If I Were You (Inside Out Trilogy #1) by Lisa Renee Jones

TITLE: If I Were You

AUTHOR: Lisa Renee Jones

RATING: 4 STARS

PUBLISHED: August 2012 - Lisa Renee Jones

SERIES: Yes; Series Still in Progress:

• If I Were You
• Being Me
• Revealing Us

"How it began…
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 expires.

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."

MY REVIEW:
If I Were You, the first book in the Inside Out trilogy by Lisa Renee Jones, was so freaking good. If you enjoy suspenseful, erotic romance novels, then this is definitely the book for you.

The synopsis states that If I Were You is "Fifty Shades of Grey meets Basic Instinct". In my opinion, that analogy is extremely fitting for this novel. If I Were You has the feel of Fifty Shades without being a Fifty Shades knock off. *jumps for joy* What I mean by this is that If I Were You is an original story. Like Fifty Shades, If I Were You focuses on a sexy, domineering alpha male (well, technically it focuses on two sexy, domineering alpha males) and the intriguing world of BDSM, but If I Were You is 100% it's own story!

Sexy, enchanting, and mysterious are the best words to describe the characters and this story. If I Were You is an extremely suspenseful, captivating story. While reading this story, I had to make myself slow down a few times because the more I read the faster and more frantic my page flipping became. I was on a mission to find out what the heck was going on and to uncover all of the character's secrets. A few things were revealed throughout this novel, but there are still many, many secrets left to uncover.

If I Were You was my first novel by Lisa Renee Jones, but it definitely won't be my last! In fact, I have already added a few of her other series to my to-read list and I am definitely reading the second and third book in the Inside Out trilogy!!

I gave If I Were You (Inside Out Trilogy #1) by Lisa Renee Jones 4 STARS. I definitely recommend this novel to adults who enjoy romantic suspense novels.