The Good...

Title: If I Were You (#1)

Series: Inside Out Trilogy

Author: Lisa Renee Jones

From GoodReads:

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.

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Wow! This story gripped me, pulled me in, and didn't let go! 

With the tag line of "50 Shades of Grey Meets Basic Instinct", I'm not quite sure what I was expecting when I started this book. But it was so very good. I will point to my review below (The Ugly) and remind y'all that I LOVE words. And Ms. Jones uses words in ways that so vividly portray the characters, the setting and the action that I felt as though I was the one reading someone's intimate journals. I was just as seduced by the passion and intensity on the pages as Sara was by Chris, and her desire to live in another world, and her need to solve the mystery of what happened to Rebecca as well as her friend Ella.

Since this is the first on a trilogy, I know much more will be revealed, but I did find it intriguing that Sara somehow lost touch with her need to find Rebecca. Of course, the lure of the art world as well as the fervent and sexy artist whom she becomes involved with more than explain the veer off course. 

Sara embarks on her quest to discover the fate of Rebecca by attending a function at the art gallery where Rebecca worked. This leads to Sara taking Rebecca's position at the gallery...a dream fulfilled for Sara. Although Sara's new boss, Mark, is clearly a controlling, domineering man who she finds herself captivated by. 

"...I am shocked to realize, despite my thoughts moments before, just how much I want this man's approval, how much I need confirmation it's real. I don't want to want it. I don't want to need it. Yet...I do."

Through her job, Sara meets Chris, an artist whom she has studied and admired. There's a lot of tension between Mark and Chris for reasons Sara can't comprehend. Sara is quite certain that Mark is the man Rebecca wrote of in her journals, so she's also certain that Mark is dangerous. With Chris, however, Sara has an immediate spark of attraction and it's with him that she begins an incredibly passionate affair. 

"He makes every nerve ending I own buzz and yet, I am oddly comfortable with him."

"I am lost in this man, in his stare, in some spellbinding, dark whirlwind of...what? Lust, desire, torment?"

"Wild, hot, uncontrollable passion, with no worries during and regrets in the aftermath. I've never let myself feel those things. When in my life have I ever experienced such a thing? When has any man ever made me think I could?"

The first half of the book deals mainly in Sara's concentration on involving herself in Rebecca's world in order to solve the mystery of Rebecca's whereabouts while the second half centers around the developing relationship between Sara and Chris. However, Rebecca is always an underlying element. 

And, of course, there is the question of Ella's abrupt elopement...

Hmm, If I Were You has beautiful prose, fascinating characters, suspenseful plot, lots of passion...all the makings of a fabulous book. I will (im)patiently await the next installment!