Book Review – Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones

Series: The Secret Life of Amy Benson

Book: 1

Copyright 2017-2019 by d c mallory

I’m a cover man. I guess that’s a lot like saying “I’m a breast man,” or “I’m an ass man.” Certain things grab different individuals differently. Book Covers are my thing. So are asses.

When I’m looking for something new to read, I start with the covers. Screw the reviews. Fuck the author. To hell with the genre. When I’m flipping through a list of books and a cover calls out to me, conspiratorially whispering in my ear that the story beneath this visual masterpiece has something to offer me, almost delivering a confident sly wink that demands I pick this book for my next read then, I must comply. It’s like a fucking compulsion that I can’t escape.

How does this method work for me? Usually, only half-assed at best. I’d be a liar if I said it never failed because some of what lies beneath the nirvana of a cover could sometimes make the reader want to gouge their eyes out. But, it’s still my preferred method, and I’m sticking with it as I’ve snagged some real winners in this way.

So, what does the above cover say to me? It says, ‘this is a girl who is losing herself to an alternate reality and is sinking quickly, a girl I want to help – nay – need to help.’ It screams ‘this is a girl who I need to spend time with, to lose myself in if only for a few moments in my finite time on earth.’ It makes no difference that the author was Lisa Renee Jones, who is fucking hot in her own right and, quite possibly, the Queen of Romance novel authors. Nor the fact that she is always at the top of the Romance Writers Bestseller lists; no, the cover called to me, demanded I look at what lies beneath the sultry image of Amy Benson, and I dutifully answered.

And, just a final thought on covers before we move on to the ‘meat’ of the matter: why the hell does the publishers come up with a good cover, one that sparks a reaction from deep within the primordial part of the brain that reacts to images, and then change them. The new piss-poor cover for this book is a prime example. I mean, what the fuck is this visual even supposed to signify? What does it mean; does it try to imply that the stupid bitch can’t figure out she’s standing on parts of a broken mirror? Or is she standing there hoping that some pervert will look up her skirt to see she’s sans panties? Did they think the model’s legs were so hot they would attract a wide audience? Did they really pay some asshole to come up with this fucking mess? Fuck. That. Shit. Had this steaming pile of Buffalo Shit been the original cover of the book I would NEVER have picked it out of the thousands of new materials available out there – the cover below makes me want to cover my nuts before she kicks them with those wicked heels. Hear that, publishers, don’t fuck with something that works!

So, we start the book with Amy working a function as part of her job; she works for a museum, and while she tries hard not to let herself be too well known due to her secret past, she has apparently come to the notice of some people who have reason to try and track her down. Per a pre-planned, well, plan, she pulls the trigger on the ‘flee’ option and activates her escape route.

Her secret handler has dropped all she needs to pick up her new life in an undisclosed location. She stops by and picks it up and then commences to follow the instructions. Okay, here’s the part that bugs me. She really doesn’t know who is coming up with the plans as she has never met the person, Amy trusts no one, and yet anytime this person contacts her and says her cover is blown and it’s time to run she does. Makes no sense to me but, okay. I suppose something needs to kick her ass in gear so we have a story.

So Amy gets a new name, a new job and runs to the airport to catch a plane, only to find out all the seats are full. Oh my. But she does meet a hot guy who is on the same flight she is supposed to be on. He boards the plane, and shortly after this the gate attendant tells Amy she has been moved up to first class and life is good.

Once on the plane, Amy finds out her seat is right next to the hot guy she’d met earlier, who gives his name a Liam. The good news is he’s a billionaire who upgraded her seat and is infatuated entirely with our heroine. They are both headed to Denver, and he would like to see more of her (yes, more means just what you think it does!) when they land.

So the book goes from Amy believing this guy, to not believing this guy, to trusting this guy even though some of the things he knows or does seem shady, to not trusting this guy again because she sees things on his notebook about her and now finding out a security company Liam deals with is involved,  and once again she’s fleeing the state. Amy definitely has trust issues, and it is those issues that drive the book.

At any rate, there are others in the book who show up as we progress through Amy’s life, and seem to know what Amy feels is just a little too much about her. She tries to use reason to accept they are not out to get her, but every argument she uses just seems to land short of the trash can. It’s like the old saying, “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.”

Don’t get me wrong here – Amy is not an imbecile, and she tries hard to look out for herself even though she has no active funds with which to do so. And, while she has no secret powers, she is able to fend off would-be attackers and other malicious individuals. And she certainly has no problems fleeing those she has doubts about.

By the end of the book, she realizes that no matter how far she runs Liam is always showing up to save her, and her enemies are never far behind. Also, she finds out that someone who was lost to her years ago might have left behind a huge secret, one that can only help her to solve the mystery she is finding herself lost to.

To me, the book had enough intrigue and excitement in it to get me involved in the book and to keep on reading it. I found out that while Amy’s instincts were good for the most part, they were not infallible. Also, she was quick out of the gate to run and hide when she might have been better off staying put.

And, what I assume is most important to those who chose to read a Romance novel, the sex was often and hot. Truthfully, I like a lot more description of what the couple is really doing – I guess there can never be too much for me when it comes to sex scenes – it is on par with the other Romance novels out there. LRJ has been writing Romance novels and the associated sex depicted in them for quite a while – and she doesn’t disappoint here.

So, to wrap things up, I gave this book four out of five stars. The characters were intriguing, even though the hot billionaire showing up is a little overdone, the bad guys are bad and good at hiding it, and no one in the book can be trusted as far as Amy can throw them. The only thing that could have made this book a better read would be to have LRJ sitting here in my office reading it to me – that would be a five start experience.