Eternal Eden (Eden Trilogy) by Nicole Williams

I found this book after searching through the suggestions that Amazon gave me.  It had quite a few reviews and averaged about 4 out of 5 stars.  Plus, it was free in the electronic version so why not go for it right?

To give a very broad review, this book is mainly about the usual young adult love story in which the outcast girl is the one whom the perfect guys seem to fall in love with.  I think it's funny that this is such a common theme as I have never seen it play out this way in real life.  Perhaps this is purely a fictional theme or I haven't opened my eyes to enough things; you tell me :) The guy turns out to have some sort of superpower, and they find out they can't be with each other so of course, now they must test the bonds of their love by finding a way to stay together....yeah, yeah, yeah...heard this theme many times before.

This book contains that theme, but much more.  If you want to know more about the story, continue reading...

The main character in the book is Bryn Dawson.  Her parents recently died and afterwards, she transfers from Harvard to Oregon State.  Her first day there, a handsome football player, Paul, takes a liking to her, but all Bryn wants is to be alone.  Upon being asked to give a student a campus tour, Bryn soon meets another "perfect" guy named William.  Bryn feels a connection with him right away, but is soon turned off by his egotistical demeanor.  Fast forward through the book a little further and you find Bryn being attacked by two large men in black, only to be saved by William of course.  He somehow has incredible speed and strength.  A confused Bryn finds she does not feel weird about his powers, but is drawn to him and strongly attracted.  After persuading Bryn to go on a date with him, they head to the beach together.  She quickly finds herself in love with his romantic ways, but the date is interrupted by the two large men in suits again.  William tells Bryn he must leave with them and soon after she gets a break up letter from him.

Let me take a few moments to explain that this is a vague description of what happens in the book, and that I am doing a great injustice to the author.  During this time, Bryn also deals with an array of emotions such as jealousy when other girls are interested in William and self doubt as she continually overlooks her beauty in comparison to the skinny, blond cheerleaders.  Any girl out there would be sympathetic and we know we've all felt the same way.

Moving on, as Bryn deals with the heartache of the break-up and the stupidity she feels for falling for a guy she felt she would never attract, she finds herself back at the location of their first date, the ocean.  One of Bryn's dominant characteristic is that she does not fear death, as she already feels alone with both her parents dead.  She walks into the ocean and the next thing you know, she wakes up in a while different location...and this is where the story REALLY begins.

Bryn sees William in front of her as well as a dark featured man named John Townsend.  She has no idea what happened or where she is, but is sure she has died.  John, upset at William, sends him off to explain to Bryn what has happened to her.  William begins by asking Bryn to take a swim with him in a lake, in which Bryn quickly realizes she is swimming in merely freezing temperatures, yet feels no cold.  As she also realizes her eyes have changed to a pale blue hue, William explains the details before she truly believes she is in the afterlife.  He is an immortal, brought from the brink of death to help save the life of mortals.  He could foretell the actions Bryn was going to take and found her late enough that she would have died, but soon enough to save her by transforming her into an immortal.  The world of immortals has two sides, the guardians like him that help save mortal lives and the inhibitors that believe in saving Eden, the Earth, from humans.  Both are good depending on the viewpoint you come from.  William is currently on a mission to infiltrate the inhibitors by posing as a teacher for John Townsend, the inhibitor's alliance leader.  It is just too bad he saved Bryn during this time because now she must pretend to also be an inhibitor to save her life since John knows about the transformation.

There are also more problems currently within the book.  First, William has transformed Bryn by himself, a deed never done before.  It is a process which previously has taken a team of immortals, so now everyone is keeping a close eye on him.  Second, the realm of immortals is governed by the Council who have strict rules on the immortal lifestyle.  One of those includes not being able to be involved romantically with another immortal unless approved by the Council through a Unity ceremony.  It doesn't help that the eyes of the immortals are all pale blue and turn into a sapphire blue after they "unite" a.k.a. have sex.  This rule leaves Bryn and William in a sticky situation with their romance for each other.  Third, since Bryn has simply disappeared from the mortal life she had with no body left behind, Paul (the football player) is convinced Bryn is still alive and is set on finding her.

So how will this book end? Well, you'll have to read it to find out, or message me and I'll probably tell you :)  There is so much that I left out of the book and that happens in the book that it is a must read.  The history of the immortals and William, the romance building up between William and Bryn, and the unseen tragedies the two of them will face are all a major part of this book.

Personally, I loved this book.  It isn't one of my favorite reads, but it is an easy young adults book that send you spiraling into the fantasy world of love.  The book weaves through twists and turns that surprise even those who have read many similar books before and leaves you wanting more, especially the ending.  The author does a great job at exploiting the emotions of the main character ,Bryn, and showing the emotional and mental struggles she goes through.  There are feelings of jealously, lust, anger, fear, love and the test of the theory of fate.  This book will take you through and adventure and infuse your emotions to leave you breathless at times.  By the end of the book, you'll be left to wonder what happens next, and lead you to read the next book in the trilogy 

Another teaser, you learn why William is so in love with Bryn, and find he's known her longer that it seems :)

Good quotes from the book:
"That's the thing about trust; it's like love.  You can't help who you trust or love sometimes--you just do--you can't turn it on and off when you want"
"My mom had always said the heart wants what the heart wants.  For the first time, I understood what she meant."