Review: Unmasked Volume 1 by Cassia Leo

My Thoughts

A chilling mystery where desire, deception, secrets and betrayal mix in a deadly combination that leaves you wanting more. I couldn’t get enough!

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• Buy Unmasked Volume 1

Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author Cassia Leo comes a sexy and suspenseful new series.

I was born into this world unwanted.I spent the first hours of my life unloved.

I spent the first eighteen years of my life with the parents who tried to shelter me from the harsh reality of my existence.

But you can’t un-write a sad story if the ending is literally written all over your face.

So I moved out and now I hide. I have a night job that pays the bills. Every night, I put on my mask and walk to work.

Then one night, I hear and see something that will change my purpose in life… forever: a murder that will bring him to me.

He says he wants to protect me. And, through a series of events I can’t fully make sense of, I find myself believing him.

But our nightly visits are always cloaked in darkness. I don’t know his face and he will never know mine.

I was born into this world unwanted. I will leave this world unmasked.

My Review

“The monsters we can’t see are the scariest ones of all.”

I was drawn in immediately. The language. The tone. The dark of night. Elements unite to set a sinister foundation for this story to unfurl. We met our protagonist, Alex, who leaves her house only during the shroud of night, donning a mask that prevents others from seeing her… inside and out. Despite dangers looming for any 19-year-old girl who walks the streets in the dark, she’s not afraid. She’s ready to take on anything and anyone that comes her way. She’s prepared. She’s been trained.

“People see me walking down the street at they smile, thinking I’m an easy mark. They can rob me or rape me, maybe even murder me, and they’ll get away with it. I won’t put up a fight. But they don’t know me. I’m far from easy.”

But this one night, a stranger follows. Hidden face. Just far enough away. Something doesn’t feel right. Yet circumstances shocking and alarming bring her face-to-face with this hooded man.

“He looks like a dark angel sent to deliver me to a hell where all my darkest desires will come true.”

And under the guise of comfort and assistance, he’s suddenly in her life and there’s something unsettling about that. About him. She needed to find out who he was and what he wanted.

“… he wants something. Everybody wants something. And whatever this guy wants, he needs me alive to get it.”

As his unexpected visits become expected, and anger and annoyance turn into surges of anticipation, their lives begin to entwine. Two mysteries trying to unmask the other. The chemistry between them builds and sizzles as Alex begins to allow him in, granting him parts of herself she’s never given before.

“My skin has been my enemy for nineteen years. But when he puts his lips on me, it’s as if all my enemies have fallen and the two of us are the only ones left standing.”

But through it all, something isn’t right. As I read, I felt a chilling sense of foreboding. We learn more about Alex’s past, her burdens, her secrets. It’s heartbreak and danger and a whole lot of questions we’ve yet to know the answers to. Alex is incredibly interesting and I’ve yet to really understand her. There are times where I felt for her and what she’d endured. Times I wondered whether she was crazy and not in the good way. She’s never felt love. Instead, she’s been taught to hide. To doubt. To fight back. And it’s hard to discern whether she takes the right actions in the situations she finds herself in.

This story is far from over and its end was brilliantly shocking. This first installment explores Alex’s past, the notion of beauty, the necessity of hiding, the consequences of secrets and betrayals. You can easily devour this first volume in one sitting and if you’re a fan of suspense and mystery, you’ll want to one-click this immediately. Enlivened by Cassia Leo’s expert writing, you’ll be lured in by this sinister tale and fascinated by this 19-year-old girl whose actions are so unexpected that it keeps you guessing at what will surprise you next. Certainly the end was shocking in more ways than one!

There are three volumes in the series. Volume 1 is available now, Volume 2 releases on June 24th, and the final volume of Unmasked, Volume 3, will be out July 8th.

“The world is full of cruel injustice, ma chérie. Injustice that will make you want to give up everything and everyone you’ve ever loved. But it’s also full of devastating beauty.”

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