ARC Review: Surrender by Lisa Renee Jones

Series:	Careless Whispers #3
Pub. Date:	Jan. 9, 2017
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Length:	320 pages
Source:	NetGalley

I really appreciate Lisa Renee Jones and the fact that she has put a series recap at the beginning of these books. It really helps job my memory about what happened in the earlier books as I can't include a lot of that info in a review because I try to avoid spoilers. So if you have not read the earlier books in this series, you may want to hold off on this review. It may contain spoilers for those earlier books... and you really need to read these in order anyway so you have the entire story arc.

Surrender picks up right where Demand left off and is the conclusion of the Careless Whispers series. Ella still has lingering amnesia and her memory is coming back in fits and starts. But we slowly learn the secrets of her past and how she really came to be Europe. I particularly liked that she turns out to be a badass... a lethal ballerina. The more we have learned about Ella's character, the more I was intrigued by her situation and her life. She and Kayden are building a strong and united front, but danger is knocking at every door. Things are coming to a head with Niccolo, Alessandro and Neuville... and Ella still is not sure who to trust. There were a few times that had me yelling at my kindle when it seemed that Ella was on the cusp of some memory recovery, but we had to take time out for romantic entanglements. 

Lisa Renee Jones does her suspense very well, to the point where I find myself more interested in the suspense than the romance. I ended up skimming the sexytime moments after the first half of the book so I could get back to the mystery and action, and I had the aforementioned frustrations with interrupting a big reveal to get naked. Similar to my thoughts on Demand, I was still feeling somewhat disconnected from the relationship between our main couple. I recall feeling like I was on the outside looking in instead of being fully immersed in those parts of the book. I wish I could have gotten a little more emotionally invested in what was happening. These two do have a lot of chemistry, so I can't put my finger on what I was missing in the relationship.

That being said, the last 15% of the book was fantastic. That's where the big resolution of the series is taking place and it was a continuous action jaunt that I absolutely could not put down. Some of the information revealed was a bit far-fetched, but it was interesting and I wanted to know more more more. Inside Out fans will be happy that Chris and Sara play a part in this book... and I do miss those two and their crazy intense relationship. I have yet to finish that series so this reminds me (again) that I need to go back and finish the last book or two.

I will continue to read LRJ as her suspense hooks me every time, and I think any of her books would translate well to television or film. I do hope we will see her work on screen in the not-too-distant future. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Gallery Books.

Careless Whispers