Review: This entire story was literally like Christmas day for me!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 23, 2013
This is the first book I've ever read by Renea Mason. I won this book in a contest, but it won't sway my review whatsoever.The Review:Before I began reading, I wasn't really sure what to expect. The title threw me off a little bit as to what this book would hold within it. But the words "One woman. Seven men." hooked me like a horny little fish and the rest of the book reeled me in and mounted me to the wall. (Pun not intended...well...it wasn't at first.)The book starts off with Linden making her rounds to prospective donors trying to raise funds to renovate a concert hall.  She is approached by a man who introduces himself as Morgan Peters, but she vividly remembers him as Cyril Aristin. A man she met and became friends with 10 years prior when she was a teen, and who she ultimately ended up falling in love with, then watched bleed to death. When no body had been discovered, Linden had been told by Michael Green, one of the paramedics on the scene, that it had all been in her head.  Now here Cyril is 10 yrs later, back from the dead. Was he a figment of her imagination again? Or was he really alive?[BOOK QUOTE]I shivered from a resurgence of the strange current that radiated through me earlier. Maybe Cyril wasn't the cause. Maybe I was getting si--He held me against the wall with such strength my feet no longer touched the ground. Supported by the crushing force of his body, the compression caused my breasts to escape an already bulging blouse, and mashed my nipples against the horrid paint. His chest rose and fell against my back. He spoke, not with the same American accent he tried to deceive me with earlier, but rather the tones of the British Isles mixed with something ancient and familiar. "Who are you?" His breath, hot against my ear, and a soft, rich voice contrasted with the violence of the leg wedged between my thighs.He restrained my hands above my head in the steel grasp of his fist. I attempted to answer him, but couldn't force enough air into my lungs. He growled. His chest rumbled.The intense heat of his body was a dramatic contrast to the cold wall on my exposed skin. My nipples hardened to painful peaks. He brought his free hand to my throat, cradling it in warning. The next moment he spoke in low, punctuated notes. "Who...the...f***...are...you?" The words reverberated, sustaining the menace.I managed only a whimper, too shocked to form complete words. His grip loosened, but he did not release me. I swallowed hard. "Lin--""I know your name, Mrs. Green. Don't take me for a fool. Now tell me why you have seen fit to steal from me?" He inhaled a sharp breath. "How dare you take what was not freely given. Do you have any idea what you have done..."[/BOOK QUOTE]Mmm yummy!  I guess he's alive and well. Question is, why doesn't he remember her? And what does he think she stole?[BOOK QUOTE]I need to know how you did it? Are you one of Myghal's? Tell me!"I had no doubt about his conviction. He was dead serious. I trembled. Wetness flowed freely from my eyes as anger consumed me. Like a woman possessed, I couldn't stop myself. Sealing my fate, I rambled, "What about me, you b*****d? How dare you demand answers? It's been ten years. I watched you die! I would have given my life to save you." I panted. "What are you?"He shifted and his grip softened.My body shook. I sucked air through my teeth. "They found me covered in blood, with no explanation. The police thought I staged everything for attention, assuming it was a suicide attempt, because all evidence, including your body, disappeared. The only thing they saw was my sliced wrist. If not for Michael, they would have taken me to the psych ward."He showed no emotion, but his attention remained focused on my lips."The coma lasted seven months. Not one doctor could explain it. A psychotic break, they called it." Tears cascaded over my cheeks and landed on the tops of my breasts. "Michael tried to convince me you didn't exist. I suffered your death in silence. No one believed me, but in my soul, I knew you were real." A sob caught in my throat, but I choked it back. My body stiffened, steeling my resolve. "So, f*** you! Go ahead. Kill me. I don't care. Because what you did to me makes dying the lesser of two evils. You cursed me.[/BOOK QUOTE]As the story goes on, surprises unfold, memories are revealed and secrets are discovered.This entire story was literally like Christmas day for me. Why? Because it was one of the most pleasant, wonderful surprises I've opened in a very long time and I was jumping around like a kid at this amazing discovery.I am a huge and I mean HUGE fan of Alexandra Ivy's Guardians of Eternity Series, this has that same essence, but it's very much its own wonderful concoction.  It's different, it's unique, it's completely and utterly special and I am in love. As soon as I finished this book(which by the way I didn't put down from start to finish) I immediately went to amazon.com, fully prepared to lay down my hard-earned money for more books in this series.  Instead I found that Renea Mason has yet to publish more...but GUESS WHAT!! She's in the process of writing book number 2 in the series!! Haaaalllelujiiiaaah!!!I think, hope, feel this series has serious potential to be right up there with my favorite authors of all time.  She's taken the paranormal genre and made it her own. It's paranormal, mixed with erotica, action, suspense, comedy and everything in between. It is seriously one of a kind.If you love Alexandra Ivy, Lara Adrian, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynsay Sands, Laura Wright, and all those other amazing paranormal authors that I absolutely love with all my heart...then you will LOVE Renea Mason and her brand new "Symphony of Light" Series.I honestly tear up when I think of the potential this bright star has and I'm so excited to sit back, watch her light up the sky and set the paranormal world on fire.  That is why I'm making "Symphony of Light and Winter" by Renea Mason my WHAT'S HOT! book of the week!!~Robin(bookreadsandreviews.com)