Eden Baylee - Seal of a Monk

Monday, February 29, 2016

4. Seal of a Monk by Eden Baylee (2015)
Kindle Worlds Novella: The Lei Crime Series Book 2
Length: 92 pages 
Genre: Short Story 
Started: 27 February 2016
Finished: 29 February 2016
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Eden Baylee for sending me a copy of this book to read from Amazon.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 28 July 2015
Why do I have it? I like short stories and have read and enjoyed A Snake in Paradise by this author in the past.

Madelaine Lee - a divorced bank fraud management consultant - has spent the past year and several months dreaming about returning to Hawaii. Despite the terror she experienced during her last trip there, Lainey cannot deny that the beauty of the island paradise still calls to her. She imagines that the ancient jungles of Kauai could provide the perfect setting for self-discovery.

To celebrate her upcoming fiftieth birthday, Lainey decides to treat herself by booking another trip to Hawaii. This time she is returning in the capacity of mentor and guide for a silent meditation course on the Coconut Coast. Twenty-five women - including her best friend's troubled eighteen-year-old daughter, Kristin - will be under her care for the next ten days in a beautiful and remote location.

Lainey expects to find inner peace - for herself, as well as for the students under her tutelage. For the next few days, the ladies are introduced to the basics of meditation and set on the correct path toward enlightenment. However, four days into the course, one of the meditation students - Kristin - disappears without a trace...

As Lainey frantically tries to discover what happened to the girl, her mind is filled with numerous questions. Did Kristin leave of her own volition, or was she lured away somehow? Lainey is desperate for answers to these questions - especially when she learns of the existence of a secretive community calling itself 'TruthWay'. Ostensibly, 'TruthWay' seems to be hosting a course fairly  similar to Lainey's - open to anyone who might be seeking spiritual enlightenment - yet, she can't help but be slightly suspicious of the community's cult-like behavior.

As her desperation grows, she finds help from an unexpected source - a retired Navy SEAL named Maximillian Scott. Now, Lainey has two mysteries to solve: what actually happened to the missing teenager and can she possibly overcome her fear of what happened to her in the past. Can Lainey ever trust a man again?

This is actually the second novella that I've read by Ms. Baylee and I must say that I absolutely loved it. I loved the plot of the story, and appreciated that even though the novella was written within the same world as Toby Neal's Lei Crime Series, it was an entirely new and different story. I enjoyed reading another mystery featuring such a strong character as Lainey Lee - I could really appreciate how much she had grown since I read A Snake in Paradise in May of 2015. I give this novella an A+!

In fact, this is the second of six recently released Kindle World Novellas set within the Lei Crime Series that I've had the pleasure of reading. I still have three more novellas from the July of 2015 batch of releases set on my TBR pile and ready to read. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

A+! - (96-100%)

May you read well and often

2 comments:

Eden Baylee said...


Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I am honored by your thorough summation and could not be more thrilled that you enjoyed the story!

It's the greatest feeling to know you discovered the nuances of the story. Your words mean the world to me, thank you again.


xo
eden

Emeraldfire said...

You are more than welcome for the review, Ms. Baylee, and thank you so much for your kind comments as well! Thank you for stopping by my blog.