I was going to write a separate review for each of the Crossfire novels, but then I decided I would just do the first three together and then add to the review as new Crossfire novels are released. I felt like if I reviewed each book individually that I'd end up give a horrible review for most of this series, and this series doesn't deserve that.
The first book in the series is Bared To You. The story starts out following Eva, a fresh college grad that moved from San Diego to New York City to start a new life with her best friend, Cary. Eva and Cary both have very colorful pasts that they are trying to get away from. Eva ends up meeting the dark and dangerous mega-mogul Gideon Cross. The story builds based on their relationship that gets fired up very quickly. Gideon has a dark past of his own, and neither Eva or Gideon want to bring their pasts into their new relationship....but their past keeps coming back to haunt them.
The second book in the series is Reflected In You. Eva and Gideon's story continues building on their relationship and working through some of their past. Eva's past comes back to haunt her in a big way towards the end of the book, which is left in a major cliffhanger.
The third book, Entwined With You, picks up from that cliffhanger. And continues with the story of Eva and Gideon working through their issues and trying to strengthen their relationship together. There is a change in events in this book that focuses more on Gideon's dark past and less of Eva's.
Now to give a review on this series. It's difficult for me to review it. I read Bared because it came highly recommended for people who enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey. Most people had said they loved Gideon & Eva's story immensely more than Christian & Ana's story. So I rushed out and bought Bared To You. It took me forever to get through that book. I couldn't connect with the story, the characters or the timeline like I could with Fifty Shades. But, I felt like I needed to continue the series when Reflected In You came out. I felt like Sylvia Day deserved my continued effort in trying to enjoy something she probably spent a lot of time and effort on. So I bought Reflected In You. I can honestly say that I enjoyed that book more than Bared. I felt like the character development was a lot more complete in that novel. But I still felt like something was missing for me connecting to the characters.
Don't get me wrong, Sylvia Day has an amazing writing talent, but just something about the characters wasn't for me. It wasn't until Entwined With You that I truly fell in love with Gideon Cross. I liked being able to learn more about him and what his dark past was all about. You got to see that every moment that he was a huge (pardon my French) dick in the previous two books was all to protect Eva. Everything he did had Eva in mind and he never stopped thinking about her. Entwined really shows how much he really does love Eva, though he's not able to say it.
But then we get to the ending. For me, the whole time I'm reading Entwined I'm thinking, "This is the best book in the series." I felt like their relationship grew a lot and both characters came to terms with their pasts and are starting to look towards the future. But the ending just left me something to be desired. In the last chapter, Eva sees someone she thinks she recognizes from Gideon's past running off with Cary. It then ends with Cary not knowing who the woman was and Gideon, Eva and Cary all driving away in a limo to their apartment.
The ending was just a very blah ending for me. I needed some sort of major cliffhanger or more resolve in the book. Considering that Sylvia Day has signed for another 2 books in this series, I felt like she could have done something else with the ending to try and not leave you so put off by the ending going into the next book. I realize what she was doing. She wanted to try and bring something in as a little cliffhanger to try into some sort of drama to start the next book with....my issue with that is that is seemed like an after thought. It almost seemed like the book was written completely and then she signed for two more books in the series, so she added the last chapter to try and tie it in, but it was poorly executed.
Again, I don't want anyone to not get the wrong idea of Sylvia Day or the Crossfire series. I can't say that it is my favorite series I've ever read, but I'm sure it isn't the worst. There is something to be said for me continuing to read the series. If I would have absolutely hated it, I wouldn't continue to spend money on the books and continue spending my time reading the books. Also, my opinion is one of many. I know a lot people who read the Crossfire series after Fifty Shades and loved Crossfire a million times more. I guess I'm still just stuck in the boat of Christian being my man. Whatever the reason, I still recommend people taking the time to read the series and give it a shot. Sylvia Day is an amazing writer and she deserves your time to at least try it out. I'm excited to read the following books in the series, and maybe Sylvia will change my mind someday, but I still wish I wouldn't have read the last chapter of Entwined......
Purchase Links:
Bared To You (Amazon): http://www.amazon.com/Bared-You-A-Crossfire-Novel/dp/0425263908/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373743906&sr=8-2&keywords=crossfire+series
Reflected In You (Amazon): http://www.amazon.com/Reflected-You-A-Crossfire-Novel/dp/0425263916/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373743916&sr=8-3&keywords=crossfire+series
Entwined With You (Amazon): http://www.amazon.com/Entwined-You-Crossfire-Book-3/dp/0425263924/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373743963&sr=8-1&keywords=crossfire+series
Up Next: "Connected" by Kim Karr
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