Review: Being Me

Being Me by Lisa Renee Jones

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Finally the reader finds out what happens to Sara when the lights go out in the storage unit. The first book in this series wowed me and I couldn't put it down. This second one unfortunately underwhelmed me. It's almost as if the book made a ninety degree turn for no apparent reason.

Sara is still playing at "Nancy Drew" except she has no experience with detective work nor is she from a family of law enforcement. She bumbles through her search for Rebecca's location. This is now mixed in with her friend Ella's disappearance. Sara continues to vicariously live through Rebecca's journals. Regrettably, she's using it as guide for her own life and how to interpret all these dominant men around her. The name of the book is oddly fitting as the reader is treated to the real Sara. This Sara is a grave disappointment.

If the first book showcased Sara boldly making positive changes to her life, this second books portrays her as an unstable drama queen. Perhaps it is true. Sara's fear of a man taking over her life and causing her to be just a kept pet is a reality. Because it seems the minute she commits to being involved with Chris, Sara gets on the crazy train. She behaves irrationally and blows things out of proportion. She perceives slights when they don't exist. If she were a man, I would have told her to "nut up" and grow a pair. Since she's a female and hysterical through at least a third of this book, I just want to slap her across the face several times to get her to snap out of it.

Since the book is in first person from Sara's perspective, I can not help but see that Chris's relationship with her comes across quite poorly. From an outsider perspective, their relationship is a train wreck. They both have some kind of emotional baggage which amounts to "much ado about nothing". Honestly, I can't fathom why they act the way they do. Perhaps these issues are what people call "First World Problems"? It comes across as rich people with make believe issues.

For example, Dylan's situation. It's sad. There is no doubt about it. Loosing a loved one is definitely painful. Chris's response to it is out of the norm. Still, if he gets rid of emotional pain through physical pain, that's fine. I can sympathize with this method. I've used this technique myself. It's rather cathartic and I feel good afterwards. Never do I feel guilty about it though. Nor am I ashamed of it. Chris's response to hide it is confusing because those involved in the BDSM scene would understand this and there wouldn't be this massive hidden dark "bad thing". The way Chris is portrayed makes me wonder what kind of message Ms. Jones is trying to convey about BDSM and those who are masochists. For an author who is in the lifestyle, this character behaviour made little sense to me.

The suspense part of the story is barely touched upon. While there was a tiny hint of the villain, the set up was weak and it did come out of left field. Since this is an erotic story not a murder mystery, I'm not going to quibble about it. Overall, the story is okay, just not as arousing as the first book. The one part where it did get kick up the heat with a possible threesome was shutdown so quick, the reader better not have blinked. Ryan and Mark as two Doms taking a sub for a spin sounds positively divine.

The next installment hints to be more about Chris's past demons as he tries to keep the relationship with Sara going. One can only hope it doesn't resemble a popular soap opera shown on Telemundo with contrived slights and insecurities. Instead, it would be nice to read about a smexy journey of erotic power exchange. Perhaps the reader will be treated to more of Mark and Ryan. Because they come across more appealing than Chris at this point. It's too bad they are relegated to minor secondary characters. They both seem much more mentally balanced and kinky than Chris and Sara. Here's hoping for sexual scintillating third book in this series.

*provided by NetGalley



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