I don’t normally go for anthologies because I’ve found that I don’t usually like enough of the stories to make it worth reading. Not so with leaving Eden. Every single story was good. Some were great and star rating has a narrow range of 4-5 with more being 5 star. So I’m taking the time to review all 7. Here goes:
Pride - Petra J Knox
Wow. I loved this story. I’ve read some of Petra’s other works, and she is a master storyteller. Lyra was such a fun character to read, fully living up to the title of this story. I enjoyed watching her experiencing the Wastelands and it’s inhabitants. Petra wove a deeply emotional tale of pride, discovery, caring and love.
Dream My Way - Serena Lindahl
This story grabbed me and yanked me in so fast I barely knew what hit me. I’ve never read this author, but now I’m going to look up her other books. Aislynn represents the sin of sloth in this story. She pulls the men in her life into her dreams and is quite different from her waking self. Reese, Nash and Devon find themselves part of her dreams and adapt at varying speeds of acceptance. Aislynn thinks she’s just dreaming, but is she? This one was my favorite because of the dream aspect and I hope there’s more.
Emotional Envy - Lucy Roy
Charmaine has made a deal with an evil witch and is now forced to do her bidding. There’s only one way to break the curse, can she do it in time to save her niece from a date worse than death? This was an interesting reverse harem story and the first I’ve read involving brothers.
Death Dealers - Emma Cole
This one was harder to get into at first because of the complexity of the world that the author was building. Ultimately, it was a good story that I found myself turning the pages as fast as I could read to find out what was going to happen next. And then it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger! I hope there’s more because now I’m invested.
Glorious Gluttony - Lexie Winston
This story made me laugh. Glory the Gluttony demon was truly a loveable creature. I also loved her sister Serena, Aria, Zoe and the guys. Oh my, the guys. Hot hot hot.
The Irony of Lust - Kelly A Walker
Lusa is lust and not very happy about it. Guys think they’re in love with her, girls hate her and she thinks she’s going to end up alone. Little does she know she’s got three guys in her future. This was a charming little story that felt like it could have been longer.
Greed - Kandi Vale
Okay, I have to be honest, Kandi’s story is the whole reason I got into this anthology. That’s not to say I didn’t find new authors to read (because I totally did), but Kandi’s writing is so darn good it’s practically gold and not to be missed. Greed was no exception. Ava is a fascinating, feisty little thief who meets her match in triplicate in this story and I can see a whole series coming out of this. Loved this world!