Infinite possibilities….
Infinite passion…..
Infinite danger….
His touch spirals through me, warm and sweet, wicked and hot. I shouldn’t trust him. I shouldn’t tell him my secrets. But how do I not when he is the reason I breath? He is what I need.
At the young age of eighteen, tragedy and a dark secret force Lara to flee all she has known and loves to start a new life. Now years later, with a new identity as Amy, she’s finally dared to believe she is forgotten–even if she cannot forget. But just when she lets down her guard down, the ghost’s of her past are quick to punish her, forcing her back on the run.
On a plane, struggling to face the devastation of losing everything again and starting over, Amy meets Liam Stone, a darkly entrancing recluse billionaire, who is also a brilliant, and famous, prodigy architect. A man who knows what he wants and goes after it. And what he wants is Amy. Refusing to take “no” as an answer, he sweeps her into a passionate affair, pushing her to her erotic limits. He wants to possess her. He makes her want to be possessed. Liam demands everything from her, accepting nothing less. But what if she is too devastated by tragedy to know when he wants more than she should give? And what if there is more to Liam than meets the eyes?
I have to say I am pleasantly surprised that the illusive Liam Stone managed to find a few minutes in his busy schedule to meet with me. The man…’the prodigy, the protégé, the billionaire’ – can we say intimidating! But I’m never one to shy away from a challenge and I won’t let Mr. Tall, Dark and Potentially Dangerous get the best of me. I hope.
I arrive 10 minutes early to the coffee shop where we’ve set up to meet. Of course, he’s already there. Damn! I shouldn’t be surprised. He stands to greet me and I shake his hand. He really is every bit as delicious as I imagined in a light grey suit. Well shit…I have a feeling ‘the prodigy, the protégé, the billionaire’ is totally going to get the best of me. I’m so nervous I’m sweating and shaking already. Summoning up the last remaining nerve I have left in my body, I decide the time is now – I didn’t come all this way for nothing.
Lisa: “Thank you so much for meeting with me today Liam.”
Liam: “No trouble at all.”
Lisa: “Well, I won’t keep you any longer than I have to, are you ready to get started?”
Liam: “Ready whenever you are.”
Lisa: “So, what was your first thought when you saw Amy?”
Liam: “Too young for me. Too intriguing to ignore. I had her bumped to first class.”
Lisa: “I did like your bold move. I’m curious, why pyramids? And, what about them attracts you?”
Liam: “I’m an architect and they are architectural mysteries.”
I think he likes more than ‘architectural’ mysteries.
Lisa: “Well I have to say, Amy definitely didn’t make things easy on you…what made you decide not to give up?”
A curious smirk quirks his lips.
Liam: “I knew she was special when I met her. She impacted me in a way no one else ever has.”
Hmm…that answer seems loaded with possibilities, but I’ll leave it alone for now. Mr. Cryptic is being…cryptic.
Lisa: “Well I hate to pry…”
No I don’t, I’m nosey as all get out!
Lisa: “…but I have to commend you on such a…creative tattoo choice. We know the tattoo represents infinite possibilities, why did you choose to get that tattooed on you? Oh and how old were you when you got it? And plans for anymore?”
Liam: “I can’t tell or Lisa will get mad since this is part of book 2.”
I raise an eyebrow at that one. Patience has never been a strong suit for me, but as long as I know I will get answers eventually, that will appease me for the moment.
Lisa: “What are your favorite five characteristics about Amy (physical and non-physical 😉 )”
Liam: “Lost. Alone, which I related to. Beautiful. Young. Innocent. Scared.”
He punctuates each characteristic with purpose, like there is so much thought behind each word but it was so effortless for him to come up with the answers.
Lisa: “What do you think your mom would think of Amy?”
Liam: “She’d be happy someone woke me up.”
Hmm…he never ceases to amaze me. Again, I have to stop myself from prying, there is almost a sad quality to his eyes and I still have to pretend I’m not nosey.
Lisa: “I can’t help but think it was a very lucky thing you flew back from NY when you did – can you imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t? Do you regret not bringing Amy with you to NY?”
Liam: “No.”
He shakes his head.
Liam: “I regret leaving her alone but not leaving her behind. I don’t want her to ever be a part of that part of my life.”
Understandable, can’t fault him for that.
Lisa: “Do you have a favorite memory with Amy (so far…)”
Liam: “The very first moment I saw her and couldn’t look away.”
That was a great memory…
Lisa: “Alright, it’s my favorite part of the interview…word association time. Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind…Architecture?”
Liam: “Alex”
Lisa: “Jared?”
Liam: “Smartass”
I have to stifle a giggle at that one. And I can’t lie, there is something deviously sexy about him saying that word.
Lisa: “Money?”
Liam: “Sharks”
Ha! That really doesn’t surprise me!
Lisa: “Pyramids?”
Liam: “Intrigue”
I think I shall call him Mr. Intrigue. It suits him.
Lisa: “Amy?”
Liam: “Special”
There’s that damn smirk again…interesting.
Lisa: “Love?”
Liam: “Heartache”
Well damn! After that answer boy would I love to probe some more, but I won’t push for any more than he has been so generous enough to give. As we rise to say our goodbyes, his phone buzzes from his pocket. He gives me a embarrassed smile, apologizes, shakes my hand and is out the door and talking on his phone before I can even blink. I feel like I was just swept away by a tornado. A beautiful, mystifying, intriguing tornado.
Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4 ‘Godzilla’ Kisses
I feel like my brain is an egg that has been scrambled and fried. What just happened to me? I’m emotionally confused…actually just completely confused – I have so many thoughts and theories and possibilities and I can’t do anything about it because I. Just. Got. Cliffed. I will address the cliff…eventually.
Amy Benson – who once was Amy Reynolds…or just Amy…yeah we’ll go with just Amy for now, is a brave but scared girl. She’s 24 and for the past 6 years since ‘the incident’ has not been living her own life. She’s been on the run, hiding, changing, adapting – not being allowed to be herself or do what she wants because that is a risk she can’t take. The only ‘constant’ in her life is a handler that she’s never met, her life run by arbitrary notes and decisions taken out of her control – walking around always feeling watched, afraid of the ‘Godzilla’s’ and ‘sharks’ that surround her.
‘My heart races at the idea. I don’t want another new name. Even more than I don’t want to be back on the run, I don’t want another new name. I feel like a girl having her hair chopped off. I’m losing part of myself. After living a lie for years, I’m losing the only part of my fake identity I’d ever really accept as me.’
Liam Stone, ‘Mr. Tall, dark and potentially dangerous’ – they lock eyes in an airport, sit next to each other on a plane (he of course had her bumped to first class to sit next to him…Mr. Smooth Operator) and for a trip that only lasts a few hours…he makes a very memorable first impression. Too memorable. She runs, he chases. She gives in for one night, he wants more. It’s a brilliant push and pull because you really never know what Amy is going to do next – go with her head or her heart. I swooned over Liam, but I was always very wary of him. He has a lot of secrets and I never really felt like I got to know him as well as I wanted to. Very ‘man behind the mask’ kind of feeling, like we were only getting a very brief glimpse inside this gorgeous man.
‘He is money, power, and sex, and while I cannot make out the color of his eyes, I don’t need to. All that matters is that he is one hundred percent focused on me, and me on him. A moment ago I was alone in a crowd and suddenly, I’m with him. As if the space between us is nothing. I tell myself to look away, that everyone is a potential threat, but I just…can’t.’
Liam is amazing though – I know that may sound confusing given what I just said, but…that’s kind of Liam’s M.O., and he pulls it off nicely! It’s hard not to love him, from head to toe. The looks, the attitude, the words that just ooze and drip sex power and confidence. He had a Dom side too him, Like I didn’t want him enough to begin with, that just tipped him over the scales. And the way he handles Amy is…just wow. It’s like he has this road map of exactly how to react to her…what to say…what to do which is interesting because they’ve only known each other a short amount of time. I know what you’re thinking, ‘insta-love’ – but it’s not. It’s insta-passion, insta-chemistry…insta-hotness.
“If you want to sleep,” he says, “I promise to keep Godzilla at bay for you.” He couldn’t have said anything more perfect and I know right then what it is about Liam that makes him so irresistible.’
Speaking of insta-hotness, hold onto your panties ladies. Liam…is…wow. That little bit of Dom just does all kinds of good things for me, but then he has this insanely endearing and sweet quality. He’s protective and alpha, but caring and cute. He’s just a fabulous blend of all the yummy qualities we love in a book boyfriend. But he’s got his flaws – his past comes back to haunt him, which in turn affects his relationship with Amy.
‘There is just me and this man, and I tingle with awareness, alive when I was barely living before meeting him. There are many things I want to say to him but cannot. I am confused and conflicted in all ways possible with this man, stuck between right and wrong.’
So, throughout the whole this, Miss. Jones does a fabulous job of keeping me all tied up in knots. I had so many questions. SO many questions and for every one that I might get closer to answering, 25 more would pop up. It was a different spin on a romance because I am notorious for figuring stories out. Yeah…that didn’t happen here. I have even less of a clue as to wtf is going to happen then I did before I started the book. While that aggravates and frustrates me, it intrigues me more. It’s pushing the envelope in a different direction and I MUST know what is going to happen!
‘I have never felt like this about anyone. I don’t know what “this” is, except that it’s intense in all the right ways and I don’t want my past to destroy it before it ever takes form, as it has every other relationship I’ve had in my life.’
Alright, let’s address this dreaded cliff. It is what it is…I had a feeling it was coming when at 90% there were still things that needed to be addressed that needed WAY more than 10% to address them in. So, I got thru to the end and sat back with my jaw hanging wide open. In terms of cliff severity…it’s pretty up there…not in a bad way, I just really didn’t see the ending happening like that, but like I said at the end of the day, it makes me crave that 2nd book more. Amy and Liam have a lot of explaining to do. This is not one sided, they both have secrets that need to be explained and I cannot wait to hear the explanations.
‘All I know it he’s letting me see it, and him, and he is exactly what he preaches. Raw and honest, and intense, and I believe in this moment we are a rainbow of the same colors, none of them bright or beautiful. We are the many shades of gray and black, hoping to find a glimmer of light in each other, not more darkness.’
Escaping Reality is a gripping page-turner that kept me anxious for what was to come next. I was on the edge of my seat, furiously clicking my kindle and tortured when I had to put it down. Now, I will desperately wait for The Secret Life of Amy Bensen ‘Infinite Possibilities’ .
Lisa is giving away a canvas bag with Escaping Reality on one side and Revealing Us on the other side, and a package of signed Inside Out and Escaping Reality goodies to one lucky winner at the end of the tour. Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway or click the logo below.
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT TRILOGY which has sold to more than ten countries for translation with negotiations in process for more, and has now been optioned by STARZ Network for a cable television show, to be produced by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland).
Since beginning her publishing career in 2007, Lisa has published more than 30 books with publishers such as Simon and Schuster, Avon, Kensington, Harlequin, NAL, Berkley and Elloras Cave, as well as crafting a successful indie career. Booklist says that Jones suspense truly sizzles with an energy similar to FBI tales with a paranormal twist by Julie Garwood or Suzanne Brockmann.
Prior to publishing, Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by Dallas Women Magazine. In 1998 LRJ was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.
Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her through her website and she is active on twitter and Facebook daily.
Looks like a great book