Bared to You & Relected in You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day

So gosh darn it, I don't want to say again that I don't normally review an entire series or trilogy but honestly, it's not a habit I want to continue but I was super sick this weekend and decided to tackle these two books. I would say that I could review them separately but they are basically the same story and the second one literally picks up the next day after the first ended. This is going to be a trilogy with one HEA at the end (hopefully) and the last book comes out this summer. So with that being said, let's get to blurbs and reviews.

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Book Blurbs from sylviaday.com

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... 

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The sensual saga of Eva and Gideon continues in the hotly anticipated follow-up to Bared to You... the New York Times bestselling novel of “Erotic romance that should not be missed.”– Romance Novel News

Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn't stay away. I didn't want to. He was my addiction… my every desire… mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We’d never work. It was too hard, too painful… except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession…

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So now for a little synopsis. 

This is a trilogy of books but basically it's the story of two people on their way to a HEA. 

As Sylvia said herself on her website -

"Gideon and Eva's story is a dark and angst-ridden one. Two such headstrong and damaged people have a rough road to travel. It isn't a quick and easy journey. They backtrack almost as much as they move forward.

For me, as the writer, the Crossfire series is focused on that journey--not the destination. I'm not writing about the happily-ever-after (yet!); I'm writing about how hard it is to get there. The story follows them on a daily basis, documenting their evolution as a couple.
Change of the magnitude they face doesn't happen overnight. But the harder you work for something, the sweeter the reward!"
Sylvia

With that being said, it's pretty much the story so far but I'll elaborate  So if you don't want spoilers, stop reading here although I'll try to be as spoiler free as possible.
The story basically is, Eva (our heroine) is a San Diego, California transplant to New York, NY. She has just gotten a job at an advertising agency and is looking forward to her first day on the job. She has moved a crossed the country to start a new life with her BFF in tow, whom is also looking to re-invent himself. While out for a jog, Eva swings by Crossfire Tower where her new agency is and stumbles into the playboy billionaire himself Gideon Cross. Immediately they have a connection and Gideon decides he really really wants to bed Eva and he wastes no time in making his feelings known. Eva, herself is attracted to Gideon but she doesn't want to start a new job with baggage like sleeping with the owner of the building hanging over her and she doesn't want to just be used as a sex toy. She makes that quiet clear to Gideon that she's not that kind of girl and if she's going to fall into bed with someone, she needs to have a connection or a relationship with the person. Little does either of them know, that the other person has intimacy issues of one kind or another. Eva is in New York to start over. She has her own demons about relationships and sex. Gideon is used to getting what he wants but never mixes sex with his relationships. If he beds someone, their of no consequence to him. He does not bed friends. So you're either having sex with him or you're his friend but never both. So right off the bat, they are at an impasse. Both want the other but both need very different things in order to get there. This is the basic premise of the books. Both of these people have very dark, haunted pasts that involve some sort of sexual abuse that rules them into their adult lives. Eventually they find their way into a relationship but with such messed up issues, they struggle to stay together. They both lay down the law and decided that this is a relationship worth fighting for but they will go through hell itself in order for it to happen. They both will have to bring all their ghosts to light and learn to trust as well as conquer their demons.
Whew, with all that preachiness (is that even a word) spilling out of me, I need some coffee. OK back now! So *settling back into the chair* I wasn't sure how I was going to like these books. I know they've gotten some rave reviews but I'm still a bit on the fence about Fifty Shades and this just screamed the same at me but like I said, I was sick in bed all weekend with an iPod for company, so I downloaded the audiobooks. First, the reader of the audiobooks did an amazing job and if you don't have time for the read, I highly suggest them in the audio format. I did actually very much enjoy the series so far. I found the story totally different from Fifty Shades even though they share a few aspects (i.e. tons of sex with billionaire playboys, childhood trauma  controlling men and the women who want independence from them) but other then that, not much else was similar. Actually I thought these books were written much better, the story was thought out more and you could see the natural progression in their relationship. Even though Gideon has his issues, the way he handles them is much more based in reality then how Mr. Gray handles his in the other book. As well as our heroine. She has been through therapy and is struggling to stay on a healing path and not repeat her mistakes. While the story is basically from Eva's POV, Sylvia Day does a great job with keeping you there. Things happen in the story that, taken from Eva's POV and shaded by her history, can only have one possible outcome and you the reader believe it to be true as well but when the author explains them from another character to Eva, you can see the other possibilities  It's definitely a unique way to go through the relationship, only seeing the one POV and it adds to the story immensely.
The only critique I'd have is that I felt there was too much sex, LOL. I found myself at points, almost skimming the sex scenes because I wanted more of the actual story. Some authors do a great job of balancing tons of sex with the story, sometimes just implying that it happened, which does happen sometimes here but more often then not, it's a hugely spelled out scene and since we're following the characters day to day lives through their relationship and these two people connect on a sexual level, reading it (or hearing it) over and over and over again got to be a bit much. That's my ONLY criticism.
All in all, I think if you like contemporary romance along the lines of Fifty Shades (without the BDSM factor) and want something that's got a better story and written much better, I'd recommend it.

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4 out of 5 books