Novel Review: Bared to You (Crossfire, #1) by Sylvia Day

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: Adult Erotic Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Berkley (Penguin)

Publish Date: April, 2012

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

“Full of emotional angst, scorching love scenes, and a compelling storyline.”—Dear Author THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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...

Quotes:

• "You’ve got to have as many good times as bad, or it all becomes too painful and too much work.’” (Paperback, pg. 158)
• "'Why do I have to get up?’ ‘Because when you’re flat on your back you’re not on your feet.’” (Pg. 216) Think about it.

The Cover:

I like the cover. I particularly like how simple and not-embarrassing it is, given the subject and genre of the book. This book you can carry in public and not have to hide the cover from everyone around you. I'm not too sure how well the cover portrays the book, but it's definitely not too bad in that.

Review:

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting with this book. A lot of sex, sure. Kinky sex, hopefully. I was wary of the characters, though. I wasn’t sure how fleshed out they’d be, how fast the story would move. So I was really surprised to find that I really liked this, including the characters.

I like Eva. I also like Gideon. Both of their backstories seem to be fleshed out, their responses make sense; I like the psychological aspect to the story, which I wasn’t expecting. I also liked how fast they moved, that they didn’t take forever to admit their feelings to each other. Their relationship is very angsty and dramatic and needy, they’re very up-and-down with making up and then blowing up at things, over and over again, and at the moment I’m okay with that. At times it’s frustrating, as I would like them to calm down and think things over first, but it’s not bothering me too much at the moment, and I have faith that they’ll learn and grow from their mistakes.

We found out a lot about Eva’s past, and I’m looking forward to the reveal of Gideon’s, as I’m sure it’ll be in the next book. I also want to find out what happened with Cary, Eva’s best friend, and really want to see him grow as a person, since he has some problems he needs to work through.

The sex was very nice, which was good since there was a whole lot of it. There was good variety, some nice kinky elements. I was expecting more D/s stuff, and it was mentioned, but I don’t think they’ve really gotten fully into that or had a full discussion about it yet, which they need to do. 

This was a surprisingly fast and very good read. I’m glad that I picked it up, since it was kind of a chance find. I’m sure that the next book is going to be full of drama and fights and sex, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.