Exposed

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Exposed by Willow Aster is LIVE!!! FREE in KU!

“A royal story set in background of conspiracies, manipulations and deceptions, Exposed is a whirlpool of intense emotions. The characters are beautifully broken. Their feelings are raw, gritty and incredibly terrifying. The story sucked me in and left its permanent mark on my heart.” ~PP’s Bookshelf

It was never a question of love.

I knew I loved Elias Lancaster and that he loved me.

At least I always thought he did.

But for some reason, he always found an excuse not to be with me.

The pain I felt as my childhood love rejected me, again and again, after promising me the world when we were kids…

Well, it just wouldn’t go away.

No matter how hard I tried.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and I never wanted to be considered desperate, but I knew if something didn’t change soon, I’d lose Elias for good and die of a broken heart.

No one told me how many times my heart could break in the process.

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Amazon US: http://bit.ly/Exposed-US

Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/Exposed-UK

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2SM6rd9

Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/Exposed-AU

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/Exposed-GR

Catch up on the series with Downfall, book 1, and find out why readers are falling in love with this series!

Amazon US: http://bit.ly/Downfall-US

Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/Downfall-UK

Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/Downfall-CA

Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/Downfall-AU

I lean in closer. “Be careful, your mask is slipping. You almost seem like the girl I grew up with right now.” I both love and hate seeing the real her. It’s driven me out of my mind that for years now, Mara has put on a mask around everyone but me. “Wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea and see that you’re actually a caring person.” I lower my voice. “I have nothing to say to you.” The hurt flashes across her eyes but is gone within a blink. In my mind, I see her when she was ten, when she thought I was ignoring her for a week because my mother wouldn’t let me go play with the princess. She locked me in my room when I snuck out, not letting me out for so long I thought I’d die in that bedroom. Those were the dark days with my mother, the days I still try to stuff down inside. I’d give anything if I could erase them from my memory. The hurt on Mara’s face back then when I was able to go outside again but didn’t tell her where I’d been or what had happened…it’s the same look I saw just now. It’s these snapshots of us in my mind that make me turn back to her, make me think maybe there is a way…maybe we could have a chance.

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Willow Aster is a USA Today Bestselling author and host of Living in the Pages podcast. She lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband, kids, and rescue dog.

Website: www.willowaster.com

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/willowasterauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WillowAster

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"We can't always choose who we love, Elias."

It was never a question of love. I knew I loved Elias Lancaster and that he loved me. At least I always thought he did. But for some reason, he always found an excuse not to be with me. The pain I felt as my childhood love rejected me, again and again, after promising me the world when we were kids..Well, it just wouldn't go away. No matter how hard I tried. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and I never wanted to be considered desperate, but I knew if something didn't change soon, I'd lose Elias for good and die of a broken heart. No one told me how many times my heart could break in the process. 

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review. Exposed releases on January 9th and it is a standalone novel in the Kingdoms of Sin series. 

So, I'm not going to lie. I was worried about this book, because I despised Mara in book one. I thought she was childish, annoying, and manipulative. I didn't know how Willow could make me love someone like that. Well, she did. She did it again. She has a way with words and stories that is inspiring. She can make a flawed character come alive in the pages. She can make someone who seems so unlikable completely redeemable, and change your feelings about them so easily. She did it for me in book one, and she did it again in this book. 

Mara was all the things I said above. She was childish, she was annoying, and she was definitely manipulative. It was a quick change for her, she made plenty of mistakes, she hurt a lot of people, but she did eventually see the errors in her ways, and I loved her by the end of the book. I understood why she acted the way she did, and I understood why she said and did some of the things that she did to people. She didn't have any role models to look up to, and she was constantly on the defense. It was the only way she knew how to survive. And while she did have a lot of flaws, you could never fault her for the way she loved, and man she loved fiercely. When she loved someone she would literally do anything and everything she could to make sure they were taken care of, you had to applaud her for that. 

"But it's who we are. Moving on is impossible. We'll never be over."

While I did love Elias, he wasn't perfect either. I think that's what made me love this book so much. These characters were flawed, but they felt real because of their flaws. They acted in ways that any other person would act, given their circumstances. Elias did not think highly of himself, he was insecure, he wanted to be loved but didn't feel like he was worthy of anyone's love. Just like Mara, he didn't really have a role model to show him how to deal with his feelings. While he loved Mara more than anything in the world, he also didn't think he deserved her. He thought she deserved someone richer and more established than him, it was hard for him to understand that Mara didn't care about anything like that when it came to him. 

I also still loved the mystery and suspense in this book, that carried on from the first! Kept me on the edge of my seat.

I thought Willow was trying to kill me with all the sexual tension happening in this book. I felt like these two were never going to get their crap together and finally connect with each other. When it finally did happen, Willow didn't disappoint. This book was steamy. But not so steamy that it made me uncomfortable, it had just the perfect amount. 

It's been a love tested by time, forged by fire, and found to be more perfect that the purest gold. A true love that will never die.

Overall, I'm giving this one 5 STARS. I loved book one, Downfall, but I actually think I loved this one even more. It feels like the books in this series get better every time. And I love that Willow can make you fall in love with any kind of character. I can't wait to see what comes next. 

I've lost my compass if I don't have you.