The Dark Garden

A Novel

By: Eden Bradley

Narrated by: Madison Cole

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

If you loved Fifty Shades of Grey...get ready to enter The Dark Garden - a deliciously potent tale of one woman's quest for self-discovery.

Rowan Cassidy likes to be in charge - especially in her personal life. As a mistress at Club Privé, the most exclusive bondage/S & M club on the West Coast, Rowan can live out her dominant fantasies safely, and with complete control - until the night Christian Thorne walks in. Self-confident and sophisticated, he's a natural dominant if Rowan's ever seen one. Yet she can't stop thinking about him and imagining his touch.

Christian has returned home, hoping to break free from his dissatisfaction and malaise - and discovers the cure in Rowan. He's dying to get his skilled hands on her and watch her surrender, to unlock the mystery of her that captivates him. Determined to be her master, he makes Rowan a daring proposition: give herself over to him for 30 days.

Rowan finds Christian's offer terrifying - and impossible to resist. But abandoning herself to Christian's power might be more than she can handle.... Or it might be the realization of her true nature and the dark garden within her. There will be only one way to find out….

Bestselling and award-winning author Eden Bradley writes dark, edgy erotica and erotic romance (as both Eden Bradley and Eve Berlin). Two of her books have been Romantic Times Top Picks, and her novel Forbidden Fruit was profiled in Cosmopolitan's Red Hot Reads column in 2008. The Dark Garden hit the top paperback fiction charts in the UK. Eden has appeared regularly on Playboy Radio and conducts workshops on writing craft and writing about sex. As someone who has been involved in BDSM practice for much of her adult life, she relates in particular to her BDSM and kink stories, infusing them with her own truth about kink practice from her life experiences. Visit EdenBradley.com or her group blog Smutketeers.com.

©2012 Eden Bradley (P)2012 Random House Audio

One of My First Books in This Genre

Would you listen to The Dark Garden again? Why?

Eventually...I think the 'shock value' and intrigue of this book may have diminished some since I've listened to many in this style since my first listen.

Which scene was your favorite?

A deliciously potent tale of one woman’s quest for self-discovery.

Rowan Cassidy likes to be in charge - especially in her personal life. As a mistress at Club Privé, the most exclusive bondage/S & M club on the West Coast, Rowan can live out her dominant fantasies safely, and with complete control - until the night Christian Thorne walks in. Self-confident and sophisticated, he’s a natural dominant if Rowan’s ever seen one. Yet she can’t stop thinking about him and imagining his touch.

Christian has returned home, hoping to break free from his dissatisfaction and malaise - and discovers the cure in Rowan. He’s dying to get his skilled hands on her and watch her surrender, to unlock the mystery of her that captivates him. Determined to be her master, he makes Rowan a daring proposition: give herself over to him for 30 days.

Rowan finds Christian’s offer terrifying - and impossible to resist. But abandoning herself to Christian’s power might be more than she can handle.... Or it might be the realization of her true nature and the dark garden within her. There will be only one way to find out. And once the game has begun, there’s no turning back.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but it took several sessions.

Any additional comments?

Mature themes

Love

Amazing book. Loved it from start to finish and it brought a tear to my eye.

HOT with no plot

I don't think this book is eveyone's cup of tea. If you enjoy steamy sex scenes or stories that involve BDSM then this book is for you. If not, then I would suggest you avoid this one. I didn't really care for the narrator. I thought she was too slow and had to set my iPod to a faster speed. She did a great job with some of the voices but the slow narration really took away from the overall listening experience.
This wasn't the greatest book but wasn't bad either.
5 stars for the HOT sex scenes

2nd story is better than the main story!

There are two stories in the book... The main one is about Rowan and Christian (I think...). I forget the male's name... It was kinda dumb, actually. Rowan was just soooo whinny! She had a bad smex experience when she was younger, that made her a dom...but actually she is really a sub at heart. Christian make a bet with her for her to submit for 30 days. Their story is really kinda boring... and just eh! I mean the smex was good..but the story surrounding them was so irritating.

Now the 2nd story which is woven in between the main story... (as both stories is going on at the same time)...was so much better. Decker and April.

April was a shy sub and Decker a reknown dom at the main BDSM club in the story. Decker gives great scenes and is really experienced... he invites April to his home for a private scene and April falls in love. So does Decker, but he refuse to admit it.

As April and Decker story is not the main story, you only get bits here and there between Rowan and Christian's story, as Rowan and April are friends.

Narration was pretty good..

I would say, a good sale... don't waste your credit or buy on this, as you will be disappointed in the main story. You will only want to re-listen to Decker and April's story... so save your credit or buy for something with possible re-listen to quality.

Self doubt heroin issue dragged on and on

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, it does not have a strong plot. Heroin's problem just dragged on and on in the story. Supporting characters' story were much better.

Would you ever listen to anything by Eden Bradley again?

Maybe

Could you see The Dark Garden being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No

All About Personal Discovery

This book is a journey of self-discovery and acceptance focused around two different couples.It's well written BDSM though the beginning feels like a "how to" guide. But once it starts rolling, I was captivated by the struggles and insecurities of the characters. Definitely if you like erotic romance, this is a good read.

Madison Coles Narration was AWESOME!

What did you love best about The Dark Garden?

story was good. Narrator was good at differentiating characters voices so it was easy to tell who was speaking.

LOVE WILL OUT

What made the experience of listening to The Dark Garden the most enjoyable?

Happy endings of course (for me).

What did you like best about this story?

I'm always up for a tortured soul or two in a book along with some (quite a bit in this novel) BDSM. BDSM is always a turn on for me (pun intended) but there has to be a good story behind it. Sex for sex sake doesn't cut it. The story was good, could have been better, though, especially between April and Dekker, but overall a good listen.

Have you listened to any of Madison Cole’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. I believe she could have done better with the male voices although she did wonderful with Dekker's accent.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not sure.

An Erotic love story

If you could sum up The Dark Garden in three words, what would they be?

Erotic, Hot and Consuming

What other book might you compare The Dark Garden to and why?

Fifty Shades, except in this story the BDSM is an acceptable lifestyle. I loved Fifty Shades, but there was too much shame and confusion about BDSM, while it was embraced it was not a true acceptance of the lifestyle.

The Dark Garden is love story set within the BDSM lifestyle,an acceptance embraced by all players, of lovers finding their way and fighting hard for what they want.

Which character – as performed by Madison Cole – was your favorite?

Decker, I wanted more on him an April

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I never wanted to stop listening and when I had to stop, I kept thinking of it.

Any additional comments?

A journey of self-discovery, love and acceptance .This is well written BDSM story about 2 couples falling in love, while fighting their own demons and insecurities.
If you love BDSM stories then this is a must read, the only negative I could find, is I wanted a bit more on the secondary characters April and Decker
I loved Christian's honesty and Rowan's Journey.

What a GREAT find after 50 Shades!

This was a little treasure! I loved that the main character, Rowan is a strong secure female. She is thrown off balance when she meets a main determined to top her. I also love the side story with April.

Absolutely worth the CREDIT!