To Be Published August 19, 2014
Publisher: Gallery Books
Format: e-ARC, obtained from NetGalley
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
Rating: 3.5 STARS
(From Goodreads) The fourth in the Inside Out erotic romance series by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones, this steamy novel resolves Chris and Sarah's relationship and leads into Mark's story.
"Chris and I have faced our demons and bared our souls to one another in Paris. Now that we are back home in San Francisco, I want to believe that nothing can tear us apart. Not Ava’s accusations against me to the police, or Chris's fear that he will destroy me as he feels he did Amber. And not Mark, who was once too intimately a part of our lives, and who I can see crumbling inside out. He believes he is invincible, just as I want to believe Chris and I are invincible. We have to be invincible. We need each other too much for any other ending."
I saw that No In Between was going to be the final full length Sara and Chris novel. And that meant answers! And sexy times! And closure! And I was all...
Aaaaaaand... well, the sexy times and all things Chris (*sigh*) were definitely there. The rest - the answers and closure - eh... not so much. I think I beat my head on my Kindle cover when I finished. Because, the book was good. The writing was fantastic. And, Chris - have I mentioned my obsession with Chris? - was wonderful. But, GAH! What does a girl have to do to get some finality??
Apparently, the answers we have all been so desperately seeking will come in Mark and Crystal's book, I Belong To You, due out in November. So, no answers and no closure, but thankfully, there was still plenty of sexy times. And lots of Chris. Chris is just... I love him so much (yeah, Krista, we know. Moving on.).
Chris and Sara have come home from Paris to a mess. She's still being accused of having a hand in Rebecca's murder. The police are all up in hers, Chris' and Mark's business. Mark seems to have completely given up. And, Allure is being run into the ground. Meanwhile, although Chris and Sara are engaged, neither one feels like the other completely trusts that the other can withstand the stress and difficulties that being together will bring with it.
Both Chris and Sara have come a long way from the very first book. Sara has grown out of many of her insecurities, thanks to Chris and his support. She's achieved this sort of inner strength thanks to Rebecca. She was able to read how Rebecca lost herself in her master, and therefore, lost control of her life. Sara decided that was not going to happen to her, despite the similarities she sees between her and Rebecca. And, I say, good for her.
Chris, too, has made a lot of progress. And, he had a lot of progress to make. I love that these two found strength in each other, and through that shared strength became better individuals.
Mark, however, has gone in the opposite direction. His guilt and discontent has destroyed the control he so tightly clings to. He's angry and frustrated and grief-stricken. He's got cops accusing him of things he didn't do, and Sara always...there... trying to help, but only succeeding in being a nuisance. I felt so badly for Mark. I get that he screwed up in how he treated Rebecca. But, he didn't deserve this. And, I am so excited to see how Crystal pulls him out of his slump. Because, she will. Right?
The story was good, although a bit slow at times. It didn't seem like a ton of things happened. My main drive was a.) find out for sure who killed Rebecca and where her body is, and b) find out what happened to Ella. When I looked down at the status bar on my Kindle and saw I was at 95% with still no answers, I had a sneaking suspicion they weren't coming. I can appreciate a good mystery as much as the next girl. But, four books with no closure is testing my capacity to hang on.
My love of Mark, Crystal, Chris and Sara will drive me forward through the next novellas and full-length novel. I don't know if we will ever get the answers we seek. But, I do think we will see these four find happiness, and at this point, that's enough for me.
Interesting! I think it's hard sometimes to read and review books in series like this that have long plot and character arcs because you want answers probably a lot sooner than the author is willing to give them! That said, the whole premise looks pretty good and I think I'll start with book one. Also, I really like the cover for some reason. Which of course shouldn't be the reason you buy a book or read a book, but usually almost always is I pick up one. :) Happy Reading!
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