Book Reviews: If I Were You and Being Me (Inside Out Trilogy) by Lisa Renee Jones

Hi people! Back with books. I found many books since my last post and I am happy to announce that I'm out from my withdrawal. Reason? Three novels and one novella I've read for the last four days. And yup! ALL OF THEM ARE GOOD NOVELS!

            The first novel I've read in these four days was The Do-Over which is an amazing work by an author who wrote The Other C-Word. I would talk about this book later because I want to talk about the Inside Out Trilogy first.

            The Inside Out Trilogy has three books consisting of If I Were You, Being Me and Revealing Us. I haven't got the chance to read the last book but overall, I am satisfied with the first two books. Hell, even 'satisfied' is not the right word to describe what I felt when I read these books. As usual, SPOILERS ALERT!

           I've had the first book, If I Were You bookmarked in Goodreads because I was attracted to its description of the story, as follow:

When Sara McMillan finds a stack of journals in a storage unit, she’s shocked and enthralled by the erotic life the writer led. Unable to stop reading, she vicariously lives out dark fantasies through Rebecca, the writer—until the terrifying final entry.

Certain something sinister has happened, Sara sets out to discover the facts, immersing herself in Rebecca’s life. Soon she’s working at the art gallery Rebecca worked at and meeting Rebecca’s friends. Finding herself drawn to two dangerously sexy men, the manager of the gallery and a famed artist, Sara realizes she’s going down the same path Rebecca took. But with the promise of her dark needs being met by a man with confident good looks and a desire for control, she’s not sure anything else matters. Just the burn for more.



          So, the story of Sara McMillan living the life of Rebecca Mason begins. Sara found Rebecca's journals through her neighbour, Ella. Then, she got absorbed into the story and feared something had happened to Rebecca. So, she went to the gallery where Rebecca worked sales manager to find out more about her. There, she met two men, which the description describes as 'dangerously sexy men' and they are. One of them is Mark Compton, the owner of the gallery and the other guy is Chris Merit, an artist (painter).

“Other people’s perfection is a facade we create when we are second guessing ourselves” -- Sara, If I Were You.

           Both of these men oozed dominance (see where I'm going with this story?) and power. Especially Mark. Chris, who is a famous artist, hid his real identity from Sara during their first meeting. Sara knew art and she adored Merit's works. After helping a couple buying a painting by Merit, Sara offered Mark to replace Rebecca's place in that gallery. And things went on from there...
 
           If you're wondering why this certain book managed to pull me from Fifty Shades's withdrawal, then you don't know what this story is about. If you guess BDSM on the other hand, then you're right. Though I have to say that this book has little thing to do with BDSM. The couple did no bondage play other than spankings and usage of nipple rings. That's it! No flogger. No handcuffs. No whips and canes (maybe a little of canes). No blindfolded-while-some-Thomas-Tallis's-songs-on-speaker-in-a-womb-coloured-playroom. They didn't even have a playroom.

           Though at first, I though Mark is a lot more attractive than Chris, due to his supreme dominance-aura of course, it turns out Chris was more of a charmer than Mark. If Mark is Christian Grey pre-Ana, then, Chris is Christian Grey post-Ana. Which made Chris is the type of Christian Grey I loved the most. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, here we go. Mark is like a cold, impassive, unreadable, distant kinda guy. Meanwhile Chris, although he has his times being unreadable or impassive, he has his soft spot. He has his times where he reminds me of the vulnerable Christian. In fact, he reminds me a lot of him.

The familiar voice tingles along my nerve endings and blood rushes to my cheeks. No. Please. Do not let this be happening. He squats in front of me, and my gaze locks on his powerful thighs where his hands rest. Strong, artistic hands that are holding napkins for my spill. Slowly, my gaze lifts to find a set of alluringly green eyes belonging to Chris Merit staring into mine. Once again, this famous, gorgeous man is squatting on the ground in an effort to help me recover from a mishap. -- Sara, If I Were You.

“Losing control and you taking it from me are two different things, Sara. You won't ever take it from me.” -- Chris, If I Were You

           Other than its similarity with Fifty Shades Trilogy, I also love the author's writing style. I love that she plays with words and uses metaphor in delivering the lines. It took quite some times for me to read both of her books because I wanted to understand completely and dissolve myself entirely in the beauty of her words. Though sometimes I did lost in translation. But it was a pretty damn amazing work of hers.

“The rush of fear is far better than the defeat of boredom. The high of not knowing what comes next, so much better than always knowing one day will be like the last.”  -- Rebecca, If I Were You.

           Besides that, I also love the suspense in this book. Gosh, you should've read this book to understand the suspense I am talking about here. It was amazing. I have never read a suspense or a mystery book that really could seep into my heart like this one (mainly because I prefer romance than mystery genre), and it gave me chills and goosebumps somewhere in the story. The author is brilliant in depicting Rebecca as an enigma. Sara kept talking about Rebecca along these two books and the longer she kept talking about her, the more mysterious and curious I became of this woman. Have you watched 'Dude, Where Is My Car?' film before? It gave me that sense of feeling when she's looking for Rebecca as the two dudes in the film try to look for their car. It just that the book is not that humourous as it is a dark and angsty book.

We are two messed-up people destined to destroy each other, but I can't walk away. No. Can't isn't the issue. I simply don't want to. -- Sara, If I Were You.

          So, the second book..

Fascinated by the dark fantasies in the journals she’s discovered, and the two men who have now found a place in her life, Sara McMillan finds herself torn between her new life and her past. Now, more than ever, Sara identifies with the lost journal writer, Rebecca, and is certain that something sinister has happened.

In the arms of the sexy, tormented artist Chris Merit, Sara seeks answers about Rebecca and ends up discovering things about herself she never knew existed. Chris forces Sara to reconsider who she is and what she truly wants from life, but not before his dark desires threaten to tear them apart. Her boss, Mark Compton, offers her the shelter to understand just what those needs mean to her, and what they might have meant to Rebecca, but can she trust him to lead her to a final conclusion to Rebecca’s story?

          In the second book, we got to know a lot more about Sara's past and a glimpse at Chris's. The first book, If I Were You ended with a cliffhanger (a big one, I might add) but since I already had the second book at that time in my hand, it didn't affect me too much. Though, it was an awful cliffhanger. Thank goodness.

         In the last part of the first book, it was revealed to Sara that Mark owned a BDSM club and Chris was a customer to that club. So, that was a little part of Chris Merit that we got to know. After that, Sara demanded space and time away from Chris. Chris flew to L.A. for a charity event and left Sara alone.

         One way or another, they got back together again. Chris worried about Sara's safety due to an earlier incident and there was also Sara's insecurity.

My voice softens. “But you’re right; I should have told you where I was going. I’m sorry to make you worry.” 

“Damn it, Sara.” He twines his fingers in my hair and lowers his mouth one hot breath from mine. “You are the reason I take my next breath,” he whispers. “Why can’t you see that?” 

His question steals the last of my anger. I soften against him, my fingers curving around his jaw. 

“Let’s go home, baby.” He kisses my forehead. “I have something to show you.” 

          Then, come the big bomb about Sara's past. She was, kinda like cliche nowadays, raped by her ex-fiancee and that made her hated herself. I do understand why she hated herself though. Both Chris and Sara got through this.

We just hold each other. Where I was once lost, he’s found me. But I know now that I have only begun to truly discover Chris. He’s still lost. -- Sara, If I Were You.

        Then, it was the turn for Chris's past to haunt them. You know, Chris really didn't speak a lot about his past. He condemned that if Sara found out about his past, Sara would leave him. Undoubtedly. Doesn't he remind you of someone? I didn't even know a lot about his past to even talk about his past. So, I can't say, other than read it yourself.

“The reasons people enjoy our play here vary. Most of us simply find it an adrenaline rush and a pleasurable escape. Chris isn’t about pleasure. He’s about punishing himself.” 

“Damn it, Mark, show me.” 

His lips tighten and he punches the button on the remote. The screen comes to life. I hear Chris before I see him, his raspy, harsh breathing. I try to process what I’m seeing. Chris is inside a round concrete cell, shirtless, wearing only his jeans. His arms are outstretched and tied to some kind of poles. He isn’t wearing a mask, but the woman standing behind him from a small boxed window at the top of the monitor is. She’s in some kind of leather barely-there outfit with high boots, and oh, God. I cover my mouth and jump as she lays a harrowing strike of a whip against Chris’s back. His body jerks with the impact. 

“Harder!” Chris snarls, sweat gathering on his forehead. “Fucking hit me like you mean it, or send someone in who can do the job.” 

She hits him again. He bucks under the lash and then laughs bitterly. “Are you the pussy or am I?” 

The woman pulls the whip back, and I shout, “No! No more!” I dart for the door and yank it open and Mark doesn’t stop me. I enter the dungeon’s circle from behind Chris and the sight of Chris’s welts, bleeding down his back, is almost too much to bear.

         Yup, he's like that. Sadly but yes. And I didn't even know frigging why! So, after that scene up there, Chris pushed Sara away and they kinda broke up for a week. Then, he came back. With an ultimatum. Go to Paris with him and she'll get to know his past.

“This is who I am, Sara. I will protect you from everything and everyone else, but I can’t protect you from who I am or who we will be if you stay with me.” 

“I know who you are,” I whisper, and I am more clear of mind than I have been in a very long time. I need him. I’ve needed him from the moment I first met him. Even then, that first night, I felt free to let go with him, to be me, when I didn’t even recognize me. “But you need to know this, Chris. I know who I am now, too. I know what I need to stay with you. If you own my body, I own yours.” I’ve walked away from too much to be willing to settle for less than everything now.

          There you go. That's how the second book ended. Oh, how love the book... I didn't want to believe it, but at the end of the book, it was assumed that Rebecca was already dead killed by Mark's jealous sub. So, yeah.. Oh and, there's still more mystery to this story. Such as Ella's whereabouts. I mean like, she had nothing to do with the story and her disappearance speaks volume to me. Something is still wrong. And I can't wait until I find the last book.

“I need him to know that I want to understand him because he matters, because we matter. Because life made me believe that what is blossoming between us wasn’t possible, but maybe, just maybe, it is.” 

          That is all for today. This book got a full 5 stars from me. One of my favourite. It is my first BDSM-esque book that I love post-Fifty Shades, you know. I tried Bared to You and I hate it. I hate Gideon. I'm sorry people but I just can't click with him. I didn't pick that story up again since the last time I read it 5 months ago. Then, I tried In Flight. I hate James and you betcha I hate Bianca more. Urghh. Not my cup of tea. But somehow, I was captured captive by If I Were You series. I love the suspense, I love writing style, I love Sara, and despite his infatuation with pain, I love Chris Merit. There's so many good points about this book. And damn if their smexy scenes aren't hot that it made me feel like melted butter and dripping chocolate (love that phrase!).

           Until later, people. Bye!

Melted Butter and Dripping Chocolate Girl,

Liely

P.S. I freaking love the covers for the books!!! It's so pretty. Silks and women really go well with each other, huh?