If I Were You

By: Lisa Renee Jones

Narrated by: Grace Grant

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

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....

In the best-selling style of Fifty Shades of Grey, Lisa Renee Jones delivers sexy thrills and heart-pounding sensuality with a tantalizing pause resistor in which the eyes of a high school English teacher are opened to a world she never knew existed, and she finds a passionate craving within that she never knew she possessed.

The journal comes to Sara McMillan by chance, when she inherits the key to an abandoned storage locker belonging to a woman named Rebecca. Sara can't resist peeking at the entries in the journal...and she finds a scintillating account of Rebecca' affair with an unnamed lover, a relationship drenched in ecstasy and wrapped in dark secrets.

Obsessed with discovering Rebecca' destiny after the entries come to an abrupt end, Sara does more than observe the players in the woman's life; she immerses herself in the high-stakes art gallery world Rebecca inhabited - and is magnetically drawn to two men. Which one seduced Rebecca with his masterful and commanding touch and brought her fantasies to exquisite life? On a daringly erotic escapade, Sara follows Rebecca's path to fulfill her own hidden longings. But after she tastes the forbidden pleasures Rebecca savored, will Sara be helpless to escape the same submissive fate?

Next in this thrilling new trilogy: look for Being Me and Revealing Us.

©2013 Simon & Schuster, Inc. ; 2013 Lisa Renee Jones

WHOA!! I'M INTRIGUED! GREAT START TO SERIES!

I really enjoyed this first installment of the INSIDE OUT series. This is the first book I read from this author, Lisa Renee Jones, and I found her writing style to be smooth and overall, well done. She knows how to paint a picture and set the stage for intrigue and that is exactly where I'm at….I'M INTRIGUED. I'm also really grateful that there is virtually no angst within the romance in this book (at least not the kind I'm used to). I'm so tired of the yo-yo emotional highs and lows delivered in some of these erotic stories of broken Heros/heroines.

In this book, Sara McMillan is left with the storage of personal belongings and a series of erotic journals from a woman named Rebecca. Sara's a school teacher and lives a pretty quiet life, but that all changed when her neighbor and best friend, Ella, leaves Rebecca's storage & erotic journals in Sara's care. Ella, herself, is whisked away to Paris to elope with her lover-doctor.

Sara becomes enthralled in these erotic journals and becomes worried about Rebecca, but instead of filing a "missing persons report" (well, that was my thought at least), she follows the bread crumbs of Rebecca's life to the Allure Art Gallery. Through a series of events Sara is hired, by manager Mark Compton, to take Rebecca's position in lieu of her absence, and this is where it gets interesting. Mark is handsome, closed off and screams dark sex appeal and shows an interest in Sara. Yet, it is Chris Merit, a wealthy, talented artist who exudes this animal magnetism that moves onto Sara, like a predator.

The romance in this book is about Sara and Chris and I really enjoyed their steamy, hot love affair. Chris reaches out to Sara by extending very thoughtful gestures that "matter." This is significant for a man who started out by telling Sara he could never be a "white-picket fence" type of guy she could take home to her parents. Yet, in this romance both Sara and Chris become immersed in a love affair that is beyond just the sex. With small amounts of their background revealed, Sara and Chris are emotionally damaged, in some way, and it's evident that they have the potential to become as a healing elixir for one another.

THIS BOOK ENDED WITH A MAJOR CLIFF HANGER (which I was prepared for, thankfully, due to the other reviews). And, I'm excited to continue with this series where Rebecca continues to be missing and now we need to add Ella to that list of missing persons, as Sara has not heard from her and is becoming increasingly worried. We also learned more about Mark's dark side and how this connects him to Chris. Both Mark and Chris were friends, at one point, but are now have a type of competitiveness going on, especially when it comes to Sara and I can't wait to see how that piece unfolds……LOTS MORE TO COME!!!

I know this book is being mixed in a category of books that are compared to FSoG, but the only similarity I found was how Sara's mouth "became dry" just like Ana from Fifty Shades each time she was erotically excited….LOL (seriously…that was the only common feature, at least at this junction..haha).

Narrator: Grace Grant was good, but I wish she would have been able to distinguish her masculine voices a bit more, otherwise, overall good job.

Amazing!

First of all the narrator is great! The book had some pretty good twists in it too. It's almost the same storyline as 50 shades of Grey so that wad kind of annoying but it still wad a very good book. looking forward to reading the next one!

Really.....?? You have got to be kidding me!

What did you love best about If I Were You?

I thought the book was very good, had me hanging on the edge of my seat most of the time. I was always thinking can't wait to find out about...., and where does this fit in, why is this like this!

What did you like best about this story?

That it kept you hanging on wanting to know more with every chapter.

Have you listened to any of Grace Grant’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first, she was enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

What I didn't like most about the book is I didn't know it would literally stop in the @#$% middle!! No warning just......*&^%!!

Entertaining But Very Frustrating Read

The mystery serving as the premise of this book and the heroine's attempt to solve it was totally implausible. I give the author extra credit for working in the premise of a current reality TV show. And the rapidity with which the main characters connected and became attached was far fetched as well. Yet I enjoyed the book and while the mystery didn't keep me guessing and the suspense was negligible the story still had enough interesting characters and fascinating settings to be entertaining. It moved along quickly and the heroine, while annoying, was also quirky and endearing at times.

Grace Grant/Madeleine Maby has become one of my favorite narrators. I will listen to anything she narrates. She is a big reason I enjoyed the book so much.

Two complaints - first I got tired of listening to "I love him, he's perfect for me, it's just about sex, he must love me, I don't deserve him, he's crazy, I love him, he's perfect ..." The author took self-doubt to a whole new level and it got annoying quickly. You became conditioned to the fact that every time the heroine had a positive thought about the hero and their future, it would immediately be followed by doubt and insecurity, usually with no explanation as to why she couldn't hold on to one opinion for longer than 15 seconds.

Finally, the end of this book reminded me of the cliff hanger on an old two part episode of Dallas or Charlie's Angels. It was silly, and rather insulting. While I am resigned to the fact that authors can't seem to tell a story in one novel and now require a minimum of three, there is usually enough closure at the end of each book that if you don't read the next you can still be reasonably satisfied with where the book ended. That wasn't the case here and the author should have just written one long book. The ending upset me enough that rather than encouraging me to read the next book, it almost made me refuse to read it, even knowing I would probably enjoy it. If it wasn't for the narrator, I was angry enough about the ending I would have stopped and not read the second book in the series. This was not a good way to treat your readers.

Excellent

Great book... but did leave us hanging. The sequel isn't due out for months. I had read this book in late 2011 but with the release of an audio version, I jumped at getting it as well. I enjoyed it as much as the read version.

Lots of story to clear up in the sequel.

Leaves You Wanting More

Grace Grant does an amazing job with the narration you just don't want to stop listening. I loved the storyline and Rebecca's Journals what an erotic adventure. I feel that Sara and Rebecca are somehow connected in some way. Sara is tough and her own person after reading Rebecca's Journal's decides to follow her dreams of art and thus starts entering Rebecca's world. The two hot alpha males Chris & Mark wow... , can't wait for Being Me.

It has a cliffhanger, but still a good read.

Any additional comments?

So this was probably the third time I've listened to this book (if not more). I realized I hadn't left a review so I listened again. It pulled me in just like it did the first time I read it. I bought the Kindle version almost 2 years before I bought the Audible version. I don't remember how far into the series I was at that point, but it was worth it to me to have the book to listen to as I knew it would be a repeat read.

It took me a while to make that initial purchase because I wasn't sure I'd want to read about the bondage lifestyle. While it's there in bits and pieces, and in one bigger scene, it wasn't an overwhelming part of the story. The mystery and the chemistry between Sara and Chris were the main story lines; they drew me in and kept me reading.

Now for the proofreader in me, there were errors in grammar that were dutifully read by Grace Grant. That said, there weren't enough to keep me from listening to it again. Grace has a pleasant voice -- not too monotone and not overly dramatic.

There's an abrupt, cliffhanger ending so if that's one of your pet peeves, please be warned. That said, I've read almost all the books in this series and enjoyed them all.

not worth the time

What did you like best about If I Were You? What did you like least?

What did you like best about If I Were You?
When it started I liked the she was strong and with purpose.

What did you like least?
how quickly she lost both.

What was most disappointing about Lisa Renee Jones’s story?

What was most disappointing about Lisa Renee Jones’s story?
She made Sarah weak and overly drawn out rants of how much she loved Chris

Have you listened to any of Grace Grant’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

this was my first I believe

Was If I Were You worth the listening time?

for me, not really. I won't listen to the second book

nail biting and enticing

Can't wait to listen to the rest of the series! Excellent narration and love the characters.

YUMMY READING.. LOVED THIS.

What did you love best about If I Were You?

Sara is so unexpected. To be honest, I really had to work to stay focused at the beginning. But once she knew what she wanted. She went for it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Chris so far.. (Don't play his games Sara, and he can't beat you at them) WHOA!!!

What does Grace Grant bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Grace does a great job. Again she has a problem with male voices.I love the way Grace puts laughter, and feeling into her reading. She does a couple of the books I have read in the past. I am starting to love her.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

At the beginning, it took a lot to stay with this book. I almost let it go. I had to keep going back to make it memorable.This is because normally as a rule, I read books that jump right into pure down right HOT reading. But it get's there. But there is a reason why.. So stick with it, it pays off, BIG TIME. Going to book 2 now..

Any additional comments?

OK listeners, here it goes.. This is worth a credit. and I hear the second book is even better.. well I cannot wait. I am in need to a good book that is Hot and keeps me up listening at night. LOL. But you have to listen to this!. Here is why.. You need to know why she (Sara) makes the decisions she does. Once this book get's into the facts, it becomes a great book. I am going to listen to again just to make sure I have all the facts from the beginning in place. Cause after a few chapters, you will need to know to keep up..And it moves fast.. I loved it.. Warning..Cliffhanger.