Because I Won't

The Because Trilogy, Book 2

By: Elaine Marie

Narrated by: Riley Raye

While away at college, Joelle finds herself the victim of an abusive boyfriend. After barely escaping his clutches, she finds herself three states away, where the owners of JJ’s Diner help her. With Jake and Carly’s help, she learns to cope with her past and starts a new life.

Over time, Joelle undergoes an internal makeover - one that leaves her stronger and more confident. With her new life and friends, she moves forward...happier than ever.

Just as she begins to breathe easier, her past comes back to haunt her when she runs into Nathan, her abusive ex.

Has he come back to claim her? Will her past undo her when she learns her childhood wasn’t as she thought? Will she put her past behind her for the final time, or will her discovery scar her for life?

©2018 Elaine Marie (P)2018 Elaine Marie

welcome to psycho town

Another psycho (several) goes off the rails and this story shows how it all goes down . Holy moly!! This is a wild deranged ride, so hold on tight to your sanity. What a mind game the whole story was - even at the end!!! Loved a hea after all the cray cray. Suspenseful drama. Edge of your seat with twist everywhere story. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job.

Abused Heroine Remakes Herself, Finds Friends/Love

Because I Won't is the second (though last so far) in The Because Trilogy. It can be enjoyed as a stand-alone book but includes characters from book one (Because I Can) as secondary characters. Well done audio performance by Riley Raye in an emotional and sometimes tough to read story. Triggers for abuse, rape and kidnapping.

Joelle (Jo) escapes Nathan who was abusive. She flees three states to start over. Jake and Carly adopt her and help her with a job, an affordable apartment and to get back in her feet. Over time she takes self-defense classes and returns to her college studies. James (who Jo teasingly calls Jimmy) is a local Private Investigator who dines where Jo waits tables regularly. They go from friends to flirting to more as Jo comes out of her shell. Just when life seems to be going right, things take an ugly twist. Find out if Jo is strong enough to stand up for herself now and what a difference friends and love can make in your life.

Chilling but really good

Joelle (Jo) barely escaped an abusive ex before she was able to run away and start a new life for herself. Now with new friends and a feeling of security, she is ready to stand on her own. But when things from her past start to creep back into her life Jo begins to wonder if she really escaped her past or if it's about to catch up with her.

Loyalisa30

This story was about domestic violence and the struggle to overcome issues related to it! It was an okay storyline but there was too much that didn’t make sense. The back and forth attitude of Joe made her appear bipolar. She vacillated between random hook ups to appease her sexual needs to a full on relationship. One minute she’s strong and the next she is wimpering and hiding. There is simply too many inconsistencies. Riley Raye did a great job with narration but the storyline was just too weak.

Some suspense and romance

Narrator is better than the one for the first book. More emotion and a better pace. Her guy voice needs work, but overall a good listen.

I loved that Jo shows strength; she went through some really dark stuff, and she’s fighting to have a good life. I didn’t like her attitude though; felt like she was mean at times and threw tantrums. Didn’t like that she had one night stands with randoms and seemed to have an issue with drinking. She did live through something brutal, so I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it was tough. Also, I don’t like she withholds important information. The whole Donna situation was just weird; why wouldn’t Jo try to warn her? Jo acted too blasé with that situation; it seemed stupid. There’s interesting elements to the story and it is entertaining. There’s a few twists; one I really didn’t like, it felt like people who were supposed to be helping Jo, took advantage of a distraught woman that wasn’t exactly in the right frame of mind. Towards the end was a bit of a jumble. The writing is fairly basic, but it’s okay. Liked the other twists and the suspense added some entertainment. The romance had some sweet parts with a bit of steam. Overall, I think I just didn’t connect with Jo and her choices, so the story ended up not being my type of thing.

AudiobookObsessionReviewer

Twists and turns

The narration seemed a bit rushed but the overall story was good. I thought I was missing some details but when the plot twists came out it all started coming together.

I thought this was going to be a story about a weak girl who couldn’t bounce back after her tragedy. I was pleasantly surprised. She managed to get her life on track and create a family that she always needed. No spoilers, but the story wrapped up nicely.

Because I Won't review

Drawn in from the first page. Likeable characters and writing. Worth the time and five stars.

another great book in this series

Non-stop action in this second book in the Because Trilogy...I literally lost sleep because I couldn't pause!
Joelle has escaped an abusive relationship and has been 'adopted' by Jake and Carly (read book 1). Over time, and with the help of her new friends, Jo has matured and become a strong woman. She has even begun to develop feelings for quiet and broody private investigator, James. When her ex, Nathan, shows up, will Jo be able to save herself using her self defense moves? There's so much more to the story of Jo, her family and her ex...it will boggle the mind. This story is now classified in my library as a 'can't put down' and 'must relisten'.

A Dark Romance - hard to listen to

The author, Elaine Marie, is not afraid to tackle the hard topics. This story has elements of rape, kidnapping and some other taboo subjects. She was very brave to write about it. As a victim of rape, it was a little hard for me to listen to, though.

I could not give the full five stars because the story was hard to follow in some parts. For example, in chapters two, three and four, they start out “One year later,” “Two years later,” and “Three years later,” respectively. I thought by chapter four we were six years into the future from the beginning. Instead, the author means that each chapter is based on a flash forward from chapter one.

The narrator was a vast improvement from the first book of the series. Ms. Raye gave a great performance for the most part. She is able to impart the emotions of the characters to the reader. My only critique would be Jake’s voice had too high of a register for a man. He was even higher than the voice of Jo, the heroine of the story. Ms. Raye gave James/Jimmy a great manly tone, so I know she has it within her abilities. 😉

Because I won’t

Wow! The twists in this book will have me spinning for a while. Joe is such a strong woman to have gone through what she did and when history catches up to her she is beyond strong to meet it head on. I can’t say much without giving away any important spoilers so I will just leave it as amazing and you really want to listen!