Review: Escaping Reality (The Secret Life of Amy Benson #1) by Lisa Renee Jones

Escaping Reality (The Secret Life of Amy Benson #1)
by Lisa Renee Jones
Released on: 7/22/13
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance

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 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, 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?

My Rating: 4 1/2 Coffee Cups!!

This book had the perfect amount of romance, heat, drama, mystery and suspense to keep me on the edge of my seat (and outside in the heat, in the park) reading for a stupid amount of hours straight. I literally started it and then refused to put it down until I was finished. I will admit the book in the blurb comes off as sort of really smutty, and don't get me wrong- I enjoy good smut like every other woman, but there is so much more depth to it than meets the eye.

Amy Benson has been on the run since 18 years old. As Lara she doesn't remember every detail of the fire that happened that caused her to lose her mother, father and older brother but she realized quickly that she was supposed to be included in that fire. She is rescued by a stranger with a pyramid style tattoo giving her a false identity, money and everything she needs to escape before they find and kill her too. She was safe for 6 years keeping a low profile in New York City. That is until she receives a note in a public bathroom with the same pyramid symbol she saw on her savior. It instructs her that she's been found and needs to run again. This time to Denver. Amy is scared, rattled, devastating lonely, on edge and just plain tired. In an airport locker she is presented with her new identity that she must study, keys to a new apartment, a bank account and plane tickets. After being unknowingly bumped up to first class on the plane she meets her seat-mate, the uber hot, completely controlling, Alpha Male to the n-th degree Liam Stone.

Liam Stone. Even just his name alone makes you want to sigh. He is a billionaire architect going to Denver for work. They are pulled towards each other. He is insanely private and doesn't trust anyone due to his status and she doesn't have the luxury of trusting anyone due to her situation. But on the few hours they are stuck together on the plane, they connect and share as much as each of them can. Amy wants this man like she's never wanted anyone (and not just in the biblical sense). She is so extremely tired of being alone. And she sees a somewhat kindred spirit in Liam causing her to, for the first time, wanting to share her struggles. She decides when her head is somewhat clearer and they are off the plane that the farthest it can go is a one night stand. 

But I think I mentioned Liam's Alpha Male-ness. He wants more.

 "And yes you're right, I'm being barbaric. And intense. That's who I am and I can't be anyone but me. When I want something I go after it. And baby, I want you."

And he finds a way to break through Amy's walls. But things aren't that easy. She still has a threat looming. And new friends and co-workers that tell her gut that all is not right with her new situation. Whether it's the comfort and safety she finds with Liam or whether there are things triggering it Amy is starting to remember bits and pieces from her life before and the night of the fire. And things are turning out to not be what they seem.

“You have this deer-in-the headlights look sometimes that I’m sure means you’re going to run. Run to me, Amy, not from me.”

Be forewarned- this is a pretty crazy cliffhanger. Like ready to throw your Kindle/book and scream WHAT THE F&*K kind of cliffhanger. The second book, Infinite Possibilities, doesn't come out until October and can I just say I am on absolute pins and needles. I NEED this book. I NEED answers to all of the questions going through my head right now. I NEED to know what happens next.   

"I guess ghosts are like lies. They swim like sharks all around me."  

“Sharks only have the power you give them, baby. Own them. Don't ever let them own you. And they'll have to fight me to get to you anyway."