So, does this make Paradise Lost a kind of fan fiction?

Love has a way of shaking up more than a heart. Lost in Paradise is a journey of personal discovery. It's surprising, sexy and an emotional rollercoaster as well. Nicole is looking to heal a broken heart. Become a new woman. What she finds is love like she's never known before. Lacey takes her talents in an unexpected direction. Out of tragedy comes the courage to be happy.

Milton wrote a great poem but it's also a byproduct of its day - 1667 - and he views events and characters very much through the male gaze; as do all organized religions and which the poem references. Thus, the apple on the tree of knowledge was (imo) something a religious-minded white Portuguese male would regard as sinful. As it stands, the sin no longer applies. It is 2005, eating the apple amounts to doing just that; eating an apple. Unless you have the apple representing something else, i.e., update the sin attached to it.

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

What happens when you mix a half-merman with a reformed siren - all sorts of salty goodness! Ok so that might have been a little over the top, but this was a really great story. Both Zander and Ianthe were incredibly unique, but with just enough of the traditional lore mixed in to merge the two in a very believable manner.

This next edition of The World in Shadows series get very interesting. Winter is on the hunt for an artifact, sending Zander off on the chase. But he'll need a siren (his arch-enemy) to get the job done. He never expects to find Ianthe - probably the only siren on earth that won't kill him on sight - and now he just needs to convince her to join him in the treasure hunt.

Ianthe is so much, I'm not even sure where to begin. I love her personality so much - soft spoken, but quick to laugh, protective but not afraid to fight back or pull a prank or two (quite hilarious). She plays incredibly well off Zander and I just loved them together.

A couple times the story didn't quite live up to what it promised. A scene fizzled out or didn't quite build up the the excitement I felt like it should have. But others....well others went above and beyond and really pulled me away from reality into an amazing world.