The Dark Garden by Eden Bradley

Title: The Dark Garden
Author: Eden Bradley
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: May 29th, 2007
Publisher: Bantam
Pages: 320
Format: Electronic Copy
Acquired: For Review/Netgalley
Age Group: Very Adult

A deliciously potent tale of one woman’s quest for self-discovery.

Rowan Cassidy likes to be in charge—especially in her personal life. As a mistress at Club Privé, the most exclusive bondage/S & M club on the West Coast, Rowan can live out her dominant fantasies safely, and with complete control—until the night Christian Thorne walks in. Self-confident and sophisticated, he’s a natural dominant if Rowan’s ever seen one. Yet she can’t stop thinking about him and imagining his touch.

Christian has returned home, hoping to break free from his dissatisfaction and malaise—and discovers the cure in Rowan. He’s dying to get his skilled hands on her and watch her surrender, to unlock the mystery of her that captivates him. Determined to be her master, he makes Rowan a daring proposition: give herself over to him for thirty days.

Rowan finds Christian’s offer terrifying—and impossible to resist. But abandoning herself to Christian’s power might be more than she can handle. . . . Or it might be the realization of her true nature and the dark garden within her. There will be only one way to find out. And once the game has begun, there’s no turning back. 

 
This was a little different than what I'm used to reading just because the female held a different role than the typical submissive form that she usually had. This time the female was strong on her own even before the guy came into the picture. But there was a lot that Rowan had to work through in order to go from one role to the next with the help of Christian.

And the parallel story-line was an interesting mix into the story.

I really didn't like it and not because the story was poorly written, like Fifty Shades or something, but it also didn't hold my interest. I had a hard time getting through it and found myself putting it down constantly and going off somewhere else. The only reason I finished it was because it really wasn't that long, or at least didn't feel that long.

Needless to say I was a little glad to get to the end. But the reason I didn't rate this 1 or 2 was because it really was good and interesting. A little different compared to what I have been reading with all the erotica and shows two women who are both looking for the same thing and how they find it. I was kind of mad that Bradley made this look like it centered solely on Rowan since April deserved just a little more attention since she was also featured.

But overall this wasn't too bad. It wasn't too interesting but it didn't suck either. Read it if you have nothing to read or to take a break from the usual. It was a little dark, but sexy and intriguing in some places, Bradley takes you to a place where a young woman is rediscovering herself.