Garden of Eden by Missy Mills will have you wondering how a relationship that is so precarious can leave such a lasting impression on not on the characters involved but you the reader. From the beginning, we have doubts, but are intrigued by the possibilities: "I don’t remember what we talked about that first night, I’m sure we both lied. I can only recall him wanting me to see his place. I declined; it was the southern thing to do, knowing I would take him up on the next invite."
Angela is a woman who on her own is a force to be dealt with, and, with Sundaygar, they are a story you are hard-pressed to put down. Mills deftly draws a picture of characters we can recognize in our own lives.
Angela is a black creative with her own recognized and possibly reveled in issues, including craving a child of her own. Sundaygar is arrogant with an accent that tickles her ear and her fancy. He stalks into her life unexpectedly, but they are drawn to each other like fast trains approaching. As things progress, feelings of suspicion, insecurity, animosity build alongside passion, hope, and affection. Two people that seemingly should not fit become an entanglement that brings out the secrets and unexplored shadows they both hide.
Garden of Eden is no walk in the park, but it takes you down a path you willingly go to find out how it all ends.
Anondra Williams