Bared to You by Sylvia Day
Narrator: Jill Redfield
Series: Crossfire #1
Published by Brilliance Audio
Published on: 11 hours & 32 mins
Genres: Erotica
Length: June 22, 2012
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Amazon | Book Depo
Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness…
He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily…
Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private worlds…and desires.
The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart…
After my positive experience with Fifty Shades of Grey, I decided to give this book a try seeing how so many comparisons haven been made between the two. The story is definitely similar as is the rich, alpha male stereotype but its Sylvia Day’s writing that is the clear winner here. The narrative flows well, the vocabulary is diverse and there’s minimal repetition which is a feat in itself considering the number of sex scenes in this novel. Bared to You is clearly the superior read amongst the two contemporary erotica series’.
I found that both of the main characters were reasonably well-developed but that Eva was significantly more defined than Gideon which is not surprising seeing how Day probably wanted him to maintain a certain degree of mystery. Tramell is just as messed up as her counterpart which surprised me a little because I’d expected there to be only one broken person in this book so there’s another un-Fifty like characteristic for you. Eva’s past is a troubled one and her tell-all session with Gideon took real courage and made my opinion of her skyrocket.
One of the things that irked me about this novel is that every single character, even the secondary ones, are beautiful. I expected as much of Eva and Gideon seeing how their initial attraction was purely physical but was it really necessary that Tramell’s roommate and Cross’ receptionist be equally as stunning? It felt like overkill to me. Also, as I mentioned, Day probably purposefully didn’t explore Gideon’s character in detail but by the end of the book I didn’t know much more about him than I did when he’s first introduced; other than the fact that he’s gorgeous of course. I’m thinking that this first installment was more about Eva and am hoping that the next book will focus more on Cross. You can only push the “mystery” so far in my opinion until it morphs into shallowness and this novel was close to falling into the latter category.
Jill Redfield is an enthusiastic narrator to say the least and listening to Bared to You while at work was… interesting. I will definitely be adding more erotica audiobooks to my library in the future! Redfield does every scene justice by adding just the right amount of emphasis to suit the storyline. She does a great job of alternating between a sassy tone and a dramatic one. More than once I found myself looking around my office to see if any of my coworkers were finding it as hot in the room as I was. Needless to say, it was just me!
I read the entire Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy so I think that it’s only fair that I give Sylvia Day’s next installment a chance as well. Hopefully Crossfire will improve with each book unlike its sister-series. But one thing is for sure, Bared to You will make your blood boil with either lust or anger and sometimes both!
 |
 |
 |
|
| Recommendation: | Good for fans of light BDSM. |
| Like this, like that: | The Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James and the Fade series by Kate Dawes. |
Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
I read this and 50 Shades way to close together. So I compared the crap out of them. But I decided to read the 2nd book and I must say I loved that one so much more. I think if I had spaced this book out from 50 I would have noticed the things you did. But hey I am more of a paranormal girl, it has to say something that I gave these books a try and ended up really enjoying them.
@Amber I @ Awesomesauce I tried to avoid comparing them too much but it’s unavoidable. But yay us for reading something other than para-fiction. LOL
I just saw this reviewed on my friend’s blog yesterday. She thought it was much better than Fifty Shades, which she was unable to finish.
@emmameade.com A lot of people had problems when the way Fifty was written/edited.
Maybe I’ll give this one a try, especially because I’ve tried TWICE to read 50 Shades and failed each time.
THanks for the review! <3
I have to admit, the similarities to Fifty bother me a little, and I couldn’t form an emotional connection with Gideon. I still enjoyed it, but not as much as I wanted to.
I’m so glad to hear Amber say that she enjoyed the second book a lot more, maybe I’ll continue soon.