Bared to You by Sylvia Day

SDay-Bared to You

SDay-Bared to YouIf you’re a regular reader of LE and the reviews, you may have noticed that I’ve been in a romance reading slump over the last few months, with reading a LOT of UF and YA.  I was browsing Edelweiss a few weeks ago and came across Bared to You by Sylvia Day.  It sounded good and was something I hoped could help end the slump.  The jury is still out on ending the slump, but holy hotness Batman! did I lurv Bared to You

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness… 

He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily…

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private worlds…and desires.

The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart…

Oh where to start, where to start.  Let’s begin with Eva, our leading lady.  I really liked Eva. I felt that I could connect with her.  Eva has a big demon in her past…nothing that was her fault, but something that haunted her, tortured her and scared her.  She’s also very brave.  She and her best friend moved from California to NYC. A big step for anyone, though they aren’t alone as Eva’s mother and step-father live there.  Eva grew up never wanting for anything but I never felt that she was haughty or spoiled.  She was determined to not let her past, or her step-father’s money, define her.  I really liked that.  She isn’t perfect and there are things I didn’t like…such as her tendency to run when she got scared or upset with Gideon.  As much as she wasn’t trying to let her past define her, there were times when it did. But, she was able to recognize this flaw, which I can appreciate.  Changing oneself isn’t easy and you see that in Eva.  It’s a struggle for her and I think anyone can relate to that.

And then we have Gideon Cross.  From the first moment he steps onto the page, there are fireworks.  He is strong, hot and just sex personified.  There is an instant connection between him and Eva.  Gideon at first comes across cocky, too sure of himself and a person who isn’t used to getting told “no”.  He didn’t really take it from Eva all that well….he kept pursuing and pursuing until she finally said yes.  But I’ll give props to Eva, she didn’t just cave, she held her own.  As the story moves along, you come to find out there’s more to Gideon Cross than just an uber successful and seriously rich businessman.  Gideon has his own tortured past and a not so saintly family.

One thing to note there are some elements of a Dom/submissive relationship. It’s loving and tender.  But uh yeah I could tell Gideon was a Dom from that first scene he appeared in and that personality is what really made Gideon Cross just very yummy.  I’ve heard rumors of a comparison between him and Christian Grey from the 50 Shades series.  I haven’t read those so I can’t comment.  What I can comment on is if you’re looking for a well written D/s type of book or if you’re kind a novice into that area of romance reading, Bared to You is a good novel for you.  Nothing too intense (well, the sex is always intense between Gideon and Eva) as far as the BDSM factor goes….at least during Bared to You.

I felt Bared to You was very well written, I haven’t read much of Ms. Day’s work, so I didn’t know what to expect . The pacing was well done, with a good balance of blending some difficult information on the character’s pasts while moving, not only Gideon and Eva’s relationship along, but introducing us to some fantastic secondary characters and the interactions between our main characters and the secondary characters.  I absolutely loved the interactions between Eva and her boss Mark as well as Mark’s partner Steven. I hope we see more of that in the next book.   I was captivated with Bared to You from the first page to the last and wasn’t ready for the story to end.  Fortunately there are more books to come *G*.

I highly recommend Bared to You and am anxiously awaiting the second book in the Crossfire series, Reflected in YouI simply need more Gideon Cross *G*. And as mentioned above Bared to You has been a good start in getting me out of my romance reading slump.  It was the first romance novel I was able to get through without a struggle in a long time and that is a wonderful thing.  So thank you Ms. Day for helping to restore my ability to read romance again…   And yes, you know I’ve already pre-ordered Reflected in You.

Read Order
Bared to You
Reflected in You 
(Oct. 2, 2012)

Also reviewed by: Dark Faerie Tales, Addicted 2 Heroines, Shuffling through a book-less desert, World of Books, Book Reviews by Kathy

 

 

About Nicole 146 Articles
Attorney by day, Publicist for Barclay Publicity and reviewer/LE (assistant) editor by night. I'm a huge book nerd and love to read. I have 2 dogs, both Labrador retriever mixed breeds, who are very rotten and think they run the house. Let's not lie, they totally do, I just can't them know it ha ha! My usual genre is romance or urban fantasy. I love all things having to do with paranormal, with the occasional good contemp/BDSM/erotica thrown in to spice it all up.