Customer Reviews

Eden Burning

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

That's where this book belongs. As a long-time fan of Elizabeth Lowell, I eagerly await her new releases. I wish I had skipped this one; "Eden Burning" was a big disappointment. Chase Wilcox, professional vulcanologist, and Nicole Ballard, artist and dancer, meet on the island of Hawaii. Each has a tragic "secret" from the past that must be overcome before they can acknowledge their love. There is a great deal of drumming (Chase) and dancing to Tahitian music (Nicole aka Pele, goddess of fire) that is just too silly for words. The best parts are the descriptions of the island, the little bit that you get about its native population, and the fascinating material included on volcanoes. Ms. Lowell does her research. Save your money for the next book about the Donovan clan, or go back and buy one of Ms. Lowell's older works written as Ann Maxwell, such as "Tell Me No Lies."

Be warned, this is a reprint of Lowell's Fires of Eden novel. The story is a good one, but don't buy it thinking it's a new one. I only gave 3 stars because it is a reprint, not as a reflection of the story quality.

Fool me once, shame on you..fool me twice, shame on me. This is the second EL book in a row that has been a huge disappointment. I know that it is a reprint of an earlier work, but I had not previously read it. After her last book, Moving Target, which was awful, I was cautious to pay the hardcover price. I decided that since EL has always been my favorite author I would try again. BIG MISTAKE. While this effort is better than Moving Target, it doesn't come anywhere close to the past writings of EL. I'm beginning to wonder if EL, or her publishers, ever bother to read the reviews written by the people who spend their money to buy her books. There was a wonderful cadence and rhythm
that was always present in her writing. EL created characters that we could care about, wove a wonderful story and let us escape for a while into a romance that was powerful. That, apparently, is her past style of writing. If you read the back inside cover she indicates that she no longer writes the kind of novels that we have come to love, which is terribly disappointing. It's time to start searching for a new author...one who writes like Elizabeth Lowell used to.

This book, I understand, is a reprinted-reworked version of an older book. I never saw the original, but enjoyed this one very much. The ingredients are classic Lowell: the wounded hero and heroine, each thinking they have nothing to offer anyone after having been wounded earlier in life, she by an insensitive former husband and he by that stock romance figure, the bitchy, predatory, non-maternal ex-wife. The hero, Chase, makes a monumental error in judgment about Nicole and hurts her terribly, then has to figure out how to repair the damage, hoping against hope that he hasn't lost what he didn't realize he had until it was gone.

This is not a novel of great sweep; it is just a simple story of misunderstanding, conflict and ultimate redemption and reconciliation, but it is a delightful read. Lowell uses her metaphors well; the volcano, the dance, the drums, the delicate wildlife all add to the atmosphere of the place and flesh out the characters. No surprises, but well worth an afternoon or evening with a cup of tea (especially when you'd rather be where it's always 80 degrees and teeming with life).

I expected a love story, a romance. If there was any doubt in my mind it was confirmed by the ending which was all about sex. I have only read one other book by Lowell so I am not a particular fan of hers or the genre. This book was not that bad. I was particulary moved by the misunderstanding in the middle of the book. But from that point on the book lost all credibility. Nicole never held Chase accountable for his rudeness. And later she did not challenge him on his assumptions about her motives. No way would I forgive someone without having that conversation!
The only other gap I will point to in the story is the absense of the other characters toward the end of the book. I think Lowell could have done a better job of developing some of the other adult characters and making them a part of the story. What about Jan? She is such a great person but she does not have a line past the first chapter. And Dane. Give us some of the conversation between he and his brother at the end. Okay, one more gap... how does Chase know how to drum for Tahitian dance? I thought he was from Hawaii but later it seems he is not. Oh well. It is not a mystery novel, it is a romance. Boy gets girl - boy loses girl - boy gets girl back. I just wish Lowell had ended the book with Nicole's clothes on. Nicole said she did not want to be a man's "thing" yet in the last scene she is naked in the lap of a fully clothed man. Duh?

You can tell this is a book written a number of years ago. Ms. Lowell may have "updated" some parts, but it is definitely a book from it's time. The dialog was so over the top that I skipped whole sections. Ms. Lowell has the unpleasant habit of having the so-called hero have a pet name for the heroine. This could be cute if handled well, but it gets to be so annoying. I wanted to tell him - she has a name and it's not Butterfly. Stick to Ms. Lowell's more recent attempts. They are quite good.

Not one of Ms. Lowell's better efforts. I generously gave it 2 stars because it was slightly better than DESERT RAIN, which I generously gave 1 star). If you're like me, you'll find yourself scanning through the pages just to get to the end. Neither of the main characters are memorable or even believable. Some readers may like the descriptions of Hawaii's flora and volcanic history--but not me. It could not make up for the poor story line and weak characters. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER is a much, much better book. Try that one and give this one a bye.

I wish I had waited for the paperback. Really a poor example of Mrs. Maxwell's work. She is one of my favorite authors but this book is obviously one of her first efforts and not worth "reworking". Not much plot and a lot of sex.

The opening chapter describes an exotic dance and the accompanying music in a way that brings the true artistry to life! Nicole was such a fine person - I especially loved the way she interacted with the children. Chase had been burned by a woman before, so it's understandable that he'd be wary and distrustful of any new woman, especially one who had created such a strong bond with his family, however his attitude toward her was unnecessarily hostile and judgmental. I found this a bit hard to bear. Still, the details of the various art forms in this book and the vividly described luscious setting made for very enjoyable and sensual reading!

I normally don't comment/review books I've read, but for this book I'll make an exception because the setting of the book took place in Hawaii. I completely agree with several your reviewers that this book lacked a truly well-rounded, sensible characters, and storyline. The novel did start off all right in the first several chapters. But once we've got the main male character, Chase Wilcox, onto Hawaiian soil...the story goes awry and isn't necessarily fleshed out completely.

The reason I picked up this book to read while browsing through the shelves at the public library was because its so rare a romance fiction takes place in Hawaii (I'm born & raised from Honolulu, HI), and I thought I'd give Elizabeth Lowell another chance from the last & only book I've read from her. Plus, to see how she would use the Hawaii setting to backdrop her romance with the two leads--Chase Wilcox and Nicole Ballard. Boy was I wrong to spend my time reading "Eden Burning" along with other reviewers of this book.

I was disturbed by the way Elizabeth Lowell used famous Hawaiian names for her characters and the "dumbed down" and erroneous interpretation of the Hawaiian culture & language. The Hawaiian Pidgin English used in this book was completely horrendous and not done well (nor correct)--even the spelling was completely wrong. If Elizabeth Lowell had done her research, she would've found several books that are available in learning Hawaiian Pidgin English and she would have gotten the spelling correct (I shudder every time I recall seeing "bruddah" spelled "brudder" in her book). For those who don't understand what Hawaiian Pidgin English is...it's a mix of English with Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and several other languages. Elizabeth Lowell executed it poorly--simply turning it into sounding like broken English. I mean seriously, what was up with the character Benny Kamehameha simply communicating with only one word or repeating words twice? In a way, that is done in Hawaiian Pidgin English, but not as frequent as it was done in the book. I've never heard anyone in Hawaii sound like that boy or any of the other "local Hawaii people" represented in the book, unless Elizabeth Lowell is telling her readers that this is specifically how local people in Hilo, Hawaii talk.

Then there was the use of hula as a tool of seduction in the storyline. Hula is a beautiful Hawaiian dance that does involve swaying hips but it's done to tell a story--not to rile up a man's sex drive like it's a strip show. Then there was the use of famous Hawaiian names for her characters that had me shaking my head at it acceptability. A person who truly understands and accepts the Hawaiian culture would never...as far as I know...casually give someone the nickname "Pele"--the goddess of fire, which is Nicole Ballard's nickname in the book. "Pele" is a sacred goddess of fire and comes in different shapes and forms--but most definitely not a Caucasian women with "fiery red hair" like the character Nicole Ballard in this book. Local people in Hawaii don't go around nicknaming people w/ the name of a sacred Hawaiian goddess--especially not PELE. That's taboo! Even if the storyline of this book was "okay," I also couldn't get over Elizabeth Lowell's use Kamehameha as last names for the "local Hawaiian family" featured in her book.

The insensitivity and misuse of the Hawaiian culture and famous Hawaiian names by Elizabeth Lowell in "Eden Burning" had me cringing through out this mediocre love story of two people were hurt in the past and weaving their way through the pain to find love again with each other. It's amazing that at the end of this book I discovered that it was a "re-worked story" from a previously published story. Elizabeth Lowell should have spent more time "re-working" and correcting her misuse of the Hawaiian culture and tweaking the storyline to be make it more fleshed out and tighter before she republished "Eden Burning." Or she could have burned the book instead to forget horrible this story was.