Series: Captive #2
Genre: NA, Romance, Suspense, Contemporary
Release Date: July 21, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Formats: Paperback & eBook
Price: Print $14.99/ Ebook $9.99
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 4 Stars
Summary From Goodreads:
In this sexy, suspenseful New Adult novel, a young woman hiding from her criminal past is taken captive by her ex-boyfriend, the ultimate bad boy.
Evie is about to embark on the perfect life. Beautiful, poised, and engaged to a rising business star, she fits the part of trophy wife perfectly, except for one thing: her entire identity is a lie.
Five years ago she created a new identity for herself, but it all crashes back when something she witnessed years ago comes back to haunt her. Now she's in danger of losing more than her social status.
Determined to protect the careful life she's built for herself, Evie doesn't want anything to do with Riley, the criminal for hire who broke her heart years ago. But Riley has other ideas. He's never forgotten Evie, and to protect her, he steals her away. Hidden from the world, sparks begin to fly as old memories resurface and their passion reignites.
Exposed is the story of Riley and Evie. We meet Riley in Captive, who is introduced near the end of the novel. Riley is Gage’s younger brother and works for Max, the leader of the crew. While it isn’t necessary to read Captive before Exposed, it does give a better insight about Gage and Madison’s character.
Plot: Evie was Riley’s girlfriend when they were teens until one day she got killed doing a job for Max. Now, Riley throws himself into working for the crew as a way to avenge Evie’s death, but it turns out she’s alive after all. After a life threatening incident with Max, Evie goes into hiding changing her name to Genevieve and marrying Eric, a wealthy lawyer. Even though she isn’t free, she trusts that Max won’t be able to find her. However, Max catches wind of her trail and sends a crew member to get her. Gage and Aaron are the only two people who know her location, and Riley is sent to get her to safety. Neither of them knew why Evie needed to disappear so badly, but it was big enough that Max is trying to kill her. Of course, Riley can’t believe Evie was alive this whoele time and feels betrayed that Gage never told him, even if it was for his own good. Spending time with Evie brings back old feelings and sexual tension but Evie is engaged to Eric, even though their marriage may not be what it seems.
The plot of the novel is certainly fast paced. The whole story takes place within 2-3 weeks. Evie and Riley only have a limited time to prove that Max was stealing money to keep Evie alive. This means the two have to overcome their problems and build trust in order to work together. The foreshadowing leading to Evie’s big reveal in the latter half of the novel was done quite well, and I was intrigued by her and Riley’s history and why she ran. I loved seeing Gage and Madison appear as well throughout the novel!
Romance: The romance between Evie and Riley is definitely hot and heavy. The two can’t deny the attraction between them, even though it’s been years since they’ve been together. While I understand her engagement with Eric wasn’t exactly "true" in a sense, she was still engaged! I also felt bad for Riley because no one told him Evie was still alive, and even Evie didn’t even bother to tell him before she disappeared. Riley treated Evie so well, and I hated how she refused to let him in, but I understood her better in the second half of the novel once she underwent some character development.
Characters: Riley has a personality similar to the “bad boys” in new adult stories. He has a temper that is quick to flare but is also a softie on the inside toward those he loves. While his jobs for Max might not always be physical, he doesn’t mind a good fist fight, especially before he knew Evie was still alive. Evie is a more complex character than Riley. She had a traumatic childhood past that no one knew of, not even Riley. She doesn’t tell Riley until a while because she’s afraid of what he’ll think of her. Although Evie may be insecure on the inside, she’s wears a tough girl mask. She knows how to fight and she wants to fight her own battles, but she later realizes that it’s not so bad to have someone there with you to fight them.
Eric, her fiancé, doesn’t have much of a role in the story but he is a really sweet character. Although both of them are hiding things in their relationship, he definitely cares for Evie and wants the best for her. *SPOILER*
Plot: Evie was Riley’s girlfriend when they were teens until one day she got killed doing a job for Max. Now, Riley throws himself into working for the crew as a way to avenge Evie’s death, but it turns out she’s alive after all. After a life threatening incident with Max, Evie goes into hiding changing her name to Genevieve and marrying Eric, a wealthy lawyer. Even though she isn’t free, she trusts that Max won’t be able to find her. However, Max catches wind of her trail and sends a crew member to get her. Gage and Aaron are the only two people who know her location, and Riley is sent to get her to safety. Neither of them knew why Evie needed to disappear so badly, but it was big enough that Max is trying to kill her. Of course, Riley can’t believe Evie was alive this whoele time and feels betrayed that Gage never told him, even if it was for his own good. Spending time with Evie brings back old feelings and sexual tension but Evie is engaged to Eric, even though their marriage may not be what it seems.
The plot of the novel is certainly fast paced. The whole story takes place within 2-3 weeks. Evie and Riley only have a limited time to prove that Max was stealing money to keep Evie alive. This means the two have to overcome their problems and build trust in order to work together. The foreshadowing leading to Evie’s big reveal in the latter half of the novel was done quite well, and I was intrigued by her and Riley’s history and why she ran. I loved seeing Gage and Madison appear as well throughout the novel!
Romance: The romance between Evie and Riley is definitely hot and heavy. The two can’t deny the attraction between them, even though it’s been years since they’ve been together. While I understand her engagement with Eric wasn’t exactly "true" in a sense, she was still engaged! I also felt bad for Riley because no one told him Evie was still alive, and even Evie didn’t even bother to tell him before she disappeared. Riley treated Evie so well, and I hated how she refused to let him in, but I understood her better in the second half of the novel once she underwent some character development.
Characters: Riley has a personality similar to the “bad boys” in new adult stories. He has a temper that is quick to flare but is also a softie on the inside toward those he loves. While his jobs for Max might not always be physical, he doesn’t mind a good fist fight, especially before he knew Evie was still alive. Evie is a more complex character than Riley. She had a traumatic childhood past that no one knew of, not even Riley. She doesn’t tell Riley until a while because she’s afraid of what he’ll think of her. Although Evie may be insecure on the inside, she’s wears a tough girl mask. She knows how to fight and she wants to fight her own battles, but she later realizes that it’s not so bad to have someone there with you to fight them.
Eric, her fiancé, doesn’t have much of a role in the story but he is a really sweet character. Although both of them are hiding things in their relationship, he definitely cares for Evie and wants the best for her. *SPOILER*
Overall, Exposed is a really good romantic suspense novel that I recommend to all lovers of new adult. If you haven’t read Captive, you should definitely check that one out as well which follows Gage and Madison’s story.
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| Brighton Walsh |
Brighton Walsh is a storyteller at heart. Love is her first love, and writing about it is a dream come true. When she's not overwhelmed by the incessant chatter in her mind, you can generally find her with her nose buried in a steamy book or partaking in some retail therapy in the Midwest where she lives with her own real life hero and her two energetic kids who (fortunately) know nothing about the naughty things she puts down on paper.
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