If I Were You (Inside Out, #1) in Lisa Renee Jones's INSIDERS BOOK GROUP

Oct 15, 2013 Sandy S rated it really liked it · review of another edition

IF I WERE YOU is the first storyline in Lisa Renee Jones new Inside Out Trilogy. There are bound to be comparisons to Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, Crossfire series by Sylvia Day and Beth Kery’s Because You are Mine as the premise focuses on two people whose lives have been haunted by pain and sorrow, and the measures to which they go to in order to dull that pain. The similarities are plenty right down to the BDSM, family secrets, art galleries and issues of control, but there is also an IF I WERE YOU is the first storyline in Lisa Renee Jones new Inside Out Trilogy. There are bound to be comparisons to Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, Crossfire series by Sylvia Day and Beth Kery’s Because You are Mine as the premise focuses on two people whose lives have been haunted by pain and sorrow, and the measures to which they go to in order to dull that pain. The similarities are plenty right down to the BDSM, family secrets, art galleries and issues of control, but there is also an underlying storyline that first presents itself to the heroine as she searches for information about a missing woman who has written a very revealing journal about her personal life.

Sara McMillan is a 28year old high school English Teacher with a Master’s degree in Art. And when her best friend Ella discovers a series of personal journals in a storage unit, Sara’s life will change forever. Rebecca Mason, the author of the journals, has been missing for several months, and hidden within her writings are the clues as to what has happened. Discovering the woman was the marketing director for a prestigious art gallery, Sara finds herself at an exclusive showing with a personal invite from the owner to fill Rebecca’s position. But it is the erotic writings and personal entries that will force Sara to question who is behind Rebecca’s disappearance and why.

Mark Compton is the gallery owner. From wealth and prestige, Mark makes it his mission to train and educate Sara on the ins and outs of the Art business, including the hosting of gallery affairs. But Sara finds herself uncomfortable around Mark especially when the other employees drop hints that Mark likes to be in control. And Sara begins to suspect that Mark has played a major role in Rebecca’s journal entries.

35 year old Chris Merit is a local artist whose works were presently on display at the gallery where Sara was currently working and Chris is a man who rarely reveals anything about himself. During a recent showing, Chris will make a promise to himself to get to know Sara, but he will find himself revealing more information and developing feelings for a woman who had only crossed his path a few evenings before. His attraction to Sara is sexually charged, but there is an underlying need to protect the woman from a path that she may not realize she is heading. But Sara is no wallflower and knows what she wants in life.

Chris has a secret that both he and Mark share. Although not friends, they are acquaintances in business but their paths cross into a world that Sara is unable to comprehend. As troubled as Sara’s past has been and the secrets that she refuses to reveal, Chris’s revelations will confuse and add more sorrow to Sara’s life. Believing she was falling in love with Chris, Sara will begin to question what is behind the man to whom she is losing her heart.

IF I WERE YOU is a sexually seductive and erotic storyline that ends abruptly with many unanswered questions that beg to be addressed. But this is a trilogy after all, and with each successive novel, more will be revealed and questions will be answered. The secondary storyline intertwines itself throughout the novel, as Sara reads the entries from Rebecca’s journals and wonders who or what has caused the mysterious Rebecca so much pleasure and so much pain. Lisa Renee Jones does a wonderful job building up the suspense and the reader is pulled into the storyline right from the very first word in Rebecca’s journal.

Copy supplied by Netgalley
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Aug 30, 2013 Jammie rated it it was amazing

Enthralling Steamy Read! If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones
Thrilling, Entrancing & Spellbinding, and I think that only begins to break the surface in what you get out of If I Were You. I am a new fan of Lisa Renee Jones, it began with Escaping Reality and I loved that book. Which led me to the Inside Out series. And Lisa did not disappoint at all. It was suspenseful enough that you could almost call it a thriller, and that ending whew I’m still reeling from it. Enough so that I want to pick up th Enthralling Steamy Read! If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones
Thrilling, Entrancing & Spellbinding, and I think that only begins to break the surface in what you get out of If I Were You. I am a new fan of Lisa Renee Jones, it began with Escaping Reality and I loved that book. Which led me to the Inside Out series. And Lisa did not disappoint at all. It was suspenseful enough that you could almost call it a thriller, and that ending whew I’m still reeling from it. Enough so that I want to pick up the next book now and its midnight. The story begins with Sara an English high school teacher with a degree and love of art. She is a strong woman of her own making, determined to do things her way. When her best friend Ella elopes she is left with journals that are found in an abandoned storage unit her Ella won at auction and after reading the erotic journals is immediately concerned for Rebecca the girl in the journals. When they abruptly come to an end Sara sets out on her journey to find Rebecca and not only return her journals but her belongings. Which leads Sara to a summer job at an art gallery. And she soon finds 2 men vying for her attention. Mark, her boss. Domineering, overbearing & intimidating, and then there is Chris, and Artist that is sexy, dark & unexpected. But with all of that said he is controlling and refuses to lose that control. He is enamored with Sara immediately as she is with him. They soon find out that they have too many things (wrong things) in common. Including a electrifying connection to one other that they both feel. Vowing that neither one of them was the picket-fence type of person. They soon find out that what they thought they wanted and what is happening between this are two different things. “There is something happening between us and I pray I was wrong last night. I pray it’s not the beginning of two damaged people tearing each other apart” But the real question is who was Rebecca seeing and what has happened to her. And more importantly what is going to happen to her in her search?
✯Jammie
This Review along with others can be found at http://www.2bookaholics.com
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Dec 21, 2012 Kim Perry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-series

Sara is a schoolteacher, but her passion is art. Sara comes into possession of a storage unit that contains the private journals of a woman named Rebecca. Sara is drawn into Rebecca's world after reading part of one of the journals. Sara needs to know exactly what happened to Rebecca. In an effort to find Rebecca, she begins working for an art gallery where she meets Mark Compton, her dominating boss, and Chris Merit, the artist she is immediately drawn to.

As the story unfolds, we learn more abo ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Christina Joyner rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-challenge-2014

This book wasnt as hot as i thought it would be. I really started wishing that the story was about rebecca instead of sara. I do like the mystery about what happened to rebecca and who is the guy rebecca is describing in her journal. The best and most exciting of the book is at the very end. I am hoping the second book will be much more exciting than the first. Im giving it 4 stars bc i believe it has potiential.

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