Captivated by You
by Sylvia Day
Published by Berkley
Book 4 in the Crossfire series
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.…
RATED: 18+ CATEGORY: MOOD:
Steamy #ContemporaryRomance Drama
*Trigger
Trigger Warning: This series involves characters who are suffering from the trauma of rape and molestation. Please be advised.
Captivated by You is the fourth book in Sylvia Days Crossfire series, and centers around two different POV's (a difference from the last three books), centering around Eva Cross, Gideon Cross's wife, and Gideon Cross, CEO billionaire, Eva's husband. This book continues their fast paced journey with one another, and trying to balance their wants and needs with one another, while being hit from all sides from jealous exes and estranged family.
I just don't know what it is about this series. It's absolutely crazy. It's Drama with a capital D. Gideon and Eva are dysfunctional. But much like Gideon and Eva are addicted to one another, I am addicted to these books. There is just something about the story. It's not just the smut (although, of course there is plenty), but all the drama coming at them is surprisingly entertaining. My main issue is that there is no resolutions to problems before another is introduced. It's constant, and I think the story itself would have been just fine if some of those dramatic elements were cut out. Perhaps if they were, the book could have ended at a natural stopping point, instead of feeling so unfinished.
One of the things I liked about this book, was there there was finally some growth. Gideon finally opens up a bit to Eva about his past, and he finally tells their therapist. And Eva finally found her limit to Gideon's controlling behavior. What I enjoy most about these characters, is that they are aware these are flaws, and try to work with one another to get better. All the other characters ... how is it that Gideon has so many crazy exes? And where is Cary's story heading? It's hard, because I like him, but the choices he makes are enough to make me cringe.
Captivated by You is very much like the last three book: full of obsessive love, insanely hot sex, and enough drama to feel like a soap opera sometimes. That being said, there is no help for it, this series is incredibly entertaining.
She stuck her tongue out at me
Gideon: "That's what got you fucked right there."
Arnoldo: "You couldn't choose one of the other women who've loved you and would give you no trouble? A comfortable ornament who would settle into your life without a ripple?"
Gideon: "As Eva says, what would be the fun in that? She challenges me, Arnoldo. Makes me see things ... think about things, in ways I didn't before. And she loves me. Not like the others."
Arnoldo: "You didn't allow the others to love you."
Gideon: "I couldn't. I was waiting for her."
Eva: "You know how we feel about each other."
Cary: "Sure. You two are whack jobs separately. Together, you're a god-damn nut house."
Arash: "Are you serious? Some of us sleep, Cross."
Gideon: "My wife wants to talk to you."
Arash: "What? Where are you?"
Gideon: "In my room."
I held the receiver out to Eva.
Gideon: "My attorney."
Eva: "Are you nuts? It's five in the morning in New York! On a Sunday!"
Gideon: "He's in the room next door. Take it. Ask him if I've been working today."
She marched over and snatched the phone out of my hand
Eva: "You should get a new job. Your boss is insane."
He replied and she sighed.
Eva: "Before."
She glanced at me
Eva: "Thank God he's hot. Still, I might get my head checked. Sorry he woke you up. Go back to sleep."
Eva held the phone out to me
I took it and put it to my ear
Gideon: "As she said, go back to sleep."
Arash: "I like her. She gives you shit."
Gideon: "I like her, too. Good night."
I shoved my feet into the legs of my sweats, then stood to pull them up. Eva took the opportunity to smack me on the bare ass.
Arash: "I heart that! Cut it out and open up."
Gideon: "You're fired."
I found Arash waiting outside my suite with a room service cart
Gideon: "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Arash: "Quit your bitching. Save the marathon sex for your honeymoon."
Eva: "Don't listen to him!"
Gideon: "I won't. He doesn't work for me anymore."
Eva: "I hate when you get reasonable after irritating me."
Gideon: "Why won't she leave it the hell alone? She can't change the past."
Angus: "It's not the past she's thinking of. It's the future."
Eva: "How come all the guys you work with are hot?"
Gideon: "Are they? Maybe they won't be working with me much longer."
Eva: "Oh God. Whatever, caveman."
Cary: "Gotta give you guys a hard time. Who else is going to stop you two from singing 'I Got You, Babe' in a few years?"
Eva: "Aren't they adorable? They've been together since high school."
Cary: "Exactly my point. Spend enough years with someone and either you start bickering or you fall down the lovey-dovey hole, never to be seen again."
Eva: "Mark and Steven have been together for years, too. They don't fight or moon at each other."
Cary: "They're gay, Eva. No estrogen in the mix to cause drama."
Eva: "Oh my God. You sexist pig! You did not just say that."
Cary glanced at Gideon:
Cary: "You know I'm right."
Gideon: "And with that, I'm out."
Ireland: "You're such a goner. Your pupils turn into little hearts when you think about Gideon. It's so cute."
Ireland: "Holy fuck, you should see your face! A classic case of playboy panic. Didn't they tell you? First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage."
Gideon: "If you don't shut up, I'm sending you to bed."
Gideon: "I want to be the man of your dreams, angel. I want that more than anything."
Eva: "You've for that in the bag already."
Eva: "The hits just keep on coming, don't they?"
Gideon: "Let 'em come."
Gideon: "You can tell yourself that Eva and I are incompatible, that we're either fighting or fucking with nothing of substance in between. But the truth is that she's the other half of me and what you're doing is going to hurt her, which will hurt me."
Cary: "If this were a romantic comedy, it'd be called Love Actually Sucks."
Eva: "Maybe we should have stuck with Sex and the City."
Cary: "Tried that. Ended up Knocked Up. I should've gone for being a 40-Year-Old Virgin, but I had way too much of a head start."
Eva: "We can write a manual on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Weeks."
Cary: "Fucking perfect."
Eva: "I'm still mad at you."
Gideon: "I know."
Eva: "And I'm still in love with you."
Gideon: "Thank God."
Check out the rest of the Crossfire Series below