Kyra Davis

Original review here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2013/03/arc-review-exposed-just-one-night-2-...

Exposed is the sequel to Kyra Davis's Just One Night series. This book picks up right where The Stranger left off. Kasie has got herself into a horrible spot. Dave knows what she has been doing and he is out for revenge. He knows her secret and if she doesn't do what he tells her, he will ruin her career and her relationship with her family. Kasie now feels more trapped than ever and is show more trying to break free. She wants to break free to be with Robert, the man she cheated on Dave with. Both men are doing whatever they can to keep her, but Kasie wants to do things her own way, but first she needs to find out how to break out of her prison.

Oh my goodness, the frustrations I feel towards this book. I just couldn't believe all that took place. I need to read the third book. I absolutely have to know how this will end. I felt really bad for Kasie. Yes, what she did was wrong, but I see her reason for doing it. She didn't love Dave, but kept convincing herself that she did because she was afraid to disappoint those around her. Dave went over the edge. I honestly couldn't believe how far he went in this book. He wanted to do everything in his power to humiliate Kasie in private and in front of her family and co-workers. It was kind of scary. He told her she was a whore and forced her to admit to herself. He wants to make her pay or he will strip everything she has worked so hard for and some might argue was given. The owner of the company she works for is Dave's godfather. One call from Dave revealing all of Kasie's transgressions and her Harvard education won't matter to those closest to her. The respect she has earned from her co-workers will be thrown out the window. Her family has already lost a child who was far from perfect. Kasie is supposed to be the good one. If they find out what she has done, they will compare her to her sister and shun her forever.

I was mad at Kasie at first for not telling Robert, but then I understood. It is important she is able to handle this on her own. Her livelihood rests in someone else's hands weights on her because they helped in her success. She knows it is her battle to fight, but she doesn't know ehre to start. But she knows she is a smart woman. She needs to out figure out how to break Dave. What can she do when he is holding all the cards?

I knew from The Stranger that Asha was trouble. She scared me more than Dave in this book. I knew she knew too much. I am curious to see what will happen with her. I know she must have something up her sleeve. That kind of viciousness doesn't evaporate overnight. Then of course there is Robert. I liked him in The Stranger and loved how he helped Kasie open her eyes. He made her realize the things I was screaming at when reading the book. But we didn't really know much about him in first book. I loved the tension between them. I loved how much he was willing to help her...at first. All while reading this you wonder whether she is entering another prison with Robert right after leaving Dave's. It was incredibly intense.

This is a story about revenge and power. Everything is how to one up the other. But by the end you see who holds everyone's cards. This book did not go the way I thought it would. The Stranger was great and intense. But this book pushed it a little further. This was an edgy and calculating power play. I couldn't believe where this book went. I almost wanted to cry, it got to me that much. But I enjoyed this book a lot. Davis' writing style is incredible. She really knows how to grab your attention and keep it there even if all the characters drive you off the wall. Seriously, they will get on your nerves. I can't even begin to predict where the final book will end up. I am both excited and scared. Definitely recommend this read to someone who wants an edgy kind of contemporary romance. show less

I enjoyed this quite a bit. The author is a good writer. She conveys character, nuance and setting beautifully, without ever drawing the reader's attention to what she is doing rather than the story she is telling. For that alone, I will be following this series.

Sophie Katz is a San Francisco writer who writes mysteries with a lot of explicit sex. Bit by bit, she comes to realize that a lot of people that she has had contact with are being murdered in the ways described in her books, and show more that she is next. However, she manages to convince the police that she is a complete flake (largely because, to be honest, she is a complete flake) and they don't take her seriously at all. Sophie is inept at best when it comes to investigation, but she has friends who love her and have her back, even though the police don't. I didn't figure out the murderer at all, and I'm not sure that there were actual clues anywhere in the text, but I had a lot of fun getting to the end.

The books biggest weakness is the cast of secondary characters. They are a bit over the top, but far better to have too much character than too little. Sophie has a Jewish mother, a suburbanite sister, an uncontrollable toddler nephew, and friends who include a gay black hairdresser, a sex shop owner, a wannabe vampire, a beautiful airhead, and an unemployed Russian building contractor, who is probably not really a building contractor, if you know what I mean. She also lives in a neighborhood with neighbors, shopkeepers, and passersby, all of whom have real personality. Add to this the murder suspects, witnesses, police officers, and random love interests, and there are a lot of people here. Because of the number of characters and the relatively short book, they tend to be fairly shallow, defined by their attributes. However, since this is a series, I'm hoping to see the recurring characters deepen as things progress.

A quick note - there is a lot of sexual innuendo and discussion in this book (no explicit descriptions) and a lot of bad language. If that bothers you, skip this series. show less

Sophie Katz is such a typical and yet unusual character that I was captivated from the beginning. Sophie is exotic - half black, half Jewish of Eastern European descent - a mystery writer with friends that match - a gay hairdresser, a best friend who owns and operates a sex toy shop and has both a wannabe vampire boyfriend and a sister as pure as the driven snow, add a mother and sister so self-centered that they are only upset when they aren't the first contact when Sophie is in danger (not show more worried that she's in danger) and you have a combination that amuses and entertains.

At the beginning if this entertaining cozy mystery, Sophie realizes that people she knows, or has had contact with are being murdered and the crime scenes are exactly as he describes in one of her books. The police don't believe her, especially when she tries to convince them that she is the next target of the killer.

The ensuing mayhem keeps the reader turning the pages to see what other havoc Sophie can wreak. A fun cozy and series I will definitely continue. show less

Whoa! Talk about improvement from the first installment.

In the first book, The Stranger, Kasie is an emotional slave to her fiancé and a sexual slave (although completely willingly!!) to Rober Dade, her "one night" affair from Vegas. She was exposed by her fiancé, Dave, and taken through the walk of shame back to his place.
We're picking pretty much right after that (the book actually opens with a fantasy) where Kasie allows herself to be treated like a whore, humiliated by anger and hurt show more - not the kind that would be obvious - experienced by Dave.
Dave, on his part is playing the perfectly justifiable betrayed fiancé. Giving her cold and angry stares and being emotionally vindictive. But Kasie, not long after being exposed, sees right through his plan and figures him out. She decides to untangle herself from the mess of her affair, and carefully executes her plan.
What she doesn't anticipate is Rober Dade, her lover. She is running from unwanted emotional abuse, to wanted emotional abuse masked by sexual desires. Yes, she falls in love with Dade,but what will that cost her?

I'm a little disappointed by the fact that this is yet another trilogy. It seems that these days everyone is writing a story spread through 3 books. why? I agree this might be too long and tangled for one book, but instead of 3 short novels, I would go with 2 full length ones.

Still... I need to see how this ends. Will be waiting for book 3. show less