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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
I read this romance in one night. The sex-to-plot ratio skews too far into “sex” for my taste, though I’ll admit the tension and heat between main characters Amy Bensen and Liam Stone is realistic and well-done. (I know exactly what is meant by “My nipples are tight.”) What I find compelling about the story is the mystery. Author Lisa Renee Jones strings the reader along, dropping hints something is amiss. (I suspect Amy never should have boarded the plane to Denver.) In this, I’m in the thick of it, right alongside Amy. Who can she trust? What should she do? Where can she go?
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Sign me up for the next book!
This gets two stars for the fact that I actually finished it, so there was clearly *something* that actually kept me interested.
As to what that actually was, I'm not sure.
This is generic erotic romance of the complete wish fulfilment variety. Girl running from *something* (which is annoyingly ill-defined, to the point where I actually wondered if the author had written that backstory, or just had a general ides that Amy was running), getting a new identity from an ill-defined handler (and being way, way too trusting of said handler, I have to say - a little evidence that there was actually something bad pursuing her would have helped here).
And of course there is an incredibly good-looking billionaire who meets her, falls in lust/love (why??), has never felt like this about anyone before, is controlling (hooray, buy her a phone and stock her apartment with stuff and don't actually listen ever when she says she doesn't want any of it, because you know she really does, and will accept it all anyway. Nope.).
Some of this could be glossed over if the erotica was good, but it's just as generic as the characterisation.
And to make things more frustrating, there's no actual story arc for this book - no resolution for anything, just an abrupt ending and "hey, book two is coming soon". I know other successful books have done this, but it always feels like cheating to me. Like we've forgotten that, even in a series, each book should actually have a story arc that resolves within that book. Otherwise you run the risk of the reader just throwing your book across the room and never actually picking up the next book.
As to what that actually was, I'm not sure.
This is generic erotic romance of the complete wish fulfilment variety. Girl running from *something* (which is annoyingly ill-defined, to the point where I actually wondered if the author had written that backstory, or just had a general ides that Amy was running), getting a new identity from an ill-defined handler (and being way, way too trusting of said handler, I have to say - a little evidence that there was actually something bad pursuing her would have helped here).
And of course there is an incredibly good-looking billionaire who meets her, falls in lust/love (why??), has never felt like this about anyone before, is controlling (hooray, buy her a phone and stock her apartment with stuff and don't actually listen ever when she says she doesn't want any of it, because you know she really does, and will accept it all anyway. Nope.).
Some of this could be glossed over if the erotica was good, but it's just as generic as the characterisation.
And to make things more frustrating, there's no actual story arc for this book - no resolution for anything, just an abrupt ending and "hey, book two is coming soon". I know other successful books have done this, but it always feels like cheating to me. Like we've forgotten that, even in a series, each book should actually have a story arc that resolves within that book. Otherwise you run the risk of the reader just throwing your book across the room and never actually picking up the next book.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is very problematic, although I can see the appeal in a billionaire alpha male.
Hidden pasts, unknown futures, and sex. Liam and Amy have a strong draw to each other but why and what is it? Love it! Quick read because I didn't want to put it down. Now, I wish the second one was here already!
All right, let me tell you about how I came across this book, because I think it's kind of funny!
I had just opened up an account with NetGalley, and was thinking that I would never get approved for any books, when lo and behold, an email appeared in my inbox, touting three New Adult novels in the "Read Now" category. Really?! I didn't even know about the Read Now books!!! So I booted on over to NetGalley and downloaded all three books then and there.
Out of my three new books, Escaping Reality had the most interesting cover and synopsis, so that's where I started. The pace in the beginning was great, and the story had me intrigued, but because it was in PDF format, which is a bit more tedious to read on my Kobo, I took a break and read the other two books. One was okay, and the other was pretty good, but the reason I mention this is because they both had quite a few typos.
When I came back to Escaping Reality, I noticed that there weren't any typos, which was a refreshing change! I thought, "Wow, for a first-time author, the writing is very well done!" (Remember this for later!) On the other hand, the plot took a weird turn. It reminded me of a...well, soft-core porn, to be honest. No plot, just sex. Here's this woman, Amy, on the run for her life, and she's ready to jump in the sack with a guy she just met on a plane? I almost gave up reading right then, but then I reread the title - ah, Escaping Reality! Maybe it's SUPPOSED to be unrealistic!!! I get it now! All right, carry on.
Two of the most annoying things now started to become apparent. First, the repetitive writing. Oh. My. God. This is my impersonation of Amy: "I should not be attracted to this man, but this man makes me feel like no man ever has. I don't know what it is about this man that makes me feel this way. What is it about this man? I wish I could be with this man, but I can't be with this man the way I want to be. This man this and this man that, ad nauseam!" Obviously I'm not quoting, but that's how I remember it. Ugh, reading "this book" was so painful!
The second most annoying thing? Amy. She didn't know her ass from her elbow, and what was she scared of? Good question! Nowhere in the 68% of the book I actually read was there any reason to believe she was in danger. No near misses, no stalker sightings, no crank calls, nothing! All the reader knows is that her family is dead, but were they murdered? Were they in an accident? Did they just fall off the face of the earth? Amy had a lot of internal monologue alluding to this incredible danger, but as far as I could tell, it was all talk.
Oh wait. I forgot a third annoying thing. Liam. Now you know a book is bad when you don't like the female lead, or the male lead. He was just sooooooo over the top in every way, I almost gagged. Enough of these young billionaire geniuses, already! Who are authors basing these guys on? Bill Gates? Because he's the only billionaire genius I can think of, but the way every second book features one of them, you'd think they were falling out of the sky!
Meanwhile, as I was browsing the book aisle at the grocery store, I came across a book with a beautiful cover and an interesting synopsis by... you guessed it! Lisa Renee Jones! So she's NOT a first time author! Well then, how does junk like this get published? No. Idea. Then again, I've seen a lot of 5 star reviews for this book, so maybe I'm the idiot.
If you're thinking you might want to read this book, I'm going to try to change your mind in one paragraph, simply because I care about you. After 200 some odd pages, this is what happened - and trust me, I'm not spoiling anything. Amy leaves a party to move to a new city with a new identity. She meets a guy on the plane. She has sex with him. He buys her a cell phone. They argue about the cell phone. She brings the cell phone back to the store. He finds her at the store and they argue some more. He convinces her to keep the phone. They go to dinner. They have sex. 200 frickin' pages of tiny print and THAT'S. ALL. THAT. HAPPENED!!! So maybe things pick up, but by that point, I really didn't give a shit.
I had just opened up an account with NetGalley, and was thinking that I would never get approved for any books, when lo and behold, an email appeared in my inbox, touting three New Adult novels in the "Read Now" category. Really?! I didn't even know about the Read Now books!!! So I booted on over to NetGalley and downloaded all three books then and there.
Out of my three new books, Escaping Reality had the most interesting cover and synopsis, so that's where I started. The pace in the beginning was great, and the story had me intrigued, but because it was in PDF format, which is a bit more tedious to read on my Kobo, I took a break and read the other two books. One was okay, and the other was pretty good, but the reason I mention this is because they both had quite a few typos.
When I came back to Escaping Reality, I noticed that there weren't any typos, which was a refreshing change! I thought, "Wow, for a first-time author, the writing is very well done!" (Remember this for later!) On the other hand, the plot took a weird turn. It reminded me of a...well, soft-core porn, to be honest. No plot, just sex. Here's this woman, Amy, on the run for her life, and she's ready to jump in the sack with a guy she just met on a plane? I almost gave up reading right then, but then I reread the title - ah, Escaping Reality! Maybe it's SUPPOSED to be unrealistic!!! I get it now! All right, carry on.
Two of the most annoying things now started to become apparent. First, the repetitive writing. Oh. My. God. This is my impersonation of Amy: "I should not be attracted to this man, but this man makes me feel like no man ever has. I don't know what it is about this man that makes me feel this way. What is it about this man? I wish I could be with this man, but I can't be with this man the way I want to be. This man this and this man that, ad nauseam!" Obviously I'm not quoting, but that's how I remember it. Ugh, reading "this book" was so painful!
The second most annoying thing? Amy. She didn't know her ass from her elbow, and what was she scared of? Good question! Nowhere in the 68% of the book I actually read was there any reason to believe she was in danger. No near misses, no stalker sightings, no crank calls, nothing! All the reader knows is that her family is dead, but were they murdered? Were they in an accident? Did they just fall off the face of the earth? Amy had a lot of internal monologue alluding to this incredible danger, but as far as I could tell, it was all talk.
Oh wait. I forgot a third annoying thing. Liam. Now you know a book is bad when you don't like the female lead, or the male lead. He was just sooooooo over the top in every way, I almost gagged. Enough of these young billionaire geniuses, already! Who are authors basing these guys on? Bill Gates? Because he's the only billionaire genius I can think of, but the way every second book features one of them, you'd think they were falling out of the sky!
Meanwhile, as I was browsing the book aisle at the grocery store, I came across a book with a beautiful cover and an interesting synopsis by... you guessed it! Lisa Renee Jones! So she's NOT a first time author! Well then, how does junk like this get published? No. Idea. Then again, I've seen a lot of 5 star reviews for this book, so maybe I'm the idiot.
If you're thinking you might want to read this book, I'm going to try to change your mind in one paragraph, simply because I care about you. After 200 some odd pages, this is what happened - and trust me, I'm not spoiling anything. Amy leaves a party to move to a new city with a new identity. She meets a guy on the plane. She has sex with him. He buys her a cell phone. They argue about the cell phone. She brings the cell phone back to the store. He finds her at the store and they argue some more. He convinces her to keep the phone. They go to dinner. They have sex. 200 frickin' pages of tiny print and THAT'S. ALL. THAT. HAPPENED!!! So maybe things pick up, but by that point, I really didn't give a shit.
Okay, up until the last chapter, this book was pretty standard with a little twist in it. A girl on the run from something or someone, meets a hot, very rich guy on the plane that is instantly obsessed with the girl, but has his own issues and past. And then the last chapter threw a one big twist in my face that leaves me with one giant questionmark.
Escaping Reality is about Amy Bensen. Amy has gone through something in her past and now she’s running for it. New name, new home, new life. And while running again after six years of peace, she meets Liam Stone on the plane. He’s a very handsome, very rich and very talented architect. And he’s instantly obsessed with Amy. They start a passionate affair, but Amy keeps doubting if she can trust him at all.
Like I said before, this book is pretty Fifty Shades-like in the beginning. Except for the big mystery behind Amy herself, which I’m still figuring out after finishing the book. The writing was okay, the story was… yeah standard. The only thing that makes it a bit different from all the other books in the genre is the mystery behind Amy. Which, luckily, is enough to keep my interest up, but after a while, that stops. Nothing really happened until the very end and that wasn’t enough in my opinion. Yeah sure, it gives me some questions, and I do want to know the answers, but still…
The characters were…. Okay? Liam is very Christian-like and basically, I’m getting sick of that type. Rich, hot, issues from the past, obessed with the main girl for some reason,… Honestly, if I were in those situations as those girls in the books are when they meet the rich, hot guy, I’d run away from them. I don’t need some obsessed guy who wants to own me. So no, I didn’t really like him. As for Amy… Well she was somewhat the same as the girls in the other books. They throw back feminism by hundreds of years and I don’t like that for one bit.
So basically it’s pretty standard and despite that, I do want to read the sequel because I need answers to those questions. I recommend this book to people who love Fifty Shades of Grey and other books like that.
Escaping Reality is about Amy Bensen. Amy has gone through something in her past and now she’s running for it. New name, new home, new life. And while running again after six years of peace, she meets Liam Stone on the plane. He’s a very handsome, very rich and very talented architect. And he’s instantly obsessed with Amy. They start a passionate affair, but Amy keeps doubting if she can trust him at all.
Like I said before, this book is pretty Fifty Shades-like in the beginning. Except for the big mystery behind Amy herself, which I’m still figuring out after finishing the book. The writing was okay, the story was… yeah standard. The only thing that makes it a bit different from all the other books in the genre is the mystery behind Amy. Which, luckily, is enough to keep my interest up, but after a while, that stops. Nothing really happened until the very end and that wasn’t enough in my opinion. Yeah sure, it gives me some questions, and I do want to know the answers, but still…
The characters were…. Okay? Liam is very Christian-like and basically, I’m getting sick of that type. Rich, hot, issues from the past, obessed with the main girl for some reason,… Honestly, if I were in those situations as those girls in the books are when they meet the rich, hot guy, I’d run away from them. I don’t need some obsessed guy who wants to own me. So no, I didn’t really like him. As for Amy… Well she was somewhat the same as the girls in the other books. They throw back feminism by hundreds of years and I don’t like that for one bit.
So basically it’s pretty standard and despite that, I do want to read the sequel because I need answers to those questions. I recommend this book to people who love Fifty Shades of Grey and other books like that.
Review also published on my blog StudentSpyglass
Plot: ★★
Characters: ★★★
Readability: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★
I loved Lisa Renee Jones’ Inside Out Trilogy (you can read my review for book 1 here and for book 2 here) so I couldn’t resist requesting Escaping Reality when I saw it on NetGalley.
Amy Bensen is a girl running from her past, hiding from a shadowy history with a new name and identity. When her ‘handler’ announces Amy needs to run again, Amy dreads starting yet another life, but when her survival depends on it, what choice does she have?
On the flight to her new destination, Amy meets Liam. Despite her instincts to stay unnoticed, Amy and Liam have an instant chemistry she just can’t resist.
Escaping Reality was an easy read with an interesting idea. It didn’t quite live up to the Inside Out Trilogy in my opinion, though I admit that may be because I’m not a huge New Adult fan. Similar to the Inside Out Trilogy, this is a sexy blend of romance and mystery. I felt the romance was the predominant plot point, and that little really happened on the mystery front. There was too much intrigue for me – I don’t feel like any of the questions I had were answered. That combined with a cliffhanger ending mean I definitely want to read the next book, but I ended this one feeling just as frustrated as intrigued.
The main characters were likeable enough. Liam is a fairly standard alpha male; I liked him but he didn’t wow me or strike me as especially different to the many similar characters around at the minute. Amy was great, and not afraid to tell Liam exactly what she thought of him! However, I didn’t really understand enough about why she acts the way she does, and so sometimes I was frustrated with her wavering back and forth about attraction to Liam and her instincts to stay away. The minor characters, Jared and Meg, were okay; I got the impression they were deliberately somewhat mysterious, and I’m intrigued to learn more about both.
All in all Escaping Reality was an enjoyable, easy read, but unless you’re a big New Adult fan or looking for your next Lisa Renee Jones fix, I’d recommend the Inside Out Trilogy first.
Plot: ★★
Characters: ★★★
Readability: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★
I loved Lisa Renee Jones’ Inside Out Trilogy (you can read my review for book 1 here and for book 2 here) so I couldn’t resist requesting Escaping Reality when I saw it on NetGalley.
Amy Bensen is a girl running from her past, hiding from a shadowy history with a new name and identity. When her ‘handler’ announces Amy needs to run again, Amy dreads starting yet another life, but when her survival depends on it, what choice does she have?
On the flight to her new destination, Amy meets Liam. Despite her instincts to stay unnoticed, Amy and Liam have an instant chemistry she just can’t resist.
Escaping Reality was an easy read with an interesting idea. It didn’t quite live up to the Inside Out Trilogy in my opinion, though I admit that may be because I’m not a huge New Adult fan. Similar to the Inside Out Trilogy, this is a sexy blend of romance and mystery. I felt the romance was the predominant plot point, and that little really happened on the mystery front. There was too much intrigue for me – I don’t feel like any of the questions I had were answered. That combined with a cliffhanger ending mean I definitely want to read the next book, but I ended this one feeling just as frustrated as intrigued.
The main characters were likeable enough. Liam is a fairly standard alpha male; I liked him but he didn’t wow me or strike me as especially different to the many similar characters around at the minute. Amy was great, and not afraid to tell Liam exactly what she thought of him! However, I didn’t really understand enough about why she acts the way she does, and so sometimes I was frustrated with her wavering back and forth about attraction to Liam and her instincts to stay away. The minor characters, Jared and Meg, were okay; I got the impression they were deliberately somewhat mysterious, and I’m intrigued to learn more about both.
All in all Escaping Reality was an enjoyable, easy read, but unless you’re a big New Adult fan or looking for your next Lisa Renee Jones fix, I’d recommend the Inside Out Trilogy first.
Really good... I love this author. Cliffhanger ending though.