Reflected in You

Summary (from the publisher): Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn't stay away. I didn't want to. He was my addiction... my every desire... mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We’d never work. It was too hard, too painful... except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession...
Review: This is the second book in the Crossfire trilogy, but I enjoyed it far less than the first, Bared to You. This novel follows the story of beautiful and damaged billionaire Gideon Cross's love affair with Eva. Gideon and Eva have both been sexually abused in their youth, and struggle to open up and have a healthy and fulfilling relationship with one another. What they do get right is their oh so scorching sex life and deep attraction and draw to one another.

I found several plot points in this novel fairly implausible, particularly the concluding storyline involving Nathan, Eva's sexual abuser and former stepbrother. I also found it hard to believe that a couple that had only been dating a month would be so twisted and dysfunctional that they would already be seeking couple's therapy. Perhaps that is a sign right there that they either need to find less turbulent partners or they both need to work on their demons as individuals. Plus, Gideon acts like a total jerk to Eva towards the end of the novel (although with a cause), yet she forgives him with basically no discussion or apology. Dislike. Did I mention that their relationship is dark and twisted?

Additionally, while I thought the introduction of both Gideon's and Eva's exes created useful tension, I did not think it was successfully or realistically done. Especially considering the fact that Eva's ex Brett just happens to be a now famous musician that she just happens to see in concert with Gideon because she doesn't know his new band's name, and Brett just so happens to have written his most famous song on his love for her. It seemed a bit too convenient. I also just felt like, despite Day's efforts to introduce other plot points such as roommate Cary's life and Eva's job, the overwhelming main focus of this book is the twisted relationship between Eva and Gideon. And that's fine, it just seems unrealistic to think that it could be anyone's only focus.

This book is clearly a romance novel, and a pure entertainment/guilty pleasure book. All things considered, it delivers on what it promises, but cannot live up to the romance of the first in the trilogy.

Stars: 2