Dr. Lucas Hudson is a doctor in the small town of Blackhawk, Iowa, who is acting as medical examiner in the absence of the usual coroner when he's called to the scene of what appears to be an open and shut suicide. Before everyone can sign off on the death, though, the body of a young woman is unearthed from the barn floor just below the hanging body. Lucas is having some really serious issues in his life and in his marriage, but this discovery offers hope that things can turn around for him and his wife.

Years before Lucas even knew about Blackhawk, Iowa, fourteen year old Meg Painter met Dylan Reid, the new boy in town. They became the closest of friends that summer before her first year in high school. He made her feel things she never had imagined she could. But Jess, her neighbor, was the safest choice for her and he made his interest clear. Even though Meg spent two years as Jess' girlfriend, she never forgot Dylan or the way she had felt about him.

The choices that Meg made in her past collide head on with Lucas in the present. The question is whether or not their intersection of past and present will bring peace and happiness to anyone.

It's hard to talk about SLEEPING IN EDEN without giving away too much information. The various twists and turns in the plot are what make it such a special and captivating read.

Suffice it to say that, from the first page, I was drawn into the story of Lucas and Meg. It begins in the present and then travels to the past to cover events that lead up to the stunning climax of the story. While it took a while to understand how these two very different stories related to each other, once everything was explained, I was left slack jawed.

SLEEPING IN EDEN is a great mystery and there's definitely an element of suspense. I became quite involved in the fictional lives of these characters and hoped that all would end well. Filled with bittersweet events, I found myself moving from concern to hopefulness to an ending of happiness and sadness intertwined.

Well written with three dimensional characters that you'll come to love and, possibly, hate, along the way, SLEEPING IN EDEN is one of those special books that you get lucky enough to be a part of and will be grateful that you had the opportunity.