A review by raffaem
Being Me by Lisa Renee Jones

5.0

I feel like this sequel has been on my to-read/not-so-patiently-waiting-for list forever. I had to re-read If I Were You before beginning this one, because other than the major cliffy at the end I couldn't remember the fine details. So glad I re-read the first one in the trilogy because I fell in love with the characters again. There's a reason why I gave it 5 well-deserved stars and a prized place on my favorites list.

So on to Being Me...

This one is centered on the passionate yet at times tumultuous relationship between Sara and Chris. These two both have demons in their past, neither of which are willing to share. Chris' protective and controlling side towards Sara conflicts with her desire to maintain her independence and grow both personally and professionally. It's not until one night when Sara comes face to face with her ex-fiancé, Michael, that she's forced to reveal part of her past to Chris. Despite this reveal, Sara still cannot break through Chris' barriers to find out what's behind the pain in his eyes. All she knows is that Chris' dark past is the reason he needs physical pain to fight the emotional pain. Sara pleads with Chris to let her be what he needs, but Chris does not want to her to bear that burden. Although they aren’t ready to experiment with kink together, their innate chemistry is evident.



In the midst of all of this, Chris has private investigators searching for both Rebecca and Ella. This helps to ease the anxiety Sara feels over finding them, however she cannot stop drawing parallels between Rebecca and herself. She continually finds herself remembering passages from Rebecca’s diaries and applying them to herself.



Sara is trying to figure out who was Rebecca’s master and at times suspects Chris, but immediately dismisses these thoughts. Because after all she knows Chris, doesn’t she? Mark on the other hand is always a suspect. His calm, controlled demeanor screams Master, but there isn’t any proof he is responsible for her disappearance. And it’s not until the very end that we find out about Rebecca. Although we get questions answered, there is still much more to come in the third and final installment. I cannot wait for September!


ARC courtesy of Gallery, Treshold, Pocket Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review