Meh. Glad I waited for someone to lend this to me. It was waaay too long, for starters. Even considering that it's BDSM, the sex scenes were a bit over the top. I found the characterization to be flat and very, very tell-y. Also,I found Paul's hope for a political career to be a tad naive. Yes, plenty of people have skeletons in their closets and I'm sure that there are folks in the BDSM scene that are fairly well known, but I would think that Paul would be more discreet (the uber-fame of his pain tolerance and Danny being a well-know Dom who also lives with Paul makes for a highly visible secret).

Won't be bothering with the follow-ups/prequels. ( )

Steamy

Definitely a steamy mmf read. The love the 3 have is amazing and might even be hotter than the srx scenes. ( )

4.5 stars. Dizzy ride! New territory for me but I'm glad I read it. ( )

Why, oh why, did I wait so long?!?!?!

My NetGalley digital copy expires in three days and I don't want to have to give this one up!

The front cover looks so nearly vanilla; what is between the covers is of much more hunger and desire than is shown in such a pretty front photo! That's why I find the story so unexpected! The cover photo doesn't do any of the three character justice!

I haven't read many BDSMs and no M/M/F, but Beyond Eden turned out to be one of the better BDSMs I've read. I am not too sure how well I can do justice to the characters, story (yes, Virginia, there is a story in this erotic romance), the loving of one another and the emotions given to the reader of the menage. There were many things I liked about this story, which, took me out of my comfort zone more than once.

In the words of another review: "This whole book is one long drawn out, extended and delicious sex scene... page after page after page of it, but it works because it’s not the same. It’s always different, always changing, revealing itself as layers are peeled away. With each action in the bedroom some kind of emotion or revelation is exposed, nothing is wasted here."

Since many reviewers before me have laid out great summaries, I won't rewrite a synopsis here, but will try to share ideas more helpful than "I liked this book".

Beyond Eden is a love story times 2.5 (You find out in the prologue that one He has loved Her since childhood. Likewise, she's loved him back, but tamped the feelings down for ten years... the other He loved the first He for nearly just as long. It's the second He and the She that develop a love that was waiting patiently to reveal itself (that's the 1/2)), although in a more complicated manner since there are three that have been friends in the typical sense since early childhood, and have developed their love for each other in a "beyond friends" way, and then, of course there’s the whole BDSM scene, with one character having an extreme pain fetish. The story has moments of getting very dark. Uncomfortably dark. (My naive mind keeps telling myself this is only a story. The love/romance feeds me. So did the passion each feels for another of the other friends. Add to that the opening of hearts to one another that pulls at your emotions. There's more than sex in these pages.

Some reviewers had problems with Danny Boy's ability, as Master, to inflicted pain on Paul Guy (the He with the extreme pain fetish). Instead, I had challenges reading of Paul Guy's desire for and tolerance of inflicted pain.

I completely did not expect the Eve to be Domme and sub simultaneously, especially having been "plain vanilla" her entire sexual life. I also expected her to freak out about the relationship between the two he's when she first found out -- I didn't expect her fetish.

In the end, I'm going to have to acquire my "for keeps" copy of this book for a reread... the story is surprising, loving, obsessive, and behind closed doors addictive.

**Thanks to , Kele Moon, NetGalley and Ellora's Cave for accepting my request in in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Frankly, my initial crafted review was to be, coupled with some “knee-jerk” opinions bringing conscious giggles along the way. What could a plot assembled on the sinister demeanors of the sanctified ‘Garden of Eden’ bring to the table? All I looked forward to when I picked it for my read were maybe a couple of “fig leaves” dreams, the eternal devilish serpent traits (which by the way I thought were pretty sexy during my ‘religion’ credits at school) and then some inferential romantic endeavors. O Boy! How ignorant was I?

This book was astonishingly a pleasant package. Like a gift you never expected yet always craved for. Eve returns home after an exploratory decade in New York only to find that her two high school friends, one of whom she was in love with were now roommates and had just invited her for a modest friendly dinner. Apprehensive about her dormant feelings for Paul might gush out Eve chooses to focus on Danny who she now finds irresistible. How naïve was Eve for thinking that Paul and Danny were just two old friends sharing a house and oblivious of the fact that in due course she would be a part of a stimulating ménage a trois.

Kele Moon does a fabulous job elucidating the intricacies of a BDSM trio enhancing on the m/m/f erotica with raw sexuality and arousing vulnerabilities. One can observe the poise and merit in Moon’s writings when Eve gets clarifications on distinguishing terminologies like “vanilla” and “strawberry” in a BDSM repertoire or the part where Danny is the Achilles' heel as far as Paul’s personal gratifications are concerned and many more such instances. The relation between Paul-Danny and Danny-Eve is justified through each of their Master/Slave bond strongly, even after they meet Circe, another Domme. At first, Danny comes across as an aggressive, flamboyant Domme who not only has a knack for identifying a “top” /”bottom” qualities but also despises the idea of Paul getting married to Trisha fearing the prospect of Paul moving out and losing on a faithful submissive. However, after his numerous resourceful sexual trysts with Eve and the revealing of Paul to be more than just a platonic roommate or an austere submissive, delineates the humane side of Danny. I suppose Danny with his charismatic sensuality is the only character I immensely liked throughout the relating. Eve, on the other hand seems to be puzzled with her hidden vulnerabilities and her foul-mouthed audacious exterior persona. As for Paul, he seems like a man sandwiched between the obligatory mask of a “boy scout” and the fervor of freeing his sexual claustrophobia. The sexual role-plays are eloquently written encompassing all elements of sinister voyeurism, sizzling orgies and exposed covetousness without making you squirm in anyway. That said, the book is more than just kinky sex and bondage acts with sentiments running wild and lingering feelings hoping there would be a happy ending after all. It is a clear-cut romance in the midst of a pleasurably wicked twist.
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