If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones

5 stars

Amazon|Goodreads

My Review:

This book follows Sara an art graduate that is currently teaching English even though its not her dream, its something to pay the bills. Her adventure begins when her friend Ella gives her a key to a storage unit and asks her to empty it for her. When Sara goes to do so she grows interested as to why someone would pack up their entire life as this unit shows. She then becomes set on the mission to find the owner of the locker, the owner of the journals sara has been reading. The woman from the erotic journals is living Sara's ideal life as you come to discover. Its very intriguing. I really enjoyed getting to take the journey with Sara as she searched for Rebecca and in the process takes over her life. She gets the same job Rebecca had as a flue and it happens to be in a Gallery. Sara's dream work. She begins to discreetly investigate what happened to Rebecca while in turn working her job. Rebecca never uses names in her journal's, so as Sara read's them and trying to place people you get very caught up in the mystery. Who is this man she talks about. There are a few Alpha Males in this book which makes it ever better. Such an intricate and interesting story. You are not left with answers in the end, quite the contrary. You are left with ever more questions as to who the man in the journals are and what happened to Rebecca. Great story line, wonderfully written. Very interesting way of releasing the book. I enjoyed getting the first and then looking forward to the four short extras before the second comes out. A great way to stay connected to the book while you want for the next installment :D This book has been described as similar to some other series in this genre, but I have to say this story is very its own and has a fantastic story line. Very different from the norm in my opinion. I really enjoyed it. If I Were You has a very crime solver meets erotica novel feel. I loved it. The story line has so much going on that you just can't wait for the next book. The author left this book ending with so many different possibilities that its not one of those read where you can predict what going to happen. Its really going to be interesting to see where she takes it. I can't wait to read the next book. Until then I will lose myself in Rebecca's journals that are being released in 4 volumes over the next few months :D The Links are below, so GET READING!

Synopsis:

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, allof 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.