REFLECTED IN YOU

TITLE: REFLECTED IN YOU

AUTHOR: SYLVIA DAY

Pages: 357

Date: 28/10/2012

Grade: 4+

Details: no. 2 Crossfire

            Received from Penguin Books

            Through Book Geeks

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“He was my drug, and I had no desire to kick the habit.”

“I’m caught up with you, Eva.” With his head tilted back, Gideon pulled me down for the sweetest of kisses, his firm lips moving gently beneath mine. “I’d kill for you,” he whispered, “give up everything I own for you . . . but I won’t give you up.”

And so the story of Eva and Gideon, which started in “Bared to You”, continues. Magnetically drawn together yet incapable of communicating and trusting each other they stumble along, moving from sexual bliss to emotional breakdown and back again. Both carry deep and debilitating pain from the past. And while Eva shares her pain with Gideon she is full of insecurities and finds it impossible to trust him. Gideon, on the other hand, can’t talk about that which hurts him most or anything else emotionally charged. And his silence fuels all of Eva’s doubts and insecurities, making her doubt herself and their future as a couple. They are working on it though, going to relationship counseling and making allowances for each other. A blissful and very erotic weekend by the seaside seems to bring them much closer together only for Gideon to almost completely withdraw from Eva. Suddenly he misses meetings with her, is photographed out and about with his former fiancé and while he claims not to want to lose her, Eva can’t help but feel that she’s being side-lined. Will Eva discovering why Gideon is behaving the way he is bring these two desperate souls back together, or will it break them apart forever?

There is actually a lot more happening in this book but sharing more of the story-line would involve huge spoilers, so I won’t. Because the story is told only from Eva’s perspective the reader has as little idea why her lover is behaving the way he is as she does which enhances the tension in the story and turns it almost into a mystery at times. I wouldn’t want to spoil that for any reader.

I feel a bit ambivalent about this story. There were a lot of times I felt totally frustrated with the characters. This book is almost an object lesson in what not to look for in a relationship, you could almost call it a cautionary tale. These two characters couldn’t be more wrong for each other if they tried, and yet they so obviously belong together. It is a very confusing situation for the reader because you no longer know what to wish for, what a happy ending would actually look like. It does make for a fascinating roller-coaster of a reading experience though. I was turning the pages compulsively, in a rush to find out what would happen next, how a situation would resolve itself or what on earth might be going on.

This is a well written book, an easy and smooth read. It is also a book with characters that come alive on the pages, characters with depth and development. And that is not just true for Eva and Gideon. There are other characters on the side-lines who play just enough of a role in the story to turn this into more than just a sensual, if troubled, romance. And those minor characters also make it possible for the reader to come to a better understanding of the troubled lovers.

This book is dedicated to Nora Roberts and on at least one occasion while reading this book I was strongly reminded of Eve Dallas, the main character in the mysteries she writes as J.D. Robb. When Eva asks Gideon if there is any part of New York he doesn’t at least partially own, the words might as well have come from Eve Dallas’ mouth as she addresses her own billionaire, Roarke.

In short I would describe this as a fascinating - at times frustrating -, sexy and gripping story. I’m looking forward to May when “Entwined in You” will be published and I will be able to find out how it is all going to end