Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Escaping Reality- Lisa Renee Jones
Series: The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #1
Published by: Julie Patra Publishing, on 22 July 2013
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Psychological Thriller, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 250, Format: eARC
Source: ARC Netgalley

ESCAPING REALITY

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 breathe? 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 loved 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 her guard down, the ghosts 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 received a free ARC of Escaping Reality from Julie Patra Publishing via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

I am completely blown away by Escaping Reality! A red-hot thriller/suspense novel with a great main character in Amy. She has no idea if there is anyone she can trust, and a secretive handler has just made her leave New York and her new life behind. At the airport, she finds the right locker, with a small carry-on, new ID and an address in Denver. Shockingly fast paced, there is never a dull moment, as Amy runs, and finds herself next to a very sexy and hot man on the plane.

Escaping Reality has Amy on the run, a mysterious man leaving her a message in her new apartment, and of course, there is Liam who is bigger than life. There is an immediate attraction between the two of them, but Liam seems a little controlling, and he tells her he’s a reclusive billionaire architect. For one who has been on the run for the past six years, Amy is certainly trusting Liam very quickly – even if she doesn’t really tell him anything real about herself, and they make fireworks when they come together!

There is a lot of mystery in Escaping Reality, as the reader does not know a lot about Amy, either, it comes in little drops of information when she can’t keep the past and her monsters at bay. I am so excited about this book that I had to click over to amazon to buy the 2nd book in this series – Infinite Possibilities – while writing my review. I have to find out what will happen next. Between the sexy neighbor across the hall, who triggers some long-buried memories in Amy’s mind, and Meg, the slightly pushy secretary who works at the place she rents her apartment from, it is impossible to know if there is really anyone who can be a friend to her or if they might rather be the death of her.

It is a little strange that she takes everything Liam tells her at face value, though, even if he shows her some internet links about himself, everybody knows that wiki is not the most accurate place on the wild, wild web to find information about someone. But I can understand why Amy acts this way, she has this strong feeling of being connected to someone for the first time in years, and she really needs that connection, Liam really does help her Escaping Reality – when he is around, she can forget about everything else.

The characters are likeable, secretive, and seem very real. Amy is both confused and focused at the same time, and she decides to finally take her life into her own hands, try to figure out what really happened in her past, and face her demons. And that, my friends, is how Escaping Reality ends – with Amy’s resolutions, and my immense need to know how she will go about this all.

“You’re you. That’s what counts.” He turns away again and I don’t stop him. You’re you, he’d said. Only that’s the whole problem. I’m not me.”

Crazy for him. And I’m selfish. So very selfish because I have been alone and now he is here and I don’t know how I can walk away from him. I don’t deserve him and he absolutely does not deserve me.

“I say,” Liam continues, “we order room service, watch movies, and get naked so I can be barbaric in approved territory. Actually I think I’ll call that side of me ‘the beast’. Let’s go set him free.”