Wednesday, July 23, 2014

If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones

If I Were You

I received a copy in return for an honest review. Thank you to Miss Jones and Simon & Schuster for this opportunity.

Synopsis via Miss Jones website:

How It All Started…

One day I was a high school teacher on summer break, leading a relatively uneventful but happy life. Or so I told myself. Later, I’d question that, as I would question pretty much everything I knew about me, my relationships, and my desires. It all began when my neighbor thrust a key to a storage unit at me. She’d bought it to make extra money after watching some storage auction show. Now she was on her way to the airport to elope with a man she barely knew, and she needed me to clear out the unit before the lease expired.

Soon, I was standing inside a small room that held the intimate details of another woman’s life, feeling uncomfortable, as if I was invading her privacy. Why had she let these items so neatly packed, possessions that she clearly cared about deeply, be lost at an auction? Driven to find out by some unnamed force, I began to dig, to discover this woman’s life, and yes, read her journals—dark, erotic journals that I had no business reading. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I read on obsessively, living out fantasies through her words that I’d never dare experience on my own, compelled by the three men in her life, none of whom had names. I read onward until the last terrifying dark entry left me certain that something had happened to this woman. I had to find her and be sure she was okay.

Before long, I was taking her job for the summer at the art gallery, living her life, and she was nowhere to be found. I was becoming someone I didn’t know. I was becoming her.

The dark, passion it becomes…

Now, I am working at a prestigious gallery, where I have always dreamed of being, and I’ve been delivered to the doorstep of several men, all of which I envision as one I’ve read about in the journal. But there is one man that will call to me, that will awaken me in ways I never believed possible. That man is the ruggedly sexy artist, Chris Merit, who wants to paint me. He is rich and famous, and dark in ways I shouldn’t find intriguing, but I do. I so do. I don’t understand why his dark side appeals to me, but the attraction between us is rich with velvety promises of satisfaction. Chris is dark, and so are his desires, but I cannot turn away. He is damaged beneath his confident good looks and need for control, and in some way, I feel he needs me. I need him.

All I know for certain is that he knows me like I don’t even know me, and he says I know him. Still, I keep asking myself — do I know him? Did he know her, the journal writer, and where is she? And why doesn’t it seem to matter anymore? There is just him and me, and the burn for more.

If I Were You is the first installment of the Inside Out erotic romance trilogy that has actually turned into a multi-book series. And OMG! does it make a splash! Or should I say a CANNONBALL!

So. when I first read the synopsis I was very intrigued. I was expecting the main character to start the story by reading entries into the diaries. Well, I was somewhat disappointed. And then Sara's story started developing. It went from 0-60 in seconds flat when Miss Jones started telling Sara's story.
Sara's burst of daring when she decided to go to the gallery where Rebecca, the person who wrote the diaries, worked. Sara wanted to give Rebecca her property back. But when Sara gets there, her life takes a whole new turn. First she meets the gallery owner, Mark. Mark makes her feel like she should just turn over control of her life and body to him, just by looking at him and talking to him. Then she meets Chris. Chris is an artist. Sara knows his work inside and out, but Chris is nothing like she imagined he would ever be.
As Sara's story unfolds, she and Chris jump into a relationship that neither can define. It is HOT, STEAMY, confusing, and goes beyond any relationship either has ever encountered. Together they start to traverse unknown territory while dark secrets lurk in their past.

I was SO hooked from the time Sara and Chris met. The sex scenes are toe-curling, but not the kind that make you fee like you need a cleansing shower afterward (maybe a cold shower!). But there is meat to this story. Sara and Chris are characters that you want to see stay together, but Mark is someone you just can't make your mind up about. The story line keeps you interested, wanting more; yet the sex is just a natural succession to what is happening in the story.
And to tell the truth, Chris is a character that most women will start dreaming is the type of man that will sweep them off their feet and against a picturesque window!
I can not wait to get going on the next book.
If you could give more than 5 stars, this would earn them!! This is a must read!!!!
Happy Reading!

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