{"id":81807,"date":"2026-01-15T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=81807"},"modified":"2026-01-15T08:54:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:54:59","slug":"release-arc-review-what-it-takes-windy-harbor-2-by-willow-aster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=81807","title":{"rendered":"Release & ARC Review: What It Takes (Windy Harbor, #2) by Willow Aster"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What It Takes by Willow Aster is live!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The second book in the Windy Harbor<\/i> series, this is a sweet and fun brother\u2019s best friend\/best friend\u2019s brother, enemies-to-lovers story full of chemistry and a long-secret love. It\u2019s such a great read, and I loved it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Audible<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Narrated by Rose Dioro <\/span>& Sebastian York<\/p>\n

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\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A Sexy, <\/strong>Small town,\u00a0<\/strong>Enemies to Lovers, Brother\u2019s Best Friend\u00a0<\/strong>romance from\u00a0<\/strong>USA Today<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Bestselling Author Willow Aster<\/strong><\/p>\n

Camden Whitman has always been in my life. I met him when I was five and he was seven, but when he and my brother became best friends, I became nothing more than the pesky little sister he didn\u2019t want around.<\/p>\n

There was a period of time when I thought I felt a connection between us, but he shut that down faster than I could blink. Fast forward to adulthood years later, and here I am, still the annoying little sister he can\u2019t stand.<\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s one difference:\u00a0I want nothing to do with him.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy running The Kitty-Corner Cafe in my small town of Windy Harbor, Minnesota, and love living in my little slice of paradise on Lake Superior\u2026until Camden decides to move here and open up a new restaurant.<\/p>\n

Who cares if he\u2019s a well-known chef who can prepare the most delectable food? He will\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0hear that from me. He\u2019s wrecked my small-town, stress-free bubble and filled it with his abrasive comments and intrusive looks.<\/p>\n

But then the unexpected happens. One night, when both of our walls are down, I see a glimpse of something other than distaste in his eyes. And it has me wondering if I\u2019ve misjudged the man that has always gotten under my skin.<\/p>\n

When those boundaries are crossed, there\u2019s no turning back. Camden is on a mission and will do whatever it takes to make me his\u2026<\/p>\n

What It Takes<\/em>\u00a0is book two in the interconnected, standalone\u00a0Windy Harbor<\/em>\u00a0series.<\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

4.5 stars<\/b><\/p>\n

The second book in the Windy Harbor<\/i> series, this is a sweet and fun brother\u2019s best friend\/best friend\u2019s brother, enemies-to-lovers story full of chemistry and a long-secret love. It\u2019s such a great read, and I loved it.<\/p>\n

Camden and Julianna (Juju) met as kids. Their parents became best friends, Camden became best friends with Juju\u2019s older brother and she became best friends with his younger sister, but the two of them always shared a special connection. Attraction was just starting to develop, but when the two boys made a pact to stay away from each other\u2019s sisters, Camden and Juju\u2019s friendship fell apart. In the years since, they have become completely antagonistic to each other, their bickering famous among their families.<\/p>\n

Now, after years of separations, Camden and Juju are both back living in the small town of Windy Harbor. She runs the local coffee shop\/bakery, and he is opening a restaurant at his family\u2019s new resort. There is still a lot of anger and snark between then, but with the dual POV we also see that there are some complicated feelings there as well. When sparks of their long-held attraction become impossible to hide, they both realise that this is the chance they\u2019ve been waiting their whole lives for, and everything changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve never known how badly I wanted you\u2026or how much I wanted to be standing next to you, doing every part of our life together.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God, I love these two together! They are so obviously in love, and when they finally get the chance to explore their feelings, they\u2019re all in \u2013 banter, flirting, sweetness and sexy time, and I was shipping these two so hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how you keep managing to surprise me, but you do,\u201d she moans. \u201cI had no idea you were gonna be a dirty talker.\u201d
\n\u201cI haven\u2019t really been before,\u201d I say. \u201cBut you\u2019re the one I\u2019ve been dreaming of for a lifetime, so I wanna say it all. And I want to do it all If you\u2019ll let me.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the very thing that kept them apart all of these years is still very much a concern. They need to tread carefully while they figure out what they are to each other and what they want from their future. It\u2019s a great ride, with lots of sneaking around, input from loved ones, and moments of discovery as they come to understand the depth of their feelings for each other and who and what they want to be together.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to show her how you feel. If you still love her after loving her for a lifetime, then you will have the life of your dreams.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s such a beautiful love story, with a big cast of family and friends who are a big part of the story, and I love this group together! They\u2019re so much fun, and I\u2019m excited to continue on with the series.<\/p>\n

I loved this one. 4.5 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Reader Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Windy Harbor<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"\u00a0\u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/h4>\n

Take This Heart (#1) <\/strong>(Milo & Goldie)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

What It Takes (#2) <\/strong>(Camden & Juju)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

All For Love (#3) <\/strong>(Dylan & Dahlia)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Endless Summer Nights (#4) <\/strong>(Tully & Lola)
\nTo be released 9 June
\nPre-order:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Now and Forever (#5)<\/strong>
\nTo be released 12 November
\nPre-order:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Willow Aster is a\u00a0USA Today\u00a0Bestselling author and lover of anything book-related. She lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband, kids, and rescue dog.<\/p>\n

Connect with Willow:<\/p>\n

Website\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Goodreads\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Amazon\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook Group<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Instagram\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Twitter\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Tiktok<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Bookbub\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Pinterest<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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  What It Takes by Willow Aster is live! The second book in the Windy Harbor series, this is a sweet and fun brother\u2019s best friend\/best friend\u2019s brother, enemies-to-lovers story full of chemistry and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[443,86,9,24,29],"tags":[59,48,1105,1637],"class_list":["post-81807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brotherbest-friend","category-enemies-to-lovers","category-romance","category-second-chance-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-review","tag-willow-aster","tag-windy-harbor"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/What-It-Takes.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-lht","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81809,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81807\/revisions\/81809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}