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kathydavie's review against another edition
2.0
Ooops, looks like someone else noticed that Jones forgot to explain how Sara got involved with Rebecca's storage unit. Read this free short story first, "Behind Closed Doors" (Inside Out Trilogy, 1.5)
Second in the Inside Out Trilogy in this erotic romance/suspense series based in San Francisco with the couple focus on Sara McMillan and Chris Merit.
This is an ARC provided by the publisher.
My Take
Oh. My. God, what a whiny, melodramatic wimp...she was nauseating. I tried, I really tried to like this, but it had two major problems going [for me].
The editor in me was appalled as the story badly needed a proofreader to put a space between the period at the end of a sentence and the start of the next sentence. I suspect there were more sentences that ran together than sentences with proper spacing between them. And someone needs to review the rules about commas...PLEASE… I do get that this is an ARC, that it's not perfect, but I find it very difficult to imagine that something this poorly proofed could have gotten through with the above problems and the run-on words and the lack of paragraph breaks, and...yeah, I'm whining. This sort of thing irritates me as it is, but when combined with such a drama queen...it was enough to send me over the edge.
Jones actually does write well. I may not like her characters and she doesn't provide much in the way of reason for events, but she set the individual scenes well, her characters are, um, colorful, she shows well, and her erotic scenes are well done. The fact that they did nothing for me because I couldn't stand Sara...is neither here nor there. Jones also tortures well in terms of drawing out the mystery of what happened to Rebecca; I wish she had done as well with the mystery of Ella's disappearance. I suppose Jones will concentrate on this missing friend in Revealing Us, the next and last in this series.
Sara has a horrible past and doesn't seem to want to be past it. She is the most annoying drama queen who lives constantly in a state of tension, woe is me, and poor me. She has much too much fun with being a hypocrite and wanting everything both ways as she leaps to conclusions faster than a speeding bullet. Not that anyone else is allowed this luxury. She expects to have the time to bring her past up, god forbid Chris should have that same chance. She expects him to trust her with everything about him, just don't make her do the same thing. It was impossible for me to empathize with her; I almost hoped she would get offed! Not a good sign.
She whines that "You can't just shut this all out, Chris. You can't just meet me and be who you were before." And I am so confused by this sentence. What? Chris HAS to change and not be who he is? Doesn't sound like love to me… Chris is constantly showing her how much he loves her, and Sara leaps onto one word and decides he's dumping her. God forbid she give him the benefit of any niggle of doubt OR take into consideration the extreme emotional upheaval he's feeling at the time.
I had a great deal of sympathy for Chris in having to cope with Sara; why he chose to do so, I'll never understand. I do understand Sara wanting to make it on her own merits and not the artist Merit, but she just whines too much.
Jones never does explain why Sara gets so caught up in Rebecca's disappearance. Or why she'd have access to Rebecca's storage unit.
Sara keeps going off on how she just knows that Rebecca met with foul play, so when Chris tries to keep her safe. Yup, she goes off on him about how she can take care of herself...all evidence to the contrary. Yep, she's so independent that she wants to make herself over into the woman Chris will need. Gag…
Um, I'm confused about how a video of Chris kissing Sara in the art gallery can be used to stake his claim on her. Unless Chris wanted it seen, used, to make sure Mark stays away from her.
There's a lot of innuendo back and forth between Mark and Sara. I'm guessing it's supposed to raise tension levels. It might have if Sara's own constant state of melodrama didn't overshadow everything else going on.
There's a lot of whining about Ella not contacting Sara while Ella is on her honeymoon in France---yeah, 'cause that's the only thing that would be on my mind if I were honeymooning in France---but we never hear about Ella's actual wedding. Nor does Sara appear to have met her best friend's fiancé-now-husband. Maybe this all happened in book one and Jones expects us to have read it---shudder, don't make me go there...
The two-on-one hit they do on Sara when she's worrying about Chris was...oh, brother… I'm sorry, but Mark just doesn't strike me as that gauche. He may be that much in want of Sara, but not that inept. Gimme a break.
Oh, man, I just realized how very much into pain Chris is...he still wants to be with Sara...
The Story
I'm trying to think if there was one under all this overemotional, overwrought crap. Oh, yeah, Sara is trying to make the decision as to whether she embraces her new art gallery job---the one she's always dreamed of---or keeps working as a teacher. In the meantime, she's whining about investigating Rebecca's disappearance while making Chris miserable as he tries to protect her. Although Jones is so busy with all the melodrama, she forgets to create a reason why Sara needs to be protected. Of course, there's the sexual tension with the very amateurish manner in which Jones has Mark pursuing Sara's "favors", not to mention Ryan, Ricco, and Michael expressing an interest in her. God knows what they all see in her...
The Characters
Sara McMillan is both teacher and art gallery something---this never is defined. Chris Merit is an extremely wealthy, famous artist who has his own issues and a strong desire to protect Sara.
Ella is the friend who's gone off and married Dr. David, and they're supposedly on their honeymoon. Unfortunately, whiny, bitchy Sara can't seem to let go, and she sees conspiracy everywhere. I think Ella disappeared to get away from the drama queen---she can't take the constant hysterics...
Mark Compton used to be Chris' friend and his family owns Riptide, a famous auction house. I think the family also owns Allure, Mark's art gallery. Mark owns a BDSM club. Ralph is the gallery accountant. Amanda is the sweet receptionist. Ryan Kilmer is client, friend, and sex partner with Mark. Ricco Alvarez is another artist on the outs with Mark and Chris. Mary is a nasty virago who also works at the gallery.
Jacob is Chris' building's security officer. Blake Walker, former ATF, and Kelvin Jackson, former FBI, are with Walker Security whom Chris hires to find out what happened to Rebecca and Ella as well as protect Sara. Greg Garrison is a low-life PI hired to find the journals.
Dylan is a young boy who is dying of leukemia. Chris takes a proprietary interest in supporting the medical charity and in helping Dylan and his family: Brandy is his mom and Sam is Dylan's dad. Katie is Chris' godmother who owns a winery. Ava works at the coffeeshop next door to the gallery. Gina Ray is a famous actress whose name has been linked to Chris' in the past; she's amazing in trying to help the stupid twit of a Sara who just has to rush off to do another one of her dumb, hackneyed, clichéd bits.
Michael is some jerk who works for her dad and wants to control her; Thomas McMillan is the wealthy father whom Sara hates and despises, even as she yearns to mean something to him.
The Cover
I'm assuming it's Sara wrapped up in the subdued royal blue sheet...
The title is all about Sara Being Me. It's a shame really, she'd be a better person being someone else...
Second in the Inside Out Trilogy in this erotic romance/suspense series based in San Francisco with the couple focus on Sara McMillan and Chris Merit.
This is an ARC provided by the publisher.
My Take
Oh. My. God, what a whiny, melodramatic wimp...she was nauseating. I tried, I really tried to like this, but it had two major problems going [for me].
The editor in me was appalled as the story badly needed a proofreader to put a space between the period at the end of a sentence and the start of the next sentence. I suspect there were more sentences that ran together than sentences with proper spacing between them. And someone needs to review the rules about commas...PLEASE… I do get that this is an ARC, that it's not perfect, but I find it very difficult to imagine that something this poorly proofed could have gotten through with the above problems and the run-on words and the lack of paragraph breaks, and...yeah, I'm whining. This sort of thing irritates me as it is, but when combined with such a drama queen...it was enough to send me over the edge.
Jones actually does write well. I may not like her characters and she doesn't provide much in the way of reason for events, but she set the individual scenes well, her characters are, um, colorful, she shows well, and her erotic scenes are well done. The fact that they did nothing for me because I couldn't stand Sara...is neither here nor there. Jones also tortures well in terms of drawing out the mystery of what happened to Rebecca; I wish she had done as well with the mystery of Ella's disappearance. I suppose Jones will concentrate on this missing friend in Revealing Us, the next and last in this series.
Sara has a horrible past and doesn't seem to want to be past it. She is the most annoying drama queen who lives constantly in a state of tension, woe is me, and poor me. She has much too much fun with being a hypocrite and wanting everything both ways as she leaps to conclusions faster than a speeding bullet. Not that anyone else is allowed this luxury. She expects to have the time to bring her past up, god forbid Chris should have that same chance. She expects him to trust her with everything about him, just don't make her do the same thing. It was impossible for me to empathize with her; I almost hoped she would get offed! Not a good sign.
She whines that "You can't just shut this all out, Chris. You can't just meet me and be who you were before." And I am so confused by this sentence. What? Chris HAS to change and not be who he is? Doesn't sound like love to me… Chris is constantly showing her how much he loves her, and Sara leaps onto one word and decides he's dumping her. God forbid she give him the benefit of any niggle of doubt OR take into consideration the extreme emotional upheaval he's feeling at the time.
I had a great deal of sympathy for Chris in having to cope with Sara; why he chose to do so, I'll never understand. I do understand Sara wanting to make it on her own merits and not the artist Merit, but she just whines too much.
Jones never does explain why Sara gets so caught up in Rebecca's disappearance. Or why she'd have access to Rebecca's storage unit.
Sara keeps going off on how she just knows that Rebecca met with foul play, so when Chris tries to keep her safe. Yup, she goes off on him about how she can take care of herself...all evidence to the contrary. Yep, she's so independent that she wants to make herself over into the woman Chris will need. Gag…
Um, I'm confused about how a video of Chris kissing Sara in the art gallery can be used to stake his claim on her. Unless Chris wanted it seen, used, to make sure Mark stays away from her.
There's a lot of innuendo back and forth between Mark and Sara. I'm guessing it's supposed to raise tension levels. It might have if Sara's own constant state of melodrama didn't overshadow everything else going on.
There's a lot of whining about Ella not contacting Sara while Ella is on her honeymoon in France---yeah, 'cause that's the only thing that would be on my mind if I were honeymooning in France---but we never hear about Ella's actual wedding. Nor does Sara appear to have met her best friend's fiancé-now-husband. Maybe this all happened in book one and Jones expects us to have read it---shudder, don't make me go there...
The two-on-one hit they do on Sara when she's worrying about Chris was...oh, brother… I'm sorry, but Mark just doesn't strike me as that gauche. He may be that much in want of Sara, but not that inept. Gimme a break.
Oh, man, I just realized how very much into pain Chris is...he still wants to be with Sara...
The Story
I'm trying to think if there was one under all this overemotional, overwrought crap. Oh, yeah, Sara is trying to make the decision as to whether she embraces her new art gallery job---the one she's always dreamed of---or keeps working as a teacher. In the meantime, she's whining about investigating Rebecca's disappearance while making Chris miserable as he tries to protect her. Although Jones is so busy with all the melodrama, she forgets to create a reason why Sara needs to be protected. Of course, there's the sexual tension with the very amateurish manner in which Jones has Mark pursuing Sara's "favors", not to mention Ryan, Ricco, and Michael expressing an interest in her. God knows what they all see in her...
The Characters
Sara McMillan is both teacher and art gallery something---this never is defined. Chris Merit is an extremely wealthy, famous artist who has his own issues and a strong desire to protect Sara.
Ella is the friend who's gone off and married Dr. David, and they're supposedly on their honeymoon. Unfortunately, whiny, bitchy Sara can't seem to let go, and she sees conspiracy everywhere. I think Ella disappeared to get away from the drama queen---she can't take the constant hysterics...
Mark Compton used to be Chris' friend and his family owns Riptide, a famous auction house. I think the family also owns Allure, Mark's art gallery. Mark owns a BDSM club. Ralph is the gallery accountant. Amanda is the sweet receptionist. Ryan Kilmer is client, friend, and sex partner with Mark. Ricco Alvarez is another artist on the outs with Mark and Chris. Mary is a nasty virago who also works at the gallery.
Jacob is Chris' building's security officer. Blake Walker, former ATF, and Kelvin Jackson, former FBI, are with Walker Security whom Chris hires to find out what happened to Rebecca and Ella as well as protect Sara. Greg Garrison is a low-life PI hired to find the journals.
Dylan is a young boy who is dying of leukemia. Chris takes a proprietary interest in supporting the medical charity and in helping Dylan and his family: Brandy is his mom and Sam is Dylan's dad. Katie is Chris' godmother who owns a winery. Ava works at the coffeeshop next door to the gallery. Gina Ray is a famous actress whose name has been linked to Chris' in the past; she's amazing in trying to help the stupid twit of a Sara who just has to rush off to do another one of her dumb, hackneyed, clichéd bits.
Michael is some jerk who works for her dad and wants to control her; Thomas McMillan is the wealthy father whom Sara hates and despises, even as she yearns to mean something to him.
The Cover
I'm assuming it's Sara wrapped up in the subdued royal blue sheet...
The title is all about Sara Being Me. It's a shame really, she'd be a better person being someone else...
zaza_bdp's review against another edition
3.0
*** 3.5/5 ***
J'avais été conquise par le premier tome et c'est avec impatience que j'ai entamé cette suite.
Sara poursuit dans ce tome son immersion dans le monde de l'art, son travail à la galerie l'occupe beaucoup et la passionne totalement, elle s'y dévoue vraiment, quitte à se disputer avec son amoureux, qui voit toujours Mark d'un mauvais œil, ainsi que d'autres personnages gravitant autour de la galerie.
La relation amoureuse Chris/Sara prend de l'ampleur : vient le temps des premiers engagements, des premiers écueils, des premières révélations sur un passé dont ni l'un ni l'autre ne veulent s'attarder ... Leur histoire est toujours aussi charnelle, sensuelle, teintée d'une espèce d'urgence désespérée. Chris est toujours aussi mystérieux, toujours autant sur le fil, et on va même le découvrir vulnérable à plusieurs reprises...
Sara est un curieux personnage, difficile à cerner. On la sent sur la défensive, mais dans le même temps elle se jette dans cette relation avec son beau peintre, elle refuse de jouer au petit jeu de Mark, continue à se faire beaucoup de souci pour Rebecca, et Ella, mais dans le même temps on la sent aspirée par son passé, qu'elle essaie pourtant de mettre derrière elle.
Cependant, j'ai parfois trouvé que l'histoire tournait un peu en rond, même si dans les 100 dernières pages, le récit retrouve un peu plus de rythme, on a droit à certaines révélations et à des scènes surprenantes.
Il faudra attendre le troisième tome (et sans doute les autres de la série) pour avoir le fin mot de l'histoire, et j'ai hâte de découvrir mieux encore Chris, et Mark, qui m'a surprise dans ce tome, notamment dans les toutes dernières pages ...
J'avais été conquise par le premier tome et c'est avec impatience que j'ai entamé cette suite.
Sara poursuit dans ce tome son immersion dans le monde de l'art, son travail à la galerie l'occupe beaucoup et la passionne totalement, elle s'y dévoue vraiment, quitte à se disputer avec son amoureux, qui voit toujours Mark d'un mauvais œil, ainsi que d'autres personnages gravitant autour de la galerie.
La relation amoureuse Chris/Sara prend de l'ampleur : vient le temps des premiers engagements, des premiers écueils, des premières révélations sur un passé dont ni l'un ni l'autre ne veulent s'attarder ... Leur histoire est toujours aussi charnelle, sensuelle, teintée d'une espèce d'urgence désespérée. Chris est toujours aussi mystérieux, toujours autant sur le fil, et on va même le découvrir vulnérable à plusieurs reprises...
Sara est un curieux personnage, difficile à cerner. On la sent sur la défensive, mais dans le même temps elle se jette dans cette relation avec son beau peintre, elle refuse de jouer au petit jeu de Mark, continue à se faire beaucoup de souci pour Rebecca, et Ella, mais dans le même temps on la sent aspirée par son passé, qu'elle essaie pourtant de mettre derrière elle.
Cependant, j'ai parfois trouvé que l'histoire tournait un peu en rond, même si dans les 100 dernières pages, le récit retrouve un peu plus de rythme, on a droit à certaines révélations et à des scènes surprenantes.
Il faudra attendre le troisième tome (et sans doute les autres de la série) pour avoir le fin mot de l'histoire, et j'ai hâte de découvrir mieux encore Chris, et Mark, qui m'a surprise dans ce tome, notamment dans les toutes dernières pages ...
mayris88's review against another edition
4.0
WOW!!! At the beginning of the book I had my doubts, I couldn't get really into the story, found myself getting distracted by every single little thing that happened around me and that made my hopes for this book to drop considerably.
But I was wrong. I love this series because its not only the alpha males or the amazing sex scenes, but because all the mistery surrounding Rebbeca's dissapearence. I'm not going to say anything else because this is a story that when you think you had every figured out, it turns out that you don't and I just love when a book gets me that excited to try and figure what happens next.
I'm looking forward for the next book!!!
But I was wrong. I love this series because its not only the alpha males or the amazing sex scenes, but because all the mistery surrounding Rebbeca's dissapearence. I'm not going to say anything else because this is a story that when you think you had every figured out, it turns out that you don't and I just love when a book gets me that excited to try and figure what happens next.
I'm looking forward for the next book!!!
texcare1's review against another edition
5.0
Wow well I know what happen to Rebecca now to find out about Chris's secrets love this Series. Very well written.
jodeezle's review
4.0
This book was good! Lisa really knows how to grab your attention. I will definately recomend this book.
caseroo7's review
5.0
Review originally posted at Ramblings From This Chick
Let me start by saying that I love reading books in series! I think that a series allows an author to truly write a great story. They can really show the depth and personality of the characters, and the readers get to be a part of the entire growth process. That being said, im always a bit apprehensive when I go to read the second book from a series...especially if its a series that started off to be one of my favorite reads. There are so many possibilities, not the least of which is that the next book will either keep up the momentum or it will fall flat. After I read If I Were You, it was hard for me to get into any other books. I just wasn't done with Sara and Chris! So as soon as I got Being Me, I knew I would devour it just to see what happens all the while hoping that it would live up to my extremely high expectations. It absolutely did not disappoint!
Being Me picks up right where If I Were You left off, which I was really grateful for since book one ended on a huge cliffhanger. Sara is still working for the gallery while searching for answers about Rebecca, as well as pursuing a romance with Chris. As the story progresses, we see more about Sara's past and what has led her to leave behind a life of wealth in order to be her own person. We also get a little more of Chris's story. The author does a great job of answering questions, while still leaving a ton left to discover. Throughout this book, Sara and Chris struggle with a commitment to each other and trust issues on both sides. They find themselves completely out of their comfort zone, as both of them become more dependent upon the other,though neither will admit it.The scenes between Chris and Sara continued to blow me away! They are hot and steamy and ooze chemistry.
I really enjoyed seeing how the characters have grown and how they are developing. Delving into Sara's past gives so much more understanding to the choices she has made and the person she is. While Chris's past is still mostly a mystery, we get to see how truly damaged he is and some of why he can go from romantic and sweet one minute to tortured and dark the next. I also really liked that Jones gave us more insight into Mark, Sara's boss at the gallery. Seeing Mark outside the work setting and getting glimpses into his life make me hope that he will get his own story told!
Overall this book was a great follow-up to If I Were You. I found that like the first book, I just couldn't put this one down. It was filled with romance and drama, as well as some action. I would recommend that if you haven't read If I Were You that you read that before reading Being Me, and if you haven't read it you definitely should pick it up! Lisa Renee Jones is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and I am already counting the days to September and the release of book number 3, Revealing Us.
**ARC provided by NetGalley**
Let me start by saying that I love reading books in series! I think that a series allows an author to truly write a great story. They can really show the depth and personality of the characters, and the readers get to be a part of the entire growth process. That being said, im always a bit apprehensive when I go to read the second book from a series...especially if its a series that started off to be one of my favorite reads. There are so many possibilities, not the least of which is that the next book will either keep up the momentum or it will fall flat. After I read If I Were You, it was hard for me to get into any other books. I just wasn't done with Sara and Chris! So as soon as I got Being Me, I knew I would devour it just to see what happens all the while hoping that it would live up to my extremely high expectations. It absolutely did not disappoint!
Being Me picks up right where If I Were You left off, which I was really grateful for since book one ended on a huge cliffhanger. Sara is still working for the gallery while searching for answers about Rebecca, as well as pursuing a romance with Chris. As the story progresses, we see more about Sara's past and what has led her to leave behind a life of wealth in order to be her own person. We also get a little more of Chris's story. The author does a great job of answering questions, while still leaving a ton left to discover. Throughout this book, Sara and Chris struggle with a commitment to each other and trust issues on both sides. They find themselves completely out of their comfort zone, as both of them become more dependent upon the other,though neither will admit it.The scenes between Chris and Sara continued to blow me away! They are hot and steamy and ooze chemistry.
I really enjoyed seeing how the characters have grown and how they are developing. Delving into Sara's past gives so much more understanding to the choices she has made and the person she is. While Chris's past is still mostly a mystery, we get to see how truly damaged he is and some of why he can go from romantic and sweet one minute to tortured and dark the next. I also really liked that Jones gave us more insight into Mark, Sara's boss at the gallery. Seeing Mark outside the work setting and getting glimpses into his life make me hope that he will get his own story told!
Overall this book was a great follow-up to If I Were You. I found that like the first book, I just couldn't put this one down. It was filled with romance and drama, as well as some action. I would recommend that if you haven't read If I Were You that you read that before reading Being Me, and if you haven't read it you definitely should pick it up! Lisa Renee Jones is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and I am already counting the days to September and the release of book number 3, Revealing Us.
**ARC provided by NetGalley**
vidhi26p's review
3.0
Finally, we get some plot. Although at times, the characters make me want to stop reading. They can be very tiring with their on off relationship.
pamgodwin's review
4.0
This is an example of the pitfalls of cliffhangers. If you're going to spend 3 or 4 times the price of one book to get a complete story, there's a higher bar to hurdle. The plot and characters must be spectacular to offset the cost, the time, and the frustration of waiting. This second book is okay, not spectacular. And it ends on another cliffy. Fool me once. I won't be continuing this series.
The search for the elusive Rebecca imparts mystery, but it's a plot element that fails to hold interest. You never meet the woman. It's difficult to care what happened to her. What will hold your attention, however, is the beautiful dance between the H/h as they push and tug through their relationship. The writing is polished, the pacing is excellent, and the characters are crafted delicately. The overall experience isn't special or bold enough to cling to memory, but I was never bored or tempted to put the book down.
The search for the elusive Rebecca imparts mystery, but it's a plot element that fails to hold interest. You never meet the woman. It's difficult to care what happened to her. What will hold your attention, however, is the beautiful dance between the H/h as they push and tug through their relationship. The writing is polished, the pacing is excellent, and the characters are crafted delicately. The overall experience isn't special or bold enough to cling to memory, but I was never bored or tempted to put the book down.
larsvassy's review
5.0
This is defiantly a Five star book in my opinion!!! Ms.Jones sure knows how to hook you into her stories!! I can't wait for the next book to come out!
colorfulleo92's review
2.0
Didn't think this book followed the mystery from the first book enough. Wanted more of the mystery and excitement. Didn't enjoy this book much, was just a bit boring