Review: Captivated by You (Crossfire #4) by Sylvia Day

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Title: Captivated by You
Author: Sylvia Day
Publisher/Year: Penguin Group 11/18/14
Length: 368
Series: Crossfire #4

Overview

Gideon calls me his angel, but he’s the miracle in my life. My gorgeous, wounded warrior, so determined to slay my demons while refusing to face his own.

The vows we’d exchanged should have bound us tighter than blood and flesh. Instead they opened old wounds, exposed pain and insecurities, and lured bitter enemies out of the shadows. I felt him slipping from my grasp, my greatest fears becoming my reality, my love tested in ways I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to bear.

At the brightest time in our lives, the darkness of his past encroached and threatened everything we’d worked so hard for. We faced a terrible choice: the familiar safety of the lives we’d had before each other or the fight for a future that suddenly seemed an impossible and hopeless dream…

My Thoughts

I don’t know about everyone else (although i’m pretty sure that many agree), we’ve been WAITING FAR TOO LONG for this continuation of the series.  but, i’m so excited to be back in the world of Gideon and Eva – since nothing is ever dull.  We pick right back up with these 2 and if you thought that their lives were complicated before with ghosts and people trying to get in the way, you’re in for something new.

Before i get into the meat of the story, there’s something that i have to say about our author.  What i find to be challenging sometimes with other series is that authors have trouble sticking to the heart of what makes us love characters and what makes a dynamic exciting.  Sylvia Day doesn’t have that problem – at least with these 2.  We’ve been with them now for 4 installments and the passion and pain and chemistry and all of those other deep emotions are still there, raw and at the surface and that’s something that makes you really want to keep reading.  (even if you didn’t want to – and that’s def not the case here).

So back to the story – we pick up with Gideon and Eva back from their secret wedding and they’re trying to get back into the thick of life without making any waves with others since they want to do things at their own pace.  Once people learn of their engagement, they find that they are facing mixed emotions, but that’s the least of their problems.

If you’ll remember, at the end of Entwined by You, Eva thinks that she’s see Anne Lucas at an event – seducing Cary of all people, but she’s not sure.  Well, i think that it’s safe to say that once Gideon gets wind of that notion, things get ugly, and while we don’t even get to the crux of what Anne’s got planned in this 4th book, you know that it’s going to be good.  she’s got a vendetta against him and i think that we’re going to see things get bad fast.

The undertone of this story really is that Gideon feels that he’s off his game and that everyone that he’s ever wronged is coming after him since his focus is now on Eva – and that means that they are all going to go THROUGH Eva.  While we know that Eva’s a strong woman, i think that there has to be a breaking point for her, and we actually see that happen at various points and in varying degrees here.

Corinne’s back and has her own agenda, as does Brett.  While i think that both are rather minor in comparison to the love that Gideon and Eva have, it still makes a challenge of things just when they want to settle in.

In addition to this main story line, we also get to see a few things come and go.  First being Cary’s ‘baby’. situation.  While it seemed to me like it would play a bigger role in this book, it hasn’t really . we know that it’s stressing him out, coming in between his relationship with Trey and all that, but there’s really not much movement on that piece.  the other bit though is that we see Gideon’s relationship with his step-father change drastically because of information revealed and i’m curious to see how that affects things in the next installment.  I have a feeling that Chris will become a big help in a situation down the line, but what that is, i’m not quite sure.

Regardless of all that, we get the same tension that we’ve come to love with these 2.  It’s hot and sexy, there;s so much passion between these 2 that you can’t help but to get turned on just by their scening.  Gideon has some very specific habits that Eva begins to see more of and it’s HOT.  i can’t wait to see what’s next for them, and i’m really hoping that we get the same roller coaster that we’ve gotten in all of the books so far since it makes for some great reading.  I hope you guys enjoy!

Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day: Check-in – Re-reading the series as a prep

Morning All,

So as i’m sure most of you are aware, Captivated by You comes out on 11/18 and I know that i’m not the only one that’s really excited since it feels like ages since we last connected with Eva and Gideon.  Since it’s been so long and I’ve been so invested in the series, i felt that i owed it to myself to re-read all 3 books so that I’m not left wondering who we know what about.  For those of you who haven’t read them all yet, there may be a few non-intentional spoilers below.

As you’ll remember, our leads met when Eva had just moved to NYC from San Diego – in the hopes of starting her life over and taking control of things since she’s had a bit of a rough past.  She was abused by her step brother and as a result, that trauma has been something that’s stuck with her for her entire life.  She moved here with Cary, her surrogate brother and best friend, someone who she met while trying to sort herself out in therapy in SD.

It’s on the day before Eva’s first day of work that she crosses paths with Gideon who she calls ‘Dark and Dangerous’ when she times her walk to her new office and runs into him.  Gideon of course is the expected billionaire control freak, who has his own fair share of issues.  He is also haunted by abuse from when he was younger – he had gone to therapy as a result of dealing with his father’s suicide and was taken advantage by the therapists assistant.

So, fast forward through the 3 books, we’re left in a place that makes you continue to wonder about the security and status of their relationship.  We know that it’s not easy, there are a bunch of exes who want nothing more than to get in the way of the budding romance.  Corinne – Gideon’s ex fiance (who’s also married) comes back into place, and she’s trying to stir things up.  When she goes so far as to try to make Eva doubt Gideon, fails at that and then tries to kill herself by ODing – well things go from bad to worse.  Then there’s the fact that Eva has her own triangle brewing.  Her past comes back to ‘haunt’ her in a sense – Brett Is the lead singer of a rock band signed to Gideon’s label that’s making it big, and it’s when Eva learns that their biggest single is of her that things get dicey.  Gideon gets jealous, Eva trying to deny the feelings that she still has for Brett- and brawling ensures.

Here are my questions though:

1) What’s Anne’s angle now?  We know that she is married to Dr Lucas whom Gideon HATES, yet she’s found herself at an event that they are all at, and ties to Cary now that she was trying to get with him.  So…i’m curious what her angle is and what she’s trying to do to the couple

2) Deanna – what’s she gunning for?  i feel like it’s more than just a bitter ex – so we’ll have to see what she’s going for.  She’s digging for information and trying to write a story that’s pretty deep i think – even with the ‘bone’ that Gideon’s tosses her for the wedding exclusive

3) The wedding – what’s going to come of that?  I think that there’s going to be much more drama since nothing can be that easy

4) Cary and Tatiana – i don’t know about anyone else, but i’m still not sold that it’s Cary’s baby and i don’t know that she’s even really preggo – so we’ll have to see how that plays out

5) Megumi and Michael – i’d love to find out more about this one – i think that there have been quite a few teasers throughout the series so far and i want to know what’s really going on there and who he is

6) Eva’s Mom and Dad and what that’ll mean in the end.  We know that there’s clearly a lot of love there and while i like Stanton a lot – i think that we’d all love for some sense of a happy ending for them.

So – i guess it’s just another little while until we get the next installment – but below is the link to pre-order so please make sure to pick it up!

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Cover Reveal: Captivated by You by Sylvia Day

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We’ve all been waiting way too long for this book to come out and it looks like there’s an end in sight.  November 18th in the US is the date and I can’t wait.  What it does mean though is that i’ll have to schedule in the re-reading of the first books in the series just to make sure that i’m fully up to speed with which friends we trust, who’s the sibling that’s up to no good – what exes are still in the picture and who’s pregnant and not.

I can’t wait – i hope you guys all feel the same!