Review: Layers and Puzzle Pieces
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2014
So, I've had this book on my kindle since it was released last year because I was really intrigued by the blurb. As with many, many people, life got in the way and it just kept getting overlooked. Then I got an email from the lovely Nikki McCarver asking if I would like to take part in an upcoming blog tour. I saw what book it was for and jumped all over it. I have had passing encounters on the internet with Renea Mason through social websites and blogs and she is just a wonderfully available author, which just makes her an all star in my book. Anyway, enough background now I can get to the self flagellation for not reading this MARVELOUS book sooner. (Although to be honest, if I had read it sooner, I would have a much longer and more agonizing wait for the next book.)This book was so many different things that I don't know where to begin. I view it now as a written jigsaw puzzle. The BIG picture keeps changing with each new piece that's put into place. There is absolutely no place where the reader can become complacent in this book. Example, when I was beginning the book, I was absolutely NOT in Cyril's fan club. In fact, I spent a lot of time devising torture methods for Linden to use on his butt. It soooo totally turned around, ugh.... His story just broke my heart. He isn't all sweetness and light, but then none of these characters are. That's what makes this book so wonderful. Layers and puzzle pieces added just when you think you can get comfortable with the scenario....... WHAM!!! Let's just say once I settled in for the ride, I could have read a book three times as long and still wanted more. I don't know why I had the impression that this was an EROTIC novel. I mean it is very, very HOT and doesn't lack for naughty parts, but it is such a tiny, tiny part of the story. This is honestly not like anything I've read before, and I have read libraries full of books. What I didn't realize at the time was that the ingenious Renea Mason was laying the foundation for a MONSTER series. I kept thinking this was a very good book, but I thought I had a clue as to where it was going. Then those puzzle pieces started piling up again.So, I was starting to slow my reading pace because I knew I was getting to the end and I was starting to worry a little bit. This ending is going to be really rushed I was thinking to myself. And then the unthinkable happens.....The bane of every series reader on the planet. You know what I'm talking about, although I refuse to write that which should never be written. That which 100% guarantees that I am among the first to read the next book. Mmmmm-hmmmm, you know. My hue and cry shook the rafters. Dastardly villainess! Yes, you Renea Mason. You have thrown down the gauntlet, and I accept your challenge. You have snared this very picky reader with your unique characters, very steamy romance and the promise of more deliciousness to come. Brava.