Surrender: Careless Whispers #3 by Lisa Renee Jones

Item: Surrender
Rating: 5
Author: Kiki S

Lisa Renee Jones was my entrée into this dark and tortured romance, and with the final book in the Careless Whispers series, brings this and the Inside Out series to its final conclusion. Grab onto your seat for this story, narrated by Elizabeth Louise

Surrender

Most certainly NOT a series to tackle out of order, Surrender picks up just where Demand ended: Ella is still not solidly herself yet, and even though Kayden is concerned, caring and oh so addictive, he’s got secrets. But, since finding her earlier in the series, he’s come to be her sense of security, when memories start to return in jumbled pieces, and nothing else is making sense.

For his part, Kayden is that guy you can’t help but find attractive, even when not all of his pieces seem to add up. Sure, he has secrets (who doesn’t) but his obsession with security, and that ever-present energy that bounces between them, like a magnet for attraction. From Demand, there were several questions that sprung up unexpectedly, and Ella’s ability to start to put the pieces and bits she is remembering into some sort of order – still, everything is like that giant jigsaw puzzle where the cat ran off with pieces. When you add in the questions, and an obvious (after the reveal) mole sharing information and secrets, the tension in this one is fever-pitched and broken only with moments of passion.

Having Chris and Sara pop in as secondary characters added some closure to their story, and brought Ella and Kayden out of their isolation, but still, questions remained until the end. Perfectly suited to the story’s trajectory, and a wonderful spin off from the Inside Out stories.

Narration for this story was provided by Elizabeth Louise, and her work improves every time. While her voice and manner were perfectly suited to Ella, her approach to the performance carried much of the same positives: each character was clearly distinct and differentiated, her presentation of tension and more strident emotions clearly brought that forward. Much improved, but still in need of work were the more subtle emotional inflections and changes that would be reflected in the listener’s experience. While you can’t help but be engaged and hanging on every word, the push and pull that Jones utilizes so well to keep you on that knife’s edge of tension, arousal and interst wasn’t as defined or deliberate as I would have hoped for. Still, this was a wonderful story, a great completion for the series, and sure to have fans of darker and edgier romance with a heavy dose of tension begging for more.

Stars: Overall 5 Narration 4 Story 5

Surrender: Careless Whispers #3 by Lisa Renee Jones

Title: Surrender
Author: Lisa Renee Jones
Series: Careless Whispers #3
Also in this series: Denial, Demand
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Narrator: Elizabeth Louise
Published by: Pocket Star, Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN: 9781501122941
Published on: 9 January 2017
Source: Simon and Schuster Audio
Pages: 320
Audio Length: 7 Hours: 56 minutes
Rated:

Heat:

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Chris and Sara from Inside Out return in the explosive finale to Ella's story from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones with the third book in the sexy, suspenseful Careless Whispers series.

Passion burns fiercely hot between Ella Ferguson and Kayden Wilkens, the man who held secrets and lies in his hands, and then allowed them to fall into hers. But even though he has become her anchor—helping her recover from amnesia after finding her unconscious in an alley, and allowing her into his secret world—all is not what it seems. Kayden still has secrets, and pieces of Ella's past are still shrouded in the darkness of her mind, while the powerful man who hunts her will not stop until she is his.

In this final, explosive novel in the Careless Whispers series, Ella discovers that while her life with Kayden didn't begin in that dark alley...it could easily end there.

A copy of this title was provided via Simon and Schuster Audio for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

About Lisa Renee Jones

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT series, which is now in development for a television show to be produced by Suzanne Todd of Team Todd (Alice in Wonderland). Suzanne Todd on the INSIDE OUT series: Lisa has created a beautiful, complicated, and sensual world that is filled with intrigue and suspense. Sara’s character is strong, flawed, complex, and sexy – a modern girl we all can identify with. I’m thrilled to develop a television show that will tell Sara’s whole story – her life, her work, her friends, and her sexuality.

In addition to the success of Lisa’s INSIDE OUT series, she has published many successful titles. The TALL, DARK AND DEADLY series and THE SECRET LIFE OF AMY BENSEN series, both spent several months on a combination of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling lists. Lisa is presently working on a dark, edgy new series, Dirty Money, for St. Martin’s Press.

Prior to publishing Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by the Dallas Women’s Magazine. In 1998 Lisa was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.