Eden Burning: A Dangerous Second-Chance Romance of Passion and Hope in a Tropical Paradise

by Elizabeth Lowell

Paradise calls to Chase Wilcox. A man of science, escaping the destruction of his own personal world, he is drawn to the lush beauty of the island of Hawaii and the secrets it holds. Here he intends to immerse himself in his work . . . and somehow heal and forget. A research assistant, an artist, and a dancer, Nicole Ballard also hides a secret pain. Together on an important scientific project in the moist, verdant heart of a tropical wonderland, both she and Chase will be forced to confront their own lingering inner darkness. But in the shadows of Mount Kilauea, a passion that burns like fire will erupt, as unpredictable and dangerous as the living volcano, transforming the very landscape of their lives. A classic story of desire, hope, and dangerous destiny from the incomparable New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Historical Romance, Ebooks

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1986

About the author

Individually and with co-author/husband Evan, Ann Maxwell has written over 60 novels and one work of non-fiction. There are 30 million copies of these books in print, as well as reprints in 30 foreign languages. Her novels range from science fiction to historical fiction, from romance to mystery. After working in contemporary and historical romance, she became an innovator in the genre of romantic suspense.

In 1982, Ann began publishing as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous professional awards in the romance field, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Romance Writers of America (1994).

Since July of 1992, she has had over 30 novels on the New York Times bestseller list. In 1998 she began writing suspense with a passionate twist, capturing a new audience and generation of readers. Her new romance novel Perfect Touch will be available in July of 2015.

To get a full list of titles as well as read excerpts from her novels, visit www.elizabethlowell.com.

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hero Chase thinks heroine Nicole is a gold-digger out to break up his married brother's marriage, so Chase goes to Hawaii to put a stop to it. Chase is also going to Hawaii to do research on volcano activity, and also to be with his young daughter. He doesn't realize that the woman he wants to get out of his family's life, Nicole, is going to be his assistant. She will be doing drawings for the book he is writing on volcanoes. He also doesn't count on being so attracted to her.

This was a very enjoyable story set on Hawaii's Big Island. I really liked Nicole, she was very sweet. She was an artist, a research assistant, and she danced hula dances to the bongo drums at the Kipuka Club where she was known as Pele. She came to Hawaii for a new start and to heal after the breakup of a bad marriage. Her ex-husband was very critical of her, called her cold and frigid, and made her feel like less of a woman. Therefore, she now avoids romantic relationships with men. The first man she decides to take a chance with since her divorce is Chase, until that goes horribly wrong.

Chase had a bad marriage, too. His wife was a gold-digger who cheated on him. She was awarded custody of their young daughter, Lisa, then tossed the child aside and told Chase she wanted nothing more to do with Lisa when she decided to remarry. That is why Chase's view of women is so bad and he's so quick to believe the worst of Nicole. At one point in the story he hurts Nicole very deeply based on his tainted views, and I really felt her pain. But I did feel that Chase was truly sorry and repentant for what he did when he realized how wrong he was about Nicole.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters--Islander Bobby, whose family welcomed Nicole into their lives when they saw how lost and alone she was; Chase's younger brother, Dane; and cute kids, Lisa (Chase's daughter), and Benny (Bobby's son).

I loved the Big Island setting. At times the story did get a bit wordy with a lot of info on volcanoes, lava flow, and plant life. Still it was interesting, too, and exciting waiting to see if Mount Kilauea would erupt before the story ended.

[Alexis-Morgan Roark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrator's voice is nice, but you can't tell the men from the women from the children. Oh, well.

Overbearing buttwipe hero meets tragic, broken heroine against the unmistakable beauty that is Hawaii. Currently on Disk 3, I am extremely distracted by the hero's obsession with "vile, beautiful women" who are only good for one thing: sex!

What's he gonna tell his daughter one day?

Reminds me too, too much of "Desert Rain." Egads, I wanted to smack that guy!! Repeatedly!

Back to reading/listening...I'm done!

I vacillated between being totally turned on, pissed beyond belief, and crying my eyes out with this book!

I still think the author went overboard on his whole attitude towards women, but that seems to be a common theme in Ms. Lowell's earlier books. Also, it was written at a time when "alpha male" seemed to be synonymous with "overbearing, jerk, as&hole"!

I will say that the eerily accurate portrayal of the often times over looked "other side of custody battles" was welcome. I get so tired of the man being portrayed as unfeeling when the truth can be so much worse than even how THIS "bio mom" was portrayed.

Enough of my own life sinking in...

I'm just saying.

I checked the CDs out at the library and will undoubtedly read the book again for the heat of those dance scenes if nothing else, but it was a painful journey along the way. Be prepared to throw the book against the wall-may want to check this one out if you own a Kindle-laugh a little, fan yourself a lot, and even cry for the pain, stupidity, blindness, and unfairness you will find in this little book. In short-pardon my being so maudlin-you'll find real life in these pages mixed in with your "typical" romance genre elements.

[Pack-it-up · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really loved the passion in it, but every thing that happened was so unfair! The female heroine I felt, didn't get vindicated in any way. The overall pain and heartache she endured on her end was proportionately more than what the male character experienced. Elizabeth Lowell tried hard to show that the emotional pain her male hero caused was acceptable by having him chase after her desperately, but after reading the womans reaction and resulting trauma, it just didn't cut it. This book left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and a feeling of resentful fury on Nicole/Pele's behalf. If you dislike weak, emotionally traumatized female heroines and insensitive, stupid heroes who DON'T get what's coming to them, then I wouldn't recommend this irritating fluff.

[Christine (KizzieReads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not really a good book. It shows a jealous, abusive relationship, and that is wrong. It starts out with Chase seeing a picture of his daughter with a woman, and wants her, but jumps to the conclusion that she is only out to get his brother's money and decides that he will make a bet with his brother to sleep with her.

Once he does that, he immediately tells his brother that she is a cold corpse in bed and she is a gold digging whore, yet he still wants her. She hears this, and feels even more betrayed by him, than by her ex-husband. He even goes so far as to threatening her friends by telling them to stay away from her or else.

Once he apologizes, everything is supposed to be okay and she should take him back and believe him and forget everything he ever said, meanwhile, he never believed her. Not cool, and very possessive, abusive.

[Mad Leon · Rating 1 out of 5]

The woman hating sentiments expressed by Chase, the leading male character, was enough to turn me off to him completely. Then the bet that he could sleep with Nicole within a month really put the icing on the cake. Even the end, when he does an about face and tries to get Nicole to forgive him, can't redeem him in my mind.
The sheer idiocy of him trying to get "butterfly" to come to him and sip nectar from his hand (so to speak), was just schlock. What self-respecting woman would endure what he had done and then fawn over the cad and fall into bed with him again within a week....aggghhhh

[Miki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rather good example of not-exactly-exactly-purple-but-definitely-a deep-shade-of-lavender prose. By the end I was so very tired of "silken depths" and "gold satin skin", of "rugged but tender expert hands" and "steel-hard muscles". Good grief. AND, in Hawaii, everything in nature is the size of someone's hand...butterflies, leaves, flowers, you name it. That got old really quick.

The main male character is not only a volcanologist, but an extremely talented bongo drummer. (Seriously, when's the last time you heard of THAT combination?) The heroine is a part-time artist and hula dancer, apparently specializing in Tahitian hula at the speed of light. Since the extremely talented drummer's extreme talent is also speed...well, you can guess what happens. They have a hula-bongo (bong-hu? hungo? boolah?) duel! Since they are obviously meant for each other, of course it's a draw. When they are not dueling on the stage, they are having sex, hurting each other, having sex, wallowing in self-pity for being less than perfect, having sex and getting caught in a volcanic eruption. Then having sex.

Unless you have a craving for 80's style romances, don't waste your time on this one.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautiful novel by the amazing Elizabeth Lowell. Like her book, "Beautiful Dreamer", Eden Burning is full of powerful wording that produces vivid imagery. Nicole "Pele", is a stunningly beautiful dancer/artist/assistant who dances with a fiery passion that only Lowell's words can do justice to. I didn't give this book 5 stars because although I truly enjoyed Nicole as a character, I have to admit, her character was a bit unbeliveable. It seemed almost impossible that someone sensual,beautiful, and WANTED by every man could really be so intensely insecure. Besides that, I thought the book was amazing and I'm incredibly disappointed that Elizabeth Lowell no longer writes good old fashioned loved stories like this.

[Olivermagnus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vulconologist, Chase Wilcox, has been burned before by a beautiful woman. His ex-wife took his daughter and ran off with a rich man. He has his daughter back now, but he's not going to fall for that trick again. Beautiful artist and dancer, Nicole Ballard, was hurt by her ex-husband and is afraid to trust again.

I didn't care that much about the characters or their romance but I loved the well written descriptions of Hawaii, depictions of the beautiful dances and the information I discovered about kipunas. I would love to go to Hawaii and explore that area.

Eden Burning is a reworked and updated version of an Elizabeth Lowell novella which was originally published in 1986. While she expanded the book in 2002 by adding new scenes, and an updated storyline, it was still overly dramatic and dated. But I guess the original story is thirty five years old and the updates almost twenty so that's not a surprise. I've read other books by Elizabeth Lowell that I have enjoyed more than this one.

[Bela]

h is H brother's bestfriend and brother is really protective of her. He always said highly of her to his brother (the H). H thought that h wanted to come between his brother and his wife. So, he planned to get h out of his brother's life. He seduced her and had sex with her. h had a traumatic relationship before, so sleeping with the H was a huge step for her. But, the next day h heard the H told his brother what a vicious woman h was, and that she's not even good in bed (I believe he said she's like a corpse in bed). h heard it all and vomited. H found out the truth and tried to make it up to the h. The grovel was epic. He's helplessly in love with her, but she's too afraid to trust him. He literally begged her to be in her life.

[Leila Mota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leio ou releio romances para acalmar a ansiedade, para me divertir, para me emocionar, ou para relembrar quando era jovem e os via como contos de fadas para adultos. Comecei relendo (ou lendo, faz tanto tempo que alguns livros não sei se já tinha lido) Linda Howard, e passei para Elizabeth Lowell. Alguns desses romances publicados entre a década de 1980 e 1990 ou um pouco mais à frente eu guardei na minha biblioteca do Kindle. Alguns eu tenho até em paperback. Outros eu descartei (e outros desses eu me arrependi de ter descartado e comprei de novo - coisa de doido).
Lendo assim no "atacado", consolidei algumas observações e adicionei outras. É óbvio que sempre soube que essas escritoras (e outros escritores do gênero) têm como que um modelo, e repetem características de personagens e argumentos, às vezes até ambientação, mesmo que variem regiões de um mesmo país ou até outro país. Não significa que não saibam escrever. Em tempos de inteligência artificial, não troco essas autoras clássicas do gênero por qualquer inteligência artificial ou por outras que não sabiam a diferença entre um "you're" e um "your" (leio preferencialmente em inglês, ler romance traduzido é igual a ver filme dublado, patético). Esses autores me irritam, bem como os inexistentes ou igualmente ignorantes editores. Porque falta muita edição/revisão. O que é uma observação recente que fiz nos livros de Lowell que tenho lido. A displicência das editoras é revoltante. Enfim.
Vou repetir este texto em todos os livros que li na última semana, porque a conclusão é a mesma. Embora alguns livros tenham me entretido mais, e outros tenham me parecido exagerados na suposta sensibilidade dos personagens principais. E nem é só da mulher. Em "Love Song for a Raven" o "herói" é irritantemente sensível... e aparentemente por causa da sua altura. Fiquei o tempo todo pensando se os jogadores de basquete têm esse tipo de problema.
Os livros que escolhi (como emendei um no outro, fui mais pelo preço ou pela possibilidade de estar disponível no Kindle Unlimited para empréstimo) são de uma época em que a autora podia passar incólume pelo padrão de "homem que odeia mulheres porque elas o feriram" e mulheres que apesar de terem uma carreira, são "inexperientes", seja total ou parcialmente, sempre devido a um ex que também odiava mulheres e as traumatizaram. Não que atualmente não haja homens patéticos (haja vista os chamados red pills, e como pouco mudou a cultura de homens que acham que são proprietários de mulheres e as maltratam ou fazem até coisa pior). Mas fica muito difícil acreditar que em tempos de internet, ainda haja alguém que desconheça as facetas múltiplas do relacionamento físico entre pessoas.
Vale um adendo neste livro específico. O personagem principal é um dos homens mais tapados e cruéis que eu vi, e se eu pudesse estapear uma pessoa fictícia, ele seria um bom candidato. Porém também foi um dos que viu a luz mais rapidamente. Alguns homens desses romances tiram a paciência de qualquer santo (sim há mulheres nos livros que sofrem do mesmo mal, mas sou suspeita para criticar uma heroína de romance).
Isso posto, concluo que realmente uma das razões pelas quais esses livros me entretêm é ressoarem numa pessoa que consegue entender o que é uma relação mal-sucedida entre seres humanos por razões absolutamente triviais, ou mesmo por falta de caráter de uma das partes. Os seres humanos são defeituosos desde sempre. E romances continuarão a ser lidos porque uma parte de nós não acredita mais em conto de fadas realizado.

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago I went to a library book sale on bag day. I was determined to fit as many books in my bag, regardless of whether I had any true desire to own/read the extra books it took to fill my bag. I picked up this book as well as several other mass-market paperbacks as filler to get my money's worth out of the bag!

I finally got around to reading it because 1) it is a physical book that I have no desire to own permanently that I've been meaning to read so I can get rid of it 2) I was at the beach I always love physical books at the beach and most importantly 3) I could make it fit into a book bingo square!

The book was not bad. It was much more smutty than I expected it to be, especially since it was published in the 80s. I don't know why in my mind "smut" feels like it is a new trend, but clearly, I need to abandon that idea because this book clearly proves that false.

I did not like the main male character. Yes, he wound up being nice to her in the end and they fell in love etc etc, but what sort of person would be cruel enough to use a person that way? Regardless of what he thought about her, that says something really awful about his character. That sort of treatment is not acceptable, regardless of what he thought her motives were. I really liked the story otherwise. I like that they connected through dances/drums. I like that she found a family in Hawaii. I love her connection to the kids. I liked the Hawaiin/Volano/Science/Nature elements of the story. I like how she healed. If only Chase was slightly less of an asshole. I think what he did should have been viewed as irredeemable.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing her tradition of alpha males and innocents in gorgeous settings, Elizabeth Lowell is always able to achieve a sense of the natural beauty of the place in her novels and Hawaii offers many sensual joys to delight in. From the ocean to Mauna Loa, you will feel like you were there. The love story is hard-fought as he is pretty nasty to her in one scene because he feels that she is trying to disrupt his brother's marriage. Still, I was hooked on the relationships in this book and enjoyed it to the end.

[Sonja S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Lowell is one of very few romance writers who will have a tall heroine(Nicole is 5'10") WITHOUT making them comic relief or guilt-tripping them into ending up with a shorter guy. Of course this book is also from the 1980s, when it was actually still possible for a tall girl to desire a taller man(or a man to desire a non-obese woman)without the present-day guilt-tripping and political correctness and "just give a short man a chance waah!" (LOL). Lowell wrote a couple other books with a tall girl/tall man couple as well.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like romances and have liked Elizabeth Lowell for a long time. I liked the book, have no problems with it. The burning instant attraction from the beginning, from a picture?, just a bit much for my current tastes. But I can go with it. The dancing eroticism attraction I can totally get.
I realized I read this years ago. Probably before I went to the big island myself. It was fun to read after I visited the place myself as the region was familiar

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Possible minor spoilers for the very beginning.





I don't leave a lot of books unfinished, but this was one of them. I made it maybe fifty pages before I gave up. The main male character comes across as bitter and entirely too concerned about his brother's "obsession" with a dancer. The characters felt stilted somehow.
Anyway. Very meh, didn't even cut it as a brain break lakeside read 😢

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this lovely story. At times Harlequin-like, and at other times holding deeper meanings and much more, this story had a good dose of betrayal, grovel, and personal growth. The setting and the way it was used to further the story and the romance was beautifully done.

I look forward to reading this author again!

[Christine Jalili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable.

I enjoyed this book. It’s an older book and it’s been years since I first read it. Chase really messes up with Nicole a few times. I even cried at one point. He’s been burned before and didn’t treat her well, not knowing how bad her marriage with her ex husband had been. So glad they finally got their happy ever after.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. The plot is good, the sex is great, but Chase is an abusive dick - it’s tough to want a HEA for him. Also, why why why is the professional hula dancer heroine white/light/golden?? (And side note: there’s way too many sex = man + woman vibes in the book and author interview at the end.) [EPUB]

[Niquie Kirgis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth did a great job letting the romance build between the two characters, which allowed me to appreciate the story and characters more than a typical romance novels these days.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOT !!!!

[Gail Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically a Harlequin Romance type, with very shallow Story line.

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Gracie Boissel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the info on Hawaii and volcanoes was the best part. Not as much plot as other Elizabeth Lowell adventure romances.

[Elaine Cripe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't care the plot so I didn't finish

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very slow read for me. It seemed to drag out when the book could have ended sooner than it did.

[KotayaLu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hero needs some serious therapy... but I still quite liked it.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!!

[Mudpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read May 2018: A couple of days ago Big Island experienced volcanic eruptions. This book became even more vivid after I saw all the videos of lava flow destroying everything in its path...Scary yet fascinating. The end and the beginning of everything, Mother Nature cannot be stopped! Awe-inspiring.

~~~~~

Read this years ago but every so often I'd pull out this book again. The setting in Big Island was so beautiful and awesome. Elizabeth Lowell really transported me to the volcanic island and brings back fond memories of my too-short holiday there in 2009.

Typical of Lowell's hero, Dr Chase Wilcox was an a**hole who was badly burnt by a nasty woman and thus became cynical. He believed all women except his lovely sister-in-law were gold diggers. He was born rich and successful in his chosen field, with a large physique so women are drawn to him like bees to honey, or butterflies to sugar syrup!

When his married brother Dane started to gush on and on about someone new he knew in Hilo, Chase immediately leaped to the conclusion that this woman was out to seduce Dane and wreck his family. It didn't help that Chase found Nicole so seductive just by seeing her photo with his own daughter doing the hula dance. He had to nip this in the bud right away!

So off he went to Hilo and their first encounters were sizzling hot. Nicole was a hula dancer everyone called the goddess Pele and it just so happened that Chase the scientist also played drum! Ha!

I love how the dances were brought to life so vividly in the book and island life with the locals and expatriate scientific community was so colourful. Not forgetting all the kids!

Anyway the poor heroine Nicole was really damaged by her shallow ex husband. When her father went bankrupt the jerk dumped her for a rich and sexy divorcée. But it wasn't enough that the selfish man blame his lack of skills as a lover on ger supposed frigidity; he gad to save his reputation by spreading the news that Nicole was a closet lesbian! *roll eyes* Nicole was so devasted she did not remain to see the fall out (I assumed even her family believed her jerk of an ex husband because he was such a great actor! )

So for her to experience Chase's drumming and magnetism, was a revelation because she never felt such desires before. She slept with Chase within a few days of meeting him and jerk that he was, the next day he went to tell his brother Dane he win their bet. Dane was so guilty because while he was hoping to matchmake both Chase and Nicole, her chaste reputation made him bet his bro won't be able to seduce Nicole so quickly. Unfortunately Nicole heard EVERYTHING and she was so sickened by what Chase said, which made her believe whatever her ex said was true then.

This happened early on in the book which was great because Chase was shown how wrong he was and he spent the rest of the book grovelling and making amends to Nicole.

I love to see heroes grovel! The more the merrier!

Love this book.

[Kendall Bracamonte-Johns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this started as a hard read. In a whole week, I completed only two chapters. The main protagonist, I think, Tess is a fifteen year old naïve wonder child. She has an unfortunate racial calamity in I think 1920. I'm not too sure of the date, as Ms Plain makes it difficult to date a character's timeline. More to come....

I finally finished the story and it was wonderful. it was the writing that made it such a difficult read. Run on after run on sentences flourished with so many adjectives perplexed me. It literally put me in a trance. After figuring out to skip the overly-flourished sentences I got through the chapters.

I really like how the story came full circle ending with Tess seeing both her sons accomplishments and life stories. And the best conclusion was Francis settling down with his true love.