*Second Read Revision June 2015* 
 I like Beyond Shame much better the second time around, so I'm going to up my rating to 4 stars from 3. I ended up deciding to do a re-read in order to refresh my memory before diving into book 2. Going into the story this time, knowing that I was going to be entertained with steamy public sex time (and it was what I was in the mood to read instead of sci-fi like the first time I picked up the book), I found myself not caring as much about the hazy world-building, and instead was able to immerse myself in the fantasy of open, free sex in a commune-style environment. 
 *First Read January 2014* 
 Smut-O-Meter Result : Blue Balls the One You're With. 
 Or is that Blue Vag the one you're with? No matter. All I seemed to read was - stop, start, stop, start...there was a lot of "gettin' some" (and gettin' it in public), but not particularly between the two people I wanted to see getting some. 
 The business of erotica is tricky, apparently. 
 I already wrote a super-long review earlier today and another one last night, so I'm gonna bypass any pics or quotes in favor of jotting down some random thoughts. 
 My Rundown : 
 Billed as some sort of dystopic or apocalyptic erotica, Beyond Eden turned out to be a very generic "after the crisis" setting. The environment was dark and gritty, and people had to watch their backs in a world gone mad, but not enough groundwork was laid to really make the reader feel as if they were reading science fiction. I get that this is erotica first, story second, but when my friend Kay commented in our chat : The majority of the time was spent in Sector 4 but felt like it could have been anywhere. I replied : THIS. Exactly. 
 I always feel like it's sort of a cop out when erotica is given a pass to fudge on a genre because of the amount of sex-to-plot ratio, especially when said "sci-fi" erotica wants to go mainstream and not sit among the pile of classic "sci-fi" erotica with Fabio covers and a character named Zorg from the planet Borg taking his 3 penis body to the planet Morg and impregnating all of the pink alien girls. It's 2014. It's still perfectly okay to write an erotic fantasy with nothing but sex-sex-sex, fetish sex, public sex, orgies, whatever. It will sell. But for those of us who actually read non-erotic books from the genre represented, we might scratch our head and think, "who misplaced the sci-fi?" 
 More cohesiveness, please? We went from one scene where Jasper and Dallas are handling their low-down and dirty business for their "gang," then I could almost hear a narrator in my head saying, "...and back at the crib..." because were shaken out of that and back into the swing of Noelle wanting to get laid. 
 Transitions are your friend. 
 Anyway... 
 What I loved : I loved Jasper. I loved the fighting/boxing parts of the story (yes, the trend has been done to death but I still enjoy it). I loved the sketchy gang activity. I loved the gritty living environment. I loved the exhibitionist and free loving fantasy. The open sex was actually a good fantasy to read. 
 Ace and Rachel. I am looking forward to their story. 
 Maddox. Just cause. 
 What didn't work for me : Noelle showing up and Jasper having this instant ownership feeling when she showed no personality other than needing to be freed sexually. What caused the connection? I never saw it. She was clingy and needy and self-sabotaging. Even with her viable reasons for being this way, it didn't make for an interesting character to actually read about and her character growth felt less like growth and more like "oh, it's about damn time you got that common sense concept." 
 Lex was a brat. Dallas was sulky. All of the Lex/Noelle sexuality was never really fleshed out. Again with the blue vag stuff. They played around but didn't fully go there in detail without the guys being part of the inspiration, so it felt like a tease with no *cough* climax. 
 Will I read on? Yes. I heard book 2 had more complexity regarding the world itself, but at least next time I won't be disappointed if it doesn't happen because I'll know what (and what not) to expect. And the author wrote hot sex scenes. Sometimes I'm cool with just reading sex. I'll wait for when I'm in the mood to do just that.