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Availability:
In Stock.
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At a glance
- Condition
- New
- Dimensions
- 5.46 x 0.78 x 8.17 in
- Weight
- 9.6 oz
- Publisher
- Berkley
- Publication date
- July 2, 2024
- Edition
- 3rd
- Language
- English
Description
From 1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day comes the first novel in the Crossfire series—a provocative masterstroke of abandon and obsession that redefined the meaning of desire, and became a global phenomenon. 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 wounds...and desires. The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart... Read more
Specs 10
| Publisher | Berkley |
|---|---|
| Publication date | July 2, 2024 |
| Edition | 3rd |
| Language | English |
| Print length | 368 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0593641655 |
| ISBN-13 | 51 |
| Item Weight | 9.6 ounces |
| Dimensions | 5.46 x 0.78 x 8.17 inches |
| Book 1 of 5 | Crossfire |
No specs match.
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Top Amazon Reviews
Amazing Story
Originally I borrowed this from the library, I was thirty two (32) pages into the book when I jumped up and ran to the local Target to get the second book because the library didn't have it. So I got it so I wouldn't have to wait to read it. Let me tell you the best decision ever because I could read from one book to the third without waiting. And I finished this book in one day. I truly enjoyed meeting Eva & Gideon, they were both good, strong characters with depth and issues and flaws but with each other they absolutely made each other great and at the same time the worst people. And OMGawd their private moments???!!! Sweet jeezus it's a fire!! They did move with lightening fast speed but I guess when you know you know, and boy did they know. I LUUURRRVE Gideon Cross, why yes I do!! OMgosh I know see why people love this book/series so much, and why they are always tweeting Sylvia about it. Eva's background story is so heartbreaking and I'm so proud of her mother for doing the best for her daughter with a tough situation, especially when she could have pretended she didn't know just to keep the money on tap/ Instead she was a good mother and *although personally I think if she had been paying attention more she would have caught it before it reached that boiling point* did what was best for Eva. It still left her with scars though and Gideon pushed all the wrong buttons when he first met her. I wrote on goodreads "is it ok to like a character and still want to punch them in the face??" Yeah that's how Gideon made me feel when I first met him. Gideon himself has a pretty messed up background as well but we haven't been given the full story, I'm going to have to read to find it all out. Imma need exes to take all the seats over there and stay out of grown folks business. Really though??*ghetto moment over*These women are doing the most especially because he isn't giving you even the slightest time of day. Just tacky. The attraction, the love that develops, the complications of the relationship are just so well written & amazing. Ms.Day writes in a way that draws you in & keeps you glued you just want to know what happens next and how are they going to meet the next challenge as a couple & as individuals. Even some of the side characters are interesting and have depth, 'm looking forward to learning more about them as well. Reading Eva's and Gideon's journey to couple~dom has been wow, good and fraught with lots of danger **for others who tried to interrupt the reading, I'm looking at you mister man**. Definitely a story I will be re-reading especially now that I own my own copy. Yeah I wasn't even into book two before I went online and purchased the other two for my own library. That's how good they are ok?!! Make sure to check back for the review of Book 2: Reflected In You.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2013 by Aisha
A Dark, Addictive Romance Between Two Deeply Damaged Characters.
Bared to You by Sylvia Day is a steamy, emotionally charged contemporary romance that explores the intense connection between two individuals shaped by their pasts. Gideon Cross is a wealthy, powerful businessman with a guarded personal life and a reputation for avoiding relationships. Eva Tramell, new to New York and beginning a fresh chapter in her career, draws his attention in a way that neither of them can easily walk away from. Readers who have encountered novels with similar premises, particularly those featuring damaged protagonists and extreme romantic intensity, may recognize some familiar beats. However, Sylvia Day’s writing is notably polished and confident, offering stronger prose, more character depth, and a grounded emotional exploration of trauma and vulnerability. The side characters are also a standout, adding personality and dimension to the world surrounding the two leads. The chemistry between Gideon and Eva is undeniably strong, and the romantic and physical tension between them is one of the book’s greatest strengths. Their connection is passionate, immediate, and central to the story. While the book succeeds on many fronts, the latter half does fall into a somewhat repetitive cycle of emotional conflict followed by reconciliation. The pattern remains engaging but becomes predictable after multiple repetitions, and this affects the overall momentum of the story. Despite this, the characters themselves are compelling enough to carry the narrative, and the emotional investment is high. Readers who enjoy complex, intense, and unapologetically dramatic romances will likely find this book satisfying, with a clear incentive to continue the series. A well-written and engrossing story that should appeal to fans of contemporary romantic drama, particularly those who enjoy flawed protagonists working toward healing and connection.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2025 by Tori
This is what Fifty Shades of Grey should have been!
The first thing I noticed about Bared to You was that the writing is phenomenal! This is one of those books where I feel like I need to quote every other line because they're all loaded with power, meaning, and intensity! And on top of that, the dialogue was hilarious! The main character Eva is brilliantly witty and her lines in particular had me cracking up! Since the synopsis doesn't really tell you much about the plot of the book, I'll go over it briefly. The story is about 24-year-old Eva. She moves to New York City to be closer to her wealthy mother and stepfather. She starts a new job and that's where she meets Gideon--an extremely wealthy, young bachelor. At first, he's only interested in sex, but he becomes so captivated by Eva that he wanders into the unknown: an exclusive relationship. But both Eva and Gideon have demons and traumatic pasts that threaten to tear them apart. So it sounds very Fifty Shades of Grey , right? Well, it's about a million times better. I feel like Bared to You is what Fifty Shades of Grey should have been. It has the same plot elements: controlling billionaire changes his playboy ways and falls in love with girl. But Bared to You is hot, passionate, sexy--NOT disturbing--, emotionally devouring, beautifully written, and all kinds of incredible... everything Fifty Shades wasn't (for me). You know what my favourite part is about Bared to You ? Eva isn't a blubbering idiot. She's not some silly naïve girl who says two words and just lays back while some controlling guy has sex with her. No. She takes control. She's witty, extremely intelligent, funny, and has a controlling interest in the relationship. Heck, the first time they had sex, she was on top. She initiated it. And even from the way Eva speaks, you can tell she's intelligent. She certainly knows how to hold her own amidst some playful banter. Eva and Gideon had both the most dysfunctional and most functional relationship I've ever read. Both these people are broken. They have dark, hidden pasts that haunt them day and night. For Eva, it means her self esteem is broken and shattered. For Gideon, it means he craves control and power. Put these two broken beings together and you get an intense, passionate chaos. But on the other hand, this is one of the few relationships I've read about where the couple actually communicates. Imagine that! They don't play games with each other. If one of them is pissed off, they'll say, "I don't like seeing you with another girl. It makes me jealous and uncomfortable." If Eva gets frustrated and leaves, Gideon gets upset and says, "I don't like it when you run away. It makes me feel broken and alone." PEOPLE, THEY'RE COMMUNICATING!! "We don't fight, angel. We just have to learn not to scare the hell out of each other." --Page 248, Bared to You Eva and Gideon voice their opinions, fears, hopes, dreams, frustrations, and anything else on their mind! If they're feeling it, they say it. They talk about going to couples therapy to work through their issues together. They sit down and have heart-to-heart talks. They work out the kinks in their relationship. So sure, Gideon may be a bit of a crazy, power-hungry control freak and Eva may have severe jealousy and self-esteem problems, but they know they have those issues and they work them out like a proper couple. Most of the time in books, the couple just plays mind games with each other and expects the other person to be a mind reader. This is not the case in Bared to You ! Talk about refreshing. And if it wasn't obvious, this book was HOT. Freaking hot. Unbelievably hot. One of the most intensely hot books I've read in a while.. and that's saying something! Despite my intense enjoyment of this book, I do have two issues, both centered around the fact that Bared to You felt more like a "part one" of one book rather than the first book in a series. There were a few things that were introduced in the book that never really got resolved. We meet Gideon's family, but nothing develops with them. We learn that Gideon clearly has some abuse or trauma in his past, but he never comes forward about it. It would have been okay if at least Eva made some sort of official declaration of acceptance of the fact that Gideon wasn't ready to talk about it, but I felt like the whole issue was just ignored. And finally, I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending. It wasn't bad, but I feel like it literally just got cut off mid-book. There wasn't an epic showdown or a huge resolution of some kind. I'm sure all my issues will be addressed in the second book, but I feel like there still should have been more of a wrap-up in Bared to You . Even so, this book was absolutely phenomenal. It was hot, sexy, emotional, intense, gritty, dark, and absolutely mind-blowing! It's safe to say I'm running out to buy the next book--Reflected in You--immediately!
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Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2012 by Ashley
You'll have a hard time putting it down
Every once in awhile I read a book that blows my mind. A book that makes me read all day, and stay up all night to finish it because I can't put it down. I rather sleep deprive myself instead of sleeping so I can find out what happens next to the characters. "Bared to You" is definitely one of those books. The first chapter alone had me excited to keep reading it. Gideon Cross, is a dark and dangerous 28 year old who owns pretty much everything in New York. If you see "Cross" on a Building, he most likely owns it. Yes, he's young, but he's business-oriented, determined and intimating at times. He has skeletons in his closet though and refuses to let them out for anyone. He doesn't want anything to do with his family for some reason and women...especially, brunettes are what he usually favors. He has his gal friends he will not bed with and then his women that he has sex with one time and then discards them afterwards. He's a very mysterious man who every woman wants though. No matter if he is a player or not. Eva Tramell is a 24 year old strong-willed woman who moved to New York after graduating college. She's living with her best friend Cary who is a sexy male model who she met through a therapy group she went through. She landed a job at a advertising company which so far she adores. Eva has a traumatic experience she's trying to forget, but for some reason it comes back haunting her. She has a loving father who lives in California, a crazy over-protective mother and a step-father who enables her mother to do the crazy things she does to Eva. One day Eva bumps into the dark and dangerous Gideon and the moment she sees him, she knows he's trouble. She did not realize she would end up working in the same building as he did though. Now, Gideon wants Eva and he will stop at nothing to have her. The moment Gideon is described, I even knew he was trouble for Eva, but I also knew I would fall in love with him. For some reason I always fall for the dark, dominant man in a book. I love how Gideon is so up front with Eva when they first meet and whenever they are together period. The first time he confronts her in building where she works too...he bluntly tells her what he wants from her. I think I was just as shocked as Eva...but maybe a little more. Eva tries to avoid Gideon, but who could avoid a sexy, domineering man like him. I sure couldn't. I do not know how Eva held on for some long. I would've succumbed the minute I set eyes on him the first time. This book is sexy, beyond-intense, EROTIC (of course), dramatic (warning...two females you will loathe in this book..at least I did...I won't spoil who they are though), and it's also full of twists and turns for both Gideon and Eva. The sex scenes in this book, I had to keep putting down the book after I read them so I could cool off. Yes...they were that GOOD!! You'll get to feel Eva's pain and understand what her trauma experience was in her past. You won't really know what is wrong with Gideon, but you will get a hint on what it could be. He refuses to talk about it though, which frustrates not only Eva...but me as the reader. I recommend this book to readers out there that are addicted to the Erotica Genre and love some BDSM. Fore warning a head of time, once you start this book, you will not want to put it down. The cliff hangers of each chapter, will have you begging for more. I'm looking forward to the next book now because I really want to know what Sylvia is going to do next with the characters. Between Sylvia Day and Karin Tabke...I'm addicted to the Erotica Genre now. There's no turning back for me. They've created a monster and I love every minute of it. =)
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Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2012 by FranJessca @ Book Lovin Mama's Blog
Hope men don't read this and think that this kind of behaviour is what women want
What I liked: GOOD WRITING: I've read Sylvia Day in the past, and her writing flows. There are no annoying typos, actually I found one, but the novel is not typo-ridden, which seems to be a common thing with Kindle books. There was some repetition but the author's vocabulary is wide enough that you don't feel like you're reading the same thing over and over again. FAST-PACED PLOT: The story moved along nicely. Something was always happening to move the story forward, but wasn't always sure which direction the story was heading in. SETTING: Lots of modern references and brands mentioned, but not overdone. There's no doubt that we are in the high-flying world of upper class New York. What I didn't like: CHARACTERS: Everyone in this book is too perfect, at least on the outside. Can't remember how many times Gideon was referred to as the hottest, sexiest, fittest, most eligible, gorgeous [insert Adonis quality here] man in the city. And the heroine was physically attractive too, as was her roommate, and her gym instructor, her mother, the receptionist etc etc. It was a pity that everyone was model material and there were no ugly Smeagols anywhere, not even as interesting side characters. SEX SCENES: It's hot, until it's not. There have got to be at least 20 sex scenes in the novel, double the number of orgasms, triple the number of references to Gideon's constant erections (was he on Viagra?) and an untold number of times that the characters moan each other's names. It gets a bit old. I began skipping the sex scenes, which became banal and to be honest, a bit of a turn OFF. Sometimes less really is more. EMOTION: Or lack thereof. Gideon isn't subtle at all. He's like a two-year old who wants something and won't stop pouting until he gets it. He has a lot of pretty words and flashy gestures of love, but as he himself put it, romance isn't in his repertoire. If you're looking for a love story, Bared to You is not that. You won't find characters that come to the realisation of their feelings for each other through some intense emotional conflict. What you will find are two horny good-looking people intent on banging each other senseless who somehow, from the get go, have an urgent, desperate and unhealthy need for each other. How? Why? I'm still not sure. OBSESSIVE POSSESSIVE STALKERISH BEHAVIOUR: As another reviewer mentioned, the cringe factor is pretty high in this book. If someone did what these characters do in real life, they would probably have restraining orders against them. For example, *** SPOILERS AHEAD - STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN"T READ THE BOOK AND INTEND TO *** After Eva runs off from him the umpteenth time, he leaves Eva 21 messages in the space of about 30 minutes. 21. That's a lot of calls. Before that, he seems to have amassed all the information he can about her, from who she's living with (and his sexual orientation) through to whether or not her gym instructor is married. But Eva's no better because she signs up for Google alerts on his name. Like really? People do that? Later, Eva sends Gideon three, count them, THREE separate lots of flowers with messages in one day and then hand delivers him a gift. I mean, really? You don't think that's a tad bit much for just ONE day? I guess it isn't when your lover takes a photo of you sleeping in your own bedroom, then has your WHOLE bedroom recreated in his own home...to the detail. And that's just so when you need space, you can run off your to 'own' room without leaving his house. Eww. Eva's mother traces her cellphone, Gideon traces Eva's credit card - I mean, billionaires stalking people when they could be out yachting, travelling to exotic places, flying to the moon or whatever it is billionaires do? Then there's the jealousy. Gideon is suspicious of any unfamiliar male that he hasn't got a file on and Eva is suspicious of every female in Gideon's life, even his mother (!!). Both characters are so insecure, their actions become laughable. ["Hello," he purred, his icy gaze on Martin. "Introduce us."] Sexy and possessive? Or just plain rude? At the end of the day, I liked this book, but I didn't. Sylvia Day has made a good business decision to capitalise on 50 shades (which I haven't read because I didn't care for the kindle sample I received) and I still like her writing skills. She creates vivid scenes and has great command of language. But I'm not crazy about some aspects of 'Bared' so I probably won't read the rest of the series. I don't give a toss about Gideon's inner demons, and Eva seems to have it together (she's a likeable heroine). There were so many declarations of LOVE(from Eva) and NEED(from Gideon) that its already clear from this first instalment that the two will be sticking with each other through thick and thin while copulating fast and furiously. Glad I read part one, but not holding my breath for part II.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2012 by Seta
Damaged?... Party of Two?
Format: Kindle
Sex is simple. Affection is dangerous. And love... all kinds of trouble. And Eva & Gideon have all but cornered the market on trouble. They're two sides of the same double faced coin & can go rounds on the issues train. They pushed & pulled each other like it was sport. Triggers & defense mechanisms with a huge dose of cut & run. As a reader, I loved them but damn it if they weren't exhausting! I very much liked Eva as a character. She's a woman I can root for. She was witty, comfortable with her sexuality & even when she was making mistakes, she was honest enough not to delude herself that she was wholly right. She had no problem setting boundaries with Gideon but she also owned her physical attraction & wanton lust for him. Fantastic. Nothing annoys me more than a heroine that is wishy-washy & confused about her wants & needs. Eva had no problem calling Gideon an a**hat & flipping him off as she walked away. She loves Gideon but it's not to the exclusion & eclipse of herself or her emotional well-being. She also displayed her own deep & overwhelming vulnerabilities, so she had my heart. Though, she could have stood to have mentioned his perfection of looks a lot less. It struck me as a bit juvenile an obsession for an otherwise aware woman. Especially since she is seeking more than a physical & surface connection with Gideon. I don't mind her acknowledging his hotness but reiterating it every time they had a moment together was a bit tedious. Gideon initially struck me as definitely hiding behind a facade. I was sure he was a hot mess of insecurity wrapped up in some wicked crazy. I know he's supposed to be all "alpha" but those types generally offered in popular fiction translate in my mind as overcompensating & insecure when they break out the stalker behavior & veiled (& not so veiled) threats to the object of their obsession. Desperate doesn't register as sexy & infinitely shaggable to me. And I also don't find that "heroine in actual fear of hero" thing a trope that hits high on the hot quotient. So I needed more time to see if Gideon would be that type. Happily, he wasn't that guy, though he definitely was insecure & bringing his own Cross brand of crazy to the party. Lucky for him, Eva matches him in the epic mood swing department, so I didn't mind watching them unfurl on each other. He also displayed real affection for Eva & seemed to freely admit when he messed thing up. I can't hate a man who is willing to apologize for his stupidity. They both have for real problems of the life-time scarring & sometimes emotionally paralytic variety. I just loved that they were going to give a real relationship a go, even with their own private, unspoken trepidation. I'm a sucker for hope against the odds. Together they're emotional, damaged, desperate, jealous & needy. What is infinitely fascinating is watching them try to be better than those aspects of their personalities & overcome them to be better people. Because in the end, they do want to be the best person they can be for themselves & the other person. I love that. There's no "I'll fix you" from either of them. It's more a "I'll help you". No matter what else is going on they have a parity that I very much like. What am I forgetting? Oh, yes. The sex. They have it. They have a lot of it. They talk about it like adults. It's explicit & not even close to kinky. It's hot. They have good banter. While they often used sex as a sedative & reliable means of communication instead of opting to use their words for important conversations, I was just glad they were getting moments of mind-numbing, coma-inducing sex. It gave them breaks between obsessing, self-loathing slips & other states of mania. I have to buy into both the characters singly & as a couple to care about the sex they're having & this book didn't disappoint. Oddly though, the things I highlighted on my Kindle weren't their sex scenes. I was most moved & intrigued by their other interactions. I'm hoping there's more of them working through their issues with Dr Petersen & verbally with one another in the next installment. I know this is a high recommendation for fans of the formerly Twilight-fan-fiction, Fifty Shades series, but as a chica who has not read that series (but loves a good romance/erotica), I can say without reservation that Bared to You was a great read & fascinating glimpse at these characters. This was totally worth stepping out of my usual historical fiction romance/erotica genre & into a contemporary. I definitely look forward to the next installment in this series as I quite need to know how they'll fare & I'm desperate to get more into the depths of these characters. I'm so rooting for them.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2012 by Anissa
Oh, Gideon, I can't wait to learn more about you!
Format: Kindle
Sylvia Day made me want to go into a room, lock the door, curl up into a ball and read this story from cover to cover. This book has it all - dark pasts, controlling men, beautiful people, wealth and power. The story features Eva Tramell, a twenty-something college graduate from a wealthy and influential family that wants to make her way in the world based on her own merits. Eva is no virgin, and comes with her own dark past. Eva lives with her bisexual best friend, Cary, with whom she has a completely platonic relationship with. Cary is beautiful, and an aspiring model with a penchant for falling in love with the "right" guys and then screwing up those relationships with the "wrong" woman or man. Cary shares with Eva a dark and disturbed past. Before Eva's first day on her new job at an advertising agency, she scopes out her place of work. She accidentally bumps into a tall, dark and beautiful man. This is our first introduction to Gideon Cross. Unbeknownst at the time to Eva, Gideon Cross is the owner of the building she works in, The Crossfire Building. Immediately, Gideon's demeanor changes when he looks at Eva. Something happens between them, leaving Eva breathless and Gideon on the hunt, so to speak. Gideon is magnetic. He's full of maleness and confidence and immediately enthralls Eva with his looks and his grace. Eva is no shrinking violet. The first thing she thinks about after she meets Gideon is what it would be like to have sex with him. Her thoughts include the words "primal" and sheet-clawing." Eva's second day of work brings her interesting news - her boss explains that he received a request for proposal (RFA) from Kingsman Vodka, a company owned by Crossfire Industries. Eva is invited to the pitch, and the pull between Eva and Gideon begins in earnest. Eva and Gideon's relationship begins, him by wanting nothing more than to have sex with her, and her playing hard to get. Eva might like sex, but she's nobody's toy. There are lunch meetings and dates, and their relationship progresses. Eva demands that sex with her be personal. She says that there doesn't necessarily need to be romance, but she requires friendliness and respect. I like Eva very much because she doesn't give in to Cross like a doe-eyed little girl caught in the headlights of a rich and powerful man. Eva's from a similar background to Cross - she wants Cross, but she's going to do it on her terms. Although Gideon sees Eva as "trouble" for him, he is drawn to her and cannot let her go. When Eva rejects Cross' suggestion of no-strings-attached sex, he is the one willing to "revisit and revise" what he wants from a relationship with her. So Eva and Gideon begin a friendly relationship. Eva learns that Gideon has a dark and tortured past. This is a plus for me as a reader, because there are few things I adore more than dark and twisted pasts. I love tortured and vulnerable characters, making this book like a drug for me. Gideon makes many mistakes along the way, which I chalk up to him not knowing how to deal with Eva. He's falling in love with a woman against his better judgment. He doesn't really know how to be in a normal relationship. We see the darkness in Gideon several times, but Eva does her best to stand by her man. We discover Eva's twisted secrets, but Gideon's run deeper and darker. He is very disturbed by something that happened in his past. My only problem with Eva is that her answer to any problem with Gideon is to run away. If she's feeling hurt, used, pissed, jealous or any negative emotion, her answer is to take off without a word. The first time she does this, I can understand her fears. But by the end of the book, I had had enough of that behavior. Eva has a few moments where she really can't make up her mind about what she really wants from Gideon. One minute, Eva thinks Gideon only wants sex from her. When he shows the world that he's in an actual relationship with her, she's not quite happy with that, either. There are a few places in this book where Gideon deserves Eva's anger, no more so than at the end with the introduction of someone from Gideon's past. But to be fair, Gideon is very up front with Eva, and I believe that he really does want and love Eva. However, both of these characters have dark and desperate pasts to deal with, and until they do that, they will continue to hurt one another. I especially enjoyed when Eva put her foot down concerning Gideon's ex calling him every day. Gideon, like many men, cannot see why or how this would bother Eva to the degree that it does. Ha! I love how Eva plays him at the end of the book - telling him that if he doesn't put an immediate end to his ex's infatuation with him, that she will take his cue while dealing with her own ex-boyfriends. This is just the type of thing to drive Gideon crazy! Gideon, though, is able to show his vulnerabilities to Eva, which is a big start for him. Like I stated earlier, I'm a sucker for dark and tortured characters. This book delivers on several characters that can fit this description. From Eva and Gideon, to Cary and even Magdalene and Corinne (both ex-lovers of Gideon). I think we're going to see a lot of drama in the next book. I think that Corinne is going to play a bigger role in aggravating Eva, and I think that Corinne isn't all that she appears. I think Gideon is going to make progress on his past issues, and that Eva will be there with him, until she can't handle the jealousy that she will undoubtedly have because of his ex-lovers. I think Deeper into You is going to be an emotional roller coaster, and I'm just happy to say that I will most definitely be along for the ride!
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Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2012 by Jamie724
Great romance with an incredibly sexy alpha male
Format: Kindle
This book blew me away. I loved it. It's emotional, highly romantic, and incredibly swoon worthy. It left me cheering wildly, sighing, and yes, even hugging my kindle at various moments. In Bared to You, Eva is a driven, strong business woman that's broken away from her wealthy family and is carving out her own place in the world. She's chosen to start in at the bottom of a company, and work her way up the old fashion way. To this end, she's secured a position for herself as an executive assistant at a marketing firm. What she doesn't count on in her five year plan is meeting Gideon Cross, the company's incredibly sexy owner. She stumbles into him (literally) several times, and they have an instant connection. While their chemistry is undeniable, she is scared off by his approach, which is very high handed and aggressive. He's a beautiful, wealthy man, and is a man used to getting what he wants with very little effort. Eva isn't impressed by his wealth, and she quickly determines he's more trouble than he's worth. And so the hunt begins. And it is enthralling. One of the hottest things about this book is just how much Eva legitimately fights her attraction to Gideon, and how doggedly he pursues her. I loved every second of his chase. Gideon Cross - what can I say about him? He's incredibly sexy, 100% alpha, but able to see and appreciate the intrinsic worth in Eva, and express his love for her openly and beautifully. Both he and Eva have tragic pasts that have given them ample reasons to close themselves off. However with each other they are they are truly open - completed bared to one another. The title of the book is apropos as there are definitely a lot of sexy times in the novel, but there is also a baring of souls that I found incredibly moving. Both of them have to work through their past hurts to be good for one another. It all felt very real, and vital and I cried on more than one occasion as they learned how to open up and love one another. Eva is amazing - she's strong, intelligent, and nurturing. Her past has given her a wellspring of sympathy and care for others. She looks after her friends, mothers them, and protects them. For all her strengths, she is also very fragile in love. Her past has given her a fight of flight tendency. She runs when she's hurt. I really identified with her strengths and failings, and found her to be an incredibly realistic and likeable character. The romantic path this novel takes is not a straight line. The trauma from both character's pasts ensures they take two steps back for every one they take forward. This creates a delicious amount of romantic tension and suspense. I was never quite sure Gideon and Eva were going to make it, and that doubt kept me on the edge of my seat. I hate when romance novels throw us easy love stories. Two destined soul mates that instantly fall in love, and know they'll never be apart. The ease of the love stories cheapens them in my estimation. Eva and Gideon have an uphill fight every step of the way with their love, but that pulled me into their story. It made me care. And it made every victory they experienced as a couple that much more cathartic for me. The author has a way with words. Her prose is poetic and moving. I had a hard time picking what quotes to put in this review, because there are just so many good ones. Bared to You has been criticized for being Fifty Shades of Grey 2.0, and, as much as I hate to say it, I think it kind of deserves that censure. This is the only negative thing I can say about the book. It's SUCH a similar story, but it's better written, with stronger, more likeable characters, and more realistic phycology. It also has less S&M elements. I wish I'd read it first, so I could have spared myself the inevitable comparisons to Fifty Shades because it's five times the book. This story had me laughing, crying, and swooning in a major way. It's everything I look for in a romance story. Great characters, and a romance that keeps you captivated, in suspense, turning the pages, just waiting to see if everything turns out well in the end. Recommended for fans of Fifty Shades, Beautiful Disaster, and Easy.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2012 by Mithrendiel