconditional love. Beneath his abrasive demeanor and outward cockiness, Danny holds a secret. He has loved Paul for years. His love is why he gave up pursuing Eve and why he has never said no to Paul or to anything Paul wants – until now. Once Danny discovers Paul’s fetish, he is shocked to his core. And when he finds that Paul is attracted to him, his guard comes down and desire takes over for them both.
As this new dynamic in their relationship unfolds, we see Danny’s unwavering control and raw emotion highlight his natural Dominant side which Paul immediately recognizes and desires. He begs Danny to provide the sensory stimulation and sexual release he gets from being physically and emotionally controlled. What is gut-wrenching is when Paul admits that he gets off on the humiliation of being with Danny, due to Danny being male and the sterotype of that being wrong. And because Danny is in love with Paul, this revelation causes Danny’s greatest agony which breeds feelings of anger and resentment and ultimately results in him pushing Paul away.
“He could be the man Paul wanted, could hurt him and probably get off on it and that was what he was hiding from. He didn’t want to be this person. He certainly didn’t want to turn into one willing to damage something so ethereally gorgeous just to hold Paul close.”
Their damaged relationship leads Paul to seek solace in his fetish. The session goes terribly wrong and results in a brutal and almost fatal cane beating. Danny is called to the scene and is mortified at what has happened to Paul. His instant reaction is to try to save Paul’s life, but he is quickly confronted with feelings of guilt, pain, and remorse for pushing Paul away. Danny reluctantly faces the harsh truth that Paul’s desires are as natural to him as breathing. And unless Danny wants to continue to rescue Paul from untrustworthy Doms, he must become the Master/Dom Paul needs.
First off let me say that this series can very well test a person’s comfort zone. It’s dark, graphic and could be disturbing to readers that are not comfortable with hardcore BDSM. In Finding Eden, we begin to see how the highly dysfunctional childhood of both Paul and Danny played a part in them being darkly emotional and painfully intense men. I feel like the best way to describe the story is a beautifully tragic train wreck. I enjoy stories like Finding Eden that push the boundaries and take me out of my comfort zone to the point of wanting to understand the mindset of these characters and how they are driven to these unorthodox and extreme sexual practices. The raw desire and desperation Kele Moon pours into her characters is mind blowing and as the reader I am obsessed with discovering what makes them tick. At times you feel like they both are teetering on the edge of insanity. You witness two men, totally mindfucked by their childhood, who are obsessing over vices they feel will only quell the damage that was done to their souls. And then you start to question your own sanity because, like a voyeur, you are witnessing a raw, dark, compulsive ecstasy with your breath held, eyes bugging out, and wanting more. Finally, your heart is aching for both characters to just be able to love in a semi-normal fashion. As crazy as it seems, Ms. Moon has a gift for creating one of the darkest erotic stories with extremely flawed characters whose love and dedication for each other will resonate with you long after you have finished their story.
Favorite Quote:
“Danny pressed against him, careless of Paul’s back and injured ass, just enjoying being close to his best friend. This pushed Danny more than the high, the discovery that pain killed the demons of Paul’s past long enough for Danny to be able to really love him.”
Rating: A
Finding Eden by Kele Moon
August 19th 2011 by Ellora’s Cave
Contemporary Erotic Romance (GLBT)
Series list
GoodReads Reviews
About Amy
EEK! I’m reading this one soon so I don’t want to read the review yet. But I saw your rating *grins*
I really enjoyed Beyond Eden..can’t wait to get to this one
You will not be disappointed, Mandi. Kele brought it again with the back story!
This!! I can finally use that phrase I see popping all over twitter LOL In all their quirks and flaws these guys fit together and loved where Kele Moon has taken them
I’m so ready for Claiming Eden!!
Leontine- As twisted as their lives are, they are beautiful characters and I don’t want their story to end!
Wow. . . Amy, this is a beautiful, wonderful review and I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the book! If anything lights a fire to work harder on Claiming Eden it’s this!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the book and review it!!
Kele
It was my pleasure and I cannot wait for Claiming Eden!!!
This one sounds as intense, if not more than Beyond Eden. Wonderful review Amay!
It was Sophia! But I was totally invested in Danny & Paul after first reading Beyond Eden, so I was dying to see how their relationship began. As you know, Kele Moon’s writing voice is raw and powerful which once again made for an incredible read!
I have a love hate relationship w/ BDSM. As long as there is no humiliation factor I’m good to go. I have to say, I enjoy more BDSM books in the m/m genre.
Nice review xoxo
KC- So good to see you. Hope you and little man are well. I really think you would enjoy this one!
Great review, Amy! I’ve never read a book like this – finished my first m/m romance today – but I’m now intrigued and tempted to pick it up.
Juliana-Kele has an incredibly intense and emotional voice and her characters draw you in! If you are comfortable with BDSM, then you should definitely give it a try!
I was looking on Goodreads and saw that Beyond Eden has the same characters – Eve, Paul, and Danny. Does it have to be read first? And how do they connect? Is Eve not in this one – I had the impression that this book focuses on a romantic relationship only between Paul and Danny?
From the summaries, this book interests me, but the first one not so much – not crazy about long-term menage romantic relationships.
Juliana- Beyond Eden is the first book and it does have the same characters. Finding Eden is the prequel to Beyond Eden and does focus solely on Danny and Paul. Kele is working backwards with the stories which is a nice change of pace!
Ohhh, that’s interesting – but definitely confusing! Especially since in Goodreads they’re listed in the Eden series chronologically according to publication date then, not according to when things take place in the story timeline.
Hmmm … so after Danny and Paul go through all the ups and downs you’ve detailed above, Eve comes back, Danny says he’s always loved her, and they sleep together? And Paul is engaged to a woman, though he’s living and still sleeping with Danny? Not sure I’ll be able to enjoy this book knowing what comes next.
Thanks for the clarification!!
For me, and many others, it worked and worked well. Instant gratification, lol, with the first book. We got our HEA for the characters in the first book and now we get to see their history, how much they have matured and the struggles they faced in getting to the final HEA.
I have a feeling I’d be happier with the romance ending here at this point, but I won’t be able to read it without knowing this isn’t the end of the story and that their relationship is going to change again – and make room for one more. … Of course, it’s all a made-up story and these characters don’t really exist, but when did that ever stop us from becoming extremely invested in them and thinking about them like they’re real?! Lol.