Book Review: Tempestuous Eden by Heather Graham

Tempestuous Eden is a contemporary suspense romance by Heather Graham. Craig Taylor is a special agent, one of the best in the business. When he receives his next mission he tries to convince the powers that be that he is not the man for the job, but they disagree. He needs to get Blair Morgan, high profile widow hiding behind her maiden name and charity work, out of Central America before things go really wrong for her and her crew. Craig joins the Hunger Crew to get close to Blair and keep her safe until it is time to pull her out, as his hostage. What Craig did not could on is Blair being everything he wants in a woman, and Blair still healing from the tragic death of her first husband. Can Craig keep Blair safe, and can Blair forgive Craig for the necessary deception that just might have saved her life?

Blair was a character that I normally would have enjoyed, she was smart, independent, and wanted to good in the world. However, her inner dialogue towards the end of the novel left me liking her a little less. Craig's struggles with following orders, and having an actual relationship were equally annoying at times. It took far too long for the full truth to come out, and for the 'happily ever after' to make its appearance. The side characters could have done more, or less. We saw just enough of them to want to know more, but not enough to find out anything important, or little enough to let them completely fade away into the background.

Okay, let me start by saying that I did not realized that this was a reprint until I started reading, and was overwhelmed by the 80's feel. Tempestuous Eden was originally published in the Candlelight Ecstasy Supreme series in the 80's, and while it does not show in all parts of the books, it certainly left some impact. There is definitely some sexism here, and some 'just trust me' moments that I had to shake my head at. Although, I cut my romance reading teeth on romance from the 70's and 80's, the body hair and  manly attitudes do not feel like the strong alpha males that I really do enjoy, rather like the chauvinist 'gentleman' that I generally have to avoid kicking when they speak to me in the real world. Wow, it really did not bother me as much while I was reading as you might think by reading this, but on looking back on a cranky Monday morning it all seems much worse.

I recommend Tempestuous Eden to fans of Graham that might want to be reminded of her earlier work and the heroes found in 80's romance.It brings home just how much romance, and I as a reader, have changed over the years.