Customer Reviews

River of Eden

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read Ms. McReynolds' past work, which was a really good fantasy/romance trilogy, so I was surprised to see that River of Eden is a contemporary. I almost didn't pick it up, but I'm so glad I did!

This is a "go up the river into the jungle and accomplish a great feat against all odds" story. There are riverboat chases, and multiple levels of bad-buys double-crossing our intrepid hero/heroine (and each other). It's FUN, but it has a serious underlying theme of mysticism and redemption that is fascinating and different.

Most of all, River of Eden is a love story on many different levels. It's about self-love, consuming love of a place, and oh yeah, a believable love between two really interesting people, Will and Annie.

Will and Annie are great characters. Each of them is running from something, and running toward something else in the desperate hope that their destination will be enough to absolve them of past crimes, real and imagined.

This is no light wise-cracking duo - these two are carrying some major baggage, some of it metaphysical/mystical in nature. Sometimes backstory like that can drag a romance down fast, but in River of Eden the hero and heroine are well-matched in their derring-do and their emotional wariness, so it's rewarding to watch them deal with each other and eventually, slowly, give in to their attraction for each other. I really enjoyed both of them individually and as a pair.

The setting of this book takes on a life of its own, and the lush, lyrical quality of the narrative makes you feel like you can feel the rain and see the vegetation. It's almost a visual novel in its depth and feel. This is something River of Eden has in common with McReynolds' previous books, though the setting was very different in the fantasy trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed River of Eden and think you will too if you liked Romancing the Stone (the movie) or Heart of Fire by Linda Howard (the novel). Check it out. I don't think you'll be sorry.

Romantic Suspense lovers, heads up!
Glenna McReynolds has penned a fast, can't wait to turn the page, stay up all night reading, story!

Dr. Annie Parish, "Amazon Annie", is on a mission. To convince Will Sanchez Travers, once a renowned Harvard botanist, now a rather seedy looking--with a seedier reputation guide, to take her up the river to Santa Maria. She herself is a botanist, who, while having some renowned work under her belt, also has the rather infamous reputation of having been kicked out of Brazil a year ago for reportedly shooting a `lover'. But she's back, and determined to follow up on an amazing discovery she made quite by accident on her previous trip, but she has to have someone, namely Will, get her up the river close to the spot where her find lies. The RBC, River Basin Coalition, who used influence to allow her back into the country to study `peach palm harvest', has no inkling of what Annie is truly up to. Annie has other plans, and the case of guns, ammo, and grenades that she bought from a questionable source is only the beginning.

Will agrees, under pressure, to take Annie up the river on his boat, the `Sucuri'-which translates to Anaconda! He's got his own personal agenda, and see's Annie being dropped in with him as a nuisance. But he can't help but be drawn to her spunk and passion. The fun begins before they even get the boat out of the port, with Annie receiving a letter telling her to leave Brazil. Oh, and then there's the shootout with those guys she got the guns from...

This story starts at page 1 with the action and doesn't let up the entire book. And the relationship that develops between Will and Annie, who are both leery of the other, is done will skill and grace. Will has had some experiences with the metaphysical, and the author does a tremendous job of making us `see' what he experienced, and of helping Annie understand Will. You feel them being drawn together. And the cast of supporting characters is great. They will have you chuckling about shrunken heads, and an overweight gun runner sweating it out in the jungle, to feeling the menace ooze off the bad guy, Carisco Vargas.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of romantic suspense, or action packed adventure. I read it in one sitting, and can't wait for her next suspense novel! She's done a wonderful job keeping the pace up, and not forgetting the romantic theme.
Don't miss this read!

Wow! This is definitely a book for readers complaining about there being too much of the same-old, same old out there. RIVER OF EDEN was a delicious combination of adventure, romance, and mysticism which mixed sizzling sensuality with edge-of-your-seat suspense. The book is totally unique in its own right, but it did bring to mind the very best of the genre--ROMANCING THE STONE, THE AFRICAN QUEEN, and AMAZON LILY by Theresa Weir. I wanted to be Amazon Annie and I definitely wanted to go exploring with Dr. Will Travers! Glenna McReynolds is definitely one of the finest writers of romance or any other genre. More please!

Wow! I know somebody either recommended this book to me or gave it to me, but I can't remember who. Whoever it was, thank-you!

River of Eden is a romantic suspense story with a touch of the mystical, but that doesn't do it justice. It's a lush, intense story that transports you into the jungle, makes you believe that anything might be true, and gets your heart pounding. Heh. Wonder if reading it could substitute for a workout?

Dr. Annie Parish has returned to Brazil after being kicked out of the country the year before. She's risking everything to return for the rare, bio-luminescent (and sentient?) orchids she'd had to leave behind. She needs transportation up the river, and her best bet is Will Travers.

Dr. Will Travers, a world-respected botanist from Harvard, had disappeared into the jungle for a year, and now appears to be nothing more than a drunken river rat. He's obviously full of secrets, but Annie has secrets of her own, starting with the crates of weapons she loads onto his boat.

The two of them find themselves on a collision course, with both of them trying to get to the same place for different reasons. They're racing against time, and running from a fat gangster and directly toward an evil madman, and the shaman and his mystical snakes may or may not be on their side.

Along the way, they reluctantly fall in love, but this isn't the main focus of the story, which is possibly one reason why River of Eden stood out so strongly for me. Normally, in a romantic suspense book, you'll have the suspense plot, but every time the characters look at each other, there'll be romantic sparks, they can't think about each other without rhapsodizing over body parts, can't talk to each other without imagining their mouths doing other things. I hadn't realized how pervasive this was until I read River of Eden. I still believed, definitely, that Annie and Will fell in love, but it was accomplished without the... sugar coating. I think the difference is that River of Eden takes the suspense story seriously. It's not just a setting for the romance. Likewise, the romance isn't just tacked on as an afterthought.

Whoops. Getting perilously close to gushing there.

It's not easy to describe the feel of this book, but I'll try. Take the movie Romancing the Stone and slide it to the left a bit, make it a little more serious, a little more real, and a little more dream-like. Cover everything with a jungle mist, and add an ominous soundtrack of jungle drums.

Outside the story world, it's hard to accept risking everything Annie went through just for a couple of flowers, even if they would make her career, and the evil madman is too much The Evil Madman, but even that adds to the atmosphere, which demands you accept it all as real.

Hey Amazon! I need more stars!

This is a book for your keeper shelf. With its fast pace, fresh plot, and steamy setting, a hero to die for and a heroine who commands respect, this book has it all. It's one of the best reads to coming along in a while.

Glenna grabs the reader right from the start with two compelling questions. What happened to change Dr. Will Travers from respected Harvard botanist to jungle heathen? And what happened to Dr. Annie Parrish after the Wooly Monkey Incident? (And what was the Wooly Monkey Incident anyway?--okay that's three questions.) Even after the questions seem to be answered, deeper and more elusive questions come to the fore making for a non-stop action-packed pleasure of a read.

The only disappointment was turning the last page and having it be over. Which leaves me, the humble reader, with a question of my own. --When's the next book coming, Glenna?

I'll be waiting.

P.S. (By the way, LOVED your last trilogy, too. Particularly Prince of Time. I can't wait for more.)

Will Travers ferries people and their things, through the rivers of the Amazon. Once upon a time, he was a famous ethabotanist. Not only was he famous, he was Harvard-educated and had several books published. How did Will's life change so drastically, that he became a river guide?

Dr. Annie Parrish returns to the Amazon to continue her research on rare orchids. Her previous time spent there, had her inheriting a nickname "Amazon Annie". And, Annie's previous departure from Brazil, wasn't completely her choice. On top of that, research may not be the only reason Annie is back in the Amazon. Annie needs Will and his boat. She's brought quite a few "things" with her, on her return trip to Brazil.

Both Annie and Will have secrets. And, both have several enemies, including huge snakes like the anacoda.

The combination of secrets, enemies, and snakes, makes for one very adventurous read. And, the combination of Annie and Will together, makes for some very sexy and romantic reading. Oh, initially, they fight a slow-growing attraction; but, their adventures force them to work together, become partners, and...more.

Glenna McReynolds is an excellent writer.

This book is a fast moving adventure that shows her skill.

Both heroine and hero are very intelligent and dedicated to their objectives.

The horticultural aspects are a treat.

Jungle-trek themed romances are one of my favorite tropes in the world of romance. I got off this recommendation from my friend Jill on Goodreads who was wonderful enough to give me a huge list of jungle-trek themed romances which we both seem to love. River of Eden is my first novel by Glenna McReynolds and according to FictionDB the last of her published books as well.

River of Eden takes us through the steamy jungles of the Amazon where fact and myth submerge, where evil lurks in every deep and dark shadow that the jungle and its surrounding river harbors. Dr. Annie Parrish aka Amazon Annie had been a world renown botanist until the unfortunate Woolly Monkey incident which had labeled her persona non grata. Originally from Wyoming, Annie had been chased out of Brazil after having being captured and tortured in a Brazil jail until Dr. Gabriela Oliveira had pulled all imaginable strings to rescue her.

Annie returns once again, this time to garner more samples of the incredible orchid that she had found on her last trip, before her run in with the evil Corisco Vargas who has his own evil plans to conquer the wild jungle and its riches for himself once and for all. Corisco has been waiting for Annie, the one who got away from his clutches the 1st time round.

To make the required trip upriver to Santa Maria, Annie hires Dr. William Sanchez Travers, a Harvard trained ethnobotanist, until 3 years ago William had forsaken academia and his fieldwork and disappeared into the Amazon rain forest. Six feet tall, rangy in build with wild sun-streaked hair and a face that had set more than one coed on the path of a botany degree, Will is rumored to have lost it all and become a drunken half of a man who ferries scientists like herself upriver to pass his days.

Every preconceived notion that Annie has of Will flies out the window as she begins to learn more about the complex man who reluctantly agrees to take her on his boat Sucuri without half-knowing the secrets that she holds very close to her soul. Annie who is skittish at best when it comes to men after her horrific up close and personal encounters with Corisco finds herself fascinated with how Will makes her lose sight of herself with their up close and personal encounters.

Annie doesn't feature into any of Will's plans, Will who has been biding his time in fulfilling his end of a deal that has bound him to the jungle and its people for the past 3 years. Annie tempts him beyond anything Will has encountered before and when his protective and possessive instincts flare to life around a woman who is a mass of contradictions herself, Will is helplessly drawn into plans fate has in store for them, a plan that lands them right into the center of execution of Corisco's evil plans.

Though I found myself a little bit impatient with the pace of the story at the beginning, things began to turn around once the trip aboard Sucuri took underway. Both Annie and Will's characters are interesting ones, each carrying a whole lot of secrets with them, and each surrounded by the mystiques that cloak the Amazon and its tribes which lend an interesting facet to the story. Let me not forget the romance between Will and Annie, and how it drew me in as Will and Annie seduce more than just their surface emotions, but end up coming together as one and combining their lives together, once and for all.

All in all an entertaining read recommended for those who love a romance between two endearing people in the midst of a jungle adventure which gets its extra richness from the mystique surrounding the whole tale from beginning till end.

Reviewed by: Maldivian Book Reviewer

Dr. Annie Parrish is a world-renouned ethnobotanist who sets out on a dangerous quest in the Amazon to win back her reputation. She has a huge black mark on her reputation after an incident in the jungle that got her kicked out of Brazil and left her haunted. One year later, she is back in Manaus Brazil determined to do whatever it takes to find the amazing luminiescent orchid she found right before the "incident" took it away from her. She hunts down Will Sanchez Travers, another famous ethnobotanist who has some black marks on his reputation as well - he disappeared in the jungle for a year, was rumored to be killed by an anaconda, then mysteriously came back to pilot a boat around the Rio Negro instead of working with plants. Annie finds Will dancing an erotic samba with a local girl in a seedy bar and manuvers her way onto his boat.

Will Travers is a man with many secrets. He is on a mission given to him by the shaman who found him in the jungle years before when he was almost killed by an anaconda. Annie Parrish aka Amazon Annie is a huge distraction from that mission but he agrees to take her up river after an old friend calls in a favor. Will is very impressed and turned on by the intelligent woman who is small but has a will of iron. Danger is following them on their trip up the Rio Negro, as Annie runs afoul of Fat Eddie, a violent merchant from Manaus. She is also being hunted by Corisco Vargas, the man who terrorized her the last time she was in the Amazon. Will and Annie both feel an unmistakable pull toward each other despite the constant danger. Both are on dangerous missions that could get them killed unless they can stay one step ahead of danger and survive the elements and the dangerous men who are after them.

River of Eden was a fun adventure romance with a very exotic feel. I really liked the Amazon jungle feel and the atmosphere the author created. I also loved the information about the jungle, the local indiginous population and their beliefs and the Amazon region in general. The story has a lot of action and adventure plus romance and a touch of mystic from the shaman. Will was very involved in the mystic aspects from his time with the shaman. I enjoyed the romance part of the story but it took a back seat sometimes to the action. I felt like Annie and Will were a great couple with shared passions who would enjoy being together. Annie was a very strong woman with an overwhelming need to find the beautiful orchid she lost before, until she starts to rearrange her priorities after falling in love with the sexy rogue Will. As for Will, he has a very sexy, charming way about him that wins over both me and Annie. He went from being a famous ethnobotanist to being a man connected to the jungle and elements around him after having his eyes opened to a new world by the shaman. He is a man who lives on the edge and has no problem facing danger - which is pretty sexy too. I loved the snake tattoo and the way he fell so hard for Annie and found her sexy and cute just the way she was, which was always rumpled with her hair flying everywhere. There was a lot of chemistry between them that sizzled in the hot jungle and made me glad when they finally gave into their attraction.

If you are looking for an action-filled contemporary romance with an exotic setting, check out River of Eden.

Action, violence, visions and love slipping up on two characters that have been fleshed out well and show intelligence! I thought more than once...deja vu....the movie: 'Romancing the Stone' with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

Annie Parrish and Will Sanchez Travers each hold at least one doctorate. You meet them in the rain forest in Brazil at the beginning of the story. She needs his help to locate something special and she is not above telling stories, stealing and whatever else is necessary to find it. Will learns quickly that this is the woman for him but he has enough of his own demons and there are plenty of people that want them both dead. They are followed by some mysterious soldiers, corrupt policemen, and other shady characters. Think Star Wars and a look-alike for Jabba the Hut only with razor-sharp teeth.

You feel the humidity drenching their clothes, the excessive heat that causes things to stick to the skin, and the fear as they face evil. There is pouring rain, snakes and unknown creatures living in the river. You also experience the tension and mutual attraction they have for each other and there are enough differences between Romancing the Stone and River of Eden to enjoy both.

If you like a romantic adventure then this is the book for you. It is a keeper. Enjoy!