Eva Márquez's Blog, page 3

Autumn’s Harvest Blog Hop: A Changing Season, A Changing Heart

The autumn season always reminds me of change. More so than the actual climatic/seasonal change between winter and spring, spring and summer, the summer to autumn transition seems (to me) the most pronounced. Growing up this seasonal change always represented the end of a carefree summer and the beginning of the responsibilities related to attending school, having homework, preparing and studying for exams and projects, etc. However, the actual representation of autumn in literature and the imagery around this season are the following: harvest, middle age, ripeness, and knowledge. As I reflect upon my own literary work, and disregard my historic uneasy recollections of leaving the warm and free spirited summer behind when I was a kid and having to focus on school and new responsibilities and tasks, I realize that autumn was a pivotal season. For one, I began writing my debut novel, Sweetest Taboo, in the autumn of 2006 after having second, third and fourth thoughts about writing about such a taboo and controversial topic.

In a deeper sense, though, I think the story of Isabel is best represented by the autumn season. Sure, she falls in love with Mr. Stevens, her swim coach, in the spring, a season well known to represent youth, new beginnings, blooms, and blooming feelings/love. However, Isabel’s coming of age and her transformation from a naïve and careless teen to an emotionally mature and confident young adult is represented most by the autumn season. In fact, when I think of Isabel’s character sketch, I think of the changing colors of the leaves, from bright green to a more serious orange, red and finally brown. I see and sense that transformation in Isabel, as her journey take her from being youthful, innocent, and ‘green’ in many respects to being ripe, knowledgeable, emotionally mature and intelligent. Not all individuals transform and grow in the same ways. For instance, as a young teen myself, I think I went from the serious and ripeness of autumn to icy cold winter and back to carefree summer in just a few years, and then back again to becoming knowledgeable and more emotionally mature during my college years. We all progress, develop and grow (intellectually and emotionally) in different ways, through different processes and journeys. I suppose that’s what makes us unique and interesting as individuals. Isabel’s is just but one journey. What is yours?

Giveaway!

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains 10+ paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

For the Sweetest Taboo Giveaway, sing up here!

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Official Blog Tour Schedule – November 2012

The 2nd Official Book Release Blog Tour Starts November 5!

Follow Sweetest Taboo book tour stops!

‘Sweetest Taboo’ Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

Monday, November 5

Interview at Blogcritics

Book Feature at Cindy’s Love of Books

Tuesday, November 6

Book Review at Books Books and More Books

Wednesday, November 7

Guest Blogging at The Writer’s Life

Thursday, November 8

Interview at Examiner

Friday, November 9

Book Review at Sweet Southern Home

Monday, November 12

Book Review at The Phantom Paragrapher

Tuesday, November 13

Book Review at The Book Hoard

Book Review at Kayla the Bookworm

Wednesday, November 14

Book Review & Guest Blogging at Jersey Girl Book Reviews

Thursday, November 15

Book Review & Book Giveaway at Kaisy Daisy’s Corner

Guest Blogging at Page Turners

Guest Blogging on Little Library Muse

Monday, November 19

Book Review at Radiant Light

Tuesday, November 20

Book Review & Guest Blogging at Cindy’s Love of Books

Wednesday, November 21

Character Interview at Beyond the Books

Book Review & Guest Blogging at Always a Booklover

Thursday, November 22

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Friday, November 23

Book Review at Teena in Toronto

Sunday, November 25

Interview at Between the Pages

Monday, November 26

Interview at Book Marketing Buzz

Tuesday, November 27

Book Review at Review From Here

Wednesday, November 28

Book Feature at Mary’s Cup of Tea

Thursday, November 29

Book Review & Guest Blogging at Nightly Reading

Friday, November 30

Character Letter to Santa at Literarily Speaking

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Forbidden: A Review by Eva Márquez

Title: Forbidden

Author: Tabitha Suzuma

Pub Date: May 2010

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN: 978-1862308169

Price: $9.99

Pages: 464

Synopsis

She is pretty and talented – sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But… they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

My Thoughts

Forbidden is a tragic love story, with no happy ending…but then I suppose, this is why it is tragic. If you have been reading comments left by other reviewers, you have by now determined what kind of love story, this is. Even though it was a love story based on a mutual love of a brother and sister, separated in age by not much more than a year, it never bothered me because of it. I realize some readers may find this type of relationship disgusting or at the very least, wrong…however, the way the author approached the subject and through her writing style/story line and through her development of the characters often times made me forget that this was a brother/sister relationship.

Lochan and Maya, brother and sister, aged 17 and 16 have been in essence abandoned by their alcoholic mother and have been forced through their mothers actions to be the “parents” of their younger sister and two younger brothers. They cook, clean, shop, are responsible for their siblings school, medical needs, and anything else a parent is responsible for. Even though the responsibilities are demanding, they seem to be able to handle them while relying on each other for support. It is this “working” together for a common ground that has drawn them together over the years.

The family has its share of problems, mainly caused by the abandonment of their father when they were all much younger, and their mothers alcoholism which has definitely caused and undue hardship on all family members. The two youngest children seem to be the least affected, but do feel abandonment issues. The middle brother, approaching his teens is resentful of Lochan as the surrogate father, and demonstrates his confusion by rebelling and causing trouble, acting out, and reusing to follow the rules of the older siblings, Lochan and Maya. For me as a reader, Lochan is really a basket case, and has more issues/problems with life than anyone. He can hardly cope with life, can’t speak to his peers in school, can barely speak to adults, and clearly is a very atypical teenager. I really saw him as a loser, and at times couldn’t feel much sympathy for him at all. Maya on the other hand seemed to know what she wants, is level headed, and has no interpersonal difficulties at all.

As their relationship progressed, Maya proved to be the stronger one of the two, and Lochan was clearly the weak link, finally culminating in an ending I half expected, but yet as I was reading had hoped for a positive conclusion.

This was a love story, with no winners. It was also a story that for me, tended to drag on for pages and pages…with too much emphasis placed on Lochan’s inability to be normal. With the exception of that, I felt it was well written.

My Rating
 

Managing your time as a writer

Time is money, right? No one likes to waste money; definitely not independent writers trying to make it in the literary industry. Managing your time as a writer is extremely important and paramount to your success. If you want to manage your time well or just need some helpful tips, the following guide will help you set up measures to enable you achieve good time management.

a) Establishing realistic goals

If you want to manage your time well, you should establish goals that you are relatively certain you’ll be able to achieve. This enables you to do quality work over a short period of time. There’s no sense for you to write endless low-quality prose because you are trying to beat a certain unrealistic goal that you’ve established. You know yourself well, and you know how realistic it is for you to write a certain amount per day, per week, per month. Establish some basic goals that are realistic, and stick to them.

b) Never overwork yourself

As a writer, you should not overwork yourself because your writing pays the price. Exhaustion is no friend to creativity and quality, so take breaks and take time to think while you write. The result of overworking is that you end up with poorly written and boring chunks of pages. The end result is wasted time because you know you want to produce high quality work, and to do so, you’ll probably have to start again. My advice to any writer is that if you set a goal to write for a few hours, but you’re feeling tired because your baby didn’t sleep at night or you overdid it during the morning’s workout, just write for one hour instead or don’t write at all. When you are feeling renewed, open up that laptop or power up your desktop and write. Your time will be much better spend, contributing to good time management.

c) Concentrate and avoid distractions

Concentration is a virtue. Not many people have it. However, for a writer, there is no shortcut. You either concentrate or concentrate. That’s the only way to write a meaningful and magical piece of literature. Don’t multi-task as you write. When it comes to your writing, put everything else aside and ry to get into your ‘zone’.

As we all know, distractions lead to a break in the flow of thoughts and hence in the flow of writing. Concentrate and avoid distractions as much as possible because if you get distracted, your writer’s flow will be interrupted. Finding your writing ‘zone’ and maintaining it will save you time in the long run because you won’t have to re-write poor quality prose that was written in the haste of dealing with distractions.

d) Keep track of your time

Most authors have a life (I know I do ☺). Writers have a family, maybe kids to care for, they may have demanding day jobs, schoolwork and social lives. Therefore, for an independent writer, keeping track of time will ensure a sense of balance among all the other pieces of their lives. Set aside time for all of your responsibilities, and the fun things you love to do, and keep track of that time well. Don’t overdo it, though. If you were supposed to hang out with the kids for an hour, but they’re having fun, spend 30 more minutes with them. As long as you don’t spend four hours a day watching TV or spending excessive time doing an activity that should take less time, you’ll be able to make time for everything that’s important in your life.

e) Prepare a working schedule

A writer ought to have a clear schedule of work. You need to have lists of work and the time within which you’ll attend to each of the items on your list or schedule. Writers can also make a checklist of all the steps required to complete a manuscript, from start to finish. Some steps will take longer than others, but as long as they are clearly scheduled, you can attend to them in a systematic fashion. The schedule can also include elements that are outside of you control (such as copy editing, etc.) as well as the expected time-line for this task. Keeping a schedule of the many pieces necessary to churn out a final manuscript is beneficial in the long run, and helps you not only know where you are in the process but will ensure you stay on track as well.

f) Minimize procrastination

When you procrastinate, you end up with a great deal of self-imposed pressure (maybe even pressure externally imposed!) and a bulk of work that requires your attention. The result of this is that you begin working on each piece of work aiming to finish it. What you end up with is finished pages of prose that were developed in a hurry, may not be of great quality and will likely require a rewrite. End result: wasted time.

g) Don’t waste a minute

If you’re a very busy writer surrounded by competing responsibilities, grab any free time you can and run with it! During the blocks of time you can commit to your writing, let go of all of the other stuff that may have been bogging you down (i.e. set aside thoughts about the snide comment from your spouse, or the tattoo your teenage daughter is trying to hide from you). It’s also not time to spend staring into space wondering what you’ll do tomorrow. Just focus and write, write, write!

If you’re a writer, chances are that you are, I invite you to share your time management tips or best practices. There is no right way to manage time, but the more tips we can generate and share, the better!

Jellicle Girl: A Review by Eva Márquez

Title: Jellicle Girl

Author: Stevie Mikayne

Pub Date: Aug 2012

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Evolved Publishing

ISBN: 978-1622533015

Price: $11.00 PB/$0.99 eBook

Pages: 234

 

Synopsis

When Beth met Jackie, she was fifteen and shy, living in the shadow of her mother: talented artist Heather Sarandon. Jackie—wilful, cheeky and confident, made Beth see things in herself that she’d never imagined, and do things she never thought she would. As memories of Beth’s last night with Jackie grow more like waking nightmares, Beth does everything she can to forget the girl who was so much more than a friend.

Beth has a self-destructive ritual she swears she’ll keep secret, even from the psychologist trying to help her. But Dr. Nancy Sullivan doesn’t have time for secrets. In fact, she doesn’t have much time at all. She’s been charged with helping Beth break through the barriers of her past, knowing very well that her own demons might end her career before she can get through to the stubborn young woman.

Meanwhile, a young foster child with a wicked sense of humor, and a devastating past, reminds Beth that secrets seem powerful, but can destroy the person who holds them too close.

A haunting and evocative story about redemption, identity, and learning to let go of secrets that scar.

My thoughts

Beth is a complicated teenager, but it doesn’t simply stop there. Beth’s life is complicated. Her mother, who she refers to as ‘Heather’ is dedicated to her art and is an absent mother for all intensive purposes. Beth’s father, who lives across town in an apartment, is a freelance photographer and is often overseas taking pictures of the Masai warriors in Kenya, photographing aquatic life in the Great Barrier Reef and therefore rarely occupies his apartment. A traumatic event (not to be revealed in this review!) incites emotional conflict between Beth and her mother and the book starts with Beth describing leaving her mother’s house and deciding to move into her father’s apartment at the ripe age of 17. Beth practically lives completely alone in her father’s apartment, with no supervision, no human interaction, and no one to observe and intervene when she begins to spin out of control.

Beth has a secret. It’s not an outright obvious secret at first, but the author lets the reader in on that secret in a very gentle and unobtrusive way. Rather than revealing the secret in a climatic event in the book, we learn about Beth’s secret, the secret about herself that makes her feel wrong and abnormal, in a measured way. For open-minded readers, the secret will not come as a shock, nor will it seem like such a life-defining secret, but to the socially conservative reader, the secret will seem quite defining. Beth’s journey is an emotional one. The Jellicle Transformation is a deep and complex psychological coming of age story. The story is marvelously written, presenting great insight on the conflicted teenage psyche. For readers who enjoy reading about complex characters and experiencing their tumultuous and – at times – catalytic life events then I highly recommend reading this book!

My favorite passage

“Love makes you stronger because the two of you can face the world together; but relying on somebody so much that you can’t feel like a whole person without them makes you weak.” – Kindle location 1928-1929

My rating

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A letter to readers from Tom Stevens

Dear Readers,

I suppose many of you might have comments or even unanswered questions that you would like to ask me, given the opportunity to do so. With that said, I would like to take this brief moment in time to at least try to partly explain “my side of the story”, and what my thoughts were as to the decisions I made so many years ago.

I would like to start by saying, you don’t always have a choice with whom you truly fall in love with. For those of you who would like to argue the point, well, all I can say is…have you really ever been in LOVE? I am not talking infatuation, dependency, or that you have been with someone for such a long time you are “used” to them and you wouldn’t know how to live without them in your life. I am talking about the type of love that you KNOW, that you FEEL in every fiber of your soul, a feeling of comfort, of being “at home” in the arms of that person, knowing if you never saw them again, you would continue to love them unconditionally with all of your heart for the rest of your life? This is how I felt about Isabel, don’t ask me why…because I can not explain, it is just how it was, how it is, and how I feel.

The first time I saw Isabel from afar, I felt a connection. I don’t know why I should have felt anything at all, as she was just one of thousands of students I have seen on campus over the years. But there was something there, I know, you may be saying “but she was only 15”. I didn’t look at Isabel as an “age” or anything else, I just felt a connection of some sort…it was that simple. I didn’t see her until the following year on the swim team, where as you have read, I got to know her quite well. I NEVER set out to seduce her; it was quite the opposite as she flirted and made relentless advances by being near me every chance she could. Eventually things happened (against my better judgment I might add) as we got to know each other, as we fell in love with each other, and as we dreamed of a life together.

I will always say that Isabel was never a “school girl”, she was never an “age”, and she was never anyone I pursued. She just appeared in my life at that particular moment in time, and while the relationship that developed between us was strong, it only became stronger as time went on. To you, the reader, know that I love Isabel with all of my heart, with all of my soul, and with every fiber of my being. It can and will never be any other way for me. This I know.

~ Tom Stevens

The Chosen One: A Review by Eva Márquez

Title: The Chosen One

Author: Carol Lynch Williams

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Pub date: May 12, 2009

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

ISBN: 0312555113

Pages: 224

Price: $9.99 (paperback)

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Synopsis

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters. That is, without questioning them much – if you don’t count her secret visits to the Ironton County Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle – who already has six wives – Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

My Thoughts

I need to preface this review by saying that I absolutely LOVE fundamental/compound-related fiction. I hand it to Carol, an author that never once used the word ‘Mormon’ in the entire book, but yet painted such a detailed picture of a fictional fundamentalist Mormon sect and its hierarchical structure and arcane (and unhealthy?) practices. I truly enjoyed reading the story of Kyra and her trials and tribulations of growing up on a fundamentalist compound. As California girl, I can’t imagine a place where young teenage girls are given to older men to marry, generally without consent, and often times forced through emotional and (at times) physical abuse. Where special-needs infants are killed and where children who strike out on their own disappear.

14-year old Kyra was ‘chosen’ to wed her own father’s eldest brother (a 65 year old with six wives) by the ruthless Prophet Childs. One can’t help but feel for Kyra and the other teens and women living on the compound. Ms. Williams guides the reader through Kyra’s discovery of and burgeoning desire to have a normal life with the boy she loves.

The story does have its fair share of violence as verbal abuse, either implied or described. Kyra and her boyfriend were the victims of physical beatings and latent and passive violence is weaved throughout the entire story.

Although I really enjoyed The Chosen One, and had a hard time putting it down, this book did leave me with several unanswered questions. For instance, what happened to Josh, the Mobile Library driver? How about the compound? Was Prophet Childs captured/arrested? What about the goon squad? I’m not sure Ms. Williams has plans to tie up these loose ends with a sequel, as it has been three years since the release of this book.

My Rating

Week 16: The Next Big Thing

Maybe, just maybe, one of our independent books will be the next big thing. It’s always possible, of course. The secret to ‘best seller’ success is to ensure that a book has a good combination of the following: 1) a GREAT story, 2) is well written, 3) is put in the hands of the right readers, and 4) is promoted/marketed to the right target audience and in a consistent manner. Blog hops offer an opportunity for authors to focus on the latter two.

This blog hop consists of stopping off at a myriad of different blogs to discover new works of literature, as well as works in progress. As a blog hop participant and/or visitor, rest assured that you will find some fantastic works of fiction to enjoy.  Some are still being written, some are just being released. I would like to thank Bella Harte @ www.bellaharte.blogspot.co.uk for inviting me to participate.

In this blog hop authors answer 10 pre-determined questions, which reveal a little about my second novel, Tainted Love, which is the much-anticipated sequel to Sweetest Taboo. As always, I welcome your comments, feedback, and/or any questions you may have!

Q & A
What is the working title of your book?

Tainted Love

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Tainted Love is book two of the Sweetest Taboo Saga, so the idea came naturally. Tainted Love is the sequel to Sweetest Taboo and takes off where Tom and Isabel’s story left off.

What genre does your book fall under?

*Mature* Young Adult – contemporary romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I can definitely envision Isabel being played by an attractive young Latina, someone like Justin Bieber’s GF, Selena Gomez. Isabel’s journey with Tom starts at 15 and spans several years (in Sweetest Taboo) so Selena would be perfect. She would clearly be more appropriate for Tainted Love because Isabel is in her late teens/early twenties in the sequel to Sweetest Taboo.

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As for Tom Stevens, that’s difficult since the ideal actors I envision are not the right age (i.e. Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas, etc.). If Matthew McConaughey lost his Texan accent and had slightly darker hair, he might just do the trick!

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What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Isabel thought her life was on track – she was doing well in school, moving quickly toward her future, and deciding who she wanted to be. Best of all, she’d reunited with Tom, the love of her life. But it doesn’t take long for her history – and his – to start catching up with them, presenting a range of uncomfortable questions. Does he really love her? Are they meant to be together? And what exactly has he been doing in their time apart?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Tainted Love will be published by Terra-Mía Press, a small and independent publishing house, but is not represented by an agency.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Since this is the second book of the series, the first draft of Tainted Love took me a bit less time to write…roughly 4 months (Sweetest Taboo took me nearly double, 8 months to compete the first draft).

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 


Tainted Love is probably closest to Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster, but without the violence, explicit sex and severe language. Tainted Love is definitely for mature YA audiences since the story unfolds in a university setting.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

The readers/reviewers of Sweetest Taboo inspired me to write a sequel because they were keen and interested in learning about Tom and Isabel’s future. If it weren’t for my readers, Tom and Isabel’s story would have ended with Sweetest Taboo.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? 


If readers have read about Tom and Isabel, then the ending of Sweetest Taboo was enough to pique their interests and these readers are already anticipating what awaits Tom and Isabel in Tainted Love.

Below please find a list of the authors/bloggers I have tagged for next week. Stop by their blogs next Wednesday, October 10 to read about their works in progress and/or new releases:

Airicka Phoenix

Catherine Wolffe

Melissa Andrea

Tony Franks-Buckly

Blog Tour, Day 1: Live to Read

The Sweetest Taboo official book launch tour has begun! Click on the image below to go to read my guest post and enter the book launch giveaway on the Live to Read blog!

Thanks for supporting my work

A Season of Eden: A Review by Eva Márquez

Title: A Season of Eden

Author: Jennifer Laurens

Pub date: 2008

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Grove Creek Pub

ISBN: 978-1-933963-01-3

Pages: 244

Price: $4.99 (eBook)

 

Synopsis

He’s my teacher. I shouldn’t be alone with him. But I can’t help that he’s irresistible. I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us. “I like hearing you play,” I said, moving toward him. He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn’t say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. “May I?” The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. “Eden.” My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. “Is it okay?” I asked. His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking. “Let me stay,” I said. “Please.” “You’re going to get me in trouble,” he said.

My Thoughts

Eden is a beautiful and sought after 18-year old senior at a prestigious Southern California High School. Her life seems perfect, if outsiders don’t look beneath the surface. Although Eden seems to have it all – good friends, a popular and good looking boyfriend, a ‘mansion’ for a house, and a luxury car she can call her own – she is a lonely girl who misses her deceased mother and can’t get her father to notice her since he’s married a superficial blonde who is only interested in his wealth. As an only child, she has no one to share her frustrations, concerns and sorrows…just a pet dog that joins her at home when she returns from school every day.

* Plot Spoilers*

It’s the first day of the last semester of senior year and Eden enrolls in an ‘easy A’ – Chorus Choir – where she sets her eyes on the most gorgeous guy she’s ever seen. Unfortunately, that gorgeous and charismatic guy is her new Choir teacher, Mr. Christian. He’s so young, so talented, so gifted with the piano, so passionate about music and engendering interest in his students. Engender interest he does! It’s clear from the outset that the females in the choir room are smitten by this new, young good looking and enthusiastic choir teacher. Eden wastes no time and begins to implement the all too familiar subtle flirtation strategies that many female students employ when they develop crushes on their hot young teachers. Except, most of these crushes go unnoticed and much of the strategizing is rarely successful…but…

Mr. Christian does not, in any direct way, enable Eden’s flirtatiousness. In fact, he does quite the opposite, warning Eden that her behavior is inappropriate and constantly reminding her that she’s a student and he’s a teacher. Eventually, Mr. Christian’s desire for and interest in Eden is too much to handle and he makes a move and kisses Eden passionately as she excitedly reciprocates. She’s 18, he’s 22 and she’s two months shy from graduating. What’s the big deal, right? Wrong! The pureness of Mr. Christian’s kiss confuses Eden and she feels as though she is corrupting his innocence. Eventually Eden overcomes her own lack of innocence and learns to deal with being in love with a man as pure and honorable as Mr. Christian.

The relationship between Mr. Christian (or James) and Eden, if it can be called that, is for the most part and emotional one and very little physical interactions take place between the two due to Mr. Christian’s firm belief that a romantic relationship between student and teacher is absolutely inappropriate. Eden grudgingly agrees to give Mr. Christian the time he needs (i.e. until she graduates) and lays off on her persistent pursuit.

Laurens writes an impeccable story with real characters who are tormented, confused, lonely and falling in love with each other. The story had a perfect harmony of ‘flow’ and it was wholeheartedly believable. Eden and Mr. Christian represent real individuals at any high school, and they were portrayed as absolutely normal people dealing with difficult situations as best as they saw fit. The one aspect of this book that puzzled me was the ending. Although I am a firm believer that not all good books require a neat and tidy ending that wraps up the entire story, I do think it’s important where warranted (i.e. where there is no sequel to close the loop on the story). As far as I know, Laurens never wrote a sequel to A Season of Eden ☹. If Jennifer Laurens reads my review…please, write the sequel…there is so much I want to know!

My Favorite Passage

“I want to play you…” He pressed his forehead to mine, closing his eyes. “I want to play your body like an instrument.” – Page 196

My Rating:
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