Review: Because I Can (Necklace Trilogy #2) by Lisa Renee Jones

TitleBecause I Can
Author: Lisa Renee Jones
Publisher/Year:  Julie Patra Publishing 12/14/21
Length:  200 Pages
Series: Necklace Trilogy #2

Overview

To the world, Dash Black is famous, wealthy, wildly good-looking, and intriguing. To say that he came into my life and shook my world is an understatement. He looked into my eyes and I swear our souls connected, but then, I saw what no one else was ever allowed to see. I saw a complicated man with secrets, a man who hides behind a persona that tells only part of his story. And ultimately, I felt his pain and he felt mine. He told me I belonged with him. I believed I did. But in the book of life, the pages don’t turn with a simple flip of a sheet of paper. In life, sometimes the page won’t turn. Sometimes we discover that what is right is more terrifying than what is wrong.

I love Dash Black, but he terrifies me.
I believe he feels the same about me.
And I’m not sure where that leaves us or what comes next.

My Thoughts

We left book one in a very scary moment for our leading lady Allie. She’s hiding in the wine cellar of the house that she’s staying in (which Tyler her ‘boss’ owns) and someone has disarmed the alarm and is in her house. The lights have gone out and she hears steps above her. To make matters worse, she’s not able to call 911 and she’s had a fight with Dash because of his self destructive behavior so she’s basically on her own. Until she’s not.

Thankfully Dash comes to her rescue and she can leave the house unscathed. What we don’t know is who the intruder was or what they wanted, but as a result of this scary moment, Dash and Allie are on more sturdy ground and they go back to his apartment together.

This second installment is about obsession. That’s really the only way that I can level set here. Allie is obsessed with finding Allison, the girl that’s gone missing that has put her in this new world in Nashville. Dash is obsessed with Allie and while it seems like a great thing at times (their chemistry is off the charts) we know that they both have such troubled pasts that there’s no way that it can work out. Then there’s Tyler who’s obsessed with bringing Dash down, and as this story goes, we learn of others who have similar motivations.

While all this insanity is going on, we watch a few great things happen. We see Allie thrive in her role pulling together a winning auction, however it means that she has to come to terms with what that means for her future at RipTide. We watch the relationship between Dash’s sister and Allie grow, and we see how Allie’s mother grows to appreciate Dash as well.

On the flip side we see what Allie’s past can do to haunt these two, with her ex fiance scheming a way into her life in a bad way. All the progress that’s been made throughout this story with obsessing over what happened to Allison, what that means for Allie and what the future holds if and when they find her is nullified at the very end through a series of unfortunate events.

There’s heat and passion throughout this story that keeps us intrigued and there are mysteries that we only get hints to and not full clear insights to carry us to to the finale. If you’ve read In and Out by LRJ, then you know that there’s not always a happy ending with the missing person, and I fear that’s what we’re going to find in this series as well. I”m positive that one of the men that we’ve met is the one that made her feel like she had to disappear, and I am pretty sure that i’ve guessed it. What I wonder though is the motivation given that there seem to be so many men that care about her.

Thankfully we only have to wait until next month to see how this all resolves, but I will say that the sexual tension here was enough to keep a reader engaged, but I wonder if it’s enough to keep the couple together. Dash and Allie know what they’re capable of, but don’t trust each other enough to see it play out. Hopefully identifying who sent the necklace and why he needs to be forgiven will not only lead us to Allison, but to a happy ending as well. Enjoy!

Review: What if I Never (Necklace Trilogy #1) by Lisa Renee Jones

TitleWhat If I Never
Author: Lisa Renee Jones
Publisher/Year:  Julie Patra Publishing 10/19/21
Length:  200 Pages
Series: Necklace Trilogy #1

Overview

Allison Wright is delivered a package meant for a different Allison—a unique, expensive necklace. Determined to right the confusion, she seeks out the proper recipient, a journey that takes her to the doorstep of Tyler Hawk, a good looking, recluse billionaire who deals with fine collectibles such as the necklace. She also learns that Allison, his employee, quit her job registering and restoring his vast assortment of collectibles. Ironically, Allison is home to care for her sick mother, on leave from her job at Riptide, the world renowned auction house and her love of such things has her jumping at the opportunity. Soon, she is spending every waking moment immersed in the job the other Allison left behind.

As Allison begins diving into the job for Tyler, secrets about the other Allison begin to surface that have her concerned for her safety. And as she starts hunting for answers, her path crosses with the enigmatic famous author who has a business endeavor with her boss. Dash Black is a man who is dark and edgy, intense and yet quiet. Funny and yet somehow reserved. He draws her in, sets her pulse racing, and her body on fire. She knows there’s a dangerous edge to him, but she can’t seem to care. She’s addicted to everything he is and she simply can’t turn away, no matter what the cost. As Allison is drawn into the life and mystery of the other Allison, a mystery demands answers and passion burns hot. Allison will travel a path that leads to shocking truths and a side of herself she never knew existed.

My Thoughts

I LOVED this introduction to a new trilogy by our amazing author Lisa Renee Jones. It has Inside Out vibes ALL OVER THE PLACE. that series was based on a girl who found diaries of a woman who went missing, who worked at Riptide and we watched how all that unfolded throughout the extended series. This story is similar that it’s based on the discovery of an item that was meant for someone else, for a woman who’s gone missing, and we get more Riptide vibes throughout this as well.

We start off with Allison (Allie) Wright – our leading lady who works for Riptide in NYC, but who’s on leave right now in Nashville taking care of her mother who’s been fighting cancer. She’s in remission now, but Allie’s not ready to believe that things are better. Allie is working at a museum while she’s on leave and she receives a package one day that turns out to be this expensive necklace with the note ‘Forgive Me’ enclosed – leading her to believe that it’s from her father or her ex. Then she realizes that she’s not the intended Allison W to receive this and that instead it was supposed to go to the legal office of Hawk Legal down the street to an Allison W there. When she goes to return it, she learns that Allison has abruptly left work and no one knows where she is and when she’s coming back.

The story from here takes a similar mysterious tone but we are engrossed just the same.

Enter a few leading men into this story. Tyler Hawk, the partner that hires Allison to jump into Allison’s role to lead up an auction that was left in the lurch, ironically something that our Allie is able to do with skill and expertise. Tyler is just like Mark Compton, the owner of Riptide, so Allie’s able to handle him, but we get dark feelings about him. He’s got arrogance for sure but there’s something more, something darker underneath the surface with him that we haven’t quite gotten to yet.

Then there’s Dash Black – an incredibly successful author that Allie has actually edited before, but at the same time, a man who’s powerful, sexy and has something unknown about him as well. For this guy, we get Chris Merit vibes. Chris was the love interest from Inside Out – a wildly successful author who has his own dark past and history that took several books to uncover.

There’s chemistry between Allie and Dash and we see them dance around it for some time. He brings something out in her that she’s never allowed anyone to do – he makes her drop her walls, but likely because they know that there’s an expiration date since she’s going back to New York soon.

Tyler is a wild card – we don’t know his overt intentions but we can begin to see that there’s something more that he’s either hiding or is going to share with us soon. He has a connection to the missing Allison – and one that no one really speaks of, aside from Dash towards the end of this story. It’s not unexpected, but there’s more that even Tyler was unaware about and that’s what makes us wonder.

The heat and chemistry that Dash and Allie share at some point becomes to much to avoid and we watch how they explode together – there’s a connection that is so heated and powerful that you want to hope that they are salvation for one another. We know that Allie’s past is haunted – there are enough teases about that to gives us inclinations of what it could be but we’re never able to learn the truth. We know Dash has suffered his own share of despair and pain, death over and over again that he feels that he’s without salvation and redemption. There’s something about this unexpected pairing that makes you want to hope for the best, but we also know that they are likely self destructive so there’s really no hope …not yet.

We have a roller coaster that’s a mix of some of the sexiest scenes that we’ve read by our author in any books, and then there are the explosive fights that put us off one another completely. There’s anger and fear, and then there’s a cliff that we’re about to jump off. Dash goes to a fight club to work out his anger, Tyler brings Allie there to save him an it doesn’t work. She goes home (to the house that Tyler’s given her mind you) and while she’s there, in the wine cellar looking for something to soothe her broken heart, she realizes someone is in the house…and she has no signal to call 911. That’s where we are left off and now I don’t know that it’s fair that I have to wait until December for book 2. SAD….but this was an amazing read that I could NOT put down. so on that note, you guys have to read it too and enjoy!