Review: Bared to You by Sylvia Day

Bared to You

by Sylvia Day

(Crossfire # 1)

First of all, I picked up this book because I like Sylvia Day and I thought the cover was hot.  I was intrigued to read an erotic story by her and quite frankly I barely skimmed through the blurb.  I loaded it on my tablet and then well, got sidetracked.  Then all of a sudden there's all this buzz about this book and I hear it's being compared to Fifty Shades of Grey.  And that got my attention again.  I enjoyed Fifty Shades for the most part even though I didn't necessarily found it erotic and the writing wasn't 100% to my liking.  So I started reading Bared to You with a certain preconception of what the story would be like and knowing that I would enjoy the writing better because I like this author!

Now... what can I tell you about it after reading it?  This book is very Fifty Shades but better.  I almost wish Fifty wasn't there to outshine this story because of all the publicity.  We basically have a very rich and very tormented man, Gideon Cross.  He owns practically half of Manhattan and things always go his way.  He comes from an abusive past and hasn't done well in his relationships with women, as well as his family.  He's very possessive, domineering, stubborn and at times selfish and quite stalkerish.

Then there's Eva Trammell.  She's young, recently moved to Manhattan from California and just got her first job in a building that happens to be owned by Mr. Cross.  She also comes from an abusive past and still deals with overprotective parents while trying to find her own way and live her life without fear.  Of course she is instantly mesmerized by Gideon.

Even though I think Gideon is very sexy and they have great chemistry together, I found myself at times thinking he is just a bit too much.  Too overpowering, too crazy deluded, too...well... creepy.  And then there's the fact of the ex-fiance and the good friend and how he somehow thought she should be ok with him having such important female friends in his life while she just sat quietly next to him and "behaved".  So yeah I got a bit ticked off with Gideon Cross at times.

I think they have a lot to go through and grow together and individually to make their relationship work in the long run and I think it'll be fun to read.

Now onto the Fifty Shades issue.  Is it similar?  Yes.  Is it better? In my opinion, absolutely!  It's written perfectly, the characters, the scenes, everything flowed perfectly and caught my interest from the get-go.  And Sylvia Day can surely write some hot scenes!  A friend told me that this book was inspired by Sylvia's Seven Years to Sin story, and that she wanted to take that premise and write a contemporary story.  So I'll be checking out that book as well soon!

I am looking forward to the second book in this series.  I do hope to see more character development and some emotional connection between Gideon and Eva.  I am also looking forward to reading more about Cary, Eva's roommate.  He was another interesting character.

Favorite Quote:
"I'm going to possess you, Eva. It's only fair since you've possessed me."