Review of A Season of Eden by JM Warwick

A Season of Eden by JM Warwick
Grove Creek Publishing 2008
978-1933963907
Available at Amazon

Eden is in the second semester of her senior year and enrolls in an "easy A" course--Concert Choir. When the new teacher, James Christian, enters the classroom, Eden is suddenly thrust into new depths by her forbidden attraction to him--and his attraction to her.

I was a little skeptical at first. I mean, teacher + student=squick in most situations right?
But Ms. Warwick won me over with her book trailer.





I just HAD to see. And I am so happy that I did.


This story is rich. It captures not only that incredible rush of falling in love but also the moment in our life when we realize we are loving with our woman's heart and not the girlhood heart that only sees rainbows and butterflies. Eden matures in a thoughtful, realistic manner. Always in the popular crowd, she begins to look at the relationships she maintains with her "friends" and realizes maybe she doesn't have it all--but then needs to figure out what having it all means to her.



The relationship with the teacher, rest assured, did not engage my squick factor at all. Eden is 18 already and her teacher is newly 22. Their attraction jumps off the page and you will feel like you are falling off a cliff in love--but the heat is only the backdrop to Eden's journey. It never crossed the line to inappropriate in my mind. James remained quite noble to me.



Eden coming to terms with growing up, her non-relationship with her father, and the loss of her mother that still haunts her makes the reader care what happens to her--even when she has her short lapses into selfish behavior. The lessons of her heart stayed with me even after I finished the book.