Book Review
Title: Reflected in You by Sylvia Day (Crossfire Book 2)
Genre: Romance, Erotic
Rating: 5 Stars
I re-read Bared to You a little while ago and still loved it, way more than Fifty Shades of Grey and I am finally continuing with the series since I’ve heard that it gets so much better. Re-joining Gideon Cross and Eva Tramell was amazing, even though I am still reminded of the irony of Eva’s name and it makes me laugh. The opening just recaps the ending of the first book, how we learnt of Eva’s incredibly messed up past and how Gideon’s is just as bad even though they haven’t openly spoken about it yet because he isn’t ready to. However, Cary messed up his love life by engaging in a clusterfuck orgy on the living floor and Eva is having to deal with the fallout of that but I do believe she is partially at fault for it since she and Cary have always leaned on each other for support and she unknowingly took that away from him by spending all her free time with Gideon. They are planning a trip to Vegas since Gideon has to go to Arizona for work anyway to give themselves some time to figure things out and fix their relationship as friends. The sexual tension between Gideon and Eva is immense as always but I did like the fact they are working through their trauma in order to make their relationship work and both admit their faults, possessiveness for Gideon and jealousy for Eva.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Eva is a little concerned about her limited support network so she begins making friends with female colleagues like Megumi which was nice to see. However, her relationship with Gideon is beginning to take its toll on her when she sees Corinne leaving the building and getting into Gideon’s car. Heading up to his office she finds him half dressed, his office is a mess and there’s a lipstick stain on his shirt. I don’t know what Gideon was expecting her to think when confronted with this but his repeated refusal to explain the situation to Eva doesn’t help and sets things off between to the point where Eva hits Gideon. Luckily for them they have their therapy session that night with Doctor Peterson and he is making a genuine effort to help them. One of their biggest issues is sex, they use sex to resolve all their disagreements but it is more than that, Gideon in the past has used sex to assert control over his partners and Eva has used sex as a way to diminish her own insecurities which isn’t healthy at all. By the time Gideon, Eva and Cary are getting ready to leave for their respective trips, they are actually talking to each other properly but it hasn’t dealt with the issues between them especially those surrounding Corinne. Learning that Gideon still had his sex pad was heart-breaking though because it means he thinks that Eva isn’t going to be in his life long enough to warrant getting rid of it showing his own insecurities. These are made worse when Eva has a nightmare about being raped all over again and Cary comments she hasn’t had one in a long time, before she met Gideon and Cary is worried about what the relationship is doing to her but neither are willing to give it up.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, the time is Vegas goes really well apart from the minor issue of Gideon issuing a bodyguard to watch Eva but rather than getting angry she gets even sending one of her step father’s bodyguards to watch Gideon and this actually provides a better outcome than either were expecting. Upon returning to New York, Eva ends up taking Megumi out to lunch with her mother and they get on really well and it’s nice for Eva to have some female support in her life. She doesn’t mention to her mother than her father is coming to visit since they haven’t really spoken in a very long time and it would only cause her mother to stress out. After lunch they all decide to walk back to the Crossfire building when Eva’s mother sees something that scares her, Eva doesn’t see what it is but Clancy seems to sense the danger and insists on driving the rest of the way back. Eva has been concerned about Nathan since her relationship went public with Gideon and I have a feeling it is Nathan who has appeared to terrify to shit out of Eva’s mother which isn’t going to be good especially if Gideon learns of this.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Eva and Gideon seem to be getting their relationship back on track with Gideon helping Eva find out what scared her mother so badly until the nightmares. One night both Gideon and Eva have a nightmare about their past abuse but this is worse than it seems since Eva is still a victim in her dreams whereas Gideon becomes the aggressor in his which leads to a situation where Gideon almost attacks Eva despite being unconscious. This causes a lot of tension between the pair and Gideon gives his key back to Eva thinking it will make her feel safe when to her it feels like he is abandoning her. They do work through this with Doctor Peterson, together and separately. Eva is also asked by her boss’ sister in law, Shawna to go to a concert and she agrees bringing Gideon with her and at some point during the show she realises the leader singer is an ex-lover of hers. While Gideon got them backstage access Eva doesn’t want to go and heads to the limo where she runs into Brett, who attempts to engage Eva although she wants nothing to do with him since he was a part of her life when she was going through a bad patch but he feels there was more too their relationship. Eva pushes him away but when he kisses her without permission which is seen by Gideon shit hits the fan and it hits hard as Gideon proves. I was conflicted about this scene as it does demonstrate Gideon’s possessiveness over Eva but I also feel it is a normally reaction, like if I saw my man kissing another woman she would get the beat down of her life especially if I knew that the kiss was forced.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Eva witnesses the brutal fight between Gideon and Brett before being dragged off and she realises that she has fucked up majorly. By the time Angus takes her to Gideon she is a bag of nerves and the method Gideon uses to get the truth out of her was brutal but effective since she admits that she kissed Brett to make him feel the same jealously she feels whenever Corinne is around and for the first time Gideon truly understands where she is emotional so he reacts in a much calmer and gentler way than I was expecting. He then takes her away for the weekend with no phones, no work and no outside contact and it really helps them settle their relationship and get back on track but this is slightly thrown off again when they return to learn that Cary has been attacked and he is in the hospital. Eva feels guilty because he wasn’t able to contact her for help nor was anyone else because she didn’t have her phone and neither did Gideon but Gideon helps her deal with the guilt and makes arrangements for Cary’s care which she deeply appreciates. Watching Gideon get scolded by Eva’s mother was hilarious but heartfelt especially when she tells Eva that one day Gideon is going to marry her and I hope he does after everything he has been through. One devastating thing we learn here is that Gideon told his mother about the abuse he suffered and she didn’t believe him which was heart-breaking. As a sexual abuse survivor herself, Eva understands this and is angry for him since he isn’t anymore, the worst thing for someone like them is gathering up the courage to tell someone and have it thrown back in your face because they don’t believe especially when that is a close family member and this might be why Gideon is holding the truth back from Eva.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, something is seriously going on with Gideon as he withdraws further and further from Eva which is tearing her apart and she knows she can’t continue to chase him the way she has been otherwise she is going to loose herself in the process. The final straw comes for when he sends her to their appointment with Doctor Peterson and doesn’t turn up and even though it kills her to do it she begins distancing herself from Gideon as well preparing for their relationship to come to an end. When her dad arrives in New York she has something else to focus on as she genuinely believes that Gideon and Ireland aren’t going to show up for the dinner and it scares her when he does. However, the dinner is interrupted by a visit from some detectives and Eva believes they are there about Cary’s attack. When they drop the bombshell they are there to find out where she and Gideon where because Nathan has turned up dead I was stunned. It is clear that Gideon obviously knew Nathan was in New York since Eva asked him to look into what freaked her mother out and it would explain where Gideon became extremely possessive and wanted to know where Eva was all the time but he could have explained it to her and she would have been open to him helping her because she is terrified of Nathan as he knows but I also have the feeling that there is more to this situation and potentially Gideon might be behind Nathan’s death.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we see the relationship between Eva and Gideon seemingly breakdown but it isn’t like the last time since he tells her to trust him which she does and to wait for something but he doesn’t tell her what. Eva begin the person she is continues to dig deeper and deeper into Gideon’s life trying to figure him out during this whole situation and manages to find out a lot of information concerning his past and confronts some of the demons that have been haunted her like Corinne, his mother, his brother and a few others. By the time we reach the end of the novel, Eva finally gets Gideon to open up about his past sexual abuse and she is the first person to truly know the whole story and believe him which causes Gideon to break down in her arms and this almost had me sobbing. We also learn that Gideon killed Nathan because Nathan was stalking Eva, blackmailing him and Stanton for money and was eventually planning to kill Eva and every action Gideon has taken including being seen with Corinne was to protect Eva from him. When Eva finally learns the truth the first person she turns to is Gideon and confesses that she knows everything and while Gideon is waiting for her to run screaming from him she does the opposite telling him they will work through this together and even though she doesn’t say it she is grateful to Gideon for killing Nathan since she has always had the unconscious fear he can return to her life as long as he is still alive and Gideon freed her from that. I honestly love Reflected in You more than the first book and I can’t wait to continue on with the series.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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