





Genres: Paranormal Romance
Published by Kensington, Lyrical Press
Released on December 8, 2015
Pages: 286
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Healing Eden is the second story in the Eden series. I picked this one up when I was in a reading slump looking for something new to read about, only to find out it was book two. I went back and read the first one and enjoyed it. This one not so much.
Healing Eden picks up in mid-battle with the villain, Maxis, when Reese comes upon two women, Phybe and Galena. Phybe was an unwitting pawn for Maxis and he has used his link to kill her. Galena Shantos is the sister to the “king” and also the family healer. She is protecting Phybe’s body as the warriors battle around her. Reese is a character we met in the first story, but don’t know much about. He protects Galena and tries to commit suicide to protect her.
Well things get a little messy and Galena saves Reese’s life. Now the prisoner of the good side, Reese makes a deal to help bring down Maxis, share his secrets and submit to what he believes is a death sentence. He is allowed to travel to his home alone to make peace. He will meet them at a designated point and time to take on Maxis. While at home Galena visits him and things go onto a walk on the wild side.
So as the story continues, we learn Reese’s secret which you can understand why he might want to hide. Also, he once trained to be a warrior for the Shantos family, but was kicked out when he refused to give them his secret, specifically Ramsay, Eryx’s twin brother and Galena’s brother. So nobody trusts him except for Galena, who is attracted to him. Reese submits to a mind scan from Eryx who learns about a kiss Reese and Galena shared as well as how Reese views his little sister. Let’s just say this doesn’t help Reese’s cause. Lexi, Eryx’s mate, is the champion of their love.
Now I don’t want to go giving you the entire story, but everything moves extremely fast in a timeline point of reference. The story covers probably less than a week in time. Reese goes through lows of thinking he will die, to highs when he survives, to wondering what his future holds. I found him to be a weak character and while he isn’t a horrible person in the fact he does not want to harm anyone, he is weak in standing up for who he is among his people. His “secret” hampers almost everything that he does and I ended up wanting to kick his ass at times.
Galena is just way to trusting and logical at times. She knows Reese is good, but she puts a lot of trust in him without any basis to really believe him. Strong and a woman who stands up to her brothers, she is a heroine I could have grown to love, but unfortunately didn’t.
The book felt like it meandered in different directions. People continue to go to places where there might be danger like they have nothing to fear. I can’t figure out what kind of society it really is, like some women are stuck in a 1950s mentality, while others seem to be forward thinking. Then, Reese talks about money and not having a job, but we really haven’t seen what type of commerce takes place in Eden. The world building seems to be confusing and left me dragging to finish the story.
So while I had great hope for this series, I am kind of meh about it. Not bad, but not something that is grabbing me to continue.
Shari
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Sounds confusing! I am considering this series for my Romance Roundabout challenge fantasy section, but I don’t want to be confused. LOL!
You would probably like it more than I did. I just am so-so about it.