Title:  Being Me
Author: Lisa Renee Jones
Publisher/Year:  Gallery Books  6/11/13
Length:  368 pages
Series: Inside Out #2

Overview

I arch into him, drinking in his passion, instantly, willingly consumed by all that he is and could be to me. . . .

Sara
McMillan is still searching for Rebecca, the mysterious woman whose dark,
erotic journal entries both enthralled and frightened her. Tormented by a strong desire to indulge the demands of her new boss while also drawn deeper into her passionate bond with the troubled artist, Chris Merit, Sara must face a past as deeply haunting as Rebecca’s written words. In one man’s arms, Sara will find the safe haven to reveal her most intimate secrets and explore her darkest fantasies. But is safety just an illusion, when the truth about Rebecca has yet to be discovered?

My Thoughts

I love that i was able to get this 2nd installment so quickly after reading the first, now i just have to wait another month and a half for the next one.  bummer!  So we pick up in this story with Sara and Chris in the midst of their relationship that’s growing stronger and stronger in some ways, but pulling them apart in others.  In the first book we began to see that there was a lot under the surface with both of these characters that make them damaged beyond saving, yet we didn’t want to think that was the case.   Sara is the kind of character that you want to root for, to think that she can solve everything and make Chris believe that he’s worthy.  It’s not quite that simple which is what we find in this bridge book.

This installment takes us through the gallery job that Sara seems to be excelling at – she’s great at what she does, and not only because she feels like she has big shoes to fill, but because it’s truly what she loves.  She pushes herself to learn more, and is pleased to reap some of those benefits.  They don’t come easily though since she has a co worker that continues to try to sabotage her, and a boss that she’s not sure what to make of.  We still don’t know what to make of Mark – since he’s funny and charming via email and text but in person he’s quite the force to be reckoned with.  Sara and Chris are basically able to confirm that he is the Master in Rebeccas’ journals and continue to see what he knows of her wearabouts.  What we learn from him though is quite the anxiety ridden story on it’s own.

Sara continues to find herself in the middle of a ‘cockfight’ with Chris and Mark and can’t seem to get the background on where that came from – and it’s unpleasant.  they kind of use each other against her, and that’s never a good thing.  Chris continues to try to bring Sara in until she pushes him away,and in doing so, she’s given access to his home/world/everything which Mark is quick to jump on and quick to try to tear down.

Along with this, Sara continues to worry about where Rebecca is, as well as Ella.  Both have not been heard from and that’s worrisome.  In some ways i wonder if they are connected but then i think that it’s too cliche and that it’s not related at all.  While Sara’s trying to learn more about Rebecca in the storage unit, she feels like someone’s out to get her, and Chris comes in to try to protect her.

The warm and tender side of this story comes through which is the dip in the roller coaster because it lulls us into a false sense of security.  things seem to be going just too well and then the rug is pulled right out from under us.  We see the softer side of Chris through his charity work and his relationship with a boy with cancer, but that has it’s own pain that seems to weigh too heavily on him.

So, the gist-  the chemistry that these 2 have with each other make for a great romance, but too much pain to really go down easily.  I think that it’s one of the best things of this story – you know that you’re not going to come by their happiness easily, and you wonder when the next secret will be revealed.  Throughout the story, we get hints that there’s a dark past for Sara along with Chris’ past but we don’t really know what it is or what it means.

The secondary characters in this story start to take a bit more of a priority – Ava, Ricco, Mark, Ryan….all adding to a complex web of curiousity and hot hot sensual interactions

so, my questions:

1) who can we trust?

2) what are Sara’s secrets and what are Chris’?

3) are they too much for the relationship to work out?

4) where’s rebecca and where is Ella?

5) is mark what he seems?

can’t wait until september for book 3…it can’t come fast enough in my opinion