Review: Finding Eden by Kele Moon

Finding Eden is a prequel to Beyond Eden, a m/m/f book which I haven't read, and am still a little undecided as to whether I will read since m/m/f isn't really my thing. It tells of two best friends Danny and Paul whose best friend (and Paul's girlfriend), Eden, has gone away to College, leaving the guys feeling sad and lost without her. Both men have had pretty poor home lives. Danny's father is rich but is an verbally abusing alcoholic. Paul's family is much worse as his father and brothers despise Paul's gentle nature and often physically beat him. Paul has to be the best at everything and so he excels at sport, school, and not showing weakness during the beating. We skip forward two years to find Paul at College and Danny bumming around taking on odd jobs as a mafia 'heavy'. At first glance, it seems that Paul is more sorted of the pair, but Danny is shocked to discover that Paul has got involved with some very dark BDSM submission.

This was a book of two halves for me. The first half deals with the friendship between the guys and in particular Danny's attraction to Paul. Danny is bisexual, a fact he's hidden from Paul who thinks that Danny spends most of his time having sex with woman. It took me a long time to warm up to Danny. He has anger issues, is very self-centred, and seems to hate pretty much everybody. He a self-confessed 'asshole' who speaks to people with disdain and uses his good looks to get as many people to bed him as possible. I did wonder how he managed to keep any of his friends but he has formed a rather touching relationship with a lesbian couple as well as his friendship with Paul. I spent the first part of the book wondering why I was continuing to read about such a nasty character, but there was also something rather compelling about Danny which made me keep reading. Despite his rough nature he has pride and a conscience. He's the type of guy who once he makes a friend will do all that he can for them, will remain loyal no matter what. It takes most of the book for that to become apparent though, so I urge readers who may be put off by Danny to keep reading. He doesn't change, other than to perhaps become a little less truculent and more responsible for his actions, but we do get to see a better side of him that's hidden for most of the first half.

The second half of the book deals with Danny and Paul coming together as a couple and in particular Danny's reaction to the BDSM scene that Paul has got himself involved in. This is a time of inner reflection for Danny as his perceptions of his friend changes and, as a result, he has to deal with some things about himself that he has tried to suppress. The things that happen to Paul are rather graphic and some fainthearted readers who are not fans of very violent scenes or the aftermath of violence may not find this to their taste. Extreme masochism isn't really my cup of tea, but I thought the author had done a good job in showing Paul's mindset, his reasons behind needing that sort of submission and also how dangerous it can be. The character of Jason, another submissive and a doctor, acts as the sensible and experienced voice in the book. I liked Jason a great deal and was in sympathy at his alarm over the way the two men approached Paul's kink. Jason definitely needs his own book!

My main niggle with the story isn't to do with the writing (although some of the crude language used by Danny reminded me again why I don't like m/f erotic romance) but with my own squeamishness over what happens to Paul. I couldn't find the sex scenes sexy when I was worried about a) Paul's back bleeding everywhere; b) the foolishness of what they were doing in terms of not seeking proper medical help at a hospital (although I did understand why thy didn't go to a hospital; and c) how much of a pain it would be to wash the blood out of the sheets.

Having said that, the themes within the book were very fresh and I thought the way that both Danny and Paul were shown as developing their own strategies to deal with their past abuse and interesting and unusual idea. The story ends just as the men are starting to understand the seriousness of Paul's kink, and starting to develop strategies to be safer in their play. It takes nearly the whole book for Danny to come to terms with the BDSM scene, to stop think of it as something deviant. I presume the next book will show how the men come to a place where they can enjoy their newly defined roles within safe limits but at the end of this book they still have that road to travel.

I've had to think a little over how to grade this book. There were parts that really didn't appeal to me, but it was also a book that left me thinking over the characters and their actions. It also made me think about masochism and its effect on masochists and those around them. As such, I think this book deserves a grade of 'Very Good'. It's a book that will not appeal to everyone, but I'm glad I read it.

Buy this book HERE.