Friday 22 August 2014

Spotlight on Lisa Renee Jones - Bare Naked Words Reviews 8 books in the Inside Out Series






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.

Nicola's Review 5*****

OH.MY.HOLY. MOTHER OF FUCKING HELL!!!!!


That is what I am feeling right about now as I’ve just finished reading.
The ending....

Just....
GAH.....


Seriously, this is a cliff-hanger of hell. It will make you come sooo close to throwing your kindle across the room while screaming bloody murder at it.


 If I Were You’ follows Sara McMillan, a school teacher whose real passion and dream is working with art. After taking possession of a storage unit that belongs to a woman named Rebecca, Sara finds her journals and starts reading them.


From then she is transported in to Rebecca’s erotic and mystery story and her tumultuous relationship with a very enigmatic and controlling Dom named "Master’. As she nears the last entry, Sara becomes increasingly worried about this woman and decides to try and find her, starting off with the art gallery ‘Allure’ where Rebecca worked.


“Something about Rebecca Mason has reached past the pages of that journal and become

personal. I’d become Rebecca while reading those journals. I feel a connection
so intimate to this stranger that it’s downright eerie.”


While there, something happens which results in Sara having theopportunity to fill-in for Rebecca until she ‘returns’; a chance to live her dreams, even if it’s just for the summer, and a much easier way to continue her search for Rebecca...so she keeps trying to tell herself.


“I’d come here to find Rebecca, to make sure she is alive and well. Instead, I am

about to be Rebecca, or, rather, be the marketing director for the gallery. So I
can find Rebecca, I tell myself. Something has happened to Rebecca, and I have
to prove it. That’s why I’m here. No other reason.”


So starts the new life of Sara McMillan. Hold on to your knickers as its going to be a wet ‘n’ wild ride!!!


"Do you know what happens when you push a dragon? They burn

you alive, baby. You're playing with fire."


I absolutely fell in love with Chris. He has an energy that just makes you gravitate towards him. He’s sexy, oh is he sexy. But he’s also got that dark, mysterious look about him that I couldn’t help but love and wonder what his story was. I also loved the fact he didn’t conform to the ‘uppityness’ of the art world. It made him more likeable in my eyes.


The chemistry between him and Sara is beyond explosive. Right from the moment they first meet. And soon they are both delving in to a relationship that is very new and fragile to both of them. Each is struggling with the skeletons in their closet which just makes things tenser. As things get hotter and feelings increase, will it blossom or will there by heartbreak?


“Sara, baby,” he strokes my cheek, “this ‘crazy’ thing you’re making me feel is the

best crazy I’ve felt in a long time. I’m not ready to get go of you. I don’t
know what you’re doing to me, Sara, but please...don’t stop.”


Mark was just intimidating. He had a very stiff, dominant way about him all the time. You didn’t really see him in any other light. But I’m hoping, maybe when the series progresses that we get to see a different, more human side to him.


I absolutely loved reading this book! It was addicting, captivating, seductive and had all the right ingredients to keep me up all night so I could finish reading it. This series really

is in a class of its own, with its twists and turns and mystery, it surprised me with its originality and interesting setting within the world of art.

It will leave you with a million and one questions running around in your head, all to which have not even began to get answered. Ms. Jones has delivered a class A read which you do not want to miss out on.

If this is what the first book is like, then we are in for one hell of a rollercoaster ride with the future instalments.

I CANNOT WAIT!!!


In this stand alone collection connected to the Best Selling Inside
Out Series, you meet Rebecca Mason, the intriguing woman who penned an erotic
journal that changed everyone’s life it touched. This is her story, in her
words.....

Rebecca’s Lost Journals.....




Rebecca Mason has known heartache and sorrow in her life, losing everyone she
loves. She’s on her own in San Francisco, lost in every way, until she dares to
make the decision to chase her dream of working in the art world. It is then
that he meets a rich, seductively powerful man who will become the Master she
never knew she wanted and change her life forever. He will lead her on a dark,
passionate journey where pain is pleasure and pleasure is pain, and where every
limit she once had is no more. In this man, she will find solace to her pain,
an escape from the ache inside her. And in him, she will discover a darkness
she may never escape

Nicola's Review 4****


‘Rebecca’s Lost journals’ is just that. It’s a compilation of all of the journal entries in one instalment, as well as ‘The Master Undone’ as an added bonus at the end. However, you should not read that until after ‘Being Me’.


I read this as soon as I finished ‘If I Were You’ and felt that by reading it as a whole made me feel more connected to Rebecca and what she was going through in her life. We are given an insight to how it all began and we get to see her grow from a shy, timid bartender struggling to make ends meet to a thriving, successful art dealer with a ‘Master’ she never knew she wanted.

“I never thought I’d see the day I would give a man any control over me at all.
Now, my biggest fear is giving one too much.”

Rebecca doesn’t hold back in her writings. You can feel her emotions seeping from the pages. You feel her love for her ‘Master’ as it grows and you also feel her trepidation when he ‘pushes’ her too far.

“I think I’m already falling for him. I think I could fall in love with him. But is a man who is all about Master and sub capable of falling in love? Could he ever be happy with just me?”
***
“I don’t want to set myself up for heartbreak, but maybe it’s too late. Maybe I’m destined to have my heart ripped to pieces by this man---because I know as I write this that I can’t walk away from him.”

But is he capable of falling in love? Could he forget the contract and just be happy with Rebecca the way she is?

“I thought we could heal together. I thought we’d find love together—but he says love is a facade that twists people in knots.... Love isn’t a facade, but yes it does twist you in knots. And he is completely wrong about love destroying what it touches. Its people who do that. And I fear that is where this is headed for me.”


I loved how she keeps the mystery behind ‘him’—the ‘Master’. I loved the guessing game, although I did have a good feeling who her Master was. It makes it more of an intriguing read, which you want more of just to see if you find out.


I really enjoyed this insight to how Rebecca’s journals and story came to and I hope that we get more journal entries in the future books of the series.

I’m also intrigued to find out if I’m right about my suspicions’ of who the ‘Master’ is.



The sexy second instalment in the Inside Out erotic romance
trilogy, following
If I Were You—in the seductive tradition
of
Fifty Shades of Grey.



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?

Nicola's 4 * Review

Yet again, Lisa has completely blown me away with her ability to write
an exhilarating, and emotional story that will keep you reading until the very
last word. I could not put this book down in case I missed something important.
 

We are pulled back in to Sara’s world right were ‘If I Were You’ left off. Sarah and Chris’s future is looking rather unsettled right about now as Sara struggles with Chris’s dominance. She’s
had that in her life before, so between that and reading Rebecca’s journals
she’s determined not to let that be her downfall. She refuses to be weak and
manipulated. But she is desperate for him to come back to her. She knows she
loves him, and doesn’t want to live without him.
But maybe, just maybe, Chris can help her see past this and help Sara
discover who she truly is. They go through struggles throughout the book in
hopes to discover the middle ground in which they both will be happy.

“I’ve always known we were two puzzle pieces that fit together in a hollow that is
our pain. There was a time when I was certain we were too damaged not to
destroy each other. Now I think we are saving each other.”

That, of course means there is going to be sex, and a lot of it. Let’s
just say....
HOLY COW!!!! I swear they will have you clenching your thighs together and reaching for the ice bucket.

“You’re going to climb onto the centre of the bed on your hands and knees, Sara. Once you’re there, I’m going to spank you only six times, fast and hard, and then fuck you until
we both come.”

 ‘Being Me’ is a story of Sara’s struggling at finding herself in a world where she once thought she didn’t belong; a journey of self-discovery and finally chasing after her dreams. And the man who has stolen her heart and made her feel alive.

“He floats inside me and completes me, and for the first time in my life I have a sense
of being in a relationship, rather than being alone or possessed.”

This truly is a captivating, mysterious and HOT read. It will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions inside a dark and tormented world where pain and pleasure are a fine line apart and love is the biggest gamble of all.I cannot wait for the next instalment and to see what Ms. Jones has in
store for us.



*** The Master Undone is a part of the Inside Out trilogy, and is told from his POV. ***



I told him goodbye, and I will not call him. I
know if I do, it will be my undoing, and I'll once again be caught up in his spell. I will once again be...lost.




In her private journals, Rebecca laid bare her soul, revealing her obsession
for the one man whose erotic demands captivated her imagination--and enslaved
her forever. Now, with Rebecca no longer in his life he is lost, questioning everything he thought he knew about himself and about control he holds in such high regard. One woman will
reach out to heal him and then turn away, leaving him haunted. She is nothing
he thought he wanted and somehow everything he needs. He tells himself to
forget her but he cannot escape his desire for her. He has to have more...

Nicola's 4* Review

“I’m a Master. A title that defines who I am and how I stay grounded. My thumb is
always on the pulse of everything that happens around me---or so I thought.”

Oh. My. God!!!!

I cannot tell you how much I LOVED this Novella. Seriously, it is jaw
droppingly good.
This is written in the ‘Masters’ POV. We now know who he is, however, to keep this spoiler free; I’m not going to tell you.

The ‘Master’ is the epitome of dominance. His sexy, controlling exterior screams alpha and intimidates the hell out of you. But, beneath his exterior is such a captivating, tortured soul, who uses control as a coping mechanism. He must have rules and control at all times or it won’t work.

That is until one woman comes along and throws all that out the window...

“She sees far more than she should. Far more than I let anyone see, and yet I still
hold on to her hand. She’s real to me in a way no one else has felt in too
long. I’m a world that seems painted in false shadows, I need something real in
my life right now.”
He has no control...
He can’t allow that to happen....
But is he strong enough to stay away?

“The burn to kiss her is intense. I don’t kiss women. I fuck them. I please them. I
like to please them. To drive them to the edge and make them want and want,
until release is sweet bliss. But I don’t kiss them.”

I can’t say much more than that without giving anything away.
Just know you HAVE to read this!!!!
I will leave you with this.

“She’s just a fuck. But damn it, now she’s looking at me, and every time I drive into
her, I see her pleasure, and I see more. I see this woman who is more than just
a fuck, and its making me insane. And hot. And then even hotter.”



The third instalment in the sexy Inside Out erotic romance series—in
the seductive tradition of Fifty Shades of Grey.



You've discovered Rebecca's secrets. You've discovered Sara's secrets. Now Sara
will discover "his" deepest, darkest secrets...but will those secrets
bind them together--or tear them apart?

Nicola's 4**** Review

“No more secrets. No more doubt.”
This is Sara and Chris’s hope for the future of their relationship,
but first they must face secrets that have been keeping them guarded. Those
secrets, reside in Chris’s second home; Paris.

“No talking. No in between. All or nothing, Sara. I’m offering you that to you, and
you have to decide if you really want it. There’s a reservation in your name
with American Airlines. I’ll be on the plane. I hope you will be, too.”

Sarah has no doubt Chris wants things to work out and move forward
with their relationship, but he also knows that he can’t force her in to doing
things if she’s not ready; especially with the recent incident at Marks house.
So Sara has a decision to make. Does she stay in the states and
continue in the search for Elle or does she follow her heart to Paris? One thing’s
for certain though, if she doesn’t follow her heart, she knows she’s said her
last goodbye. 
She can’t bear the thought of being without Chris again. She wants
happiness. And she wants answers that only Chris can give her. So with her
decision made, the only thing to do is race to the airport before it’s too
late.

“I am home. I am home because I’m with him. And I kiss him as if I will never kiss
him again, as if I’m dying of thirst and he is all that can quench me. And I
believe he is.”
“Tell me you’re here because you want to be, not because I forced you.”
“You aren’t leaving without me.”

Sara doesn’t make it easy for Chris though and I think some of the decisions she made to ‘push’ him could’ve ended badly, and issues could’ve been avoided. But at the same time, I can see her way of thinking and I would’ve most probably done the same. She loves him.

“He is my addiction, my passion. He’s my reason to breathe,”

Chris knew how worried Sara was getting over the disappearance of Elle. More and more time had passed since hearing from her and the last known place she was, Paris. Deciding to try and find out some answers Chris and Sara do some investigating; revelations were made. However, the question still remains. What the hell happened to Elle in Paris and where is she now??
In true Ms. Jones style, we are left on the edge of our seats and gasping with her uncanny brilliance at cliff-hangers.


You really are missing out if you have not yet started this series. If you love erotica mixed with mystery, suspense and hot alpha males, then this is definitely a series you are going to love.

An Inside Out story, Chris's POV



In a world where my only escape has been my art, Sara has been the light in my
darkness. And there is darkness, the kind of inky black that can bleed from my life
to hers.



She doesn't see it. She doesn't understand what I've shown her. And my biggest
fear is that soon...she will.

Nicola's 4**** Review

An absolute must read for all fans of Chris and Sara from the 'Inside Out' series. Although only a
short novella of 60 pages, don't be swayed. Lisa manages to pack an amazing
amount of happenings without it feeling rushed.
Told from Chris's POV, we get a little bit of a deeper insight to his mind and past which is poignant to both his and Sara's future together. We find out that the reasons behind him taking Sara back to Paris was way beyond what was revealed in the last instalment, 'Revealing
Us
' and his fears that it will be the revelation to 'break her'.

"She understands me in ways I never thought anyone could, and I try to take comfort
in that right now, when I know the blinders are about to come fully off. The
problem is I'm pretty damn sure that I'm not good for her. I'm just too fucking
selfish and in love to walk away."

'His Secrets' centres around the last few days in Paris before Chris and Sara are due to fly back to the States. Blissfully happy and newly engaged, they both just want to spend some quality time being in love. That is until Amber decides to throw a spanner in the works and has Sara finding out far more than Chris had hoped.

"I promised you that you’d understand me if you came to Paris. Tonight, I’m going to make sure you do.”

But where Chris thinks it will ultimately destroy her, it doesn't. Sara is far more stronger than Chris ever thought.

"Nothing I have shown her has made her withdraw or become anxious."
"I do see her. I see the fighter in her, the big heart. I see the woman I love."

This was an amazing insight to Chris's fears, and makes you understand him a bit more and why he first warned Sara away from him.  The guilt he harbours for Amber is evident in the way he has kept her in his life and the need to help her. Even though he shouldn't feel guilty as it wasn't his fault what happened. I feel for him and can understand why he feels like that.
Now that all the secrets are out in the open, Chris and Sarah can move forward with the next step in their lives together.

"No in-between, Chris. You told me that. And I'm telling you that now."

"No in-between, baby." I'm all in with Sara---and we're about to find out where that leads us."

I CANNOT wait for the next instalment of this truly invigorating
series!!!

An Inside Out Novella in Mark's POV



While Chris and Sara have travelled to Paris to avoid the chaos of press and police after the tragic night we’d shared, I have stayed to face the reality of what has happened. But there is no peace to be found in facing the truth, and no truth to be found in the confessions that have been made and retracted. I am a Master, all about control, and yet right now, facing great tragedy, I feel as if I have none. With my club and my relationships of the past in the spotlight, I find sanctuary in the one place I’ve promised I will never be again, but cannot seem to resist. Her arms.

***Mark and Crystal's story begins in the novella Master Undone
Nicola's 4**** Review
When we first meet Mark in the series, all you see is the cold, steely, in control, dominant 'Master' that he perceives to be. However, In 'My Hunger' you get to see a different side to him. A more vulnerable side, a more human side to him in a way.

"I don't trust myself to be the Master, to be responsible for anyone else's pleasure, let alone their safety, anymore.

Mark is all about control, but with his mother still in the hospital and Ava being arrested over the disappearance of Rebecca, his control is slipping away from him and guilt taking its place instead.

"Had I not convinced Rebecca to return to San Francisco for me, she'd be alive today. Hell, had I not convinced her to be my sub, she'd be alive today. How am I supposed to live with that? How do I ever trust myself to be anyone's Master again? Who am I, if I'm not that person?"

Crystal Smith has not got a submissive bone in her body. She refuses to bow down to orders or beg for what she wants. Which is the complete opposite of what Mark wants, what he needs..
She sees things in him that no-one else can. Its unsettling and very unfamiliar to him, and yet he can't resist her.

"She saw pain in my eyes? No one sees anything I don't want them to. But this woman,
she sees too much. She makes me do things I don't do, and desire things I don't want to."

He's terrified that he will end up destroying her, as he did Rebecca. But there's a side to him that can't resist her.

"Call it whatever you want, but I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."

"She's here. She's not going anywhere. Those words beat down on me. No one can make that promise. I know this, and I live with this in my mind, but it doesn't seem to matter. This moment isn't about the future. It's about need. Suddenly, this woman is the answer to everything I can't solve, everything I feel and don't want to feel."


I loved this novella. I loved this side of Mark that we get to see and it made me feel more connected to him. But just because we get to see a 'softer' side to him, doesn't mean he's still not the 'Master'. He still very much is.
An all-consuming novella that will leave you wanting more.


The fourth in the Inside Out erotic romance series by New York Times
bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones, this steamy novel resolves Chris and
Sarah's relationship and leads into Mark's story.



"Chris and I have faced our demons and bared our souls to one another in
Paris. Now that we are back home in San Francisco, I want to believe that
nothing can tear us apart. Not Ava’s accusations against me to the police, or
Chris's fear that he will destroy me as he feels he did Amber. And not Mark, who was once too intimately a part of our lives, and who I can see crumbling
inside out. He believes he is invincible, just as I want to believe Chris and I
are invincible. We have to be invincible. We need each other too much for any
other ending."

Nicola's 5***** Review

"a city as shrouded in secrets as Chris and I once were. But now our blank canvas
is inked with colours, not fears, and love has blossomed where there was once
only passion."

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. You have done it again. You have sucked me in and left me utterly speechless with 'No In Between'. I just don't know what to say. We pick up right where 'My Hunger' left us. Chris and Sara have returned from Paris to face the turmoil that is surrounding their lives. Although they have both become a lot stronger, what they are about to face will certainly test them. But, together with their 'No in between' attitude to their relationship and planning for the future, I have high hopes that they can and will survive.

"It's real."
"What?" he asks.
"That's what you were asking with that first song, wasn't it? Is
this real enough to survive anything, no matter how bad?
The answer is yes---its real. And I'll tell you what you told me in
Paris. If you run, Chris, run fast, because I'll come after you.
That's just the kind of bitch I am."

Mark's presence in the book is as ever, intimidating. But you could also see he was not the 'master' he usually is. I felt for him, I really did. Between his mother's health, and the continuous revelations of what happened to Rebecca coming about, he is on a downward spiral to completely destroying himself. And I really hope he doesn't. He deserves happiness, even if he doesn't believe it himself.

I can't go into too much detail without giving anything away, and we don't want that. But, what I will say is, this book by far exceeded my expectations and delivered so much more.
And...

OMG!!! that ending. I mean, there's a cliff-hanger and then there's that ending. I cannot believe you've left us hanging after that. OMG!!!
If you are a fan of this series, then you are going to love this latest instalment...Yes, even the cliff hanger. And, If you have not yet had the pleasure of reading them, hell you really do want to. Don't miss out!!

Summary
of series so far.


I can't even begin to compute the feelings Ms. Jones has invoked in my after reading these books.
My heart is reeling...
My head, swimming...
And I have been rendered speechless (which is very rare).

The mystery, the characters, the writing, all dominated my life while reading and I willingly submitted myself to it all.
These books, are by far my top reads of the year.


New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is
the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT SERIES, and is now in development
by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland) for cable TV. In addition, her Tall, Dark
and Deadly series and The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series, both spent several
months on a combination of the NY Times and USA Today lists.





Watch the video on casting for the INSIDE TV Show:



http://youtube/pj4NZLpeWQs




Since beginning her publishing career in 2007, Lisa has published more than 40
books translated around the world. Booklist says that Jones suspense truly
sizzles with an energy similar to FBI tales with a paranormal twist by Julie
Garwood or Suzanne Brockmann.



Prior to publishing, Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized
many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by Dallas Women
Magazine. In 1998 LRJ was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in
Entrepreneur Magazine.



Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at
www.lisareneejones.com and she is active on twitter and
facebook daily.











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